Roman Philosophy and the Jews

Abstract

This chapter details how Philo integrates the Jews into his philosophical treatises, which are of lively interest in Rome, where they had been discussed since Cicero. The Jews are moreover inscribed into contemporary discourses and presented as philosophers who live by both their ancestral tradition and the values of Roman Stoicism. The Jews are distinguished now from the Greeks and described by Roman notions. Indeed, Philo has speedily integrated into Roman culture, which he encountered during the embassy, and shown an exceptional intellectual curiosity. Philo's achievement is impressive, as he offers the first extant Roman interpretation of Judaism. Moreover, Philo's philosophy in his later treatises has implications for early Christianity, which turns in the mid-second century to philosophy in a Roman mode.