The Romans

The field of Roman ethics is too vast to even summarize in a post. However, some of the major themes will be developed here to prepare for later posts.
The Roman Republic is one of the most beautiful periods in human history. Its sheer length (over 500 years) coupled with the many great men who served within it make it an important time for any student of politics to consider. The Romans were a frugal, disciplined, religious, and patriotic people who provided the context to what would come to be known as Western Civilization. The Roman Empire was less admirable than the Republic, but it was still a gloriously powerful institution based on positive law and military might.
For our purposes, it is the ethical teachings of the Stoics which are most important to be examined. Zeno and Cleanthes were the greatest of the early Stoics, but little is left of their writings. The best text here to read is the “Hymn to Zeus” by Cleanthes. It is a good summary of Stoic theology.
As Aquinas noted, the popular conception of the Stoics as being without feeling is incorrect. Epictetus and Seneca did not believe that feeling itself was bad, but rather that unordered and excessive feeling was bad. They were a courageous group of people able to face incredible adversities with equanimity. The other teaching that they sometimes are criticized for is the notion that suicide is sometimes morally admirable. Rest assured that probably every suicide of the last 200 years was morally wrong and would have been considered so by the Stoics. But the suicide of Seneca was in itself an astonishing thing. In his case, he did not want to die, but was ordered by the emperor to do so. He respected the emperor’s authority, and was not afraid of death—so he acted accordingly.
The essence of Stoicism is finding happiness through being resigned to the will of God. They taught that many of the good and bad things that people experience are not under our control, and so we should not worry about them. Instead, we should focus on the good that we can do and become through our own choices, and seek to be content about the rest. In this context they spoke about living according to nature. A man once asked Seneca why he shaved if he believed that man’s happiness did not lie in one’s appearance. Seneca replied, “Man is a well-groomed animal, and it is appropriate to do so if I am able.”
If one had to categorize philosophically the apostles Paul and John, it would have to be as Stoics. Indeed, Paul’s ministry must have looked rather familiar to the Stoics of his day. At the time there was a special philosophical calling to be a Cynic philosopher, which basically was the Roman version of a prophet. A cynic was clothed poorly, slept outside, and traveled from city to city preaching righteousness. They were frequently beaten and driven away, but put their trust in God and carried on. In fact, when the monks first headed for the desert in the fourth century, they were often called philosophers. They were leading a life of asceticism and holiness that reminded men of Socrates and the Stoics.
Seneca’s best works are his Essays and Letters, and the works of Epictetus to read are the Handbook (Enchiridion) and Discourses. I hope to be able to describe Stoic teaching more in depth at a later time.