In recent years, the mutual interaction between philosophy and Roman political and cultural life has aroused much interest. In this collection of papers, originally delivered at the seminar on Philosophy and Roman Society at the University of Oxford, scholars from several disciplines investigate this interaction in the late Republic and early Empire, with particular emphasis on the formative period of the first century B.C. The book presents chapters on key digures such as Posidonius, Antiochus of Ascalon, Philodemus, Lucretius, Cicero, and Plutarch, as well as general essays on "Philosophy, Politics, and Politicians at Rome", and "Roman Rulers and the Philosophic Adviser," with contributions from Julia Annas, P.A. Brunt, David Sedley, and others.