Quintus Sextius the Elder (; la, Quinti Sextii Patris; fl. c. 50 BC) was a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

philosopher, whose philosophy combined

Pythagoreanism Pythagoreanism originated in the 6th century BC, based on and around the teachings and beliefs held by Pythagoras and his followers, the Pythagoreans. Pythagoras established the first Pythagorean community in the ancient Greek colony of Kroton, ...

with Stoicism. His praises were frequently celebrated by

Seneca Seneca may refer to: People and language * Seneca (name), a list of people with either the given name or surname * Seneca people, one of the six Iroquois tribes of North America ** Seneca language, the language of the Seneca people Places Extrat ...

Life

Sextius was born no later than 70 BC.Epistles of Seneca'' we learn that Sextius, though born of an illustrious family, had declined the office of Senator when offered him by

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, ...

. He also subjected himself to a scrupulous self-examination at the close of each day; and he abstained from animal food, though for different reasons than those ascribed to

Pythagoras Pythagoras of Samos ( grc, Πυθαγόρας ὁ Σάμιος, Pythagóras ho Sámios, Pythagoras the Samian, or simply ; in Ionian Greek; ) was an ancient Ionian Greek philosopher and the eponymous founder of Pythagoreanism. His politi ...

Sextius believed that man had enough sustenance without resorting to blood, and that a habit of cruelty is formed whenever butchery is practised for pleasure.

Sextius' son succeeded him as head of his school. He may be identical with the writer on pharmacology,

Sextius Niger Sextius Niger was a Roman writer on pharmacology during the reign of Augustus or a little later. He may be identical with the son of the philosopher Quintus Sextius, who continued his philosophical teachings. Life and work From Pedanius Dioscor ...

. A ''Xystus Pythagoricus philosophus'' is recorded in

Jerome Jerome (; la, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian priest, confessor, theologian, and historian; he is co ...

's version of the ''Chronicon'' of

Eusebius Eusebius of Caesarea (; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος ; 260/265 – 30 May 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilus (from the grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος τοῦ Παμφίλου), was a Greek historian of Christianity, exegete, and Chris ...

. He is also mentioned by

Plutarch Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for hi ...

, and by the elder Pliny. Seneca writes (c. 65 AD) that the school was extinct.

Work

Seneca delighted much in a work of Sextius, the title of which he does not give, but which he praises, as written with great power:

Ye Gods, what strength and spirit one finds in him! This is not the case with all philosophers; there are some men of illustrious name whose writings are sapless. They lay down rules, they argue, and they quibble; they do not infuse spirit simply because they have no spirit. But when you come to read Sextius you will say: "He is alive; he is strong; he is free; he is more than a man; he fills me with a mighty confidence before I close his book." I shall acknowledge to you the state of mind I am in when I read his works: I want to challenge every hazard; I want to cry: "Why keep me waiting, Fortune? Enter the lists! Behold, I am ready for you!"

It has sometimes been suggested that the extant ''

Sentences of Sextus The ''Sentences of Sextus'', also called the ''Sayings of Sextus'', is a Hellenistic Pythagorean collection of maxims which was popular among Christians and translated into several languages. The identity of the Sextus who originated the collect ...

'' were (in their original form) written by Sextius.Richard M. Gummere, ''Seneca, Epistles 1–65'', p. 412. Loeb Classical Library.

Notes

Bibliography

* Omar Di Paola
''The Philosophical Thought of the School of the Sextii'', in Epekeina, vol. 4, n. 1–2 (2014), pp. 327–339.
* , "Sextiorum nova et Romani roboris secta", ''RFIC'' 31 (1953), 1–26 and 209–234. *

Eduard Zeller Eduard Gottlob Zeller (; 22 January 1814, Kleinbottwar19 March 1908, Stuttgart) was a German philosopher and Protestant theologian of the Tübingen School of theology. He was well known for his writings on Ancient Greek philosophy, especiall ...

, ''Die Philosophie der Griechen'' (1880–1892), T. III, 1, pp. 675–682. {{DEFAULTSORT:Sextius the Elder, Quintus 1st-century BC Romans Neo-Pythagoreans Philosophers of Roman Italy Roman-era Stoic philosophers Sextii

Life

Work

See also

Notes

Bibliography