Western philosophy suffers no shortage of luminaries; intellectual titans—both ancient and modern—from Plato and Aristotle to Rousseau and Marx have left an indelible stamp on their respective eras, ushering profound consequences for the history of man. Philosophers have inspired revolutions, deposed kings, given us freedom and, on occasion, taken it away. Yet at the basis of this remarkable history—this astounding evolution of thought— lies a remote and enigmatic figure known to us as Socrates. For centuries, philosophers have strove to delineate the historical Socrates from the literary Socrates, described variably in the ancient texts and spurring a philosophical quandary called the Socratic problem. Everything we know about Socrates is second hand. He lived in Athens between 469 and 399 B.C, amidst an intellectually dynamic period before and during the Peloponnesian War. He wrote nothing himself and yet, as a testament to his genius, Socrates is perhaps the most influential figure in Western philosophy. He was the father of ethics and political philosophy; the inspiration for the Scientific method; the tutor of Plato; and the patriarch of what became the Greek philosophical school.

Antiquities
Ancient Roman