Suiko of the universe The presence of logos divides matter into the passive and the active, all of which combines to make an integrated whole Logos, cognate with the fire aspect of the four elements, makes up the human soul and the reason of the soul, which is at one with the nature of the material of the universe, and can be fully expressed only when it fully comprehends its place in the universe As a result of the nature of the material that makes up the universe, it follows that people are formed with various desires and attributes that are entirely natural In common with most forms of Greek philosophy, Stoicism aimed to find the ideal relationship between the individual and nature Aiming to achieve the desires with which people are naturally endowed, for example, for security, comfort, wealth, was a perfectly acceptable form of behavior However, it was possible for the individual to approach these goals in the wrong way, owing to imperfections in personal perception, which is the method of seeking to understand the universe The true Stoic, therefore, should have a rigorous grasp of true perception and an understanding of the reality of the universe, and this tends to lead to a certain acerbity of character Moral duty and personal virtue are inescapable characteristics of a properly Stoic individual The second period of Stoic thought occupied the first and second centuries b.c.e and was dominated by the philosophers Panaetius and Posidonus These men made some alterations to the nature of Stoic thought but did not significantly change the basis of the philosophy They were more interested in restoring Stoicism to its Platonic and Aristotelian roots This conflicted with the additions of Chrysippus, who had added an ethical component to Stoicism that had not been present in Zeno’s teaching Posidonus and Panaetius were largely responsible for the popularity of Stoicism in Rome, where it was seen as a moral corrective to the temptations of conquest and empire This was recorded in the second book of Cicero’s De Natura Deorum (On the Nature of the Gods) Lucius Annaeus Seneca (4 b.c.e.–65 c.e.) achieved prominence both for his scholarly works, which adopted Stoicism for the Roman world, and for his tutelage of Nero and subsequent position as joint regent emperor of Rome His works provided consolation to Boethius in prison, and he then later restated the philosophy as a means of escaping from the trials of the world by rejecting the importance of transitory events and phenomena The freed slave Epictetus (c 55–135 c.e.) established his own school of Stoicism that focused on practical humanity and individual freedom He favored universal justice 445 and the cultivation of a calm indifference to the slings and arrows of fate Since failure was an inevitable part of human life, it was not to be condemned; only hypocrisy and falsehood was to be avoided The thought of Epictetus had considerable impact upon subsequent Christian thought It was warmly embraced by Marcus Aurelius (121–180 c.e.), emperor of Rome Marcus Aurelius maintained a personal journal in which he recorded his thoughts and moral injunctions, most of which were drawn directly from Epictetus’s statements of Stoic philosophy His Meditations have subsequently become extremely influential in shaping subsequent thought of the Western world Stoicism has been one of the most enduring thought systems to emerge from ancient Greece Its influence can be traced to numerous subsequent schools of thought, including various forms of Protestantism and Puritanism In focusing on the separation between the attainable and the worthless and its concentration on the moral imperatives of the individual, Stoicism has proved useful in many contexts See also Aristotle; Greek oratory and rhetoric; Platonism Further reading: Boethius, Ancius The Consolation of Philosophy Trans by Victor Watts New York: Penguin Classics, 2000; Cicero, Marcus Tullius The Nature of the Gods Trans by Horace C P McGregor New York: Penguin Classics, 1972; Epictetus The Discourses of Epictetus Ed by Christopher Gill; trans by Robin Hard Phoenix, AZ: Everyman Paperback Classics, 1995; Inwood, Brad, ed The Cambridge Companion to the Stoics Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003; Marcus Aurelius Meditations Trans by Maxwell Staniforth New York: Penguin Books, 1964 John Walsh Suiko (d 628 c.e.) empress of Japan Suiko ruled Japan from 592 to 628 c.e alongside her regent, the crown prince Shotoku Taishi She was the daughter of Emperor Kimmei and his consort, a woman from the powerful Soga clan After Kimmei’s death his son Bidatsu took the throne, and Suiko, his half sister, became his wife Bidatsu soon died, and another of Suiko’s brothers, Yomei, became sovereign until his death two years later A subsequent power struggle over the throne ended in victory for the Soga as Sushun, one of Suiko’s half brothers, took the throne However, the