Between Heathenism and Christianity - College of Stoic Philosophers

Seneca: His Character and Environment
or threats on the part of I IK- subject. Generally
speaking, the empire was more lenient than the re
public because the emperors needed the support of
the mass of their subjects against
the turbulent and
avaricious nobility. The spirit of altruism that is
such a powerful force in our day is of very modern
growth. It was introduced into the world by Chris
tianity, but its development was not rapid.
Sociology
as a scientific term is but little older than the present
generation; nor does the study of political economy
as a science extend far into the last century. That
remarkable people, the Jews, have from time imme
morial recognized the claims of a brother in the faith,
upon every other, for aid and sympathy. Their vol
untary contributions for the maintenance of the tem
ple at Jerusalem and its ritual, no matter how widely
scattered they might be, is the earliest indication of a
spirit of altruism, the recognition of an obligation that
was coextensive with the faith. The Jews, however,
made but a faint impression upon the thought of an
tiquity.
This is evident from the way they are treated
They were per
by Greek writers without exception.
haps never more numerous or more influential than
during the last two or three centuries B. c. and the first
century after Christ, until the destruction of Jerusa
lem. Yet Plutarch, who was the most widely read
man of his time, and who might easily have obtained
his knowledge of their doctrines almost at first
hand from the
Septuagint, does not show in a single
line that he ever thought this knowledge worth the