What Role Did Athens Play In Alicero's Life

Arkesilaus (315 - 241 B.C.) [Pitane, Athens]. As leader of the academy, Arkesilaus emphasised Plato's contention that there is no final truth in sense perception. He opposed the Stoic doctrine of the "irresistible impression" with the contention that even an "irresistible impression" sometimes proves to be false. Therefore, he concluded that the wise thing to do is to suspend judgement and not to commit oneself to any belief as final. The best one can do is to calculate probabilities and follow the highest. As far as we know, he wrote nothing at all.

Cleanthes (300 - 220 B.C.) [Assos, Athens]. He followed on from Zeno as head of the Stoic school, but he was not the most brilliant of men and he added absolutely zilch to the doctrines
One of the chief figures in Roman philosophy. For most of his life Cicero was centred in Rome, where he was famous as a lawyer and orator and held various public offices, finally reaching the dizzy heights of consulship; he was one of the last to hold the office before its importance was ended by the Empire. Cicero declared that his primary interest was in philosophy, but that, because of the necessity of making a living, he was compelled to take up the practice of law and politics. When, in his late years, he was forced out of public life, he withdrew to his villas, villas, especially the one at Tusculum, and, gathering a group of friends, he discussed philosophical questions with them. He tried to be the medium of transmission of Greek culture to the Romans and had a great influence on philosophical terminology. He had studied under various philosophers, at Athens, Rhodes, in Asia Minor, and Rome. He also prided himself upon having discovered the tomb of Archimedes in Sicily and having restored it to a fitting condition. Cicero wrote roughly in imitation of the Dialogues of Plato and drew freely from Plato's ideas, using the titles Republic and Laws. He translated the Timaeus and Protagoras and on a sea voyage, he composed a summary from memory of the logic of Aristotle. Suggestions from the Stoics also had a great influence on him. Among his works are Tusculan Disputations, The Academics, On Ends (Good and Evil), On the Nature of the Gods, On Divination, On Fate, On Old Age, On Friendship, On Duties. In his theory of knowledge, Cicero was impressed with the limitations of human capacity and, with Carneades and others of his time, maintained that probability is the best that is achievable in human thinking and human principles of conduct, yet he believed that certain innate tendencies of thought and behaviour are present in all men and serve as guides in living. He also thought that the common convictions of mankind in