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The Stoic position is represented by Pharnaces. This name was borne by the son of Mithridates, of whom Plutarch tells in the Lives of Pompey and Caesar, as well as by several notable Persians mentioned by Herodotus and ThucydidesThere was also a city in Pontus named Pharnaceia ( Lucullus, 17 [502 F]).; and Plutarch probably chose it for his Stoic because of its Asiatic sound.Hirzel (Der Dialog, ii, p. 186, n. 4) says that Pharnaces is certainly a former slave, one who had shared the fate and sentiments of Epictetus. This, of course, is the merest fancy; not all Asiatics, not even all in Rome at this time, had been slaves. For Athenians named Pharnaces cf. I. G. ii². 1039. 84 and 202. 55.
intro
After the role of Lamprias the largest in the dialogue proper is that of Lucius, who is probably the same as Lucius, the pupil of Moderatus the Pythagorean, from Etruria, a guest at the dinner which Sulla gave for Plutarch in Rome ( Quaest. Conviv viii. 7-8 [727 B ff., 728 D ff.]).Another Lucius, the son of Florus, appears in Quaest. Conviv vii. 4 [702 F]; cf. Ziegler, Plutarchos von Chaironeia, 55. Early in the dialogue (921 F) Lamprias turns to Lucius for aid; he seems to think it appropriate that Lucius should set forth the strict demonstration of the Academic theory concerning the moon (cf. 928 D - E); and in fact the statement and defence of this position are shared by the two of them.It is Lucius who demands that the Stoic theory should not be passed over without refutation (921 F). It is he who replies when Pharnaces complains of Lamprias’s violent treatment of the Stoics (922 F). His speeches extend from 922 F to 923 F, where Lamprias takes over to give him time to collect his thoughts, from 928 F to 929 E, from 930 A to 931 C, and from 931 D to 933 E.
