Musonius Rufus · Lectures
Lecture 11
What means of livelihood are appropriate for a philosopher?
The opening sentence indicates that this excerpt was taken from a larger discourse on the same subject. What the other occupations suitable for a philosopher were may, perhaps, be found in Cicero, De Officiis I, 42, 151.
Horace (Satire II, 2) shows what satisfaction Ofellus, once owner of the land, now tenant farmer, derives from a life of farming.
Columella (De Re Rustica, Praef. 10-11) considers farming the only suitable life for a free man.
Cf. Diogenes Laertius Lives. I, 9, 106.
Cf. Pliny Nat. Hist. VII, 46 (151).
Elegies 33-36.
Persius' description of his very happy relationship with his teacher Cornutus bears out Musonius' contention. Cf. Sat. V, 41-44. Page updated Google Sites Report abuse
Musonius Rufus, Lectures and Fragments, Lecture 11, translated by Cora E. Lutz (1947). The Stoic Library.