FOOTNOTES

The reconstruction.

212.Upon the conflagration will follow the reconstruction of the world (παλιγγενεσία,renovatio), which will lead again to a conflagration; the period between one conflagration and the next being termed a ‘great year’ (περίοδος,magnus annus). The conception of the ‘great year’ was borrowed by the Stoics from the Pythagoreans[128], and leads us back ultimately to astronomical calculations; for a great year is the period at the end of which sun, moon and planets all return to their original stations[129]. The phenomena of the sky recur in each new period in the same way as before; and hence we readily infer that all the phenomena of the universe, including the lives of individuals, will recur and take their course again. Although this doctrine appears only slightly connected with the general Stoic system, it was an accepted part of it: and Seneca expresses an instinctive and probably universal feeling when he says that few would willingly repeat their past histories, if they knew they were so doing[130].

Creation.

213.We have put off till the end of this chapter the discussion of the Stoic theory of Creation, because it is in fact one of the least defined parts of the system. According to the theory of the great year creation is not a single work, but a recurring event; and therefore in one sense the history of the universe has neither beginning nor end. It would however be a mistake to suppose that this point of view was always present to the minds of Stoic teachers. The question of the beginning of things is of primary importance toevery philosophy, and the Stoics approached it from many points of view, popular, scientific, mythological and theological, and gave a number of answers accordingly. To the orthodox Stoic all these answers are ultimately one, though the language in which they are expressed differs greatly; whilst the critic of Stoicism would assert that they are derived from different sources and are fundamentally irreconcileable. Seneca suggests four answers to the question ‘Who made the universe?’ It may be an omnipotent deity; or the impersonal Logos; or the divine Spirit working in all things by tension; or (lastly) destiny, that is, the unalterable succession of cause and result[131]. These answers we may examine in order.

The golden age.

214.The view that ‘God made the world’ is that of the theology which was now everywhere becoming popular; and it is usually associated, even when expounded by Stoic teachers, with dualistic views. Before the creation there existed a chaos, matter without shape, dark and damp[132]; the Deity formed a plan, and brought life order and light into the mass: from ‘chaos’ it became ‘cosmos’[133]. This deity is the same that is commonly named Ζεύς[134]or Jove, and is called the ‘father of gods and men.’ The universe so created was at first happy and innocent, as is expressed in the tradition of the Golden Age. Men lived together in societies, willingly obeying the wisest and strongest of their number[135]; none were tempted to wrong their neighbours. They dwelt in natural grottos or in the stems of trees, and obtained nourishment from tame animals and wild fruits. Little by little they made progress in the arts, and learnt to build, to bake, and to makeuse of metals. These views were especially developed by Posidonius, who believed that in the Mysians of his day, who lived on milk and honey, and abstained from flesh-meat, he could still trace the manners of this happy epoch[136]. It seems probable that it was from Posidonius, rather than from the Pythagoreans, that Varro derived his picture of the Golden Age, which has become familiar to us in turn through the version given by Ovid in hisMetamorphoses[137].

Older stoic theory.

215.These conceptions however are only familiar in the later forms of Stoicism. The teaching of the founders of Stoicism is on this matter monistic, and is based upon the teaching of Heraclitus that the world was in the beginning a creative fire, which was alike the creator and the material of creation. The process of creation (διακόσμησις) may be regarded as identical with that of the mutation of the elements on the downward path[138]; with the special note that when the stage of water is reached[139]the deity assumes the shape of the seed Logos (σπερματικὸς λόγος)[140], and begets in the first instance the four elements[141]; then, from a combination of these, trees and animals and all other things after their kind[142]. Yet even this statement is simplified if we regard the original fire as itself containing the seed Logoi of all things that are to be created[143]. To this is to be added that all this is well ordered, as in a duly constituted state[144]. From this point of view theCosmos is a Cosmopolis, and we reach the border of the investigations which deal with the moral government of the universe, and the political organization of mankind.

Summary.

216.We may sum up the history of the universe according to the Stoics somewhat in the following way. Body is neither burden on the soul nor its instrument, but all body is of itself instinct with motion, warmth, and life, which are essentially the same. This motion is not entirely that of contraction, or immobility would result; nor entirely that of expansion, else the universe would be scattered into the far distance[145]. One of these motions constantly succeeds the other, as Heraclitus says ‘becoming extinguished by measure, and catching light by measure[146]’; as when a swimmer with all his strength can just hold his own against the force of the stream, or a bird straining its pinions appears to rest suspended in the air[147]. At the beginning of each world-period expansion or tension is supreme, and only the world-soul exists. Next the fiery breath begins to cool, the opposing principle of contraction asserts itself, the universe settles down and shrinks; the aether passes into air, and air in its turn to water. All this while tension is slackening, first in the centre, lastly even in the circumference; yet the vital force is not entirely quenched; beneath the covering of the waters lurks the promise of a new world. The fire still unextinguished within works upon the watery mass or chaos until it evolves from it the four elements as we know them. On its outer edge where it meets the expansive aether, the water rarefies until the belt of air is formed. All the while the outward and inward movements persist; particles of fire still pass into air, and thence into water and earth. Earth still in turn yields to water, water to air, and air to fire (ὁδὸς ἄνω κάτω). Thus by the interaction of conflicting tendencies an equilibrium (ἰσονομία) is established, and the result is the apparent permanence of the phenomenal world[148].Finally the upward movement becomes slightly preponderant, water becomes absorbed in air and air transformed into fire, once more the conflagration results and all the world passes into the fiery breath from which it came[149].

FOOTNOTES[1]As, for instance, Aristophanes in theClouds.[2]‘vos etiam dicitis esse e regione nobis, e contraria parte terrae, qui adversis vestigiis stent contra nostra vestigia, quos Antipodas vocatis’ Cic.Ac.ii 39, 123.[3]‘cum tu, inter scabiem tantam et contagia lucri, | nil parvum sapias et adhuc sublimia cures; | quae mare compescant causae; quid temperet annum; | stellae sponte sua iussaene vagentur et errent’ Hor.Ep.i 12, 14-17.[4]Sen.Ben.iv 23, 2 to 4.[5]‘in aperto iacentes sidera superlabebantur et insigne spectaculum noctium. mundus in praeceps agebatur silentio tantum opus ducens ... libebat intueri signa ex media caeli parte vergentia, rursus ex occulto alia surgentia’Ep.90, 42.[6]‘[vides] ordinem rerum et naturam per constituta procedere. hiems nunquam aberravit. aestas suo tempore incaluit. autumni verisque, ut solet, facta mutatio est. tam solstitium quam aequinoctium suos dies rettulit’N. Q.iii 16, 3.[7]‘caelestia semper | inconcussa suo volvuntur sidera lapsu’ LucanPhars.ii 267, 8.[8]‘O all ye Works of the Lord, bless ye the Lord; praise and exalt him above all for ever’ Daniel iii 57 to 82.[9]‘The spacious firmament on high, | with all the blue ethereal sky, | and spangled heavens, a shining frame, | their great Original proclaim,’ etc. J. Addison (1728).[10]See above, §186.[11]See below, §303.[12]καὶ ἔστι κόσμος ὁ ἰδίως ποιὸς τῆς τῶν ὅλων οὐσίας Diog. L. vii 138.[13]ὅτι θ’ εἷς ἐστιν [ὁ κόσμος] Ζήνων τέ φησιν ἐν τῷ περὶ τοῦ ὅλου καὶ Χρύσιπποςib.143.[14]λέγεται δὲ ἑτέρως κόσμος ὁ θεός Stob. i 21, 5.[15]οἱ ἀπὸ τῆς Στοᾶς ἕνα κόσμον ἀπεφήναντο, ὃν δὴ τὸ πᾶν ἔφασαν εἶναι καὶ τὸ σωματικόν Aët.plac.i 5, 1.[16]See §187, note 90; Seneca however thinks there may be more outside the universe than void; ‘illud scrutor, quod ultra mundum iacet, utrumne profunda vastitas sit an et hoc ipsum terminis suis cludatur; qualis sit habitus exclusis’Dial.viii 5, 6.[17]Ar. Did. fr. 31.[18]Arnim ii 534.[19]Arnim ii 547.[20]μέρη δέ ἐστιν αὐτοῦ γῆ, ὕδωρ, ἀήρ, πῦρ, ἃ πάντα νεύει ἐπὶ τὸ μέσον AchillesIsag.9 (Arnim ii 554). But according to another view only earth and water, being naturally heavy, tend towards the middle; whereas air and fire, being naturally light, tend from it;ib.4 (Arnim ii 555). See §196.[21]Arnim ii 557.[22]See above, §184.[23]Arnim ii 540. The universe, being ‘body,’ possesses ‘up’ and ‘down,’ ‘front’ and ‘back,’ and all the other relations, according to the fourth category.[24]Plut.Sto. rep.44, 1.[25]Ar. Did. fr. 31, quoting from Chrysippus. So Cornutus 1; ὁ οὐρανὸς περιέχει κύκλῳ τὴν γῆν.[26]‘Hicetas Syracosius caelum solem lunam stellas supera denique omnia stare censet neque praeter terram rem ullam in mundo moveri, quae cum circum axem se summa celeritate convertat et torqueat, eadem effici omnia, quae si stante terra caelum moveretur’ Cic.Ac.ii 39, 123, on which see Prof. Reid’s note.[27]Plut.plac. phil.iii 13, 3. The question of priority in the statement of this theory has been much discussed in recent years; and it is contended that Hicetas and Ecphantus never existed except as characters in dialogues composed by Heraclides of Pontus, the true discoverer. See H. Steigmüller,Archiv der Geschichte der Philosophie, Berlin 1892; Otto Voss,de Heraclidis Pontici vita et scriptis, Rostock, 1896; Tannery,Pseudonymes antiques(Revue des études grecques, 1897).[28]‘pertinebit hoc excussisse, ut sciamus utrum mundus terra stante circumeat an mundo stante terra vertatur. fuerunt enim qui dicerent nos esse, quos rerum natura nescientes ferat’ Sen.N. Q.vii 2, 3. Seneca however appears for himself to reject the doctrine: ‘scimus praeter terram nihil stare, cetera continua velocitate decurrere’Ep.93, 9.[29]Plut.qu. Plat.viii 1, 2 and 3; Aët.plac.ii 24, 8 and iii 17, 9.[30]Plut.fac. lun.6, 3.[31]Simplic.Arist. phys.p. 64.[32]‘si in Scythiam aut in Britanniam sphaeram aliquis tulerit hanc, quam nuper familiaris noster effecit Posidonius, cuius singulae conversiones idem efficiunt in sole et in luna et in quinque stellis errantibus, quod efficitur in caelo singulis diebus et noctibus’ Cic.N. D.ii 34, 88.[33]Schmekel, p. 465.[34]‘in rerum natura elementa sunt quattuor’ Sen.N. Q.iii 12, 3.[35]See above, §190.[36]‘ex terra aqua, ex aqua oritur aer, ex aere aether; deinde retrorsum vicissim ex aethere aer, ex aere aqua, ex aqua terra infima. sic naturis his, ex quibus omnia constant, sursum deorsum ultro citro commeantibus, mundi partium coniunctio continetur’ Cic.N. D.ii 32, 84.[37]‘necesse est ut et imus aether habeat aliquid aeri simile, et summus aer non sit dissimilis imo aetheri, quia non fit statim in diversum ex diverso transitus; paulatim ista in confinio vim suam miscent, ut dubitare possis an aer an hic iam aether sit’ Sen.N. Q.ii 14, 2; cf. iv 10.[38]Arnim ii 555. But see above, §194, note 20.[39]‘de naturis autem sic [Zeno] sentiebat, ut in quattuor initiis rerum illis quintam hanc naturam, ex qua superiores sensum et mentem effici rebantur, non adhiberet: statuebat enim ignem esse ipsam naturam quae quidque gigneret, etiam mentem atque sensus.’ Cic.Ac.i 11, 39; cf.Fin.iv 5, 12.[40]‘sic enim se res habet, ut omnia quae alantur et crescant, contineant in se vim caloris: sine qua neque ali possent neque crescere.’N. D.ii 9, 23 and 24; ‘caloris [natura] vim [habet] in se vitalem, per omnem mundum pertinentem’ib.[41]‘hic noster ignis, quem usus vitae requirit, confector est et consumptor omnium; contra ille corporeus vitalis et salutaris omnia conservat alit auget sustinet sensuque afficit’ib.ii 15, 41. Cicero is quoting from Cleanthes (fr. 30 P); the teaching of Zeno was the same (fr. 71 B).[42]τὸ δὲ [πῦρ καὶ] κατ’ ἐξοχὴν στοιχεῖον λέγεσθαι διὰ τὸ ἐξ αὐτοῦ πρώτου τὰ λοιπὰ συνίστασθαι κατὰ μεταβολήν Ar. Did. fr. 21; ‘Stoici ignem, ... unum ex his quattuor elementis, et viventem et sapientem et ipsius mundi fabricatorem ..., eumque omnino ignem deum esse putaverunt’ Aug.Civ. De.viii 5.[43]‘[ignem] natura sursum vocat; in illo igne purissimo nihil est quod deprimatur’ Sen.N. Q.ii 13, 1 and 2.[44]οἱ μὲν Στωϊκοὶ τῷ ἀέρι τὸ πρώτως ψυχρὸν ἀποδιδόντες Plut.prim. frig.9, 1; ‘aer frigidus per se et obscurus’ Sen.N. Q.ii 10.[45]‘ipse vero aer, qui natura est maxime frigidus, minime est expers caloris’ Cic.N. D.ii 10, 26; ‘aer nunquam sine igne est. detrahe illi calorem; rigescet, stabit, durabitur’ Sen.N. Q.iii 10, 4.[46]‘quid autem est, quod magis credatur ex se ipso habere intentionem quam spiritus?’ Sen.N. Q.ii 8. Aristotle held that air was warm (Arnim ii 431).[47]‘detrahe [aeri] calorem; transiet in humorem’ Sen.N. Q.iii 10, 4.[48]‘est aliquid in aqua vitale’ib.v 5, 2.[49]‘non esse terram sine spiritu palam est ... illo dico vitali et vegeto et alente omnia. hunc nisi haberet, quomodo tot arbustis spiritum infunderet non aliunde viventibus, et tot satis?... totum hoc caelum, ... omnes hae stellae ..., hic tam prope a nobis agens cursum sol ... alimentum ex terra trahunt’ib.vi 16, 1 and 2.[50]Philod.de irap. 77 Gomp.[51]‘ex quo concluditur, calidum illud atque igneum in omni fusum esse natura’ Cic.N. D.ii 10, 28.[52]cap. xi, p. 38D.[53]Schmekel, pp. 463, 4.[54]ib.p. 464.[55]Diog. L. vii 145 and 146; Posidonius is his general authority, but the theory of the solar eclipse he refers to Zeno.[56]‘[lunae] tenuissimum lumen facit proximus accessus ad solem, digressus autem longissimus quisque plenissimum’ Cic.N. D.ii 19, 50.[57]Pliny,Nat. hist.ii 21.[58]Such was the calculation of Posidonius; see Mayor’s note on Cic.N. D.ii 36, 92. The sun’s diameter is in fact three times as large as Posidonius thought.[59]This explanation has so plausible a sound that it may not be superfluous to remark that it is scientifically valueless.[60]Cic.N. D.ii 20, 51.[61]‘persuadent enim mathematici terram in medio mundo sitam ad universi caeli complexum quasi puncti instar obtinere, quod κέντρον illi vocant.’Tusc. disp.i 17, 40.[62]Diog. L. vii 144 and 145.[62a]‘ego nostris non adsentior; non enim existimo cometen subitaneum ignem sed inter aeterna opera naturae’N. Q.vii 21, 1.[63]‘omni terrarum ambitu non semel maior’ Sen.N. Q.vi 16, 2.[64]Ἡράκλειτος καὶ οἱ Στωϊκοὶ τρέφεσθαι τοὺς ἀστέρας ἐκ τῆς ἐπιγείου ἀναθυμιάσεως Aët.plac.ii 17, 4; ‘[sidera] marinis terrenisque umoribus longo intervallo extenuatis [aluntur]’ Cic.N. D.ii 16, 43; ‘totum hoc caelum ... halitu terrarum [sustinetur]’ Sen.N. Q.vi 16, 2.[65]Ar. Did. fr. 34; for the text and interpretation see Hirzel, pp. 121, 122.[66]Aët.plac.ii 14, 1 and 2.[67]‘solem quoque animantem esse oportet, et quidem reliqua astra, quae oriantur in ardore caelesti, qui aether vel caelum nominatur’ Cic.N. D.ii 15, 41.[68]Cic.N. D.iii 14, 37.[69]‘ideo enim, sicut et Posidonius et Cleanthes adfirmant, solis meatus a plaga, quae usta dicitur, non recedit, quia sub ipsa currit Oceanus’ Macrob.Sat.i 23, 2.[70]‘hac mundi divinitate perspecta tribuenda est sideribus eadem divinitas, quae ex mobilissima purissimaque aetheris parte gignuntur; ... totaque sunt calida atque perlucida, ut ea quoque rectissime animantia esse et sentire atque intellegere dicantur’ Cic.N. D.ii 15, 39.[71]Sen.Ben.vii 31, 3.[72]‘Cleanthes ... solem dominari et rerum potiri putat’ Cic.Ac.ii 41, 126.[73]Diog. L. vii 139.[74]‘idemque [Zeno] hoc modo: “nullius sensu carentis pars aliqua potest esse sentiens. mundi autem partes sentientes sunt: non igitur caret sensu mundus”’ Cic.N. D.ii 8, 22.[75]‘quod ratione utitur, id melius est quam id, quod ratione non utitur. nihil autem mundo melius: ratione igitur mundus utitur’ib.8, 21; see also §83.[76]Diog. L. vii 143; ‘haec ita fieri omnibus inter se concinentibus mundi partibus profecto non possent, nisi ea uno divino et continuato spiritu continerentur’ Cic.N. D.ii 7, 19. This unity of the universe is technically termed συμπάθεια τῶν ὅλων, ‘consentiens conspirans continuata cognatio rerum’ (Cic. as above). It was denied by Panaetius (Schmekel, pp. 191, 192).[77]‘est ergo in eo virtus: sapiens est igitur et propterea deus’ Cic.N. D.ii 14, 39; ‘quid est autem, cur non existimes in eo divini aliquid existere, qui dei pars est? totum hoc, quo continemur, et unum est et deus; et socii sumus eius et membra’ Sen.Ep.92, 30.[78]‘From what has been said it follows that the Stoics admitted no essential difference between God and the world. Their system was therefore strictly pantheistic’ Zeller, p. 156.[79]ὥσπερ δὲ ἡμεῖς ἀπὸ ψυχῆς διοικούμεθα, οὕτω καὶ ὁ κόσμος ψυχὴν ἔχει τὴν συνέχουσαν αὐτόν, καὶ αὔτη καλεῖται Ζεύς Cornutus 2.[80]Varro Fr. i 27 b (Aug.Civ. De.vii 6).[81]‘nihil quod animi quodque rationis est expers, id generare ex se potest animantem compotemque rationis’ Cic.N. D.ii 8, 22.[82]See above, §101.[83]Diog. L. vii 139.[84]ib.[85]See below, chap. xi.[86]Sext.math.viii 270 (Arnim ii 727).[87]‘inconsultus illis vanusque cursus est, qualis formicis per arbusta repentibus, quae in summum cacumen, deinde in imum inanes aguntur. his plerique similem vitam agunt, quorum non immerito quis “inquietam inertiam” dixerit’ Sen.Dial.ix 12, 3.[88]ib.vi 7, 2.[89]‘quid dicam, quantus amor bestiarum sit in educandis custodiendisque eis, quae procreaverunt, usque ad eum finem, dum possint se ipsa defendere?’ Cic.N. D.ii 51, 129.[90]‘canum vero tam fida custodia, ... quid significat?’ib.63, 158.[91]δῆλον ὅτι τὰ μὲν ἕξει διοικεῖται τὰ δὲ φύσει, τὰ δὲ ἀλόγῳ ψυχῇ Plut.virt. mor.12.[92]τὴν τῆς αἰσθήσεώς τε καὶ ἐξ ἑαυτῆς κινήσεως [αἰτίαν ὀνομάζομεν] ψυχήν Galenadv. Iul.v (Arnim ii 718).[93]‘omnem naturam necesse est ... habere aliquem in se principatum, ut in homine mentem, in belua quiddam simile mentis’ Cic.N. D.ii 11, 29; ‘ipsum principale parum subtile, parum exactum. capit ergo visus speciesque rerum quibus ad impetus evocetur, sed turbidas et confusas’ Sen.Dial.iii 3, 7 and 8.[94]‘bestiis [natura] et sensum et motum dedit, et cum quodam appetitu accessum ad res salutares, a pestiferis recessum’ Cic.N. D.ii 12, 34; and so again,ib.47, 122.[95]‘irasci quidem non magis sciunt quam ignoscere; muta animalia humanis adfectibus carent, habent autem similes illis quosdam impetus’ Sen.Dial.iii 3, 5 and 6.[96]‘[ira], cum sit inimica rationi, nusquam nascitur, nisi ubi rationi locus est’ib.3, 4.[97]‘sunt quaedam quae animam habent nec sunt animalia. placet enim satis et arbustis animam inesse; itaque et vivere illa et mori dicimus’ Sen.Ep.58, 10; cf.N. Q.vi 16, 1.[98]οἱ δὲ Στωϊκοὶ οὐδὲ ψυχὴν ὅλως ὀνομάζουσι τὴν τὰ φυτὰ διοικοῦσαν, ἀλλὰ φύσιν Galende Hipp. et Plut.vi. 561 K (Arnim ii 710). Aristotle had used the term θρεπτικὴ ψυχή in the same sense. So too Cicero: ‘iis quae [gignuntur] e terra natura nihil tribuit amplius quam ut ea alendo atque augendo tueretur’N. D.ii 12, 33.[99]ib.ii 11, 29.[100]‘parvula admodum semina ... in tantum convalescunt ut ingentia saxa disturbent et monumenta dissolvant. hoc quid est aliud quam intentio spiritus?’ Sen.N. Q.ii 6, 5; and again ‘quid aliud producit fruges et segetem imbecillam ac virentes exigit umbras ac distendit in ramos quam spiritus intentio et unitas?’ib.ii 6, 6. See also Cic.N. D.ii 32, 81.[101]Arnim ii 713.[102]‘quaedam anima carent, ut saxa; itaque erit aliquid animantibus antiquius, corpus scilicet’ Sen.Ep.58, 10.[103]This use of ἕξις must be kept distinct from that which is contrasted with διάθεσις, ashabitusfromdispositio: see above, §184.[104]ἑκτικὸν μὲν οὖν ἐστι πνεῦμα τὸ συνέχον τοὺς λίθους Galenintrod. s. med.xiv p. 726 K (Arnim ii 716).[105]‘[unitas corporum] ad naturam corporis [refert], nulla ope externa, sed unitate sua cohaerentis’ Sen.N. Q.ii 2, 4.[106]Alex.de mixt.p. 226, 24-30 Bruns (Arnim ii 1048); LucianHermot.81. See above, §186.[107]This gradation of soul-power is most clearly explained by Varro; ‘idem Varro tres esse adfirmat animae gradus in omni universaque natura; unum qui omnes partes corporis, quae vivunt, transit et non habet sensum sed tantum ad vivendum valetudinem; hanc vim in nostro corpore permanare dicit in ossa ungues capillos, sicut in mundo arbores sine sensu ... crescunt et modo quodam suo vivunt; secundum gradum animae, in quo sensus est; hanc vim pervenire in oculos aures nares os tactum; tertium gradum esse animae summum, quod vocatur animus, in quo intellegentia praeminet; hoc praeter hominem omnes carere mortales’ Aug.Civ. De.vii 23.[108]Diog. L. vii 141.[109]‘The heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are therein shall be burned up.’ 2 Peter iii 10.[110]See above, §196.[111]The theory of the conflagration appears to have been attached to the Stoic system from without, and the logical contention is obviously weak. For if the upward movement is in excess, the earth should disappear before the water. It should also always be remembered that the fire that finally remains is not the destructive, but a constructive element.[112]‘ex quo eventurum nostri putant id, ... ut ad extremum omnis mundus ignesceret, cum humore consumpto neque terra ali posset neque remearet aer; cuius ortus, aqua omni exhausta, esse non posset: ita relinqui nihil praeter ignem, a quo rursum animante ac deo renovatio mundi fieret, atque idem ornatus oriretur’ Cic.N. D.ii 46, 118. ‘cum tempus advenerit, quo se mundus renovaturus extinguat, viribus ista se suis caedent et sidera sideribus incurrent et omni flagrante materia uno igne quicquid nunc ex disposito lucet ardebit. nos quoque felices animae atque aeterna sortitae, parva ruinae ingentis accessio, in antiqua elementa vertemur’ Sen.Dial.vi 26, 6.[113]οὐ ῥητέον ἀποθνῄσκειν τὸν κόσμον Plut.Sto. rep.39, 2.[114]‘[quaeramus] immortalis sit mundus, an inter caduca et ad tempus nata numerandus’ Sen.Dial.viii 4, 31.[115]‘Heraclitus after all his speculations on the conflagration of the universe’To himself(Rendall’s transl.), iii 3. Aristotle interpreted Heraclitus in the same way; thus he paraphrases fr. 26 (B), 66 (D); πάντα τὸ πῦρ ἐπελθὸν κρινέει καὶ καταλήψεται as follows: Ἡράκλειτός φησιν ἅπαντα γίγνεσθαί ποτε πῦρMet.xi 10.[116]See above, §193.[117]Clem. Al.Strom.v 14 (Arnim ii 590) relying on fr. 20 (B), 30 (D). Philoinc. mund.p. 222, 2 (Arnim ii 620).[118]Clem. Al. as before, relying on fr. 21 (B), 31a (D); φθαρτὸς μέν [ὁ κόσμος] ὀ κατὰ τὴν διακόσμησιν, Philo as above.[119]Ar. Did. fr. 29.[120]Diog. L. vii 142.[121]Ζήνωνι καὶ Κλεάνθει καὶ Χρυσίππῳ ἀρέσκει τὴν οὐσίαν μεταβάλλειν οἷον εἰς σπέρμα τὸ πῦρ Ar. Did. fr. 36.[122]See above, §109.[123]See above, §115. For a full discussion of the motives of this change see Schmekel, pp. 304-318.[124]‘ita stabilis mundus est atque ita cohaeret ad permanendum, ut nihil ne excogitari quidem possit aptius’ Cic.N. D.ii 45, 115.[125]‘[mundi partium coniunctio] certe perdiuturna [est,] permanens ad longinquum et immensum paene tempus’ib.33, 85.[126]‘[Iuppiter,] resoluto mundo et dis in unum confusis paulisper cessante natura adquiescit sibi, cogitationibus suis traditus’ Sen.Ep.9, 16. On the relation of Ζεύς to the ἐκπύρωσις see Alex.de mixt.p. 226, 16 B; Philoinc. mund.c. 14, 15.[127]‘[conflagratio] fit, cum deo visum ordiri meliora, vetera finiri’N. Q.iii 28, 7.[128]Zeller, p. 166.[129]Cic.N. D.ii 20, 51: see also Schmekel, p. 241.[130]‘veniet iterum, qui nos in lucem reponat dies; quem multi recusarent, nisi oblitos reduceret’ Sen.Ep.36, 10. Socrates and Plato will live again, their friends and fellow citizens will be the same, and they will be again treated as before; Nemes.nat. hom.p. 277 (Arnim ii 625). This theory is plainly not reconcileable with Seneca’s hope of better things (see note 127). See also Hicks,Stoic and Epicurean, pp. 33 sqq.[131]‘quisquis formator universi fuit, sive ille deus est potens omnium, sive incorporalis ratio ingentium operum artifex, sive divinus spiritus per omnia maxima et minima aequali intentione diffusus, sive fatum et immutabilis causarum inter se cohaerentium series’ Sen.Dial.xii 8, 3.[132]This chaos the Stoics identified with the watery stage which preceded the creation of earth in the history of the elements: see Pearson on Zeno fr. 112, 113.[133]Seneca’s writings are penetrated with this conception: ‘hoc universum ... dies aliquis dissipabit et in confusionem veterem tenebrasque demerget’Dial.xi 1, 2; cf.Ep.65, 19.[134]Δία δ’ αὐτὸν καλοῦμεν, ὅτι δι’ αὐτὸν γίνεται καὶ σώζεται τὰ πάντα Cornutus 2.[135]‘illo ergo saeculo, quod aureum perhibent, penes sapientes fuisse regnum Posidonius iudicat’ Sen.Ep.90, 5.[136]Strabo vii 296. See generally Schmekel, pp. 288-290.[137]Ov.Met.xv 96-142; Schmekel p. 288.[138]κατ’ ἀρχὰς μὲν οὖν καθ’ αὑτὸν ὄντα [τὸν θεὸν] τρέπειν τὴν πᾶσαν οὐσίαν δι’ ἀέρος εἰς ὕδωρ Diog. L. vii 136.[139]This stage, at which the whole universe is water, even though the four elements have not yet been created, reflects the popular tradition as to Chaos as in the last section: see Pearson p. 102. For the process of creation as described by Cleanthes see Pearson p. 252.[140]See above, §178.[141]καὶ ὥσπερ ἐν τῇ γονῇ τὸ σπέρμα περιέχεται, οὔτω καὶ τοῦτον, σπερματικὸν λόγον ὄντα τοῦ κόσμου ... ἀπογεννᾶν πρῶτον τὰ τέσσαρα στοιχεῖα Diog. L. vii 136.[142]εἶτα κατὰ μῖξιν τούτων φυτά τε καὶ ζῷα καὶ τὰ ἄλλα γένηib.142.[143]τὸ μέντοι πρῶτον πῦρ εἶναι καθαπερεί τι σπέρμα, τῶν ἁπάντων ἔχον τοὺς λόγους Arist. apud Euseb.praep. ev.xv (Arnim i 98).[144]ταύτῃ δὲ πάντα διοικεῖσθαι τὰ κατὰ τὸν κόσμον ὑπέρευ, καθάπερ ἐν εὐνομωτάτῃ τινὶ πολιτείᾳib.[145]Galende trem.6VII, p. 616 K (Arnim ii 446).[146]ἁπτόμενον μέτρα καὶ ἀποσβεννύμενον μέτρα Heracl. Fr. 20 (B), 30 (D).[147]Galende musc.i 7 and 8 (Arnim ii 450).[148]ἐκπύρωσιν μὲν κατὰ τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ δυναστείαν τῶν ἄλλων ἐπικρατήσαντος, διακόσμησιν δὲ κατὰ τὴν τῶν τεττάρων στοιχείων ἰσονομίαν ἣν ἀντιδιδόασιν ἀλλήλοις Philoan. sac.II242 M (Arnim ii 616).[149]This concluding section is based upon a note, which was prepared by Mr A. C. Pearson for an edition of Chrysippus now abandoned, and which has been kindly placed by him at my disposal.

[1]As, for instance, Aristophanes in theClouds.

[2]‘vos etiam dicitis esse e regione nobis, e contraria parte terrae, qui adversis vestigiis stent contra nostra vestigia, quos Antipodas vocatis’ Cic.Ac.ii 39, 123.

[3]‘cum tu, inter scabiem tantam et contagia lucri, | nil parvum sapias et adhuc sublimia cures; | quae mare compescant causae; quid temperet annum; | stellae sponte sua iussaene vagentur et errent’ Hor.Ep.i 12, 14-17.

[4]Sen.Ben.iv 23, 2 to 4.

[5]‘in aperto iacentes sidera superlabebantur et insigne spectaculum noctium. mundus in praeceps agebatur silentio tantum opus ducens ... libebat intueri signa ex media caeli parte vergentia, rursus ex occulto alia surgentia’Ep.90, 42.

[6]‘[vides] ordinem rerum et naturam per constituta procedere. hiems nunquam aberravit. aestas suo tempore incaluit. autumni verisque, ut solet, facta mutatio est. tam solstitium quam aequinoctium suos dies rettulit’N. Q.iii 16, 3.

[7]‘caelestia semper | inconcussa suo volvuntur sidera lapsu’ LucanPhars.ii 267, 8.

[8]‘O all ye Works of the Lord, bless ye the Lord; praise and exalt him above all for ever’ Daniel iii 57 to 82.

[9]‘The spacious firmament on high, | with all the blue ethereal sky, | and spangled heavens, a shining frame, | their great Original proclaim,’ etc. J. Addison (1728).

[10]See above, §186.

[11]See below, §303.

[12]καὶ ἔστι κόσμος ὁ ἰδίως ποιὸς τῆς τῶν ὅλων οὐσίας Diog. L. vii 138.

[13]ὅτι θ’ εἷς ἐστιν [ὁ κόσμος] Ζήνων τέ φησιν ἐν τῷ περὶ τοῦ ὅλου καὶ Χρύσιπποςib.143.

[14]λέγεται δὲ ἑτέρως κόσμος ὁ θεός Stob. i 21, 5.

[15]οἱ ἀπὸ τῆς Στοᾶς ἕνα κόσμον ἀπεφήναντο, ὃν δὴ τὸ πᾶν ἔφασαν εἶναι καὶ τὸ σωματικόν Aët.plac.i 5, 1.

[16]See §187, note 90; Seneca however thinks there may be more outside the universe than void; ‘illud scrutor, quod ultra mundum iacet, utrumne profunda vastitas sit an et hoc ipsum terminis suis cludatur; qualis sit habitus exclusis’Dial.viii 5, 6.

[17]Ar. Did. fr. 31.

[18]Arnim ii 534.

[19]Arnim ii 547.

[20]μέρη δέ ἐστιν αὐτοῦ γῆ, ὕδωρ, ἀήρ, πῦρ, ἃ πάντα νεύει ἐπὶ τὸ μέσον AchillesIsag.9 (Arnim ii 554). But according to another view only earth and water, being naturally heavy, tend towards the middle; whereas air and fire, being naturally light, tend from it;ib.4 (Arnim ii 555). See §196.

[21]Arnim ii 557.

[22]See above, §184.

[23]Arnim ii 540. The universe, being ‘body,’ possesses ‘up’ and ‘down,’ ‘front’ and ‘back,’ and all the other relations, according to the fourth category.

[24]Plut.Sto. rep.44, 1.

[25]Ar. Did. fr. 31, quoting from Chrysippus. So Cornutus 1; ὁ οὐρανὸς περιέχει κύκλῳ τὴν γῆν.

[26]‘Hicetas Syracosius caelum solem lunam stellas supera denique omnia stare censet neque praeter terram rem ullam in mundo moveri, quae cum circum axem se summa celeritate convertat et torqueat, eadem effici omnia, quae si stante terra caelum moveretur’ Cic.Ac.ii 39, 123, on which see Prof. Reid’s note.

[27]Plut.plac. phil.iii 13, 3. The question of priority in the statement of this theory has been much discussed in recent years; and it is contended that Hicetas and Ecphantus never existed except as characters in dialogues composed by Heraclides of Pontus, the true discoverer. See H. Steigmüller,Archiv der Geschichte der Philosophie, Berlin 1892; Otto Voss,de Heraclidis Pontici vita et scriptis, Rostock, 1896; Tannery,Pseudonymes antiques(Revue des études grecques, 1897).

[28]‘pertinebit hoc excussisse, ut sciamus utrum mundus terra stante circumeat an mundo stante terra vertatur. fuerunt enim qui dicerent nos esse, quos rerum natura nescientes ferat’ Sen.N. Q.vii 2, 3. Seneca however appears for himself to reject the doctrine: ‘scimus praeter terram nihil stare, cetera continua velocitate decurrere’Ep.93, 9.

[29]Plut.qu. Plat.viii 1, 2 and 3; Aët.plac.ii 24, 8 and iii 17, 9.

[30]Plut.fac. lun.6, 3.

[31]Simplic.Arist. phys.p. 64.

[32]‘si in Scythiam aut in Britanniam sphaeram aliquis tulerit hanc, quam nuper familiaris noster effecit Posidonius, cuius singulae conversiones idem efficiunt in sole et in luna et in quinque stellis errantibus, quod efficitur in caelo singulis diebus et noctibus’ Cic.N. D.ii 34, 88.

[33]Schmekel, p. 465.

[34]‘in rerum natura elementa sunt quattuor’ Sen.N. Q.iii 12, 3.

[35]See above, §190.

[36]‘ex terra aqua, ex aqua oritur aer, ex aere aether; deinde retrorsum vicissim ex aethere aer, ex aere aqua, ex aqua terra infima. sic naturis his, ex quibus omnia constant, sursum deorsum ultro citro commeantibus, mundi partium coniunctio continetur’ Cic.N. D.ii 32, 84.

[37]‘necesse est ut et imus aether habeat aliquid aeri simile, et summus aer non sit dissimilis imo aetheri, quia non fit statim in diversum ex diverso transitus; paulatim ista in confinio vim suam miscent, ut dubitare possis an aer an hic iam aether sit’ Sen.N. Q.ii 14, 2; cf. iv 10.

[38]Arnim ii 555. But see above, §194, note 20.

[39]‘de naturis autem sic [Zeno] sentiebat, ut in quattuor initiis rerum illis quintam hanc naturam, ex qua superiores sensum et mentem effici rebantur, non adhiberet: statuebat enim ignem esse ipsam naturam quae quidque gigneret, etiam mentem atque sensus.’ Cic.Ac.i 11, 39; cf.Fin.iv 5, 12.

[40]‘sic enim se res habet, ut omnia quae alantur et crescant, contineant in se vim caloris: sine qua neque ali possent neque crescere.’N. D.ii 9, 23 and 24; ‘caloris [natura] vim [habet] in se vitalem, per omnem mundum pertinentem’ib.

[41]‘hic noster ignis, quem usus vitae requirit, confector est et consumptor omnium; contra ille corporeus vitalis et salutaris omnia conservat alit auget sustinet sensuque afficit’ib.ii 15, 41. Cicero is quoting from Cleanthes (fr. 30 P); the teaching of Zeno was the same (fr. 71 B).

[42]τὸ δὲ [πῦρ καὶ] κατ’ ἐξοχὴν στοιχεῖον λέγεσθαι διὰ τὸ ἐξ αὐτοῦ πρώτου τὰ λοιπὰ συνίστασθαι κατὰ μεταβολήν Ar. Did. fr. 21; ‘Stoici ignem, ... unum ex his quattuor elementis, et viventem et sapientem et ipsius mundi fabricatorem ..., eumque omnino ignem deum esse putaverunt’ Aug.Civ. De.viii 5.

[43]‘[ignem] natura sursum vocat; in illo igne purissimo nihil est quod deprimatur’ Sen.N. Q.ii 13, 1 and 2.

[44]οἱ μὲν Στωϊκοὶ τῷ ἀέρι τὸ πρώτως ψυχρὸν ἀποδιδόντες Plut.prim. frig.9, 1; ‘aer frigidus per se et obscurus’ Sen.N. Q.ii 10.

[45]‘ipse vero aer, qui natura est maxime frigidus, minime est expers caloris’ Cic.N. D.ii 10, 26; ‘aer nunquam sine igne est. detrahe illi calorem; rigescet, stabit, durabitur’ Sen.N. Q.iii 10, 4.

[46]‘quid autem est, quod magis credatur ex se ipso habere intentionem quam spiritus?’ Sen.N. Q.ii 8. Aristotle held that air was warm (Arnim ii 431).

[47]‘detrahe [aeri] calorem; transiet in humorem’ Sen.N. Q.iii 10, 4.

[48]‘est aliquid in aqua vitale’ib.v 5, 2.

[49]‘non esse terram sine spiritu palam est ... illo dico vitali et vegeto et alente omnia. hunc nisi haberet, quomodo tot arbustis spiritum infunderet non aliunde viventibus, et tot satis?... totum hoc caelum, ... omnes hae stellae ..., hic tam prope a nobis agens cursum sol ... alimentum ex terra trahunt’ib.vi 16, 1 and 2.

[50]Philod.de irap. 77 Gomp.

[51]‘ex quo concluditur, calidum illud atque igneum in omni fusum esse natura’ Cic.N. D.ii 10, 28.

[52]cap. xi, p. 38D.

[53]Schmekel, pp. 463, 4.

[54]ib.p. 464.

[55]Diog. L. vii 145 and 146; Posidonius is his general authority, but the theory of the solar eclipse he refers to Zeno.

[56]‘[lunae] tenuissimum lumen facit proximus accessus ad solem, digressus autem longissimus quisque plenissimum’ Cic.N. D.ii 19, 50.

[57]Pliny,Nat. hist.ii 21.

[58]Such was the calculation of Posidonius; see Mayor’s note on Cic.N. D.ii 36, 92. The sun’s diameter is in fact three times as large as Posidonius thought.

[59]This explanation has so plausible a sound that it may not be superfluous to remark that it is scientifically valueless.

[60]Cic.N. D.ii 20, 51.

[61]‘persuadent enim mathematici terram in medio mundo sitam ad universi caeli complexum quasi puncti instar obtinere, quod κέντρον illi vocant.’Tusc. disp.i 17, 40.

[62]Diog. L. vii 144 and 145.

[62a]‘ego nostris non adsentior; non enim existimo cometen subitaneum ignem sed inter aeterna opera naturae’N. Q.vii 21, 1.

[63]‘omni terrarum ambitu non semel maior’ Sen.N. Q.vi 16, 2.

[64]Ἡράκλειτος καὶ οἱ Στωϊκοὶ τρέφεσθαι τοὺς ἀστέρας ἐκ τῆς ἐπιγείου ἀναθυμιάσεως Aët.plac.ii 17, 4; ‘[sidera] marinis terrenisque umoribus longo intervallo extenuatis [aluntur]’ Cic.N. D.ii 16, 43; ‘totum hoc caelum ... halitu terrarum [sustinetur]’ Sen.N. Q.vi 16, 2.

[65]Ar. Did. fr. 34; for the text and interpretation see Hirzel, pp. 121, 122.

[66]Aët.plac.ii 14, 1 and 2.

[67]‘solem quoque animantem esse oportet, et quidem reliqua astra, quae oriantur in ardore caelesti, qui aether vel caelum nominatur’ Cic.N. D.ii 15, 41.

[68]Cic.N. D.iii 14, 37.

[69]‘ideo enim, sicut et Posidonius et Cleanthes adfirmant, solis meatus a plaga, quae usta dicitur, non recedit, quia sub ipsa currit Oceanus’ Macrob.Sat.i 23, 2.

[70]‘hac mundi divinitate perspecta tribuenda est sideribus eadem divinitas, quae ex mobilissima purissimaque aetheris parte gignuntur; ... totaque sunt calida atque perlucida, ut ea quoque rectissime animantia esse et sentire atque intellegere dicantur’ Cic.N. D.ii 15, 39.

[71]Sen.Ben.vii 31, 3.

[72]‘Cleanthes ... solem dominari et rerum potiri putat’ Cic.Ac.ii 41, 126.

[73]Diog. L. vii 139.

[74]‘idemque [Zeno] hoc modo: “nullius sensu carentis pars aliqua potest esse sentiens. mundi autem partes sentientes sunt: non igitur caret sensu mundus”’ Cic.N. D.ii 8, 22.

[75]‘quod ratione utitur, id melius est quam id, quod ratione non utitur. nihil autem mundo melius: ratione igitur mundus utitur’ib.8, 21; see also §83.

[76]Diog. L. vii 143; ‘haec ita fieri omnibus inter se concinentibus mundi partibus profecto non possent, nisi ea uno divino et continuato spiritu continerentur’ Cic.N. D.ii 7, 19. This unity of the universe is technically termed συμπάθεια τῶν ὅλων, ‘consentiens conspirans continuata cognatio rerum’ (Cic. as above). It was denied by Panaetius (Schmekel, pp. 191, 192).

[77]‘est ergo in eo virtus: sapiens est igitur et propterea deus’ Cic.N. D.ii 14, 39; ‘quid est autem, cur non existimes in eo divini aliquid existere, qui dei pars est? totum hoc, quo continemur, et unum est et deus; et socii sumus eius et membra’ Sen.Ep.92, 30.

[78]‘From what has been said it follows that the Stoics admitted no essential difference between God and the world. Their system was therefore strictly pantheistic’ Zeller, p. 156.

[79]ὥσπερ δὲ ἡμεῖς ἀπὸ ψυχῆς διοικούμεθα, οὕτω καὶ ὁ κόσμος ψυχὴν ἔχει τὴν συνέχουσαν αὐτόν, καὶ αὔτη καλεῖται Ζεύς Cornutus 2.

[80]Varro Fr. i 27 b (Aug.Civ. De.vii 6).

[81]‘nihil quod animi quodque rationis est expers, id generare ex se potest animantem compotemque rationis’ Cic.N. D.ii 8, 22.

[82]See above, §101.

[83]Diog. L. vii 139.

[84]ib.

[85]See below, chap. xi.

[86]Sext.math.viii 270 (Arnim ii 727).

[87]‘inconsultus illis vanusque cursus est, qualis formicis per arbusta repentibus, quae in summum cacumen, deinde in imum inanes aguntur. his plerique similem vitam agunt, quorum non immerito quis “inquietam inertiam” dixerit’ Sen.Dial.ix 12, 3.

[88]ib.vi 7, 2.

[89]‘quid dicam, quantus amor bestiarum sit in educandis custodiendisque eis, quae procreaverunt, usque ad eum finem, dum possint se ipsa defendere?’ Cic.N. D.ii 51, 129.

[90]‘canum vero tam fida custodia, ... quid significat?’ib.63, 158.

[91]δῆλον ὅτι τὰ μὲν ἕξει διοικεῖται τὰ δὲ φύσει, τὰ δὲ ἀλόγῳ ψυχῇ Plut.virt. mor.12.

[92]τὴν τῆς αἰσθήσεώς τε καὶ ἐξ ἑαυτῆς κινήσεως [αἰτίαν ὀνομάζομεν] ψυχήν Galenadv. Iul.v (Arnim ii 718).

[93]‘omnem naturam necesse est ... habere aliquem in se principatum, ut in homine mentem, in belua quiddam simile mentis’ Cic.N. D.ii 11, 29; ‘ipsum principale parum subtile, parum exactum. capit ergo visus speciesque rerum quibus ad impetus evocetur, sed turbidas et confusas’ Sen.Dial.iii 3, 7 and 8.

[94]‘bestiis [natura] et sensum et motum dedit, et cum quodam appetitu accessum ad res salutares, a pestiferis recessum’ Cic.N. D.ii 12, 34; and so again,ib.47, 122.

[95]‘irasci quidem non magis sciunt quam ignoscere; muta animalia humanis adfectibus carent, habent autem similes illis quosdam impetus’ Sen.Dial.iii 3, 5 and 6.

[96]‘[ira], cum sit inimica rationi, nusquam nascitur, nisi ubi rationi locus est’ib.3, 4.

[97]‘sunt quaedam quae animam habent nec sunt animalia. placet enim satis et arbustis animam inesse; itaque et vivere illa et mori dicimus’ Sen.Ep.58, 10; cf.N. Q.vi 16, 1.

[98]οἱ δὲ Στωϊκοὶ οὐδὲ ψυχὴν ὅλως ὀνομάζουσι τὴν τὰ φυτὰ διοικοῦσαν, ἀλλὰ φύσιν Galende Hipp. et Plut.vi. 561 K (Arnim ii 710). Aristotle had used the term θρεπτικὴ ψυχή in the same sense. So too Cicero: ‘iis quae [gignuntur] e terra natura nihil tribuit amplius quam ut ea alendo atque augendo tueretur’N. D.ii 12, 33.

[99]ib.ii 11, 29.

[100]‘parvula admodum semina ... in tantum convalescunt ut ingentia saxa disturbent et monumenta dissolvant. hoc quid est aliud quam intentio spiritus?’ Sen.N. Q.ii 6, 5; and again ‘quid aliud producit fruges et segetem imbecillam ac virentes exigit umbras ac distendit in ramos quam spiritus intentio et unitas?’ib.ii 6, 6. See also Cic.N. D.ii 32, 81.

[101]Arnim ii 713.

[102]‘quaedam anima carent, ut saxa; itaque erit aliquid animantibus antiquius, corpus scilicet’ Sen.Ep.58, 10.

[103]This use of ἕξις must be kept distinct from that which is contrasted with διάθεσις, ashabitusfromdispositio: see above, §184.

[104]ἑκτικὸν μὲν οὖν ἐστι πνεῦμα τὸ συνέχον τοὺς λίθους Galenintrod. s. med.xiv p. 726 K (Arnim ii 716).

[105]‘[unitas corporum] ad naturam corporis [refert], nulla ope externa, sed unitate sua cohaerentis’ Sen.N. Q.ii 2, 4.

[106]Alex.de mixt.p. 226, 24-30 Bruns (Arnim ii 1048); LucianHermot.81. See above, §186.

[107]This gradation of soul-power is most clearly explained by Varro; ‘idem Varro tres esse adfirmat animae gradus in omni universaque natura; unum qui omnes partes corporis, quae vivunt, transit et non habet sensum sed tantum ad vivendum valetudinem; hanc vim in nostro corpore permanare dicit in ossa ungues capillos, sicut in mundo arbores sine sensu ... crescunt et modo quodam suo vivunt; secundum gradum animae, in quo sensus est; hanc vim pervenire in oculos aures nares os tactum; tertium gradum esse animae summum, quod vocatur animus, in quo intellegentia praeminet; hoc praeter hominem omnes carere mortales’ Aug.Civ. De.vii 23.

[108]Diog. L. vii 141.

[109]‘The heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are therein shall be burned up.’ 2 Peter iii 10.

[110]See above, §196.

[111]The theory of the conflagration appears to have been attached to the Stoic system from without, and the logical contention is obviously weak. For if the upward movement is in excess, the earth should disappear before the water. It should also always be remembered that the fire that finally remains is not the destructive, but a constructive element.

[112]‘ex quo eventurum nostri putant id, ... ut ad extremum omnis mundus ignesceret, cum humore consumpto neque terra ali posset neque remearet aer; cuius ortus, aqua omni exhausta, esse non posset: ita relinqui nihil praeter ignem, a quo rursum animante ac deo renovatio mundi fieret, atque idem ornatus oriretur’ Cic.N. D.ii 46, 118. ‘cum tempus advenerit, quo se mundus renovaturus extinguat, viribus ista se suis caedent et sidera sideribus incurrent et omni flagrante materia uno igne quicquid nunc ex disposito lucet ardebit. nos quoque felices animae atque aeterna sortitae, parva ruinae ingentis accessio, in antiqua elementa vertemur’ Sen.Dial.vi 26, 6.

[113]οὐ ῥητέον ἀποθνῄσκειν τὸν κόσμον Plut.Sto. rep.39, 2.

[114]‘[quaeramus] immortalis sit mundus, an inter caduca et ad tempus nata numerandus’ Sen.Dial.viii 4, 31.

[115]‘Heraclitus after all his speculations on the conflagration of the universe’To himself(Rendall’s transl.), iii 3. Aristotle interpreted Heraclitus in the same way; thus he paraphrases fr. 26 (B), 66 (D); πάντα τὸ πῦρ ἐπελθὸν κρινέει καὶ καταλήψεται as follows: Ἡράκλειτός φησιν ἅπαντα γίγνεσθαί ποτε πῦρMet.xi 10.

[116]See above, §193.

[117]Clem. Al.Strom.v 14 (Arnim ii 590) relying on fr. 20 (B), 30 (D). Philoinc. mund.p. 222, 2 (Arnim ii 620).

[118]Clem. Al. as before, relying on fr. 21 (B), 31a (D); φθαρτὸς μέν [ὁ κόσμος] ὀ κατὰ τὴν διακόσμησιν, Philo as above.

[119]Ar. Did. fr. 29.

[120]Diog. L. vii 142.

[121]Ζήνωνι καὶ Κλεάνθει καὶ Χρυσίππῳ ἀρέσκει τὴν οὐσίαν μεταβάλλειν οἷον εἰς σπέρμα τὸ πῦρ Ar. Did. fr. 36.

[122]See above, §109.

[123]See above, §115. For a full discussion of the motives of this change see Schmekel, pp. 304-318.

[124]‘ita stabilis mundus est atque ita cohaeret ad permanendum, ut nihil ne excogitari quidem possit aptius’ Cic.N. D.ii 45, 115.

[125]‘[mundi partium coniunctio] certe perdiuturna [est,] permanens ad longinquum et immensum paene tempus’ib.33, 85.

[126]‘[Iuppiter,] resoluto mundo et dis in unum confusis paulisper cessante natura adquiescit sibi, cogitationibus suis traditus’ Sen.Ep.9, 16. On the relation of Ζεύς to the ἐκπύρωσις see Alex.de mixt.p. 226, 16 B; Philoinc. mund.c. 14, 15.

[127]‘[conflagratio] fit, cum deo visum ordiri meliora, vetera finiri’N. Q.iii 28, 7.

[128]Zeller, p. 166.

[129]Cic.N. D.ii 20, 51: see also Schmekel, p. 241.

[130]‘veniet iterum, qui nos in lucem reponat dies; quem multi recusarent, nisi oblitos reduceret’ Sen.Ep.36, 10. Socrates and Plato will live again, their friends and fellow citizens will be the same, and they will be again treated as before; Nemes.nat. hom.p. 277 (Arnim ii 625). This theory is plainly not reconcileable with Seneca’s hope of better things (see note 127). See also Hicks,Stoic and Epicurean, pp. 33 sqq.

[131]‘quisquis formator universi fuit, sive ille deus est potens omnium, sive incorporalis ratio ingentium operum artifex, sive divinus spiritus per omnia maxima et minima aequali intentione diffusus, sive fatum et immutabilis causarum inter se cohaerentium series’ Sen.Dial.xii 8, 3.

[132]This chaos the Stoics identified with the watery stage which preceded the creation of earth in the history of the elements: see Pearson on Zeno fr. 112, 113.

[133]Seneca’s writings are penetrated with this conception: ‘hoc universum ... dies aliquis dissipabit et in confusionem veterem tenebrasque demerget’Dial.xi 1, 2; cf.Ep.65, 19.

[134]Δία δ’ αὐτὸν καλοῦμεν, ὅτι δι’ αὐτὸν γίνεται καὶ σώζεται τὰ πάντα Cornutus 2.

[135]‘illo ergo saeculo, quod aureum perhibent, penes sapientes fuisse regnum Posidonius iudicat’ Sen.Ep.90, 5.

[136]Strabo vii 296. See generally Schmekel, pp. 288-290.

[137]Ov.Met.xv 96-142; Schmekel p. 288.

[138]κατ’ ἀρχὰς μὲν οὖν καθ’ αὑτὸν ὄντα [τὸν θεὸν] τρέπειν τὴν πᾶσαν οὐσίαν δι’ ἀέρος εἰς ὕδωρ Diog. L. vii 136.

[139]This stage, at which the whole universe is water, even though the four elements have not yet been created, reflects the popular tradition as to Chaos as in the last section: see Pearson p. 102. For the process of creation as described by Cleanthes see Pearson p. 252.

[140]See above, §178.

[141]καὶ ὥσπερ ἐν τῇ γονῇ τὸ σπέρμα περιέχεται, οὔτω καὶ τοῦτον, σπερματικὸν λόγον ὄντα τοῦ κόσμου ... ἀπογεννᾶν πρῶτον τὰ τέσσαρα στοιχεῖα Diog. L. vii 136.

[142]εἶτα κατὰ μῖξιν τούτων φυτά τε καὶ ζῷα καὶ τὰ ἄλλα γένηib.142.

[143]τὸ μέντοι πρῶτον πῦρ εἶναι καθαπερεί τι σπέρμα, τῶν ἁπάντων ἔχον τοὺς λόγους Arist. apud Euseb.praep. ev.xv (Arnim i 98).

[144]ταύτῃ δὲ πάντα διοικεῖσθαι τὰ κατὰ τὸν κόσμον ὑπέρευ, καθάπερ ἐν εὐνομωτάτῃ τινὶ πολιτείᾳib.

[145]Galende trem.6VII, p. 616 K (Arnim ii 446).

[146]ἁπτόμενον μέτρα καὶ ἀποσβεννύμενον μέτρα Heracl. Fr. 20 (B), 30 (D).

[147]Galende musc.i 7 and 8 (Arnim ii 450).

[148]ἐκπύρωσιν μὲν κατὰ τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ δυναστείαν τῶν ἄλλων ἐπικρατήσαντος, διακόσμησιν δὲ κατὰ τὴν τῶν τεττάρων στοιχείων ἰσονομίαν ἣν ἀντιδιδόασιν ἀλλήλοις Philoan. sac.II242 M (Arnim ii 616).

[149]This concluding section is based upon a note, which was prepared by Mr A. C. Pearson for an edition of Chrysippus now abandoned, and which has been kindly placed by him at my disposal.

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