Favorinus
Encyclopedia
Favorinus of Arelata was a Roman sophist and philosopher who flourished during the reign of Hadrian
.
He was of Gaulish
ancestry, born in Arelate (Arles
). He is described as a hermaphrodite
(ἀνδρόθηλυς) by birth. He received an exquisite education, first in Gallia Narbonensis
and then in Rome
, and at an early age began his lifelong travels through Greece, Italy and the East. His extensive knowledge, combined with great oratorical powers, raised him to eminence both in Athens and in Rome. With Plutarch
, with Herodes Atticus
, to whom he bequeathed his library at Rome, with Demetrius the Cynic
, Cornelius Fronto, Aulus Gellius
, and with Hadrian himself, he lived on intimate terms; his great rival, whom he violently attacked in his later years, was Polemon of Smyrna.
It was Favorinus who, on being silenced by Hadrian in an argument in which the sophist might easily have refuted his adversary, subsequently explained that it was foolish to criticize the logic of the master of thirty legions. When the servile Athenians, feigning to share the emperor's displeasure with the sophist, pulled down a statue which they had erected to him, Favorinus remarked that if only Socrates
also had had a statue at Athens, he might have been spared the hemlock
.
Hadrian banished Favorinus at some point in the 130s, to the island of Chios
. Rehabilitated with the ascension of Antoninus Pius
in 138, Favorinus returned to Rome, where he resumed his activities as an author and teacher of upper class pupils. His year of death is unknown, but he appears to have survived into his eighties, and died perhaps around 160.
Of the very numerous works of Favorinus, we possess only a few fragments, preserved by Aulus Gellius, Diogenes Laertius
, Philostratus
, and in the Suda
, Laropia (miscellaneous history) and his memoirs. As a philosopher, Favorinus belonged to the sceptical school; his most important work in this connection appears to have been the Pyrrhonean Tropes in ten books, in which he endeavours to show that the methods of Pyrrho
were useful to those who intended to practise in the law courts.
Hofeneder (2006) suggests that Favorinus is identical with the "Celtic philosopher" explaining the image of Ogmios
in Lucianus
. (E. Amato have before suggested this identification in "Luciano e l'anonimo filosofo celta di Hercules 4: proposta di identificazione", Symbolae Osloenses 79 (2004), 128-149).
Hadrian
Hadrian , was Roman Emperor from 117 to 138. He is best known for building Hadrian's Wall, which marked the northern limit of Roman Britain. In Rome, he re-built the Pantheon and constructed the Temple of Venus and Roma. In addition to being emperor, Hadrian was a humanist and was philhellene in...
.
He was of Gaulish
Gauls
The Gauls were a Celtic people living in Gaul, the region roughly corresponding to what is now France, Belgium, Switzerland and Northern Italy, from the Iron Age through the Roman period. They mostly spoke the Continental Celtic language called Gaulish....
ancestry, born in Arelate (Arles
Arles
Arles is a city and commune in the south of France, in the Bouches-du-Rhône department, of which it is a subprefecture, in the former province of Provence....
). He is described as a hermaphrodite
Hermaphrodite
In biology, a hermaphrodite is an organism that has reproductive organs normally associated with both male and female sexes.Many taxonomic groups of animals do not have separate sexes. In these groups, hermaphroditism is a normal condition, enabling a form of sexual reproduction in which both...
(ἀνδρόθηλυς) by birth. He received an exquisite education, first in Gallia Narbonensis
Gallia Narbonensis
Gallia Narbonensis was a Roman province located in what is now Languedoc and Provence, in southern France. It was also known as Gallia Transalpina , which was originally a designation for that part of Gaul lying across the Alps from Italia and it contained a western region known as Septimania...
and then in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, and at an early age began his lifelong travels through Greece, Italy and the East. His extensive knowledge, combined with great oratorical powers, raised him to eminence both in Athens and in Rome. With Plutarch
Plutarch
Plutarch then named, on his becoming a Roman citizen, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus , c. 46 – 120 AD, was a Greek historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia...
, with Herodes Atticus
Herodes Atticus
Lucius Vibullius Hipparchus Tiberius Claudius Atticus Herodes, otherwise known as Herodes Atticus was a very distinguished, rich Greek aristocrat who served as a Roman Senator and a Sophist. He is notable as a proponent in the Second Sophistic by Philostratus.-Ancestry and Family:Herodes Atticus...
, to whom he bequeathed his library at Rome, with Demetrius the Cynic
Demetrius the Cynic
Demetrius , a Cynic philosopher from Corinth, who lived in Rome during the reigns of Caligula, Nero and Vespasian .He was the intimate friend of Seneca, who wrote about him often, and who describes him as the perfect man:...
, Cornelius Fronto, Aulus Gellius
Aulus Gellius
Aulus Gellius , was a Latin author and grammarian, who was probably born and certainly brought up in Rome. He was educated in Athens, after which he returned to Rome, where he held a judicial office...
, and with Hadrian himself, he lived on intimate terms; his great rival, whom he violently attacked in his later years, was Polemon of Smyrna.
It was Favorinus who, on being silenced by Hadrian in an argument in which the sophist might easily have refuted his adversary, subsequently explained that it was foolish to criticize the logic of the master of thirty legions. When the servile Athenians, feigning to share the emperor's displeasure with the sophist, pulled down a statue which they had erected to him, Favorinus remarked that if only Socrates
Socrates
Socrates was a classical Greek Athenian philosopher. Credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy, he is an enigmatic figure known chiefly through the accounts of later classical writers, especially the writings of his students Plato and Xenophon, and the plays of his contemporary ...
also had had a statue at Athens, he might have been spared the hemlock
Conium
Conium is a genus of two species of highly poisonous perennial herbaceous flowering plants in the family Apiaceae, native to Europe and the Mediterranean region as Conium maculatum, and to southern Africa as Conium chaerophylloides....
.
Hadrian banished Favorinus at some point in the 130s, to the island of Chios
Chios
Chios is the fifth largest of the Greek islands, situated in the Aegean Sea, seven kilometres off the Asia Minor coast. The island is separated from Turkey by the Chios Strait. The island is noted for its strong merchant shipping community, its unique mastic gum and its medieval villages...
. Rehabilitated with the ascension of Antoninus Pius
Antoninus Pius
Antoninus Pius , also known as Antoninus, was Roman Emperor from 138 to 161. He was a member of the Nerva-Antonine dynasty and the Aurelii. He did not possess the sobriquet "Pius" until after his accession to the throne...
in 138, Favorinus returned to Rome, where he resumed his activities as an author and teacher of upper class pupils. His year of death is unknown, but he appears to have survived into his eighties, and died perhaps around 160.
Of the very numerous works of Favorinus, we possess only a few fragments, preserved by Aulus Gellius, Diogenes Laertius
Diogenes Laertius
Diogenes Laertius was a biographer of the Greek philosophers. Nothing is known about his life, but his surviving Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers is one of the principal surviving sources for the history of Greek philosophy.-Life:Nothing is definitively known about his life...
, Philostratus
Philostratus
Philostratus or Lucius Flavius Philostratus , , called "the Athenian", was a Greek sophist of the Roman imperial period. His father was a minor sophist of the same name. He was born probably around 172, and is said by the Suda to have been living in the reign of emperor Philip the Arab . His death...
, and in the Suda
Suda
The Suda or Souda is a massive 10th century Byzantine encyclopedia of the ancient Mediterranean world, formerly attributed to an author called Suidas. It is an encyclopedic lexicon, written in Greek, with 30,000 entries, many drawing from ancient sources that have since been lost, and often...
, Laropia (miscellaneous history) and his memoirs. As a philosopher, Favorinus belonged to the sceptical school; his most important work in this connection appears to have been the Pyrrhonean Tropes in ten books, in which he endeavours to show that the methods of Pyrrho
Pyrrho
Pyrrho , a Greek philosopher of classical antiquity, is credited as being the first Skeptic philosopher and the inspiration for the school known as Pyrrhonism, founded by Aenesidemus in the 1st century BC.- Life :Pyrrho was from Elis, on the Ionian Sea...
were useful to those who intended to practise in the law courts.
Hofeneder (2006) suggests that Favorinus is identical with the "Celtic philosopher" explaining the image of Ogmios
Ogmios
Ogmios was the Celtic deity of eloquence. He looked like an older version of Heracles. He was also a binding god who would use his powers of persuasion to bind men onto himself and then lead them into the underworld....
in Lucianus
Lucian
Lucian of Samosata was a rhetorician and satirist who wrote in the Greek language. He is noted for his witty and scoffing nature.His ethnicity is disputed and is attributed as Assyrian according to Frye and Parpola, and Syrian according to Joseph....
. (E. Amato have before suggested this identification in "Luciano e l'anonimo filosofo celta di Hercules 4: proposta di identificazione", Symbolae Osloenses 79 (2004), 128-149).