Demetrius ( el, Δημήτριος; fl. 1st century), a
Cynic philosopher
A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...
from
Corinth
Corinth ( ; el, Κόρινθος, Kórinthos, ) is the successor to an ancient city, and is a former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese, which is located in south-central Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform, it has been part ...
, who lived in
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus ( legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
during the reigns of
Caligula
Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (31 August 12 – 24 January 41), better known by his nickname Caligula (), was the third Roman emperor, ruling from 37 until his assassination in 41. He was the son of the popular Roman general Germani ...
,
Nero
Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68), was the fifth Roman emperor and final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 un ...
and
Vespasian
Vespasian (; la, Vespasianus ; 17 November AD 9 – 23/24 June 79) was a Roman emperor who reigned from AD 69 to 79. The fourth and last emperor who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors, he founded the Flavian dynasty that ruled the Emp ...
(37–71 AD).
Biography
Demetrius was the intimate friend of
Seneca, who wrote about him often, and who describes him as the perfect man:
Demetrius, who seems to have been placed by nature in our times that he might prove that we could neither corrupt him nor be corrected by him; a man of consummate wisdom, though he himself disclaimed it, constant to the principles which he professed, of an eloquence worthy to deal with the mightiest subjects, scorning mere prettinesses and verbal niceties, but expressing with infinite spirit, the ideas which inspired it. I doubt not that he was endowed by divine providence with so pure a life and such power of speech in order that our age might neither be without a model nor a reproach.
His contempt for worldly riches is shown by his reply to
Caligula
Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (31 August 12 – 24 January 41), better known by his nickname Caligula (), was the third Roman emperor, ruling from 37 until his assassination in 41. He was the son of the popular Roman general Germani ...
who, wishing to corrupt him, offered him two hundred thousand
sesterces
The ''sestertius'' (plural ''sestertii''), or sesterce (plural sesterces), was an Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Roman currency, coin. During the Roman Republic it was a small, silver coin issued only on rare occasions. During the Roman Empire it w ...
. Demetrius replied, "If he meant to tempt me, he ought to have tried to do so by offering his entire kingdom."
He was also a friend of
Thrasea Paetus and was with him when Thrasea was condemned to death (66 AD). We hear of him again in the reign of
Vespasian
Vespasian (; la, Vespasianus ; 17 November AD 9 – 23/24 June 79) was a Roman emperor who reigned from AD 69 to 79. The fourth and last emperor who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors, he founded the Flavian dynasty that ruled the Emp ...
(c. 70 AD), when, curiously, he defended
Publius Egnatius Celer
Publius Egnatius Celer, (lived c. AD 60), was a Stoic philosopher, who as a result of being a ''delator'', or informer, in the reign of Nero, was sentenced to death in the reign of Vespasian.
Treason charges were brought against Barea Soranus i ...
against the charges brought against him by
Musonius Rufus
Gaius Musonius Rufus (; grc-gre, Μουσώνιος Ῥοῦφος) was a Roman Stoic philosopher of the 1st century AD. He taught philosophy in Rome during the reign of Nero and so was sent into exile in 65 AD, returning to Rome only under Galb ...
. He was exiled from Rome in 71 AD, by Vespasian, along with all other philosophers.
Demetrius is sometimes identified with the Demetrius of
Sunium mentioned by
Lucian
Lucian of Samosata, '; la, Lucianus Samosatensis ( 125 – after 180) was a Hellenized Syrian satirist, rhetorician and pamphleteer who is best known for his characteristic tongue-in-cheek style, with which he frequently ridiculed supersti ...
. However, Demetrius was a very common name in the Roman world, and Demetrius of Sunium was probably, (but not certainly), a different, later Cynic.
Quotations of Demetrius
*"An easy existence, untroubled by the attacks of Fortune is a Dead Sea"
*"The talk of the ignorant is like the rumblings which issue from the belly."
[Seneca, ''Epistles'', ]
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Demetrius of Corinth
1st-century Greek people
1st-century philosophers
Roman-era Corinthians
Roman-era Cynic philosophers
Roman-era philosophers in Rome