The Roman Empire and Philosophy

For the romans, effortlessly quoting authors like homer or plato was a way to establish one's breeding and refinement. Hypocritical or superficial, devotion to philosophy became an obvious target of satire. The star example is lucian, a rhetorician of the second century a d who wrote stinging parodies of the philosophy of his day. Many an aristocrat swooned at stylish speeches showing that money and reputation are less.