Posidonius of Rhodes

Mid Second Century b.c.e. 51/50 b.c.e.

Politician, philosopher, geographer

Sources

The Athlete. Posidonius, nicknamed the Athlete, was an influential political, philosophical, and geographical thicker. Many people thought him to be the most learned man of his time. He traveled extensively throughout the Mediterranean, visiting Gaul, Spain, Italy, Liguria, Africa, and Sicily. He studied with the philosopher Panaetius, who attempted to adopt the Stoic doctrine for Roman ethics. Like Eratosthenes and Hipparchus before him, Posidonius was not Roman (he was born in Syria), but he figured in the politics of the late Roman Republic. He was brought to Rome to address the political strife of the early first century b.c.e. Cicero (Marcus Tullius Cicero) studied with him in Rhodes in 78 b.c.e., and he was a steady advocate of Pompey (Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus). Posidonius authored many works, and although most of them are now lost, historians do know the titles and subjects of approximately thirty. In addition to philosophy, he was versed in astronomy, meteorology, mathematics, geography, hydrology, seismology, zoology, botany, and history. Posidonius tried to calculate the diameter of the Earth, the influence of the Moon on the tides, and the size of the Sun.

Sources

Ludwig Edelstein and I. G. Kidd, eds., Posidonius I: The Fragments (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1972).

Edelstein and Kidd, eds., Posidonius II: The Commentary, 2 volumes (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988).

A. A. Long, ed., Problems in Stoicism (London: Athlone, 1971).