Cicero’s De oratore and the Platonic Art of Writing
By Jed Atkins (Duke University)
[Formatted title: Cicero’s De oratore and the Platonic Art of Writing]
The Reception of the Myth of Er in the Latin Philosophical Tradition
By Jeffrey Ulrich (Rutgers University)
Plato’s Myth of Er experienced a bifurcated reception history in the Greek and Latin philosophical traditions, respectively. Whereas Greek Middle Platonic texts take criticisms of Plato head on (i.e., in polemical treatises, e.g., Plut. Adv. Col.), the Latin tradition, under the impetus of Cicero, adopts a more oblique approach.
Platonic Definition in the Rhetorical and Philosophical Curricula of Late Antiquity
By Stephany Hull (Brown University)
Recent scholarship on the early dialogues of Augustine of Hippo (Conybeare 2006; Topping 2012; Pucci 2014; Kenyon 2018) has emphasized the centrality of pedagogy and educational methods in these texts. And yet, the ways in which Augustine’s pedagogy intersects with the ways he styles himself a Platonis aemulus has been underappreciated.
Plato and Roman Religion
By Matthew Watton (University of Toronto)
Both Cicero and Apuleius celebrate Plato as divinus, a man divine (Cic. Leg. 3.1; Apul. Apol. 25). High praise to be sure, but the epithet is all the more significant given each man’s complex relationship with Roman religion. Cicero was an augur who wrote dialogues applying Greek philosophy to Roman religion (Wynne 2019); Apuleius’ fascination with religious themes is evident from his magnum opus, and was himself a priest in Carthage (Rives 1994).
The Madman’s Choice: Plato and Plato’s Republic in De Re Publica 1.1-12
By Margaret Graver (Dartmouth College)
[Formatted title: The Madman’s Choice: Plato and Plato’s Republic in De Re Publica 1.1-12]
This paper will assess Cicero’s self-positioning in the preface to De re publica in relation to Plato (as a historical figure) and Plato’s Republic (as a text) in light of the ancient philosophical debate concerning the contemplative life.