Between Heathenism and Christianity - College of Stoic Philosophers
Between Heathenism and Christianity - College of Stoic Philosophers
Between Heathenism and Christianity - College of Stoic Philosophers
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Plutarch <strong>and</strong> the Greece <strong>of</strong> His Age<br />
the written law that binds prince <strong>and</strong> people alike,<br />
but also that unwritten law that reason has implanted<br />
in the soul <strong>of</strong> every man <strong>of</strong> sound mind. Rulers are<br />
in a sense the servants <strong>of</strong> God whose duty<br />
it is to ap<br />
portion rewards <strong>and</strong><br />
punishments according<br />
deserts, to all that are under their authority.<br />
to their<br />
After all, man s first <strong>and</strong> chief duty<br />
is to himself.<br />
His quest for light, for knowledge, for truth is never to<br />
be intermitted. He is to take his bearings, as it were,<br />
frequently, in order to see what progress he is<br />
making. If his aims are noble, his purposes<br />
right, <strong>and</strong> his motives pure, he will not only<br />
make daily progress in virtue, but when he is<br />
called to leave this world he can depart in peace be<br />
cause he will have the consciousness that it is the<br />
better for his having lived in it.<br />
Having thus given a short sketch <strong>of</strong> Plutarch as a<br />
man <strong>and</strong> a citizen let us proceed to examine briefly<br />
the times in which he lived as supplementary to what<br />
has already been said under this general head in<br />
treating<br />
his country?<br />
<strong>of</strong> Seneca. "What had Roman rule done for<br />
What was the social <strong>and</strong> economic con<br />
dition <strong>of</strong> Greece <strong>and</strong> Greek l<strong>and</strong>s in the first century<br />
<strong>of</strong> the Christian era? Unfortunately our information<br />
on these points is exceedingly scanty. In fact, po<br />
litical economy is a recent science; in ancient times<br />
the lot <strong>of</strong> the poor was little taken note <strong>of</strong>. It was<br />
everywhere a hard one, <strong>and</strong> the care <strong>of</strong> the indigent,<br />
so much insisted on in the New Testament, is almost<br />
the first sign <strong>of</strong> an awakening in this respect. But<br />
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