Roman thinkers looked to Greek philosophy for inspiration. The Stoic school of thought, which taught that it was duty for individuals to bear life's trials with dignity and calm, was particularly popular in Rome. From Cicero, in the late Republic, though Seneca and later Marcus Aurelius, under the Empire, Stoicism continued to exercise a strong attraction over Roman minds.
Epicureanism was also popular in some circles, with poets such as Lucretius championing its teachings. Like Stoics, Epucureans believed that life is ultimately without hope, and that one should focus on living daily life in a positive spirit.
A major philosophical strand of thought in the later Roman empire was Neoplatonism. This taught that there was a "being beyond being" who created and ordered all things, and that humans should strive to become one with this being through practicing virtue and asceticism.