Hellenic Philosophers as Ambassadors to the Roman Empire: performance, parrhesia, and power

Abstract

In this dissertation I will discuss the relationship of philosophers to those in power in terms of their activities as advocates and ambassadors for their communities. Greek philosophy was closely tied with civic activity from the very beginnings of both philosophy and the polis. One of the commonly attested political duties of the ancient Greek philosopher is that of an ambassador representing his city to another community or, under the principate, to Roman officials. An examination of this role will naturally involve many of the issues that scholars have already recognized as important in the study of philosophy and power at this period: the concept of the freedom of speech and frankness (parrhesia) of the true philosopher in the presence of power, the anxiety about proper conduct and philosophical integrity in what is essentially a supplication of a powerful figure—a threat to the dignity and autonomy that a philosopher must always outwardly maintain—and the ongoing debate among philosophers about the proper balance between the active and contemplative life, especially when faced with the political demands of the society around them. The relationship between Greek philosophy and Roman power is also an important theme in this study, and the philosopher-ambassador makes a particularly useful lens for examining this issue. I will focus on four Hellenic philosophers who took on embassies to the Roman state: Carneades, whose spectacular rhetorical displays during his embassy 155 BC were long remembered by the Romans, Philo of Alexandria, who was forced by dire circumstances to take on an embassy to Gaius Caligula on behalf of the Jews in his native city, Plutarch, who spent his life as a Roman elite and a Greek philosopher negotiating between his people and Roman officials, and Themistius, a philosopher of the late imperial period who served ostensibly as an ambassador for the Constantinopolitan senate, but in reality was a representative of the Emperor to the citizenry. A pattern will emerge of a forceful and energetic philosophical advocacy degenerating into impotent panegyric, even as Greek philosophy and philosophers become progressively more powerful and influential in the Imperial government.