Antiochus of Ascalon 130 BC – 68 BC
Antiochus of Ascalon was a Greek philosopher who broke with the skeptical New Academy of Carneades and Philo of Larissa to revive a positive, dogmatic Platonism. As head of the Old Academy at Athens, he taught the young Cicero, Brutus, and Varro, and developed an eclectic synthesis in which the doctrines of Plato, Aristotle, and the Stoics were treated as substantively the same philosophy under different names. His school was the decisive influence on the philosophical writings of Cicero and on the trajectory of later Middle Platonism.
Key facts
- Nationality
- Greek
- Era
- Ancient
- Movements
- Platonism, Hellenistic
Selected quotes
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Attributed to Antiochus of Ascalon:
“The Old Academy and the New Academy disagree only in name.”
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Attributed to Antiochus of Ascalon:
“Truth is one, and we approach it through every honest school.”
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Attributed to Antiochus of Ascalon:
“The wise man knows the limits of his own ignorance.”
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Attributed to Antiochus of Ascalon:
“Plato, Aristotle, and the early Stoics are saying the same thing in different words.”
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Attributed to Antiochus of Ascalon:
“Virtue alone is sufficient for happiness, although it admits of degrees.”