To the uneducated Cynics

A classic history book originally written by Julian (A Roman Emperor) and translated by Emily Wilmer Cave Wright. Julian's aim here, as in the Seventh Oration, is not to convert the New Cynics, but to demonstrate the fundamental unity of philosophy. He equated Diogenes with Socrates as a moral authority and had deep sympathy for cynical ideals. He emphasized to the Cynics that there is no convention that has not been examined and accepted by individual reason, for the Delphic teaching of «Know Yourself» warns all philosophers not to accept traditional authority. The allusion to the opening paragraph for the summer solstice seems to suggest that Julian wrote the Oration before leaving Constantinople to prepare for the Persian expedition.