Once regarded as a minor Socratic school, Cynicism is now admired as one of the more creative and influential philosophical movements in antiquity. First arising in the city-states of late classical Greece, Cynicism thrived through the Hellenistic and Roman periods, until the triumph of Christianity and the very end of pagan antiquity. In every age down to the present, its ideals of radical simplicity and freedom have alternately inspired and disturbed onlookers. This book offers a survey of Cynicism, its varied representatives and ideas, and the many contexts in which it operated. William Des.;Cover; Half Title; Title; Copyright; Contents; Acknowledgements; Introduction; 1. Ancient Cynics and their times; 2. Renunciation of custom; 3. A life according to nature; 4. Chance, fate, fortune and the self; 5. Anarchists, democrats, cosmopolitans, kings; 6. Cynic legacies; Glossary of names; Glossary of Greek terms; Notes; Guide to further reading; Bibliography; Index.