After the death of Zeno (who, by the way, was so admired by the Athenians that they built a bronze statue of him), Stoicism kept its place as a leading Athenian school of philosophy (alongside others) until 155 BCE, when something very important happened to ancient philosophy—the heads of Stoicism (Diogenes of Babylon) and other schools of philosophy were chosen as ambassadors to represent Athens in political negotiations with Rome, in Rome. While the negotiations are of little interest, the cultural impact this visit had is not. The Athenians gave packed lectures and sparked an interest in
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