9781945186240

Rome precipitated civil war in 49, Pompey led the senatorial resistance. Following his defeat at
the battle of Pharsalus, he fled to Egypt, where he was murdered. (3.3, 8.3; family 8.31)
PYTHAGORAS: Greek mathematician, philosopher, and mystic of the late sixth century
B.C. He founded a religious community in southern Italy whose members were known especially
for their devotion to music and geometry. (6.47; compare 11.27)
RUSTICUS: Quintus Junius Rusticus, twice consul and city prefect of Rome in the mid-
160s. His influence on Marcus is attested by the Historia Augusta, although the reference to him
in 1.17 suggests that their relationship had its ups and downs. (1.7, 1.17)
SATYRON: Unknown, though evidently a contemporary of Marcus. (10.31)
SCIPIO: Either Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus (c. 235–183 B.C.), who defeated
Hannibal in the Second Punic War, or his grandson by adoption, Publius Cornelius Scipio
Aemilianus (185/4–129 B.C.), the conqueror of Carthage in the Third Punic War. (4.33)
SECUNDA: Wife of MAXIMUS. (8.25)
SEVERUS (1): Lucius Catilius Severus, Marcus’s great-grandfather. (1.4)
SEVERUS (2): Gnaeus Claudius Severus Arabianus from Pompeiopolis in Asia Minor,
consul in 146; his son (perhaps the Severus of 10.31) married one of Marcus’s daughters. He was
an adherent of the Peripatetic school, which traced its heritage back to Aristotle. (1.14)
SEXTUS: Sextus of Chaeronea, Stoic philosopher, teacher of both Marcus and Lucius
VERUS, and nephew of the great biographer and antiquarian Plutarch. (1.9)
SILVANUS: Perhaps Lamia Silvanus, a son-in-law of Marcus. (10.31)
SOCRATES: Athenian philosopher (469–399 B.C.), teacher of PLATO. He spent most of his
life in his native city, and served with distinction in the Peloponnesian War against Sparta.
Although associated with several members of the aristocratic junta that ruled Athens after its
defeat in 404, he refused to participate in their atrocities. He was executed by the Athenians on a
charge of impiety following the restoration of democracy; Plato’s Apology purports to give his
speech at the trial. (1.16, 3.3, 3.6, 6.47, 7.19, 7.66, 8.3, 11.23, 11.25, 11.28, 11.39)
SOCRATICUS: Unknown; the comparison with SATYRON does not help identify him.
(10.31)
STERTINIUS: Not certainly identified. Tacitus mentions an army officer of this name in the
reign of Tiberius. But the reference to Baiae (a Roman resort on the Bay of Naples) suggests a
more likely candidate a generation or so later: the wealthy Neapolitan physician Quintus
Stertinius, mentioned by Pliny the Elder (Natural History 29.7). (12.27)
TANDASIS: Philosopher mentioned along with one Marcianus; neither is otherwise known.
Some have suggested a scribe’s error for Basilides, listed among Marcus’s teachers by other
sources. (1.6)
TELAUGES: Apparently a lesser disciple of SOCRATES, unless the reference is to the son
of PYTHAGORAS by this name. (7.66)
THEODOTUS: Unknown, but he and BENEDICTA were most likely household slaves.
(1.17)
THEOPHRASTUS: Philosopher (c. 371–c. 287 B.C.) who succeeded Aristotle as head of the
Peripatetic school. (2.10)
THRASEA: Publius Clodius Thrasea Paetus (d. 66), Roman aristocrat (consul 56) and
father-in-law of HELVIDIUS Priscus. His opposition to the regime of NERO (by whom he was
eventually forced to commit suicide) was informed by Stoic philosophy and in particular by the
example of the younger CATO (2), of whom he wrote a biography. (1.14)
TIBERIUS: Roman emperor (14–37) who succeeded AUGUSTUS. Late in his reign he
withdrew to a private estate on the island of Capri; his alleged excesses there are recorded in the