Age I

The son of a wealthy and noble family, Plato (427-347 B.C.) was preparing for a career in politics when the trial and eventual execution of Socrates (399 B.C.) changed the course of his life. He abandoned his political career and turned to philosophy, opening a school on the outskirts of Athens dedicated to the Socratic search for wisdom. Plato’s school, then known as the Academy, was the first university in western history and operated from 387 B.C. until A.D. 529, when it was closed by Justinian. To understand Socrates is the most necessary preliminary to the study of Plato. In his books, Plato modestly puts his wisely maxims into the mouth of his master, and just how much Plato and how much Socrates there is in the “Dialogues,” we will never know. Wouldn’t it have been worth our while to travel miles to see these friends—the one old, bald, short, fat, squint-eyed, barefoot, and the other with all the poise of aristocratic youth—tall, courtly and handsome, wearing his robe with easy, regal grace. And so they have walked and talked down the centuries, side by side, the most perfect example that can be named of that fine affection which often exists between teacher and scholar.

Aristotle is one of the two supporting pillars of Western Philosophy—the other being his teacher, Plato. Aristotle is also important historically as the tutor of Alexander the Great. Aristotle’s legacy to Western Civilization rests on his vast corpus of philosophical writings on ethics, politics, physics, metaphysics, natural science, the arts, and logic. No other philosopher has had a greater or more lasting impact. Aristotle’s combined works could—by themselves—serve as an encyclopedia of Ancient Greek knowledge. As a sidebar, certainly relevant to our interests, Aristotle also became known as the world’s first systematic book collector, amassing over his lifetime a great library. Aristotle conceives the principal concern of ethics to be the well-being of individuals in a society: good actions and virtue being critical to the common good of a state and the well-lived lives of the individuals constituting that state. The studying of ethics is essential to appreciate and control the ways that friendship, pleasure, decency, virtue and honor fit into and play their respective roles in well-ordered societies and the lives of happy individuals. Although Aristotle is indebted to Plato’s general moral philosophy, the systematic development and the focus of Aristotle’s treatises are unprecedented. Throughout these treatises Aristotle insists on the real-life necessity of learning and practicing these good habits. Ethics is a field of philosophy that is not merely theoretical, but essential to put into practice for the sake of happiness and living well.

Marcus Tullius Cicero was a Roman orator and politician who was well-versed in his craft. It all started in 66 B.C. when he was a praetor, called upon to hear cases of extortion. In the same year, he spoke on behalf of the proposal of Gaius Manilius to transfer the command against Mithrates from Lucullus to Pompey and delivered his clever but disingenuous defense of Aulus Cluentius. While this was the only the beginning of his defenses, Cicero became known for indulging in the more violent invective, which, though shocking to a modern reader, it was not offensive to Roman taste. He had mastery of all weapons wielded by a pleader in Rome. He was especially famous for his pathos, and for this reason, when several counsels were employed, Cicero always spoke last (Orat. 130). Shortly after his career began to flourish, Cicero started writing letters (in 68 B.C.) which provided a wholly unique knowledge of Roman life and history. Cicero’s letters are a massively important source of information for the period. It is due to them that the Romans of the day are living figures to us, and that Cicero, in spite of, or rather in virtue of his frailties, is intensely human and sympathetic.

Roman emperor and stoic philosopher, Marcus Aurelius Anotoninus, was an educated and undisputed master of the empire during his reign in history. He was taught, not at school, but by tutors, Heerodes Atticus and M. Cornelius Fronto in the usual curriculum of rhetoric and poetry. However, at the age of eleven, he became acquainted with philosopher, Diognetus. Marcus Aurelius was fascinated by Diognetus’s teachings, leading him to ultimately abandon rhetoric and poetry for philosophy and law. This change of path led Marcus Aurelius to reign the Roman society and charge the atmosphere with the popular Greek philosophy to which, ethics apart, Christianity was diametrically opposed. Additionally, Marcus Aurelius wrote the Meditations which are described as a combination of intellectual memoirs and a series of admonitions addressed by the author to himself on how he should conduct himself throughout life. While the morality of Marcus Aurelius cannot be said to have been new when it was given to the world, its charm lies in its exquisite accent and its infinite tenderness. But above all, what gives the sentences of Marcus Aurelius their enduring value and fascination, and renders them superior to the utterances of Epictetus and Seneca, is that they are the gospel of his life.

Saint Augustine was known for examining several different religions and philosophies throughout his life before focusing on Christianity. This decision made him known as one of the greatest thinkers among early Christian philosophers of the great Roman Empire. Throughout many of his works, Augustine explains and demonstrates that a State is not necessarily evil if it is pervaded by Christian ideals and the God-fearing life. With his profound and articulate Christian perspective, Augustine effectively challenges the views of Classical predecessors such as Cicero and Plato that a State is based merely on mutual self-interest and agreed-upon standards of human justice, bringing the spirit to bear upon intellect and love upon justice. Additionally, Augustine urged Christians to be good citizens even in the Earthly City and imagined not a distinct line between Church and State, but rather a fluid dynamic between the spiritual and the civil. Overall, the character of Augustine, both as a man and as a theologian displayed his enthusiasm, his unceasing search for truth, his affectionate disposition, his ardor, and his self-devotion toward his spiritual convictions.

The Magna Carta was first mentioned in Runnymede, a green meadow south of London along the Thames between Windsor Castle and the town of Staines. It was the thirteenth century, a time to which English legend traces the principle that every man’s home is a castle that even the king may not enter. The rebellious barons of the realm forced a corrupt King John to accept the Magna Carta. As for what the Magna Carta entails, many of the numerous provisions in the body of the charter are concerned with the ancient laws and privileges of the nobles. The Charter of 1215 was the starting point of the constitutional history of the English race, the first link in a long chain of constitutional instruments which have molded men’s minds and held together free governments not only in England but wherever the English race has gone and the English tongue is spoken. As the demand for reform grew, Confirmatio Cartarum fought to secure enforcement of the Magna Carta by declaring judgments given contrary to that document to be void. This method of enforcing its terms recognized Magna Carta as a “higher law,” and made it similar to the Constitution of the United States.