Socrates
considered
tions; the senses are the only avenues of know-
happiness (i.
happiness (i.
William Smith - 1844 - Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities - a
[Alexius Aris- citizen.
He married early, and began at the same
TENUS. ]
time to teach philosophy, which he did with great
ARISTEUS('Aploteús), or ARISTEAS('Apo- success at Messene and Larissa. On returning to
téas, Herod. ). 1. A Corinthian, son of Adeimantus, Athens with a considerable fortune, he was named
commanded the troops sent by Corinth to maintain ambassador to Mithridates, king of Pontus, then
Potidaea in its revolt, B. C. 432. With Potidaea at war with Rome, and became one of the most
he was connected, and of the troops the greater intimate friends and counsellors of that monarch.
duinber were volunteers, serving chiefly from at- His letters to Athens represented the power of bis
tachment to him. Appointed on his arrival com- patron in such glowing colours, that his country.
mander-in-chief of the allied infantry, he encoun- men began to conceive hopes of throwing off the
tered the Athenian Callias, but was outmanæuvred Roman yoke. Mithridates then sent him to
and defeated. With his own division he was suc-Athens, where he soon contrived, through the
cessful, and with it on returning from the pursuit king's patronage, to assume the tyranny. His go-
he found himself cut off, but by a bold course made vernment seems to have been of the most cruel chair
## p. 298 (#318) ############################################
298
ARISTIPPUS.
ARISTIPPUS.
racter, so that he is spoken of with abhorrence by for the purpose (Plut. de Curios. 2), and remained
Plutarch (Praecept. ger. Reip. p. 809), and classed with him almost up to the time of his execution,
by him with Nabis and Catiline. He sent Apelli- B. c. 399. Diodorus (xv. 76) gives B. C. 366 as
con of Teos to plunder the sacred treasury of Delos, the date of Aristippus, which agrees very well with
[APELLICON), though Appian (Mithrid. p. 189) | the facts which we know about him, and with the
says, that this had already been done for him by statement (Schol. ad Aristoph. Plui. 179), that
Mithridates, and adds, that it was by means of the Lais, the courtezan with whom he was intimate,
inoney resulting from this robbery that Aristion was was born B. C. 421.
enabled to obtain the supreme power. Meantime Though a disciple of Socrates, he wandered both
Sulla landed in Greece, and immediately laid siege in principle and practice very far from the teaching
to Athens and the Peiraeus, the latter which was and example of his great master. He was luxuri-
occupied by Archelaus, the general of Mithridates. ous in his mode of living; he indulged in sensual
The sufferings within the city from fainine were so gratifications, and the society of the notorious
dreadful, that men are said to have even devoured Lais ; he took money for his teaching (being the
the dead bodies of their companions. At last first of the disciples of Socrates who did so, Diog.
Athens was taken by storm, and Sulla gave orders Laërt. ii. 65), and avowed to his instructor that he
to spare neither sex nor age. Aristion fied to the resided in a foreign land in order to escape the
Acropolis, having first burnt the Odeum, lest Sulla trouble of mixing in the politics of his native city.
should use the wood-work of that building for (Xen. Mem. ii. i. ) He passed part of his life at
battering-rams and other instruments of attack. the court of Dionysius, tyrant of Syracusc, and is
The Acropolis, however, was boon taken, and also said to have been taken prisoner by Arta-
Aristion dragged to execution from the altar of phernes, the satrap who drove the Spartans from
Minerva. To the divine vengeance for this im- Rhodes B. C. 396. (Diod. Sic. xiv. 79 ; see Brucker,
piety Pausanias (i. 20. § 4) attributes the loath- Hist. Crit. Phil. ii. 2, 3. ) He appears, however, at
some disease which afterwards terminated Sulla's last to have returned to Cyrene, and there he spent
life.
[G. E. L. C. ) his old age. The anecdotes which are told of him,
ARI'STION ('Apiotiww), a surgeon, probably and of which we find a most tedious number in
belonging to the Alexandrian school, was the son Diogenes Laërtius (ii. 65, &c. ), by no means give
of Pasicrates," who belonged to the same profes us the notion of a person who was the mere slave
sion. (Oribas. De Machinam. cc. 24, 26. pp. 180, of his passions, but rather of one who took a pride
183. ) Nothing is known of the events of his in extracting enjoyment from all circumstances of
life; with respect to his date, he may be conjec- every kind, and in controlling adversity and pros-
tured to have lived in the second or first century perity alike. They illustrate and confirm the two
B. C. , as he lived after Nymphodorus (Oribas. ibid. statements of Horace (Ep. i. 1. 18), that to observe
p. 180), and before Heliodorus (p. 161). (W. A. G. ] the precepts of Aristippus is “ mihi res, non me
ARISTIPPUS ('AplotITTOS). 1. Of Larissa, rebus subjungere," and (i. 17. 23) that, “ omnis
in Thessaly, an Aleuad, received lessons from Aristippum decuit color et status et res. ” Thus
Gorgias when he visited Thessaly. Aristippus ob- when reproached for his love of bodily indulgences,
tained money and troops from the younger Cyrus he answered, that there was no shame in enjoying
to resist a faction opposed to him, and placed them, but that it would be disgraceful if he could
Menon, with whom he lived in a disreputable not at any time give them up. When Dionysius,
manner, over these forces. (Xen. Anal. i. l. s provoked at some of his remarks, ordered him to
10, ii. 6. & 28 ; Plat. Menon, init. )
take the lowest place at table, he said, “ You
2. An Argive, who obtained the supreme power wish to dignify the seat. ” Whether he was pri-
at Argos through the aid of Antigonus Gonatas, soner to a satrap, or grossly insulted and eren spit
about B. C. 272. (Plut. Pyrrh. 30. )
upon by a tyrant, or enjoying the pleasures of a
3. An Argive, a different person from the banquet, or reviled for faithlessness io Socrates by
preceding, who also became tyrant of Argos after his fellow-pupils, he maintained the same calm
the murder of Aristomachus I. , in the time of temper. To Xenophon and Platn he was very ob
Aratus. He is described by Plutarch as a perfect noxious, as we see from the Memorabilia (l. c. ),
tyrant in our sense of the word. Aratus made where he maintains an odious discussion against
many attempts to deprive him of the tyranny, but Socrates in defence of voluptuous enjoyment, and
at first without success ; but Aristippus at length from the Phaedo (p. 59, c), where his absence
fell in a battle against Aratus, and was succeeded at the death of Socrates, though he was only at
in the tyranny by Aristomachus II. (Plut. Arat. Aegina, 200 stadia from Athens, is doubtless men-
25, &c. )
tioned as a reproach. (See Stallbaum's note. )
ARISTI'US FUSCUS. [Fuscus. )
Aristotle, too, calls him a sophist (Metaphys. ii.
ARISTIPPUS ('Apio TITTOS), son of Aritades, 2), and notices a story of Plato speaking to him
born at Cyrene, and founder of the Cyrenaic with rather undue vehemence, and of his replying
School of Philosophy, came over to Greece to be with calmness. (Rhet. ii. 23. ) He imparted his
present at the Olympic games, where he fell in doctrine to his daughter Arete, by whom it was
with Ischomachus the agriculturist (whose praises communicated to her son, the younger Aristippus
are the subject of Xenophon's Oeconomicus), and (hence called unt podidaktos), and by hiin it is
by his description was filled with so ardent a said to have been reduced to a system. Laërtius,
desire to see Socrates, that he went to Athens on the authority of Sotion (B. C. 205) and Panae-
lius (B. C. 143), gives a long list of books whose
* In the extract from Oribasius, given by A. authorship is ascribed to Aristippus, though he also
Mai in the fourth volume of his Classici Autores says that Sosicrates of Rhodes (B. C. 255) states,
e Vaticanis Codicibus Editi, Rom. 8vo. , 1831, we that he wrote nothing. Among these are treatises
should read υιόν instead of πατέρα in p. 152, 1. 23, Περί Παιδείας, Περί 'Αρετής, Περί Τύχης, and
and 'Apotiw instead of 'Apriww in p. 158, 1. 10. many others. Some epistles attributed to him are
## p. 299 (#319) ############################################
ARISTIPPUS.
299
ARISTIPPUS.
deservedly rejected as forgeries by Bentley. (Dis | sure and what pain. Both are positive, i. e. plea-
sertation on Phalaris, &c. p. 104. ) One of these is sure is not the gratification of a want, nor does
to Arete, and its spuriousnese is proved, among the absence of pleasure equal pain. The absence
other arguments, by the occurrence in it of the of either is a mere negative inactive state, and
name of a city near Cyrene, Bepevian, which must both pleasure and pain are motions of the soul (iv
have been given by the Macedonians, in whose RIVNOEL). Pain was defined to be a violent, plea-
dialect 8 stands for , so that the name is equiva- sure a moderate motion,--the first being compared
lent to peperinn, the victorious.
to the sea in a storm, the second to the sea under
We shall now give a short view of the leading a light breeze, the intermediate state of no-pleasure
doctrines of the earlier Cyrenaic school in gene- and no-pain to a calma simile not quite apposite,
ral, though it is not to be understood that the since a calm is not the middle state between a
system was wholly or even chiefly drawn up by storm and a gentle breeze. In this denial of
the elder Aristippus; but, as it is impossible from pleasure as a state of rest, we find Aristippus
the loss of contemporary documents to separate again opposed to Epicurus.
the parts which belong to each of the Cyrenaic 3. Actions are in themselves morally indifferent,
philosophers, it is better here to combine them all. the only question for us to consider being their
From the fact pointed out by Ritter (Geschichte der result; and law and custom are the only authori-
Philosophie, vii
. 3), that Aristotle chooses Eudoxus ties which make an action good or bad. This
rather than Aristippus as the representative of the monstrous dogma was a little qualified by the
doctrine that Pleasure is the summum bonum (Eth. statement, that the advantages of injustice are
Nic. x. 2), it seems probable that but little of the slight; but we cannot agree with Brucker (Hist.
Cyrenaic system is due to the founder of the Crit
. ii. 2), that it is not clear whether the Cyre-
school. *
naics meant the law of nature or of men. For
The Cyrenaics despised Physics, and limited their Laërtius says expressly, ó opoudaios oudev TOTOV
inquiries to Ethics, though they included under πράξει δια τας επικείμενας ζημίας και δόξας, and
that term a much wider range of science than can to suppose a law of nature would be to destroy
fairly be reckoned as belonging to it. So, too, the whole Cyrenaic system. Whatever conduces
Aristotle accuses Aristippus of neglecting mathe- to pleasure, is virtue--a definition which of course
matics, as a study not concerned with good and includes bodily exercise ; but they seem to have
evil, which, he said, are the objects even of the conceded to Socrates, that the mind has the great-
carpenter and tanner. (Metaphys. ii
. 2. ) They est share in virtue. We are told that they pre-
divided Philosophy into five parts, viz. the study ferred bodily to mental pleasure ; but this state-
of (1) Objects of Desire and Aversion, (2) Feel- ment must be qualified, as they did not even confine
ings and Affections, (3) Actions, (4) Causes, their pleasures to selfish gratification, but admitted
(5) Proofs. Of these (4) is clearly connected with the welfare of the state as a legitimate source of
physics, and (5) with logic.
happiness, and bodily pleasure itself they ralued
1. The first of the five divisions of science is for the sake of the mental state resulting from it.
the only one in which the Cyrenaic view is con- 4. There is no universality in human concep-
nected with the Socratic.
Socrates considered tions; the senses are the only avenues of know-
happiness (i. e. the enjoyment of a well-ordered ledge, and even these admit a very limited range
mind) to be the aim of all men, and Aristippus, of information. For the Cyrenaics said, that men
taking up this position, pronounced pleasure the could agree neither in judgments nor notions,
chief good, and pain the chief evil; in proof of in nothing, in fact, but names. We have all
which he referred to the natural feelings of men, certain sensations, which we call white or sweet ;
children, and animals; but he wished the mind to but whether the sensation which A calls white is
preserve its authority in the midst of pleasure. I similar to that which В calls by that name, we
Desire he could not admit into his system, as it cannot tell; for by the common term white every
subjects men to hope and fear: the véros of hu- man denotes a distinct object. Of the causes
man life was momentary pleasure (uovóxpovos, which produce these sensations we are quite igno-
pepinn). For the Present only is ours, the Past is rant; and from all this we come to the doctrine of
gone, and the Future uncertain ; present happiness modern philological metaphysics, that truth is
therefore is to be sought, and not eüiamuovia, what each man troweth. All states of mind are
which is only the sum of a number of happy states, motions; nothing exists but states of mind, and
just as he considered life in general the sum of they are not the same to all men. True wisdoni
particular states of the soul. In this point the consists therefore in transforming disagrecable into
Cyrenaics were opposed to the Epicureans. All agreeable sensations.
pleasures were held equal, though they might ad- 5. As to the Cyrenaic doctrine of proofs, no
init of a difference in the degree of their purity. evidence remains.
So that a man ought never to covet more than he In many of these opinions we recognize the
possesses, and should never allow himself to be happy, careless, selfish disposition which charac-
overcome by sensual enjoyment. It is plain that, terized their author; and the system resembles in
even with these concessions, the Cyrenaic system most points those of Heracleitus and Protagoras,
destroys all moral unity, by proposing to a man as as given in Plato's Theaetetus. The doctrines
many separate Téan as his life contains moments. that a subject only knows objects through the
2. The next point is to determine what is plea- prism of the impression which he receives, and
ihat man is the measure of all things, are stated
* Ritter believes that Aristippus is hinted at or implied in the Cyrenaic system, and lead at
(Eth. Nic. x. 6), where Aristotle refutes the opi- once to the consequence, that what we call reality
nion, that happiness consists in amusement, and is appearance; so that the whole fabric of human
speaks of persons holding such a dogma in order knowledge becomes a fantastic picture. The prin-
to recommend themselves to the favour of tyrants. ciple on which all this rests, viz. that knowledge
## p. 300 (#320) ############################################
300
ARISTOBULUS.
ARISTOBULUS.
ja sensation, is the foundation of Locke's modem position of his work. Aristobulus lived to the ago
ideology, though he did not perceive its connexion of ninety, and did not begin to write his history
with the consequences to which it led the Cyre- till he was eighty-four. (Lucian, Mucrob. 2. 2. )
naics. To revive these was reserved for Hume. His work is also frequently referred to by Athe-
The ancient authorities on this subject are Dio naeus ( ii. p. 43, d. vi. p. 251, a. x. p. 431, d. xii.
genes Laërtius, ii. 65, &c. ; Sextus Empiricus, adr. pp. 513, f. 530, b. ), Plutarch (Aler. cc. 15, 16,
Math. vii. 11 ; the places in Xenophon and Aris | 18, 21, 46, 75), and Strabo (xi. pp. 509, 518,
totle already referred to; Cic. Tusc. ii. 13, 22, xiv. p. 672, xv. pp. 691-693, 695, 701, 706,
A card. iv. 7, 46 ; Euseb. Praep. Evang. xiv. 18, &c. 707, 714, 730, xvi. pp. 741, 766, xvii. p. 8:24. )
The chief modern works are, Kunhardt, Dissertutis The anecdote which Lucian relates (Quomodo hust.
philos. -historica de Aristippi Philosophiu morali, comseril. c. 12) about Aristobulus is supposed by
Helmstädt, 1795, 410. ; Wieland, Aristipp und modern writers to refer to Onesicritus.
Einige seiner Zeitgenossen, Leipz. , 1800-1802 ; 2. Plutarch refers to a work upon stones, and
Ritter, Geschichte der Philosophie, vii. 3 ; Brucker, another upon the affairs of luly, written by an
Ilistoria Critica Philosophiac, ii. 2, 3. [G. E. L. C. ] Aristobulus, but whether he is the same person as
ARISTO ('Apotw), the best, a surname of the preceding, is uncertain. (Plut. de Fluv. c. 14.
Artemis at Athens. (Paus. i. 29. § 2. ) (L. S. ] Parall. Min. c. 32. )
T. ARISTO, a distinguished Roman jurist, 3. An Alexandrine Jew, and a Peripatetic phi-
who lived under the emperor Trajan, and was losopher, who is supposed to have lived under
a friend of the Younger Pliny. He is spoken of | Prolemy Philometor (began to reign B. c. 180),
by Pliny (Epist. 22) in terms of the highest praise, and to have been the same as the teacher of
as not only an excellent man and profound scholar, Ptolemy Evergetes. (2 Maccal. i. 10. ) He is said
but a lawyer thoroughly acquainted with private to have been the author of commentaries upon the
and public law, and perfectly skilled in the prac books of Moses (Εξηγήσεις της Μωϋσέως γρα-
of his profession-in short, a living Thesaurus Juris. oñs), addressed to Ptolemy Philometor, which are
Of his merits as an author, Pliny does not speak ; referred to by Clemens Alexandrinus (Strom. i.
and though his works are occasionally mentioned pp. 305, b. 342, b. v. p. 595, c. d), Eusebius
in the Digest, there is no direct extract from any (Prucp. Ev. vi. 13, viii
. 9, ix. 6, xiii. 12), and
of them in that compilation. He wrote notes on other ecclesiastical writers. The object of this
the Libri Posteriorum of Labeo, on Cassius, whose work was to prove that the Peripatetic philosophy,
pupil he had been, and on Sabinus. “ Aristo in and in fact almost all the Greek philosophy, was
decretis Frontianis," or Frontinianis, is once cited taken from the books of Moses. It is now, how-
in the Digest (29. tit. 2. s. ult. ); but what those ever, admitted that this work was not written by
decreta were has never been satisfactorily explained. the Aristobulus whose name it bears, but by some
He corresponded with his contemporary jurists, later and unknown writer, whose object was to
Celsus and Neratius (Dig. 19. tit. 2. s. 19. § 2, induce the Greeks to pay respect to the Jewish
20. tit. 3. s. 3, 40. tit. 7. s. 29. S 1); and it ap- literature. (Valckenaer, Diatribe de Aristobulo,
pears to us to be probable that many of the responsa Juduco, &c. edita post auctoris mortem al J. Luza-
and epistulae of the Roman jurisconsults were not cio, Lugd. Bat. 1806. )
opinions upon cases occurring in actual practice, 4. A brother of Epicurus, and a follower of his
but answers to the hypothetical questions of pupils philosophy. (Diog. Laërt. x. 3, Plut. Non posse
and legal friends. Other works, besides those suariter viri sec. Epic. p. 1103, 2)
which we have mentioned, have been attributed to ARISTOBU'LUS ('Apioroboulos), princes of
him without sufficient cause. Some, for example, Judaea. 1. The eldest son of Johannes Hyrcanus.
have inferred from a passage in Gellius (xi. 18), In B. c. 110 we find him, together with his second
that he wrote de furtis; and, from passages in the brother Antigonus, successfully prosecuting for his
Digest (24. tit. 3. 6. 44. pr. ; 8. tit. 5. s. 8. $ 5; father the siege of Samaria, which was destroyed
23. tit. 2. 8. 40), that he published books under in the following year. (Joseph. Ant. xiii. 10. SŠ 2,
the name Digesta and Responsa.
TENUS. ]
time to teach philosophy, which he did with great
ARISTEUS('Aploteús), or ARISTEAS('Apo- success at Messene and Larissa. On returning to
téas, Herod. ). 1. A Corinthian, son of Adeimantus, Athens with a considerable fortune, he was named
commanded the troops sent by Corinth to maintain ambassador to Mithridates, king of Pontus, then
Potidaea in its revolt, B. C. 432. With Potidaea at war with Rome, and became one of the most
he was connected, and of the troops the greater intimate friends and counsellors of that monarch.
duinber were volunteers, serving chiefly from at- His letters to Athens represented the power of bis
tachment to him. Appointed on his arrival com- patron in such glowing colours, that his country.
mander-in-chief of the allied infantry, he encoun- men began to conceive hopes of throwing off the
tered the Athenian Callias, but was outmanæuvred Roman yoke. Mithridates then sent him to
and defeated. With his own division he was suc-Athens, where he soon contrived, through the
cessful, and with it on returning from the pursuit king's patronage, to assume the tyranny. His go-
he found himself cut off, but by a bold course made vernment seems to have been of the most cruel chair
## p. 298 (#318) ############################################
298
ARISTIPPUS.
ARISTIPPUS.
racter, so that he is spoken of with abhorrence by for the purpose (Plut. de Curios. 2), and remained
Plutarch (Praecept. ger. Reip. p. 809), and classed with him almost up to the time of his execution,
by him with Nabis and Catiline. He sent Apelli- B. c. 399. Diodorus (xv. 76) gives B. C. 366 as
con of Teos to plunder the sacred treasury of Delos, the date of Aristippus, which agrees very well with
[APELLICON), though Appian (Mithrid. p. 189) | the facts which we know about him, and with the
says, that this had already been done for him by statement (Schol. ad Aristoph. Plui. 179), that
Mithridates, and adds, that it was by means of the Lais, the courtezan with whom he was intimate,
inoney resulting from this robbery that Aristion was was born B. C. 421.
enabled to obtain the supreme power. Meantime Though a disciple of Socrates, he wandered both
Sulla landed in Greece, and immediately laid siege in principle and practice very far from the teaching
to Athens and the Peiraeus, the latter which was and example of his great master. He was luxuri-
occupied by Archelaus, the general of Mithridates. ous in his mode of living; he indulged in sensual
The sufferings within the city from fainine were so gratifications, and the society of the notorious
dreadful, that men are said to have even devoured Lais ; he took money for his teaching (being the
the dead bodies of their companions. At last first of the disciples of Socrates who did so, Diog.
Athens was taken by storm, and Sulla gave orders Laërt. ii. 65), and avowed to his instructor that he
to spare neither sex nor age. Aristion fied to the resided in a foreign land in order to escape the
Acropolis, having first burnt the Odeum, lest Sulla trouble of mixing in the politics of his native city.
should use the wood-work of that building for (Xen. Mem. ii. i. ) He passed part of his life at
battering-rams and other instruments of attack. the court of Dionysius, tyrant of Syracusc, and is
The Acropolis, however, was boon taken, and also said to have been taken prisoner by Arta-
Aristion dragged to execution from the altar of phernes, the satrap who drove the Spartans from
Minerva. To the divine vengeance for this im- Rhodes B. C. 396. (Diod. Sic. xiv. 79 ; see Brucker,
piety Pausanias (i. 20. § 4) attributes the loath- Hist. Crit. Phil. ii. 2, 3. ) He appears, however, at
some disease which afterwards terminated Sulla's last to have returned to Cyrene, and there he spent
life.
[G. E. L. C. ) his old age. The anecdotes which are told of him,
ARI'STION ('Apiotiww), a surgeon, probably and of which we find a most tedious number in
belonging to the Alexandrian school, was the son Diogenes Laërtius (ii. 65, &c. ), by no means give
of Pasicrates," who belonged to the same profes us the notion of a person who was the mere slave
sion. (Oribas. De Machinam. cc. 24, 26. pp. 180, of his passions, but rather of one who took a pride
183. ) Nothing is known of the events of his in extracting enjoyment from all circumstances of
life; with respect to his date, he may be conjec- every kind, and in controlling adversity and pros-
tured to have lived in the second or first century perity alike. They illustrate and confirm the two
B. C. , as he lived after Nymphodorus (Oribas. ibid. statements of Horace (Ep. i. 1. 18), that to observe
p. 180), and before Heliodorus (p. 161). (W. A. G. ] the precepts of Aristippus is “ mihi res, non me
ARISTIPPUS ('AplotITTOS). 1. Of Larissa, rebus subjungere," and (i. 17. 23) that, “ omnis
in Thessaly, an Aleuad, received lessons from Aristippum decuit color et status et res. ” Thus
Gorgias when he visited Thessaly. Aristippus ob- when reproached for his love of bodily indulgences,
tained money and troops from the younger Cyrus he answered, that there was no shame in enjoying
to resist a faction opposed to him, and placed them, but that it would be disgraceful if he could
Menon, with whom he lived in a disreputable not at any time give them up. When Dionysius,
manner, over these forces. (Xen. Anal. i. l. s provoked at some of his remarks, ordered him to
10, ii. 6. & 28 ; Plat. Menon, init. )
take the lowest place at table, he said, “ You
2. An Argive, who obtained the supreme power wish to dignify the seat. ” Whether he was pri-
at Argos through the aid of Antigonus Gonatas, soner to a satrap, or grossly insulted and eren spit
about B. C. 272. (Plut. Pyrrh. 30. )
upon by a tyrant, or enjoying the pleasures of a
3. An Argive, a different person from the banquet, or reviled for faithlessness io Socrates by
preceding, who also became tyrant of Argos after his fellow-pupils, he maintained the same calm
the murder of Aristomachus I. , in the time of temper. To Xenophon and Platn he was very ob
Aratus. He is described by Plutarch as a perfect noxious, as we see from the Memorabilia (l. c. ),
tyrant in our sense of the word. Aratus made where he maintains an odious discussion against
many attempts to deprive him of the tyranny, but Socrates in defence of voluptuous enjoyment, and
at first without success ; but Aristippus at length from the Phaedo (p. 59, c), where his absence
fell in a battle against Aratus, and was succeeded at the death of Socrates, though he was only at
in the tyranny by Aristomachus II. (Plut. Arat. Aegina, 200 stadia from Athens, is doubtless men-
25, &c. )
tioned as a reproach. (See Stallbaum's note. )
ARISTI'US FUSCUS. [Fuscus. )
Aristotle, too, calls him a sophist (Metaphys. ii.
ARISTIPPUS ('Apio TITTOS), son of Aritades, 2), and notices a story of Plato speaking to him
born at Cyrene, and founder of the Cyrenaic with rather undue vehemence, and of his replying
School of Philosophy, came over to Greece to be with calmness. (Rhet. ii. 23. ) He imparted his
present at the Olympic games, where he fell in doctrine to his daughter Arete, by whom it was
with Ischomachus the agriculturist (whose praises communicated to her son, the younger Aristippus
are the subject of Xenophon's Oeconomicus), and (hence called unt podidaktos), and by hiin it is
by his description was filled with so ardent a said to have been reduced to a system. Laërtius,
desire to see Socrates, that he went to Athens on the authority of Sotion (B. C. 205) and Panae-
lius (B. C. 143), gives a long list of books whose
* In the extract from Oribasius, given by A. authorship is ascribed to Aristippus, though he also
Mai in the fourth volume of his Classici Autores says that Sosicrates of Rhodes (B. C. 255) states,
e Vaticanis Codicibus Editi, Rom. 8vo. , 1831, we that he wrote nothing. Among these are treatises
should read υιόν instead of πατέρα in p. 152, 1. 23, Περί Παιδείας, Περί 'Αρετής, Περί Τύχης, and
and 'Apotiw instead of 'Apriww in p. 158, 1. 10. many others. Some epistles attributed to him are
## p. 299 (#319) ############################################
ARISTIPPUS.
299
ARISTIPPUS.
deservedly rejected as forgeries by Bentley. (Dis | sure and what pain. Both are positive, i. e. plea-
sertation on Phalaris, &c. p. 104. ) One of these is sure is not the gratification of a want, nor does
to Arete, and its spuriousnese is proved, among the absence of pleasure equal pain. The absence
other arguments, by the occurrence in it of the of either is a mere negative inactive state, and
name of a city near Cyrene, Bepevian, which must both pleasure and pain are motions of the soul (iv
have been given by the Macedonians, in whose RIVNOEL). Pain was defined to be a violent, plea-
dialect 8 stands for , so that the name is equiva- sure a moderate motion,--the first being compared
lent to peperinn, the victorious.
to the sea in a storm, the second to the sea under
We shall now give a short view of the leading a light breeze, the intermediate state of no-pleasure
doctrines of the earlier Cyrenaic school in gene- and no-pain to a calma simile not quite apposite,
ral, though it is not to be understood that the since a calm is not the middle state between a
system was wholly or even chiefly drawn up by storm and a gentle breeze. In this denial of
the elder Aristippus; but, as it is impossible from pleasure as a state of rest, we find Aristippus
the loss of contemporary documents to separate again opposed to Epicurus.
the parts which belong to each of the Cyrenaic 3. Actions are in themselves morally indifferent,
philosophers, it is better here to combine them all. the only question for us to consider being their
From the fact pointed out by Ritter (Geschichte der result; and law and custom are the only authori-
Philosophie, vii
. 3), that Aristotle chooses Eudoxus ties which make an action good or bad. This
rather than Aristippus as the representative of the monstrous dogma was a little qualified by the
doctrine that Pleasure is the summum bonum (Eth. statement, that the advantages of injustice are
Nic. x. 2), it seems probable that but little of the slight; but we cannot agree with Brucker (Hist.
Cyrenaic system is due to the founder of the Crit
. ii. 2), that it is not clear whether the Cyre-
school. *
naics meant the law of nature or of men. For
The Cyrenaics despised Physics, and limited their Laërtius says expressly, ó opoudaios oudev TOTOV
inquiries to Ethics, though they included under πράξει δια τας επικείμενας ζημίας και δόξας, and
that term a much wider range of science than can to suppose a law of nature would be to destroy
fairly be reckoned as belonging to it. So, too, the whole Cyrenaic system. Whatever conduces
Aristotle accuses Aristippus of neglecting mathe- to pleasure, is virtue--a definition which of course
matics, as a study not concerned with good and includes bodily exercise ; but they seem to have
evil, which, he said, are the objects even of the conceded to Socrates, that the mind has the great-
carpenter and tanner. (Metaphys. ii
. 2. ) They est share in virtue. We are told that they pre-
divided Philosophy into five parts, viz. the study ferred bodily to mental pleasure ; but this state-
of (1) Objects of Desire and Aversion, (2) Feel- ment must be qualified, as they did not even confine
ings and Affections, (3) Actions, (4) Causes, their pleasures to selfish gratification, but admitted
(5) Proofs. Of these (4) is clearly connected with the welfare of the state as a legitimate source of
physics, and (5) with logic.
happiness, and bodily pleasure itself they ralued
1. The first of the five divisions of science is for the sake of the mental state resulting from it.
the only one in which the Cyrenaic view is con- 4. There is no universality in human concep-
nected with the Socratic.
Socrates considered tions; the senses are the only avenues of know-
happiness (i. e. the enjoyment of a well-ordered ledge, and even these admit a very limited range
mind) to be the aim of all men, and Aristippus, of information. For the Cyrenaics said, that men
taking up this position, pronounced pleasure the could agree neither in judgments nor notions,
chief good, and pain the chief evil; in proof of in nothing, in fact, but names. We have all
which he referred to the natural feelings of men, certain sensations, which we call white or sweet ;
children, and animals; but he wished the mind to but whether the sensation which A calls white is
preserve its authority in the midst of pleasure. I similar to that which В calls by that name, we
Desire he could not admit into his system, as it cannot tell; for by the common term white every
subjects men to hope and fear: the véros of hu- man denotes a distinct object. Of the causes
man life was momentary pleasure (uovóxpovos, which produce these sensations we are quite igno-
pepinn). For the Present only is ours, the Past is rant; and from all this we come to the doctrine of
gone, and the Future uncertain ; present happiness modern philological metaphysics, that truth is
therefore is to be sought, and not eüiamuovia, what each man troweth. All states of mind are
which is only the sum of a number of happy states, motions; nothing exists but states of mind, and
just as he considered life in general the sum of they are not the same to all men. True wisdoni
particular states of the soul. In this point the consists therefore in transforming disagrecable into
Cyrenaics were opposed to the Epicureans. All agreeable sensations.
pleasures were held equal, though they might ad- 5. As to the Cyrenaic doctrine of proofs, no
init of a difference in the degree of their purity. evidence remains.
So that a man ought never to covet more than he In many of these opinions we recognize the
possesses, and should never allow himself to be happy, careless, selfish disposition which charac-
overcome by sensual enjoyment. It is plain that, terized their author; and the system resembles in
even with these concessions, the Cyrenaic system most points those of Heracleitus and Protagoras,
destroys all moral unity, by proposing to a man as as given in Plato's Theaetetus. The doctrines
many separate Téan as his life contains moments. that a subject only knows objects through the
2. The next point is to determine what is plea- prism of the impression which he receives, and
ihat man is the measure of all things, are stated
* Ritter believes that Aristippus is hinted at or implied in the Cyrenaic system, and lead at
(Eth. Nic. x. 6), where Aristotle refutes the opi- once to the consequence, that what we call reality
nion, that happiness consists in amusement, and is appearance; so that the whole fabric of human
speaks of persons holding such a dogma in order knowledge becomes a fantastic picture. The prin-
to recommend themselves to the favour of tyrants. ciple on which all this rests, viz. that knowledge
## p. 300 (#320) ############################################
300
ARISTOBULUS.
ARISTOBULUS.
ja sensation, is the foundation of Locke's modem position of his work. Aristobulus lived to the ago
ideology, though he did not perceive its connexion of ninety, and did not begin to write his history
with the consequences to which it led the Cyre- till he was eighty-four. (Lucian, Mucrob. 2. 2. )
naics. To revive these was reserved for Hume. His work is also frequently referred to by Athe-
The ancient authorities on this subject are Dio naeus ( ii. p. 43, d. vi. p. 251, a. x. p. 431, d. xii.
genes Laërtius, ii. 65, &c. ; Sextus Empiricus, adr. pp. 513, f. 530, b. ), Plutarch (Aler. cc. 15, 16,
Math. vii. 11 ; the places in Xenophon and Aris | 18, 21, 46, 75), and Strabo (xi. pp. 509, 518,
totle already referred to; Cic. Tusc. ii. 13, 22, xiv. p. 672, xv. pp. 691-693, 695, 701, 706,
A card. iv. 7, 46 ; Euseb. Praep. Evang. xiv. 18, &c. 707, 714, 730, xvi. pp. 741, 766, xvii. p. 8:24. )
The chief modern works are, Kunhardt, Dissertutis The anecdote which Lucian relates (Quomodo hust.
philos. -historica de Aristippi Philosophiu morali, comseril. c. 12) about Aristobulus is supposed by
Helmstädt, 1795, 410. ; Wieland, Aristipp und modern writers to refer to Onesicritus.
Einige seiner Zeitgenossen, Leipz. , 1800-1802 ; 2. Plutarch refers to a work upon stones, and
Ritter, Geschichte der Philosophie, vii. 3 ; Brucker, another upon the affairs of luly, written by an
Ilistoria Critica Philosophiac, ii. 2, 3. [G. E. L. C. ] Aristobulus, but whether he is the same person as
ARISTO ('Apotw), the best, a surname of the preceding, is uncertain. (Plut. de Fluv. c. 14.
Artemis at Athens. (Paus. i. 29. § 2. ) (L. S. ] Parall. Min. c. 32. )
T. ARISTO, a distinguished Roman jurist, 3. An Alexandrine Jew, and a Peripatetic phi-
who lived under the emperor Trajan, and was losopher, who is supposed to have lived under
a friend of the Younger Pliny. He is spoken of | Prolemy Philometor (began to reign B. c. 180),
by Pliny (Epist. 22) in terms of the highest praise, and to have been the same as the teacher of
as not only an excellent man and profound scholar, Ptolemy Evergetes. (2 Maccal. i. 10. ) He is said
but a lawyer thoroughly acquainted with private to have been the author of commentaries upon the
and public law, and perfectly skilled in the prac books of Moses (Εξηγήσεις της Μωϋσέως γρα-
of his profession-in short, a living Thesaurus Juris. oñs), addressed to Ptolemy Philometor, which are
Of his merits as an author, Pliny does not speak ; referred to by Clemens Alexandrinus (Strom. i.
and though his works are occasionally mentioned pp. 305, b. 342, b. v. p. 595, c. d), Eusebius
in the Digest, there is no direct extract from any (Prucp. Ev. vi. 13, viii
. 9, ix. 6, xiii. 12), and
of them in that compilation. He wrote notes on other ecclesiastical writers. The object of this
the Libri Posteriorum of Labeo, on Cassius, whose work was to prove that the Peripatetic philosophy,
pupil he had been, and on Sabinus. “ Aristo in and in fact almost all the Greek philosophy, was
decretis Frontianis," or Frontinianis, is once cited taken from the books of Moses. It is now, how-
in the Digest (29. tit. 2. s. ult. ); but what those ever, admitted that this work was not written by
decreta were has never been satisfactorily explained. the Aristobulus whose name it bears, but by some
He corresponded with his contemporary jurists, later and unknown writer, whose object was to
Celsus and Neratius (Dig. 19. tit. 2. s. 19. § 2, induce the Greeks to pay respect to the Jewish
20. tit. 3. s. 3, 40. tit. 7. s. 29. S 1); and it ap- literature. (Valckenaer, Diatribe de Aristobulo,
pears to us to be probable that many of the responsa Juduco, &c. edita post auctoris mortem al J. Luza-
and epistulae of the Roman jurisconsults were not cio, Lugd. Bat. 1806. )
opinions upon cases occurring in actual practice, 4. A brother of Epicurus, and a follower of his
but answers to the hypothetical questions of pupils philosophy. (Diog. Laërt. x. 3, Plut. Non posse
and legal friends. Other works, besides those suariter viri sec. Epic. p. 1103, 2)
which we have mentioned, have been attributed to ARISTOBU'LUS ('Apioroboulos), princes of
him without sufficient cause. Some, for example, Judaea. 1. The eldest son of Johannes Hyrcanus.
have inferred from a passage in Gellius (xi. 18), In B. c. 110 we find him, together with his second
that he wrote de furtis; and, from passages in the brother Antigonus, successfully prosecuting for his
Digest (24. tit. 3. 6. 44. pr. ; 8. tit. 5. s. 8. $ 5; father the siege of Samaria, which was destroyed
23. tit. 2. 8. 40), that he published books under in the following year. (Joseph. Ant. xiii. 10. SŠ 2,
the name Digesta and Responsa.
