Attalus (Stoic)

Attalus (Greek: Ἄτταλος) was a Stoic philosopher in the reign of Tiberius (c. 25 AD), who was defrauded of his property by Sejanus, and reduced to cultivating the ground. He taught the philosopher Seneca, who frequently quotes him, and speaks of him in the highest terms. The elder Seneca describes him as a man of great eloquence, and by far the acutest philosopher of his age. We have mention of a work of his on lightning; and it is supposed that he may be the author of the Proverbs referred to by Hesychius as written by one Attalus.