From the 4th century BC, Athens had been the cultural center of the western world. Many classical philosophers started schools in Athens, including Zeno, the father of Stoicism. Born in 342 BC, Zeno arrived in Athens about 313, and taught in the Stoá Poikílē or painted porch of Athens (Stoic is derived from stoa, Greek for porch). By 294, Zeno had established the school of the Stoics. In the 2nd century BC, stoicism was carried to Rome by Panætius of…