Philosophy after Pharsalus

This chapter reviews the interlinking of politics and philosophy in the period after the Battle of Pharsalus. It first describes “Pompeian group therapy,” the recourse to sociable philosophizing on the part of defeated Republicans. The chapter stresses that both Cicero and his amici (many still in exile after the Civil War) turned to philosophy for consolation and the reassurance that they had done, and were continuing to do, the morally right thing. The chapter then turns to the question of freedom of speech (and the absence thereof) under Caesar's dictatorship, showing how Cicero and others attempted to cope with the changed political situation. It also looks at Cicero's encyclopedic corpus, and examines once more Cicero's own statements as found especially in the works' prefaces. The chapter considers the uses of philosophy in the assassination of Caesar and its aftermath. The most prominent conspirators, Brutus and Cassius, were known for their philosophical interests and, as the chapter argues, at least partly motivated by theoretical convictions about the evils of tyranny.