Stoicism - College of Stoic Philosophers

PROFESSIONAL MORALISTS AT ROME.I19appearance, he quitted his seat, and stood aloof tillhe was summoned to return thanks for the repast,from a great part of which he had been excluded.The nature of the matrimonial connections which theclergymen of that age were in the habit of formingisthe most certain indication of the place which theorder held in the social system. A waiting-maid wasgenerally considered as the most suitable helpmatefor a parson. During several generations the relationsbetween priests and handmaidens were a theme forendless jest; nor would it be easy to find, in thecomedy of the seventeenth century, a single instanceof a clergyman who wins a spouse above the rank ofa cook.iBut there is evidence enough that many of the professionalmoralists at Rome enjoyed a reputation fartoo high to be exposed to so contumelious a treatmentas that which Lucian pictures. Such was MusoniusRufus, for example, who moved with perfect dignityin the highest social circles, won the respect of allwho heard him lecture, and left affectionate memoriesin the minds of men of different type, like Epictetusand the younger Pliny. So commanding was his influenceover the young nobles of his time, that Nero,whose jealous fears were roused, resolved to silencehis persuasive voice. As no charges of disloyaltycould be made good againsthim, after months spentin prison, he was banished to the bare rocks of Gyara,where it was thought he would at least be harmless.'Macaulay, Hist. i. 327.