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The great Athenian philosopher Plato was born in 427 BCE and lived to be eighty. Acknowledged masterpieces among his works are the Symposium, which explores love in its many aspects, from physical desire to pursuit of the beautiful and the good, and the Republic, which concerns righteousness and also treats education, gender, society, and slavery.

Minor works by Xenophon (c. 430-c. 354 BCE) include Hiero, a dialogue on government; Agesilaus, in praise of that king; Constitution of Lacedaemon, on the Spartan system; Ways and Means, on the finances of Athens; a manual of Horsemanship. The Constitution of the Athenians, though not by Xenophon, is an interesting document on Athenian politics.

Basil the Great was born into a family noted for piety. About 360 he founded a convent in Pontus and in 370 succeeded Eusebius in the archbishopric of Caesarea. His reform of monastic life in the east is the basis of modern Greek and Slavonic monasteries.

We know more of Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BCE), lawyer, orator, politician and philosopher, than of any other Roman. Besides much else, his work conveys the turmoil of his time, and the part he played in a period that saw the rise and fall of Julius Caesar in a tottering republic.

Isaeus (c. 420-350 BCE) composed speeches for others. He shares with Lysias pure Attic and lucidity of style, but his more aggressive and flexible presentation undoubtedly influenced Demosthenes. Of at least fifty attributed orations, there survive eleven on legacy cases and a large fragment dealing with a claim of citizenship.

The importance of Isocrates (436-338 BCE) for the study of Greek civilization of the fourth century BCE is indisputable. Twenty-one discourses by Isocrates survive; these include political essays, treatises on education and on ethics, and speeches for legal cases. Nine letters, more on public than private matters, are also extant.

Basil the Great was born into a family noted for piety. About 360 he founded a convent in Pontus and in 370 succeeded Eusebius in the archbishopric of Caesarea. His reform of monastic life in the east is the basis of modern Greek and Slavonic monasteries.

Unlike his predecessors, Epictetus (c. 50-120 CE), who grew up as a slave, taught Stoicism not for the select few but for the many. A student, the historian Arrian, recorded Epictetus's lectures and, in the Encheiridion, a handbook, summarized his thought.

In Fishing, Oppian of Cilicia, who flourished in the latter half of the second century CE, discusses fish and gives angling instructions. The Chase, on hunting, may be the work of a Syrian imitator. Colluthus and Tryphiodorus (properly Triphiodorus), epic poets of Egypt, wrote in the second half of the fifth century CE.

The importance of Isocrates (436-338 BCE) for the study of Greek civilization of the fourth century BCE is indisputable. Twenty-one discourses by Isocrates survive; these include political essays, treatises on education and on ethics, and speeches for legal cases. Nine letters, more on public than private matters, are also extant.

Florus (second century CE) wrote, in brief pointed rhetorical style, a two-book summary of Roman history (especially military) in order to show the greatness and decline of Roman morals. Based chiefly on Livy and perhaps planned to reach Florus' own times, the extant work ends with Augustus's reign (30 BCE-14 CE).

Letters of Augustine (354-430CE) are important for the study of ecclesiastical history and Augustine's relations with other theologians.

We know more of Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BCE), lawyer, orator, politician and philosopher, than of any other Roman. Besides much else, his work conveys the turmoil of his time, and the part he played in a period that saw the rise and fall of Julius Caesar in a tottering republic.

Basil the Great was born into a family noted for piety. About 360 he founded a convent in Pontus and in 370 succeeded Eusebius in the archbishopric of Caesarea. His reform of monastic life in the east is the basis of modern Greek and Slavonic monasteries.

Sixty-five descriptions, ostensibly of paintings in a gallery at Naples, are credited to an Elder Philostratus (born c. 190 CE); to a Younger Philostratus, apparently his grandson, seventeen similar descriptions. Fourteen descriptions of statues in stone or bronze attributed to Callistratus were probably written in the fourth century CE.

Greek papyri relating to private and public business in Egypt from before 300 BCE to the eighth century CE inform us about administration; social and economic conditions in Egypt; Egyptian, Greek, Roman, and Byzantine law. They also offer glimpses of ordinary life.

Basil the Great was born into a family noted for piety. About 360 he founded a convent in Pontus and in 370 succeeded Eusebius in the archbishopric of Caesarea. His reform of monastic life in the east is the basis of modern Greek and Slavonic monasteries.

Valerius Flaccus flourished c. 70-90 BCE and composed an incomplete epic Argonautica in eight books, on the quest for the golden fleece. Valerius effectively rehandles the story already told by Apollonius Rhodius, recalls Virgilian language and thought, displays learning, and alludes to contemporary Rome.

In Secret History the Byzantine historian Procopius (late fifth century to after 558 CE) attacks the sixth century CE emperor Justinian and empress Theodora and alleges their ruinous effect on the Roman empire. Procopius' pen is particularly sharp in portraying Theodora's lewdness, duplicity, cruelty, spite, vanity and pride.

The three surviving works by Sextus Empiricus (c. 160-210 CE) are Outlines of Pyrrhonism, Against the Dogmatists, and Against the Professors. Their value as a source for the history of thought is especially that they represent development and formulation of former sceptic doctrines.

Antiphon of Athens, born c. 480 BCE, disliked democracy and was an ardent oligarch. Of his fifteen extant works three concern real murder cases. The others are academic exercises. Andocides of Athens, born c. 440 BCE, disliked the extremes of democracy and oligarchy. Of his four extant speeches Against Alcibiades is doubtful.

We know more of Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BCE), lawyer, orator, politician and philosopher, than of any other Roman. Besides much else, his work conveys the turmoil of his time, and the part he played in a period that saw the rise and fall of Julius Caesar in a tottering republic.

The three surviving works by Sextus Empiricus (c. 160-210 CE) are Outlines of Pyrrhonism, Against the Dogmatists, and Against the Professors. Their value as a source for the history of thought is especially that they represent development and formulation of former sceptic doctrines.

In On Buildings the Byzantine historian Procopius (late fifth century to after 558 CE) describes the churches, public buildings, fortifications, and bridges Justinian erected throughout his empire, from the Church of St. Sophia in Constantinople to city walls at Carthage. The work is richly informative about architecture of the sixth century CE.

We know more of Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BCE), lawyer, orator, politician and philosopher, than of any other Roman. Besides much else, his work conveys the turmoil of his time, and the part he played in a period that saw the rise and fall of Julius Caesar in a tottering republic.

Extant early Latin writings from the seventh or sixth to the first century BCE include epic, drama, satire, translation and paraphrase, hymns, stage history and practice, and other works by Ennius, Caecilius, Livius Andronicus, Naevius, Pacuvius, Accius, Lucilius, and other anonymous authors; the Twelve Tables of Roman law; archaic inscriptions.

Fragments of ancient literature, from the seventh to the third century BCE, found on papyri in Egypt include examples of tragedy; satyr drama; Old, Middle, and New Comedy; mime; lyric, elegiac, iambic, and hexametric poetry.

The fictitious, highly literary Letters of Alciphron (second century CE) are mostly to invented characters. The Letters of Farmers by Aelian (c. 170-235 CE) portray the country ways of their imagined writers. The Erotic Epistles of Philostratus (perhaps born c. 170 CE) resemble and may have been influenced by those of Alciphron.

We know more of Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BCE), lawyer, orator, politician and philosopher, than of any other Roman. Besides much else, his work conveys the turmoil of his time, and the part he played in a period that saw the rise and fall of Julius Caesar in a tottering republic.

Prudentius (born 348 CE) used allegory and classical Latin verse forms in service of Christianity. His works include the Psychomachia, an allegorical description of the struggle between Christian virtues and pagan vices; lyric poetry; and inscriptions for biblical scenes on a church's walls--a valuable source on Christian iconography.