The areas of his life in which Galen is most effusive in his attributes to his father¶s good influence are those concerning the development of his character
and the provision of his education. It is, however, only in Aff.Dig. that any comments about the formation of his character are made. This is appropriate enough as this work is devoted in its entirety to advice and guidance concerning living a life of self-control and probity:
I did have the great good fortune to have a father who was extremely slow to anger, as well as extremely just, decent and generous. 11Alim.Fac. K6.552. = Grant (2000) 107-8. 12Nat.Fac.K2. 55-6. 13Sem. I 15.30 = K4.570. 14UP K3.270.= May(1968) 205. 15 Homer Odyssey, 24.206.
CHAPTER 6:GALEN¶S FAMILY AND SOCIAL POSITION
100 My father would never grieve at any setback.
« I had always kept in mind the precept of my father, that one should not be troubled by any material loss provided that what remains is adequate for the care of one¶s body.
Under my father¶s training I developed the habit of scorn for honour and reputation, and of respect for truth alone.
Never did I lay a hand upon a servant ± a discipline practiced by my father too, who frequently berated friends who had bruised their hands in the act of hitting servants in the teeth.
These, then, I said, were the precepts that I took from my father; and I keep them to this day.16
It is possible to argue that this work was intended to be private advice to a friend and not intended for general distribution. This idea is supported by the number of
occasions in this letter where Galen repeats the same information and the general lack of a clear developing theme. If this is the whole situation then his uses of personal reminiscences and comments on the effects of his father¶s advice on his own life have some validity. However, the last comment above gives a clear indication that not least among Galen¶s intentions in this exercise was that of promoting the virtues in his own life and thus advertising his philosophic
credentials. In Bon.Mal.Suc. Galen lauds his father as a person who excelled the philosophers in the matters of justice and goodness and marvellous self-control.17
But Galen at least has the honesty to admit that he himself has never had to exercise this kind of fortitude in the loss of material property, for he had never lost any.18
Galen attributes all his basic competence in language and the exact sciences to his father¶s tutoring. He also sources his own openness to different philosophic ideas and schools to his father¶s advice.
My father was himself competent in the fields of mathematics, arithmetic and grammar, and reared me in these as well as other subjects necessary to the training of the young.19
My father had himself received a particularly strong training in geometry, mathematics, architecture and astronomy. It was his desire to teach the use of geometrical demonstrations to me too.20
After which on completion of my fourteenth year, I began to attend the lectures of the philosophers of my home town, «. with each of these men, my father made an examination of their lives and doctrines on my account, accompanying me to visit them.21
17Bon.Mal.Suc. K6.755. 18Aff.Dig. K5.44. 19Ord.Lib.Prop. K19.59 tr. Singer (1997) 27. 20Aff.Dig. K5.41 tr. Singer (1997) 120. 21Aff.Dig. K5.41-2 tr. Singer (1997) 119-120.
CHAPTER 6:GALEN¶S FAMILY AND SOCIAL POSITION
102 And he encouraged me not to declare myself hastily the adherent of
any one sect, but to take a long time in order to learn about them and judge them.22
« , if I had not had a firm grasp of the disciplines of geometry,
mathematics, and arithmetic, in which subjects I had excelled from the very first, through the schooling of my father, who had himself learned them from my grandfather and great-grandfather.23
Galen is obviously thankful to his father for the wealth that he inherited, for it enabled him to live the life of a gentleman scholar. Nevertheless, the sentiments that surround his thanks have more to do with lauding his own actions rather than those of his father.
Nor can you be seen giving your clothes to others, or assisting people with food or medical care ± as I do all the time. You have seen me discharge other people¶s debts. But I preserve everything that my father left me, neither deriving any excessive income from it, nor adding to it many times what is spent.24
The conclusion that has to be drawn from this evidence is that Galen was obviously on good terms with his father and was grateful for the educational, moral and monetary foundations that he had provided. On the other hand, it is clear that apart from using the material to provide examples of worthy living, he also wished to forward his own promotional agenda.
22Aff.Dig. K5.42tr. Singer (1997) 120. 23Lib.Prop. K19.40 tr. Singer (1997) 18. 24Aff.Dig. K5.48 tr. Singer (1997) 123.
6.3 His father¶s name and occupation