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