Editing Beard (section)

====The "philosopher's beard"====
In Greco-Roman antiquity the beard was "seen as the defining characteristic of the philosopher; philosophers had to have beards, and anyone with a beard was assumed to be a philosopher."<ref>Citing Lucian's Demonax 13, Cynicus 1 – {{cite book|title=The art of living: the Stoics on the nature and function of philosophy|first=John|last=Sellars|year=1988|publisher=Ashgate Publishing Limited|location=Burlington, VT}}</ref> While one may be tempted to think that [[Socrates]] and [[Plato]] sported "philosopher's beards", such is not the case. 
Shaving was not widespread in Athens during fifth and fourth-century BCE and so they would not be distinguished from the general populace for having a beard. The popularity of shaving did not rise in the region until the example of Alexander the Great near the end of the fourth century BCE. The popularity of shaving did not spread to Rome until the end of the third century BCE following its acceptance by [[Scipio Africanus]]. In Rome shaving's popularity grew to the point that for a respectable Roman citizen, it was seen almost as compulsory.

The idea of the philosopher's beard gained traction when in 155 BCE three philosophers arrived in Rome as Greek diplomats: [[Carneades]], head of the [[Platonic Academy]]; [[Critolaus]] of [[Aristotle]]'s [[Lyceum (classical)|Lyceum]]; and the head of the [[Stoicism|Stoics]], [[Diogenes of Babylon]]. "In contrast to their beautifully clean-shaven Italian audience, these three intellectuals all sported magnificent beards."<ref name="Sellars">{{cite book |title=The art of living: the Stoics on the nature and function of philosophy |first=John |last=Sellars |year=1988 |publisher=Ashgate Publishing Limited |location=Burlington, VT}}</ref> Thus the connection of beards and philosophy caught hold of the Roman public imagination.

[[File:Epicteti Enchiridion Latinis versibus adumbratum (Oxford 1715) frontispiece.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Epictetus]] stated he would embrace death before shaving.]]

The importance of the beard to Roman [[philosopher]]s is best seen by the extreme value that the Stoic philosopher [[Epictetus]] placed on it. As historian John Sellars puts it, Epictetus "affirmed the philosopher's beard as something almost sacred...to express the idea that philosophy is no mere intellectual hobby but rather a way of life that, by definition, transforms every aspect of one's behavior, including one's shaving habits. If someone continues to shave in order to look the part of a respectable Roman citizen, it is clear that they have not yet embraced philosophy conceived as a way of life and have not yet escaped the social customs of the majority...the true philosopher will only act according to reason or according to nature, rejecting the arbitrary conventions that guide the behavior of everyone else."<ref name="Sellars"/>

Epictetus saw his beard as an integral part of his identity and held that he would rather be executed than submit to any force demanding he remove it. In his [[Discourses of Epictetus|Discourses]] 1.2.29, he puts forward such a hypothetical confrontation: {{"'}}Come now, Epictetus, shave your beard'. If I am a philosopher, I answer, I will not shave it off. 'Then I will have you beheaded'. If it will do you any good, behead me."<ref name="Sellars"/> The act of shaving "would be to compromise his philosophical ideal of living in accordance with nature and it would be to submit to the unjustified authority of another."<ref name="Sellars"/>

This was not theoretical in the age of Epictetus, for the Emperor [[Domitian]] had the hair and beard forcibly shaven off of the philosopher [[Apollonius of Tyana]] "as punishment for anti-State activities."<ref name="Sellars"/> This disgraced Apollonius while avoiding making him a martyr like Socrates. Well before his declaration of "death before shaving" Epictetus had been forced to flee Rome when Domitian banished all philosophers from Italy under threat of execution.

Roman philosophers sported different styles of beards to distinguish which school they belonged to. [[Cynicism (philosophy)|Cynics]] with long dirty beards to indicate their "strict indifference to all external goods and social customs";<ref name="Sellars"/> Stoics occasionally trimming and washing their beards in accordance with their view "that it is acceptable to prefer certain external goods so long as they are never valued above virtue";<ref name="Sellars"/> [[Peripatetic school|Peripatetics]] took great care of their beards believing in accordance with Aristotle that "external goods and social status were necessary for the good life together with virtue".<ref name="Sellars"/> To a Roman philosopher in this era, having a beard and its condition indicated their commitment to live in accordance with their philosophy.