TIMELINE OF THE STOICS AND THE GRAECO-ROMAN WORLD

Boldface indicates either philosophers who were a universal influence on all Stoics afterward or a Stoic person/place/event.

BC
535–475	Life of Heraclitus of Ephesus (influenced all the early Stoics)
490	First Persian invasion of Greece and the Battle of Marathon
470	Birth of Socrates outside the walls of Athens
450s	Completion of the Stoa Poikilē, the famous “painted porch” on the Athenian agora
430	Birth of Xenophon of Athens, student of Socrates
412	Birth of Diogenes of Sinope, founder with Antisthenes and Crates of Thebes of the Cynic school
399	Trial and execution of Socrates in Athens
387	Plato founds the Academy in Athens
384	Birth of Aristotle in Stagira, Chalkidiki
382	Birth of Antigonus the One-Eyed in Elimiotis, Macedonia
371	Birth of Theophrastus, successor to Aristotle, in Eresos, Lesbos
365	Birth of Crates of Thebes, Cynic student of Diogenes of Sinope
360	Birth of Stilpo of Megara
356	Birth of Alexander the Great in Pella, Macedonia
354	Death of Xenophon, whose book on Socrates would convert Zeno to philosophy
347	Aristotle establishes first school in Assos
343	Aristotle appointed tutor of the young Alexander the Great
336	Philip II of Macedon murdered; Alexander succeeds him
335	Aristotle founds the Lyceum in Athens
334	Birth of Zeno, founding scholarch (official head) of the Stoa, in Kition, Cyprus
333	Alexander liberates Cyprus from Persian rule
330	Birth of Cleanthes, the second scholarch of the Stoa, in Assos
323	Death of Alexander and start of the Wars of Succession Death of Diogenes of Sinope in Corinth
323–322	Aristotle departs Athens for Chalcis, Euboea, where he dies in 322; Theophrastus succeeds him as head of the Lyceum
312	Zeno arrives in Athens following a shipwreck (following Persaeus’s account “at age twenty-two”) Kition’s last king, Pumathion, killed by Ptolemy I
306	Epicurus founds his school in Athens Demetrius the Besieger takes Cyprus from Ptolemy I; declares his father, Antigonus the One-Eyed, king Birth of Persaeus of Kition, student, roommate, and personal secretary to Zeno Birth of Aristo of Chios
305–304	Demetrius besieges Rhodes
301	Death of Antigonus the One-Eyed at the Battle of Ipsus, Phrygia Zeno begins teaching at the Stoa Poikilē
279	Birth of Chrysippus, the third scholarch of the Stoa, in Soli, Cilicia Gauls invade Macedonia, desecrating the royal tombs, killing Karaunos; aborted invasion of Greece
278	Antigonus II Gonatas and Antiochus I reach treaty creating Europe/Asia division
276	Antigonus II reestablished as king of Macedonia Zeno of Kition and Aratus of Soli invited to Antigonus’s court in Pella Ptolemy II defeated by Antiochus I in Syria
272	Victories by Ptolemy II in southern Anatolia
264	Arcesilaus succeeds as sixth head of the Academy, and is a primary skeptical opponent of the early Stoics Antigonus II puts Athens under siege (until 262)
262	Death of Zeno, the founding scholarch of Stoicism, in Athens; succeeded by Cleanthes
261	Antigonus II defeats the navy of Ptolemy II at the Battle of Cos
256–253	Antigonus II restores Athenian autonomy, pulling his garrison out of Athens
245	Ptolemy III Euergetes appoints Eratosthenes, who studied with Zeno and Aristo, to head of the Library of Alexandria and as tutor to Ptolemy IV Philopator
243	Death of Zeno’s student and roommate Persaeus at battle with Aratus in Corinth
239	Death of Antigonus II Seleucus defeated by Antiochus Hierax, retreating to Cilicia
235	Sphaerus joins the court of Cleomenes, king of Sparta
230	Death of Cleanthes in Athens; succeeded by Chrysippus Birth of Diogenes in Seleucia on the Tigris in Babylon; he would become the fifth scholarch of the Stoa
226	A great quake topples the Colossus of Rhodes
222	Cleomenes III defeated by Antigonus III Doson, escapes to Egypt Death of Ptolemy III; accession of Ptolemy IV Philopator Sphaerus follows Cleomenes to Alexandria by invitation of Philopator
214	Carneades, the great Academic skeptic, born in Cyrene (modern-day Libya)
206	Death of Chrysippus in Athens; Zeno of Tarsus succeeds him as fourth scholarch of the Stoa
185	Birth of Panaetius in Rhodes, who would become the seventh and last scholarch of the Stoa
168	Romans defeat Perseus of Macedon, last of the Antigonids, in the Third Macedonian War, occupying Greece and Macedon Crates of Mallus, a Stoic teacher and head of the Library of Pergamum, is sent by the Attalid king (allies of Rome) on a mission to Rome
158	Birth of Publius Rutilius Rufus
155	Greek philosophy comes to Rome when Athens sends ambassadors from the major schools—Carneades (Academy head), Critolaus (Lyceum head), and Diogenes (Stoa head)—to appeal imposed fine
149–146	Scipio’s siege of Carthage
144	Panaetius goes to Rome
142	Death of Diogenes of Babylon; succeeded by Antipater of Tarsus, sixth scholarch of the Stoa
140–138	Panaetius joins Scipio Aemilianus in his mission to the East
140	Archedemus of Tarsus founds a Stoic school in Babylon
138	Rutilius Rufus studies with Panaetius in Rome
135	Birth of Posidonius, the great polymath and disciple of Panaetius, in Apamea, Syria
133	Attalid dynasty cedes all territory to Rome Death of Tiberius Gracchus and trial of Gaius Blossius, student and friend of Antipater of Tarsus
129	Death of Antipater of Tarsus; succeeded by Panaetius in Athens Death of Scipio Aemilianus (Scipionic Circle) Gaius Blossius commits suicide after participating in Aristonicus’s failed utopian coup against Rome in Pergamum (132–129) Death of Carneades, head of the Academy
110	Epicurean philosopher Philodemus born in Gadara, Syria
109	Death of Panaetius in Athens; end of scholarchy, rival teachers carry on Stoic teachings
106	Birth of Cicero
100	Diotimus forges letters of Epicurus
95	Birth of Cato the Younger
88–86	Beginning of First Mithridatic War; Sulla’s siege of Athens, scattering of the major schools. Philo of Larissa becomes Cicero’s teacher in Rome.
86	Cicero’s first book, De Inventione (On Rhetorical Invention), completed
79	Cicero visits Rhodes, where he first studies with Posidonius
78	Cicero visits Rutilius Rufus in Smyrna; Rutilius dies not long after
74	Birth of Athenodorus Cananites near Tarsus, Cilicia, a Stoic teacher of Octavian
70	Birth of Porcia Cato Birth of Arius Didymus?
60	Stoic teacher Diodotus dies in Cicero’s home, leaving him his estate
56	Cicero completes De Oratore (On Oratory)
55	Cicero “feasts on the library of Faustus Sulla” near his villa in Cumae, part of the war booty of Sulla’s siege of Athens, containing the library of Aristotle among other works
54	Cicero begins De Re Publica (On the Republic); publishes in 51 BC
51	Death of Posidonius; Cicero begins De Legibus (On Laws)
46	Death of Cato by suicide in Utica, Carthage; Cicero and Brutus write eulogies; Cicero writes Stoic Paradoxes
45	Cicero writes Consolation to Himself and Hortensius: An Exhortation to Philosophy (now lost), Academica, and On Moral Ends
45–44	Cicero writes Tusculan Disputations and On the Nature of the Gods
44	Cicero writes Cato Maior (On Old Age), On Divination, On Fate, On Reputation, Topica, Laelius (On Friendship), and On Duties (his last book) Athenodorus Cananites comes to Rome with young Octavian
43	Death of Cicero by order of Mark Antony
40/35	Philodemus dies in Herculaneum, leaving his library at the Villa of Piso
31	Octavian defeats Mark Antony and Cleopatra at Actium
30	Octavian enters Alexandria with Arius Didymus
27	Octavian becomes Augustus, the first Roman emperor
c. 4	Birth of Seneca in Corduba (modern Córdoba) in southern Spain

AD
10	Death of Arius Didymus
c. 20	Birth of Gaius Musonius Rufus in Volsinii, Etruria
c. 35	Birth of Euphrates of Tyre
37	Death of Tiberius, succession of Caligula Birth of Nero
c. 40	Birth of Dio Chrysostom in Prusa, Bithynia
41	Death of Caligula; succeeded by Claudius Seneca exiled to Corsica by Claudius
49	Seneca recalled from Corsica to tutor Nero
50	Cornutus begins teaching in Rome, students include Lucan and Persius
c. 52	Saint Paul appears in court before Seneca’s brother Gallio (Acts 18:12–17) Before or after this date, Paul gives his sermon on “Mars Hill” (Areopagus) in which he refers to Cleanthes’s Hymn to Zeus
54	Death of Claudius; succeeded by Nero
55	Birth of Epictetus in Hierapolis, Phrygia
60–62	Gaius Rubellius Plautus sent to exile in Syria by Nero, accompanied by Musonius Rufus
61	Birth of Pliny the Younger in Como, Italy
62	Plautus executed in Syria by Nero’s troops; Musonius Rufus returns to Rome
62–65	Seneca retreats from court life and begins his last flurry of writing, including his Moral Letters to Lucilius
64	Great Fire of Rome
65	Seneca commits suicide under the order of Nero
65–68	Musonius Rufus banished by Nero to the island of Gyara
66	Death of Thrasea Paetus
68–69	Nero commits suicide with the assistance of Epaphroditus; succeeded by Galba Musonius Rufus returns to Rome under Galba
69	Year of the Four Emperors; Vespasian consolidates power
71	Vespasian banishes all philosophers from Rome except for Musonius Rufus for a time
75	Vespasian exiles and murders Helvidius Priscus; Musonius Rufus returns to Syria
78	Musonius Rufus returns to Rome with the support of Titus
79	Death of Vespasian; succeeded by Titus Eruption of Vesuvius, witnessed by an eighteen-year-old Pliny the Younger
81	Death of Titus; succeeded by Domitian Pliny the Younger serves as staff officer to the Gallic Third Legion in Syria, writes about his time with Euphrates there later
85	Epictetus, already studying with Musonius Rufus, is freed by Epaphroditus, Nero’s personal secretary; starts his own school in Rome
86	Birth of Arrian, historian and Stoic student of Epictetus who recorded his teachings, in Nicomedia, Bithynia
93	Domitian banishes philosophers from Rome, including Epictetus, who moves his school to Nicopolis
95	Domitian murders Epaphroditus for his role in Nero’s death
96	Death of Domitian; succeeded by Nerva
98	Death of Nerva; succeeded by Trajan
100	Birth of Junius Rusticus, grandson of Arulenus Rusticus, and Stoic mentor of Marcus Aurelius
101	Death of Musonius Rufus?
107–11	Arrian attends Epictetus’s lectures in Nicopolis and records them in what will become the Discourses and Handbook
112/3	Death of Pliny the Younger in Bithynia
117	Death of Trajan; succeeded by Hadrian
118	Euphrates of Tyre commits suicide by drinking hemlock, with Hadrian’s blessing
120	Hierocles flourishes, composing his Circles around this time
121	Birth of Marcus Aurelius in Rome on April 26
135	Death of Epictetus
131–37	Arrian appointed governor of Cappadocia by Hadrian
138	Death of Hadrian; succeeded by Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius’s adoptive father
161	Death of Antoninus Pius; succeeded by Marcus Aurelius
165	Execution of Justin Martyr by judgment of Junius Rusticus
170	Death of Junius Rusticus
176	Marcus Aurelius reestablishes the four chairs of philosophy in Athens
180	Death of Marcus Aurelius in Vindabona on March 17
197	Tertullian writes positively in Carthage about Cleanthes’s theology and Marcus Aurelius’s being “a protector” of Christians in his Apologetics
c. 200	Sextus Empiricus and Alexander of Aphrodisias write polemics against Stoicism Clement of Alexandria writes about Stoic philosophical positions in his Stromata Diogenes Laërtius begins the studies that will produce his Lives of the Eminent Philosophers