had need of knowledge, and this practical need was certain to cause the mass of men to ignore the subtle arguments of the Sceptics. Nevertheless, Scepticism was not wholly without effect even in wider circles. The criticism which it brought against all philosophies alike would, at least, tend to prick the conceit that in any one school the absolute truth was contained. And the necessary recognition of the many points of similarity between Stoic, Academic, and Peripatetic, which constant discussion brought about, also helped to lessen their opposition. This had its counterpart on the political side, in the softening down of national peculiarities which had begun with the Macedonian world-empire, and the spread of the Greek language and ideas, and which reached its culmination in the Roman conquests. As political and national extremes were worn away, and compromises accepted to the end that all men might dwell together in a practical unity throughout the Roman Empire, so the various schools began to unite on a common philosophical basis, from which the more extreme differences had been eliminated. At least this was true of all except the Epicureans, who for the most part continued to stand out as heterodox, and to whose mechanical and hedonistic tendencies the other three schools found themselves opposed on a common ground. This eclecticism was largely stimulated when the Greek philosophy came in contact with the Romans. Themselves without any strong theoretical interests, and caring for philosophy, if they cared for it at all, only for its practical ends, the Romans would have but little sympathy with subtle metaphysical distinctions. To the hardheaded Roman, the disputes of the philosophers were trifling and uncalled for, and capable of being easily settled by a little shrewd management. The pro-consul Gellius actually took upon himself to urge the Athenian philosophers to come to a compromise, and offered his own services as mediator. Of this syncretistic temper, Cicero is the most eminent representative. Without any great philo sophic gifts himself, his chief service is as a popularizer of Greek ideas. 3. What has been said so far of Eclecticism has in view chiefly the philosophy of the West. In the East, the same attitude brought about another movement which proved of great importance, — the union, namely, of Oriental elements with the stream of European thought. It was at Alexandria, again, that this tendency crystallized. Among the inhabitants of Alexandria there were a very large number of Jewish colonists, who, by their activity and abilities, quickly made themselves a power. Among these exiles the Hellenizing tendencies, which, in opposition to orthodox Judaism, had very nearly won the day even in Palestine itself, had an opportunity to work out freely. As early as the third century a translation was made of the Hebrew scriptures into the Greek of the Septuagint, and a considerable literature sprang up in which Jewish views of life are modified by contact with Western ideas. Some of this is preserved among the books of the Apocrypha. When, in the second century before Christ, the influence of the University at Alexandria waned, and many of the Greek professors left the city, the Hellenistic Jewish thought became the dominant intellectual force. And in Philo, a Jew of great learning and ability, a systematic attempt was made, about the beginning of the Christian era, to show the inner harmony between Plato and Moses, Jewish religious thought and Greek philosophy. This attempt gave evidence of a very considerable power of original thought, and influenced the future development alike of philosophy and of Christian doctrine. According to Philo's conception, God, like the monarch in the Oriental state, stands apart from the world in ineffable and unthinkable perfection, and has, accordingly, to be connected with actual things by a series of lesser, but more intelligible forms, which are regarded, sometimes as Platonic ideas, sometimes from the standpoint of the Old Testament angelology. These are somehow an offshoot from God's nature, without actually belonging to it as component parts. The conception has its consummation in Philo's doctrine of the Logos- the mediator of God's revelation of himself. The repugnance of the Hebrew scriptures to Greek conceptions was overcome by having recourse to an ingenious allegorical interpretation. And what Philo did for Jewish thought was being done in less systematic ways wherever East and West came in contact. LITERATURE Cicero, Philosophical Works (Bohn's Library). Drummond, Philo-Judæus, 2 vols. Mahaffy, Greek Life and Thought. Mahaffy, Silver Age of the Greek World. THE RELIGIOUS PERIOD § 18. Introduction I. THE tendency which has just been described was in part accountable for, in part the outgrowth of, a new direction which was imparting itself to philosophic thought, and through which philosophy was passing from an ethical, to a religious or theosophic basis. Even where the Oriental influence was less strong, as in Stoicism, there had been a gradual modification. Stoicism in particular, among the philosophical schools of the period, had attempted to act the part of a substitute for religion, and to meet the needs for satisfying which the national religion had long since lost any real capacity. Alongside the priest, who was absorbed in the ceremonial and political duties of his office, the philosopher was generally recognized as the real spiritual guide of his time. He occupied a position similar in many respects to that of the modern clergyman. Peculiarities of dress and appearance - his cloak and long beard-marked him off from the rest of men. He was called on for advice in difficult moral problems. A philosopher was attached to many of the Roman families as a sort of family chaplain. called in along with the physician at a death-bed. discourses which he was accustomed to deliver had a close analogy to the modern sermon, and, indeed, are historically related to it. He was The Unfortunately, however, this close relation to the needs of life was continually in danger of becoming obscured in the history of the Stoic school. The theoretical and logical interest which, in its origin, had been purely preparatory, and subservient to the ideal of character in the sage, tended to break loose from this practical aim, and to introduce a great deal of dry and unprofitable formalism into philosophical discussions. The public discourses, also, like the modern fashionable sermon, often came to sacrifice real edification to the desire for rhetorical or argumentative display. And meanwhile a demand was growing more and more insistent for some cure for the ills of life, more thoroughgoing than philosophy, even at its best, was offering. The whole age was filled with a sense of spiritual unrest. The rapidly increasing corruption of the ruling class, the glaring contrasts of luxury and misery, the insecurity of life and property, the sense of world weariness which marked the passing away of moral enthusiasms, all brought home to men the feeling that the world was growing old, and that some catastrophe was impending. The new sense of sin and evil was fast outgrowing the ability of Stoicism to cope with. The ideal of virtue was felt by bitter experience to lie beyond the reach of unaided human effort; some higher power must intervene to save us, if we are to reach salvation. This deepened sense of need showed itself in one direction by a change in Stoicism itself. In the later Stoics, such as Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, and Epictetus, we have a strong reaction against logical subtilties, and an impressive reaffirmation of the essentially practical nature of philosophy. But in this reaffirmation, a new emphasis is laid upon certain elements. The religious side becomes pronounced as it had not been before. Nature takes on more the character of a God whose sons men are, and with whom they can enter into an emotional relationship of love and gratitude. "We can be thankful to a friend for a few acres," says Seneca, "or a little money; and yet for the freedom and command of the whole earth, and for the great benefits of our being, as life, health, and reason, we look upon ourselves as under no obligation. If a man bestows upon us a house that is delicately beautified with painting, statues, gilding, and marbles, we make a mighty |