<Article>The Philosophic Opposition under the Early Principate

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  • <論説>ローマ皇帝の哲学者弾圧について
  • ローマ皇帝の哲学者弾圧について
  • ローマ コウテイ ノ テツガクシャ ダンアツ ニ ツイテ

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Abstract

In the latter half of the first century, some Roman emperors persecuted philosophers because of their opposition. Especially the Emperor Nero persecuted Thrasea Paetus and Vespasian put to death Helvidius Priscus. The historian Tacitus called Thrasea and Helvidius champions of liberty, so some scholars regard them as republicans. But others consider that their opposition originated not from republicanism but from their own philosophic creed, Stoicism. In this paper we examine this opposition and persecution which scholars call the Philosophic Opposition. Our re-examination of historical sources shows us that their aim of opposition against emperors wasn't the overthrow of the Principate and that the opposition didn't necessarily originate from the Stoicism. We may infer that it was caused by a sort of conservatism originated from the rise of the new elite of the Roman Empire.

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  • 史林

    史林 67 (1), 76-107, 1984-01-01

    THE SHIGAKU KENKYUKAI (The Society of Historical Research), Kyoto University

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