Epictetus

Though little is known for certain about his early life, Epictetus is generally described as a Greek Stoic philosopher born around AD 55 in Hierapolis, in Phrygia. He lived in Rome for a time, where he studied philosophy, and after philosophers were expelled from the city under Emperor Domitian, he taught in Nicopolis in northwestern Greece.

Epictetus wrote nothing himself. What we have comes mainly from the notes of his student Arrian, especially the Discourses and the short Enchiridion or Handbook. These works focus on a simple but demanding idea: some things are in our control and some are not, and a good life depends on learning the difference.

His teaching is direct, practical, and often surprisingly modern. Rather than offering abstract theory, he returns again and again to discipline, responsibility, and the use of reason in everyday life. That clear, unsentimental voice helped make him one of the best-known Stoic thinkers long after his death, usually placed around AD 135.