Very little is known about Antipater's life, except that he was the disciple and successor of Diogenes of Babylon as leader of the Stoic school in Athens, and he was the teacher of Panaetius.
Plutarch speaks of him with Zeno, Cleanthes, and Chrysippus, as one of the principal Stoic philosophers,[3] and Cicero mentions him as remarkable for acuteness.
[4] He seems to have taken the lead during his lifetime in the disputes constantly recurring between his own school and the Academy, although he is said to have felt himself so unequal in argument to his contemporary Carneades in public debates, that he confined himself to writing; by which he was called "Pen-noise" (Greek: καλαμοβόας).
[7] He is said to have believed that Fate was a god, though it is not clear what was implied in this expression;[8] and it appears from Athenaeus that he wrote a treatise entitled On Superstition (Greek: Περὶ Δεισιδαιμονίας).
[9] Of Antipater's labours in moral philosophy nothing remains except a few scattered statements which concern points of detail, and have more to do with the application of moral precepts than with the principles themselves; such as they were, however, he took higher ground in solving them than his master Diogenes:[10] If a wise man should inadvertently accept counterfeit money for good, will he offer it as genuine in payment of a debt after he discovers his mistake?"