Author

Books by Epictetus

Epictetus (c. 50–135 CE) was a Greek Stoic philosopher born into slavery in Hierapolis (modern-day Turkey). He was brought to Rome as a slave, gained his freedom, and eventually established a philosophical school in Nicopolis, Greece, where he taught for decades. None of his own writing survives; the Discourses and the Enchiridion were recorded by his student Arrian. His influence on later Stoic thought was profound — Marcus Aurelius, whose Meditations are in part a private engagement with Epictetan ideas, is the most famous case. He has been rediscovered repeatedly, including in twentieth-century cognitive behavioral therapy, which shares structural similarities with his core framework.