The Stoic Creed - College of Stoic Philosophers

58 THE STOIC CREED
were carried forward, and, in the process, modified or
transformed. Two names, in particular, have import
ance here namely, Pansetius and his learned successor
Posidonius. These two leaders mark the transition to
the Roman period, for both were greatly instrumental
in the propagation
of Stoicism in the Roman world.
They were both eclectics, and both directly influenced
distinguished Romans, such as Cicero. To Panaetius,
in especial, may roundly be ascribed the merit of having
rendered Stoicism a potent working system. He de
voted his energies to its ethics and shaped its teaching
on "Duties," so as to give a really helpful place to
"indifferent"
things in the formation of character ;
he
endeavoured to rid the system of the incubus of Divina
tion ;
and he expressed advanced views on the existence
of the gods and the theology of the day.
Less marked
in their immediate influence were his disbelief in the
doctrine of the final conflagation and the recurring
world-cycles ; and, conformably with this, his refusal to
allow any personal existence to the individual human
soul after death.
The eclectic movement thus typified in Panaetius
certainly transformed the system, but without discard
ing its basal principles.
Hence issued the Stoicism of the Roman period
which was largely eclectic.
For one thing, Ethics was now pursued with
unflagging energy, and both logic and physics were
thrown into the background. This is seen conspicu
ously in Epictetus and in Sejieca. Not, however,
that physics and logic were absolutely disowned