The City Swarms with These Vermin

The Cynics rejected learning but professed to possess wisdom. A question arose as to the manner in which this wisdom was obtained. Dio Chrysostom said that the wise man is "noble by nature" and "does not have to learn" (4, 29-33). Julian said that Cynicism "demands no special study whatsoever" (6, 187). Plutarch attributes to the Stoics a theory that virtue and wisdom were obtained immediately and without preparation; "The wise man in a moment of time changes from the lowest possible depravity to an unsurpassable state of virtue… The man who was the very worst in the morning becomes the very best at evening… He who was a worthless dolt when he fell asleep awakes wise" (Progress in Virtue 75).

The majority of the Cynics were probably beggars who adopted the guise of the Cynic as a cloak for their beggary (Lucian, The Runaways). As a result of their general illiteracy very few writings came from them (Julian 6, 186), and this has caused their numbers, especially in the 2nd and 1st centuries B.C., to be underestimated and their influence underrated. The Letters of Diogenes and Crates are supposed to belong to the 2nd and 1st centuries B.C. and the point of view of the writers is that of a member of a numerous order. The mentions of the Cynics by Cicero and Philodemus, 1st century B.C., are consistent with the theory that they were numerous. Philo Alexandrinus, writing at the beginning of the Christian era, speaks of them as "an incalculable number of men" (Quod Omnis Probus Liber Sit 21). Lucian says, "The city swarms with these vermin, particularly with those who profess the tenets of Diogenes, Antisthenes and Crates" (The Runaways 19). Eusebius Pamphili speaks of "Diogenes the Dog, who held the most brutish opinions and was the leader of many" (Praep. Evang. 15, 13, 6).

Image: Eusebius Pamphili, Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons