Page:Meditations of the Emperor Marcus Antoninus - Volume 1 - Farquharson 1944.pdf/365

 refers to the Argonautica of his namesake Apollonius of Rhodes. Arrived in Rome, he insisted that Marcus should wait upon him, whereupon Antoninus Pius remarked: 'No doubt he found it less trouble to come from Colchis to Rome than he finds it now to go from his lodging in Rome to the Palatine.' He is selected for special mention with Rusticus and Maximus (i. 17. 4).

'''Ch. 9.''' Sextus of Chaeronea in Boeotia, nephew of the famous biographer and moralist Plutarch, taught Marcus after he became Emperor in 161. He is called a Stoic by Marcus' biographer, and what is said of him here agrees with this. There is some evidence that he was connected by marriage with the family of Musonius, the Stoic teacher of Epictetus. It is interesting that whereas Plutarch was a Platonist and wrote a vigorous attack on Stoical doctrines, his nephew should have belonged to the school of Zeno. The mention of Sextus' natural affection and family life and of his wide learning reminds us of two striking traits of Plutarch himself. It is said that the Emperor used to visit him for instruction and to consult him even upon legal questions.

'''Ch. 10.''' Alexander Cotiaensis was one of the most celebrated Greek grammarians of the day, being best known for his Homeric scholarship. The simple sketch of Marcus is in curious contrast to the charming but over-elaborate eulogy of him by Aelius Aristides. The latter says that he lived in the Palace, using his intimacy with Marcus and his colleague Lucius to serve the interests of the Greek world, and he depicts the aged scholar spending the last night of his life at work on his beloved books. His urbane method of teaching, his stress upon matter rather than manner, as Marcus represents him, are in remarkable contrast to the writings of his great contemporary, the grammarian Apollonius Dyscolus, who lived in learned poverty and neglect in Alexandria and Rome; Apollonius is too fond of such phrases as: 'it would appear to be superfluous to contradict such silly ideas', 'this too is sheer folly'.

Though Marcus had spoken Greek from childhood, to compose is a different matter, and some of his own care in expression and choiceness of phrase, as well as his tendency to use poetical and even Homeric words, may be derived from his lessons with Alexander.