ISBN 9781913260521 (paperback), 88 pages

Rise into the mind of Rome’s greatest emperor. A concentrated dialogue that will inspire you to live more philosophically—and powerfully.

According to the historian Suetonius, the emperor Augustus wrote an invitation (or exhortation) to philosophy. If this is true, it would have been inspired by Cicero’s famous Hortensius, which was, in turn, informed by Aristotle’s Protrepticus. Tragically, all three protreptics have been lost, depriving us of antiquity’s most popular, inspiring, and potentially life-changing genre of philosophy.

This concise work is an imaginative reconstruction of the first Roman emperor’s invitation to philosophy, based on arguments and anecdotes gleaned from other ancient authors, including Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus, Cicero, Epictetus, Seneca, and Marcus Aurelius. It features Augustus in conversation with his two young grandsons (who were also his adopted sons and heirs), Gaius and Lucius, in the forlorn hope that they might one day rise into philosopher-kings, or, even, philosopher-emperors.

At his trial, Socrates declaimed that the unexamined life is not worth living. But what are the arguments behind this slogan, and why should we, today, take up the study of philosophy?

Among the arguments, you’ll learn:

• How to feel more alive.
• When to disobey your parents.
• The dangers of teaching the wrong person.
• The key differences between man, animal, plant, and god.
• Why money could never buy happiness.
• Why people never consult a philosopher.
• Why death is your second-best friend.
• How best to participate in eternity.
• And much, much more.

Editorial reviews

Ingenious and fascinating … Neel Burton rivals the greats. All those who love history and philosophy should read this book.
— Readers’ Favorite

A paean to the life of the mind. If you enjoyed the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius, you will absolutely love this book. —Charles Mauleverer, composer

What a lovely idea, to reconstruct the emperor Augustus’s lost Invitation to Philosophy. Neel Burton has done so with admirable scholarship and imagination.
—Prof Armand d’Angour, classical scholar and author of Socrates in Love

As mental health and humanity face deepening crises, Neel is increasingly turning to the wisdom of the ancients for answers. Through his work, he seeks to bridge the gap between ancient philosophy and modern challenges, offering insights that resonate deeply in today’s troubled world. —Plato’s Academy Centre, Athens

◆ Grab your copy now and drop in on the best and most beautiful thoughts of antiquity.

A revival of antiquity’s most popular genre of philosophy 

Gaius: Ought we then to scorn wealth? How much is enough? 

Athenodorus: The real value of money is to buy time for the mind. In buying us freedom, wealth can assist the cultivation and dissemination of wisdom. But beyond this, it becomes more of a burden than a boon. 

Dionysius: Freedom need not cost a fortune. Socrates, for example, devoted himself entirely to discussing philosophy, from dawn to dusk, and sometimes deep into the night, without ever taking payment for his services. 

Lucius: How did he get by? 

Augustus: On a meagre inheritance and rich friends. 

Dionysius: But above all, by needing little—for little is needed for the life of the mind. Wealth, he said, does not bring about excellence: on the contrary, excellence makes wealth, and everything else that is good for men. If we pursue excellence, wealth and honour are bound to follow, in the purest way, from the good that we have done. But if we pursue wealth, as it were, putting the cart before the horse, we may end up with only the wealth, without the honour, or the good, or the excellence, which, for a life well lived, are worth far more than mere wealth. 

Athenodorus: Dear Dion, you are indeed the son of Arius… Just as a horse ought to be judged on its strength and temper rather than on its bridle and saddle, so a man ought to be judged on his wisdom and virtue rather than on his wealth or birth or anything else, because reason is what is proper to man. However fine its mane and tail, however pure its pedigree, a feeble and fitful horse cannot be counted as a good horse. 

Augustus: Consider also: if we acquire wealth without first acquiring excellence, we will be worth less than our possessions, which is laughable. If we owned a hundred slaves, or a thousand, and one of them happened to have a grain of philosophy, a spark of the divine, he alone would be worth more than us.