Panaetius Biography

son of Nicagoras; a Stoic philosopher from Rhodes. At some point he was made a priest of Poseidon Hippios at Lindus. From a noble family, he studied with Crates of Mallus at Pergamum and with the leaders of the Stoic school at Athens, Diogenes of Babylon and his successor Antipater of Tarsus. He moved to Rome in the 140s and became, like Polybius, part of the entourage of Scipio Aemilianus. He accompanied Scipio on a major journey in the eastern Mediterranean (140/139). It is said that he lived alternately in Rome and Athens. In 129 he succeeded Antipater as head of the school. He died in Athens in 109.

Panaetius seems to have been more open to the views of Plato and Aristotle than were many Stoics, and to have questioned the earlier belief in a periodic world-conflagration. Unlike earlier Stoics, he doubted the efficacy of astrology and divination, though he retained a belief in divine providence. It is possible that he made some changes in moral psychology, in the direction of Platonic or Aristotelian dualism. But the evidence on this point is not as clear as for Posidonius. In ethics, he is associated with a more practical emphasis on the moral situation of ordinary men and a reduced emphasis on the morally perfect sage. His account of the virtues also shows signs of revision, but not radical change. Books 1–2 of Cicero's De Officiis were heavily influenced by Panaetius' Peri kathēkontos (‘on duty’). His student Hecaton was influential in ethics.

Brad Inwood