(TARSUS, a Stoic philosopher, was the disciple and successor of Diogenes
and the teacher of Panaetius, de Divin. 1.3, de Off. 3.12.) Plutarch speaks of him
with Zeno, Cleanthes, and Chrysippus, as one of the principal Stoic philosophers (de Stoic. Repugnant. p. 144), and Cicero mentions him as remarkable for
acuteness. (De Off. 3.12.) Of his personal history nothing is known.
The few extant notices of his philosophical opinions would not be a sufficient ground for
any great reputation, if it were not for the testimony of ancient authors to his merit. He
seems to have taken the lead during his lifetime in the disputes constantly recurring between
his own school and the Academy, although he is said to have felt himself so unequal in
argument to his contemporary Carnceades, in public disputation, Mor. p. 514d.; Euseb. de
Praep. Evang. 14.8.) He taught belief in God as " a Being blessed, incorruptible, and
of goodwill to men," and blamed those who ascribed to the gods "generation and corruption,"
which is said to have been the doctrine of Chrysippus. (Plut. de Stoic.
Rep. p. 192.) Besides this treatise " on the gods," he also wrote two books on
Divination, a common topic among the Stoics, in which he proved the truth of the science from
the foreknowledge and benevolence of the Deity, explained dreams to be supernatural
intimations of the future, and collected stories of divination attributed to Socrates. (Cic.
de Divin. 1.3, 20, 39, 54.) He is said to have believed that Fate was a
god, though it is not clear what was implied in this expression (Stob. de
Fato, 16); and it appears from Athenaeus that he wrote a treatise entitled
Compare Varro, de Ling. Lat. 6.1. p. 184, Fragm. p. 289, ed. Bip.