The Library
1774 works catalogued century by century, from the literature the Bible was written among to the present — each with a note on what it is, why it lasted, and where to read it.
300–201 BC
2 works
c. 275 BC
Greek
Aratus of Soli · c. 315 – c. 240 BC
A didactic poem mapping the constellations and the signs of weather, opening not with the stars but with Zeus — every street and every market full of him, every harbour and sea, and we all have need of him always, for we are also his offspring.
c. 260–250 BC
Greek
Cleanthes of Assos · c. 330 – c. 230 BC
Thirty-nine lines from the second head of the Stoic school, addressed to the most glorious of immortals, many-named, forever all-powerful — who guides the common law through all things, from whom we are sprung, and who can straighten even what is crooked and make the unloved lovely.
1–100
2 works
c. AD 30–45
Greek
Quod Omnis Probus Liber Sit
Philo of Alexandria · c. 20 BC – c. AD 50
A Stoic thesis argued from Jewish examples, closing with a description of the Essenes — who hold no slaves, swear no oaths, and keep no private property.
c. 73; date disputed, possibly 2nd–3rd century
Syriac
Mara bar Serapion
A Stoic prisoner writes to his son about the folly of killing wise men: the Athenians killed Socrates and were struck by famine, the Samians burned Pythagoras and were buried by sand, and the Jews executed their wise king and lost their kingdom in the same hour.
101–200
2 works
c. 108
Greek
Epictetus, recorded by Arrian · c. 50 – c. 135
A freed slave teaching Stoicism in Nicopolis, taken down by a student. Some things are up to us and some are not; the rest follows. In one passage he asks why, if madness and habit can make the Galilaeans fearless of tyrants, reason cannot do the same.
c. 170–180
Greek
Ta eis heauton
Marcus Aurelius · 121–180
Private notes written on campaign by an emperor reminding himself to be patient with fools, to accept what the whole sends, and to be ready to leave. A single line rejects the soul that is ready to depart out of mere opposition, as the Christians do, rather than by judgement.
1401–1500
1 work
written 1366; printed from 1470s
Latin
De Remediis Utriusque Fortunae
Francesco Petrarca · 1304–1374
Two hundred and fifty-four dialogues in which Reason answers Joy, Hope, Sorrow, and Fear on everything from wealth and fame to gout, exile, and the death of a child.
7 of 1774 works