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Posidonius

File:Posidonio,_replica_augustea_(23_ac.-14_dc_ca)_da_originale_del_100-50_ac._ca._6142.JPG · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons

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Posidonius

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Also known as Poseidonios, Posidonius of Apamea

Posidonius (; , "of Poseidon") "of Apameia" () or "of Rhodes" () (), was a Greek politician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, historian, mathematician, and teacher native to Apamea, Syria. He was considered the most learned man of his time and, possibly, of the entire Stoic school. After a period learning Stoic philosophy from Panaetius in Athens, he spent many years in travel and scientific researches in Spain, Africa, Italy, Gaul, Liguria, Sicily and on the eastern shores of the Adriatic. He settled as a teacher at Rhodes where his fame attracted numerous scholars. Next to Panaetius he di

OverviewAI-generated

Posidonius (135 BCE–51 BCE) was a male mathematician, astronomer, historian, and philosopher active during the Hellenistic period. Born in Apamea, he died in Rome. His primary field of work was philosophy, specifically ancient Greek philosophy and stoicism. He wrote in Ancient Greek and was a student of Panaetius, who also influenced his work. One of his students was Athenodoros Cananites.

Known as Posidonius of Apamea, of Rhodes, he is associated with the stoicism movement. His works include *Hapanta*, *Posidonius* (Cambridge Classical Texts and Commentaries), *Die Fragmente*, and *Posidonii Rhodii Reliquiae doctrine, collegit atque illustravit Janus Bake*. He is recorded as having nine works in Open Library and one in Crossref. A quote attributed to him states, "A single day among the learned lasts longer than the longest life of the ignorant."

Synthesized by Vinony from 29 facts across 5 sources: Wikidata, Open Library, Crossref, Wikiquote, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Person · Open Library

Born
ca. 135 BC
Died
51 BC
Works
9

Top works

  • Hapanta
  • Posidonius (Cambridge Classical Texts and Commentaries)
  • Posidonius
  • Die Fragmente
  • Posidonii Rhodii Reliquiae doctrine, collegit atque illustravit Janus Bake

via Open Library + Wikidata

Key facts

Philosopher.region
Western philosophy
Philosopher.era
Hellenistic philosophy
Philosopher.image
Posidonio, replica augustea (23 ac.-14 dc ca) da originale del 100-50 ac. ca. 6142.JPG
Philosopher.caption
Bust of Posidonius from the Naples National Archaeological Museum
Philosopher.name
Posidonius
Philosopher.birth_place
Apamea Seleucid Empire
Philosopher.death_date
(aged 83–84)
Philosopher.death_place
Rhodes or Rome
Philosopher.school_tradition
Stoicism
Philosopher.main_interests
Astronomy, geography, history, mathematics, meteorology, philosophy, physics

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of
human
Gender
male
Place of birth
Apamea
Place of death
Rome
Occupation
geographer
Languages spoken
Ancient Greek
Student of
Panaetius
Movement
stoicism
Image
Probably Poseidonos Rhodos.jpg
Show 12 more facts
Commons category
Posidonius
date of death
0051-01-01
date of birth
0135-01-01
name in native language
Ποσειδώνιος
influenced by
Panaetius
writing language
Ancient Greek
P8168
Tei
maintained by WikiProject
WikiProject Mathematics
birth name
Ποσειδώνιος
significant place
Apamea
Sources (4)

via Wikidata · CC0

~23 min read

Encyclopedic overview

21 sections
Contents
  • Life
  • Early life and education
  • Travels
  • Political offices
  • The Stoic school on Rhodes
  • Partial scope of writings
  • Philosophy
  • Ethics
  • Physics
  • Mathematics
  • Astronomy and meteorology
  • Geography, ethnology, and geology
  • Earth's circumference
  • History and tactics
  • Reputation and influence
  • See also
  • References
  • Editions and translations
  • Sources
  • Further reading
  • External links

Posidonius (; , "of Poseidon") "of Apameia" () or "of Rhodes" () (), was a Greek politician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, historian, mathematician, and teacher native to Apamea, Syria. He was considered the most learned man of his time and, possibly, of the entire Stoic school. After a period learning Stoic philosophy from Panaetius in Athens, he spent many years in travel and scientific researches in Spain, Africa, Italy, Gaul, Liguria, Sicily and on the eastern shores of the Adriatic. He settled as a teacher at Rhodes where his fame attracted numerous scholars. Next to Panaetius he did most, by writings and personal lectures, to spread Stoicism to the Roman world, and he became well known to many leading men, including Pompey and Cicero.

His works are now lost, but they proved a mine of information to later writers. The titles and subjects of more than twenty of them are known. In common with other Stoics of the middle period, he displayed syncretic tendencies, following not just the earlier Stoics, but making use of the works of Plato and Aristotle. A polymath as well as a philosopher, he took genuine interest in natural science, geography, natural history, mathematics and astronomy. He sought to determine the distance and magnitude of the Sun, to calculate the diameter of the Earth and the influence of the Moon on the tides.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Posidonius” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

Gallery (10)