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Epictetus was a Stoic philosopher who lived during the height of the Roman Empire, 50 to 135 CE roughly. He was born a slave in modern Turkey. He was given his name from the Greek word επικτητος, meaning ‘acquired’ or ‘slave’. As a slave he was permitted to attend philosophy lectures, which were held by Stoics at the time. During his time as a slave, Epictetus’ leg was injured, either from torture or an accident, and, due to his familiarity with Stoicism, he was able to endure it. He got his freedom when Nero was appointed emperor; however, during the rule of Domitian, Epictetus was exiled and moved to Greece. He started a philosophy school where he continued to teach about Stoicism and eventually died. His student, Arrian, wrote and published his works: The Discourses and Epictetus’ shorter book, the Enchiridion, or The Manual.

He had been highly educated in both Greece and Rome. He was also a great intellectual and orator of his time which would have put him in contact with the people who already knew of Stoicism. He studied under the Stoic philosopher Diodotus (d. 59 BCE). They maintained such a close friendship that Diodotus lived in Cicero’s house until his death when he left everything he owned to Cicero. While Cicero considered himself not a complete disciple of Stoicism (he followed some teaching of Epicurus and Plato) he practiced Stoicism’s ideals, especially it’s ethics, throughout his life. Professor and historian Edward Clayton writes that “Cicero puts forth Stoic doctrines not dogmatically, as absolutely and always true, but as the best set of beliefs so far developed. We ought to adhere to them because our lives, both individually and collectively, will be better if we do. It is essentially Stoic ethical teachings that Cicero urges the Roman elite to adopt.” Cicero urges the elite to adopt these ethics through his orations and his philosophical writings. He, himself, studied the texts of the earlier stoic philosopher Panaetius, and this influenced his most famous work: De Officiis, or On Duty. On De Divinationes, another of Cicero’s Stoicism -influenced works, the historian A E Douglas writes that: “Cicero wrote at its beginning and again at its end… that he was deliberately seeking relief through philosophy from the political troubles of the time and an outlet

One difference between the emperor and the slaves is that the emperor's get to make currency and use the currency for food and other things while the other (slaves) do not get paid at all. With that said, it means the slaves can’t support their families (if they have any). And emperors are very rich, they can technically get anything they want, whenever they want because of all the power they have.

Born of different backgrounds, upbringings, and experiences, Epictetus and Seneca are Roman philosophers who outwardly appear very different. Epictetus spent most of his youth as a slave while Seneca was born into money and became a tutor of Nero. Although these two men seem to be very dissimilar, they each shared a common purpose in studying philosophy and teaching people on how to live well. Each suggested different paths for how to do so. Epictetus suggests in his book, The Discourses and The Enchiridion, that living a life in accordance with nature could be achieved by living moderately. Seneca suggests in his work, Letters from a Stoic, that a happy man is self-sufficient and realizes that happiness depends only on interior perfection. Despite the differences, both Epictetus and Seneca are considered Stoics because of their shared belief in the idea that character is the only guarantee of everlasting, carefree happiness. The world outside ourselves will never give us happiness, nor will it be responsible for our unhappiness. It doesn’t matter what’s happening outside ourselves, Epictetus and Seneca claim that the only thing that matters is how we interpret those events. Further evaluating Seneca’s, Letters from a Stoic and Epictetus’s, The Discourses and The Enchiridion, we will clearly be able to differentiate the two in their ideas and opinions regarding stoicism and the keys to living a well, happy life.

Zeno of Citium (333-261 BC) was the first Stoic. Zeno’s father was a merchant of purple dye and used to come home from his travels with books for Zeno to read. Among them were philosophy books purchased in Athens which aroused Zeno’s interest in philosophy and Athens. As a result of a shipwreck, Zeno found himself in Athens, and while there, he decided to take advantage of the philosophical resources the city had to offer. He went to a bookseller’s shop and asked where men liked Socrates could be found. Just then, Crates and the Cynic was walking by. The bookseller pointed at him and said, “Follow yonder man.” And so it was, we are told, that Zeno became Crates’ pupil. Looking back on this time in his life, Zeno commented, “I made a prosperous voyage when I suffered shipwreck” (Irvine, 2009).

How did Romans view slavery and did they think of it as something wrong to do? Romans saw slavery as a necessity and so they did not see slavery as a bad act or something wrong to own. They just thought of it more as just a part of life where some were slaves and some were just born into wealthy families or families that were high up on the pyramid. They did not give slaves any rights so that owners would not think of them as people or equals. How did

References: 1. Slavery in Ancient Civilization: Rome (n.d). Retrieved on August 7 2017 from

The Lex Fufia Caninia stated that, “an owner of two slaves could free both, an owner of three to ten slaves half the number, and so on until a man who owned 100 to 500 could free only one fifth, and one over 100” (Jones, 133). These limitation seem quite odd in sense of the more slaves a master had, a smaller percentage of them he could free. This was to prohibit masters from becoming too generous perhaps in their death and freeing all of their slaves. This law most likely came about concerning masters like Trimalchio, a wealthy freedman who lived the life of a slave and knows the taste of freedom. Someone of the position who was perhaps anti slavery could create a rather large population in Rome quickly that would want to bring down the slave-society. Furthermore, according to Mouritsen, “if [a slave] was adopted by a freeborn, the jurists insisted that legally he remained a freedman, a condition regarded as innate to his person”(Mouritsen, 35). Here again slaves were not considered freemen in the same sense of the freeborn. In Rome adoption made it as so the person was of the equivalent of the same blood as the family, commonly used to jump the plebeian and patricians barrier usually for the sake of political gain. Since adoption was so binding, it is strange that freedmen can not be fully adopted, in the sense that they maintain their

There were a number of Roman laws regarding slavery, and these too, changed over time. In the Republican period, slaves had no rights and were always subject to the whims of their owners. They did have some legal standing, however. They were allowed to act as witnesses in trials, and could gain freedom either through their owner's gratitude after loyal service or by buying it through the meager earnings they might collect over a lifetime of service. For example, owners in the Republic had the right to kill or mutilate slaves at a whim, but later imperial laws took this right away, though in practice this law could be largely ignored. This represents how valued slaves were to the Roman people.

Born of different stations, languages and creeds, Epictetus and Seneca are Roman philosophers who externally appear to be very different. Epictetus was born to a slave mother, sold as a slave himself and spent the majority of his youth as a slave in Rome. Seneca was born into money; he became tutor to a boy named Nero who later acquired position of Emperor of Rome in 54 A.D. Though these two men seem to be from very different worlds, they have a shared purpose in studying philosophy. The purpose of their writings was to teach people how to live well. Though they had a shared purpose, they suggested its achievement through different means. Epictetus professed an ‘expect the worst so you wont be disappointed when it happens’

Marcus Aurelius, was born in 121 C.E. Growing up his focus of education was overseen by Emperor Hadrian and soon taken over by Emperor Antonius teaching him more of a rhetoric (Sellars, 2002). As the years progressed he shifted in to a study of philosophy leading to him becoming what we know as one of the most important Stoic philosophers. Marcus Aurelius became an emperor in A.D. 160 lasting to A.D.180. he was working closely with Lucius Verus in 169 and his son Commodus in 177 (Crook, 2017). Marcus Aurelius later passed away in A.D. 180, yet his most personal literature is still read today, Meditations.

My personal philosophy its important for me that I stay true to my personal, moral and ethical values that has followed me throughout my life. The American Nursing Association stats “ The nurse owes the same duties to self as to others, including the responsibility to preserve integrity and safety, to maintain competence and to continue personal and professional growth”. (American Nurse Association, 2011, p. 7)

The owners could do with the slaves what they wished, be it sexual favors or they could beat them at will. Beating a slave though was not usually the best thing that an owner of slaves could do because they didn't want to damage their property. To get a slave to work hard wasn't that difficult most of the time, all the owner had to do was refrain from beating and instead be nice to them. In Rome some slaves were offered freedom if they met certain criteria of the owner. After earning their freedom they were given citizenship in the city. This gave the slaves a reason to work hard, something to look forward to.

Epictetus was a Stoic philosopher who wrote, The Enchiridion, a manual which instructed people on how to live their life ethically and honorably on a social level. His belief was that regardless of personal conditions, people could live with pride and discipline. Epictetus tells us differentiating between what is in our own power to control and what is not is the key to a noble life (281).

Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and scientist who lived from 384-322 B.C who was born in Stagira, Macedonia. His father played a major role in society as a physician in the royal court. Young Aristotle took a liking to Plato and decided to go to his academy at the age of seventeen. For the next twenty years, Aristotle remained there first as a student then as a teacher. After the death of Plato, Aristotle moved to Assos in the Asia Minor where he tutored his friend Hermias who was the ruler there and decided to marry his niece. After his death he then tutored Alexander the Great at the capital of Macedonia known as Pella. Later in his life, Aristotle decided to move back to Athens, Greece to open up his own school known as Lyceum.