Quintus Sextius

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online.

Quintus Sextius the Elder (fl. c. 50 BC) was a Roman philosopher, whose philosophy combined Pythagoreanism with Stoicism.

His praises were frequently celebrated by Seneca. Sextius founded a school of philosophy combining some features of the Pythagoreans with others of the Stoics; and which was consequently classed sometimes with one, and sometimes with the other of those sects.

Seneca describes Sextius as a Stoic but mentions that Sextius himself denied it.

From the Epistles of Seneca we learn that Sextius, though born of an illustrious family, had declined the office of Senator when offered him by Julius Caesar.

He also subjected himself to a scrupulous self-examination at the close of each day; and he abstained from animal food, though for different reasons than those ascribed to Pythagoras: Sextius believed that man had enough sustenance without resorting to blood, and that a habit of cruelty is formed whenever butchery is practised for pleasure.