Of
Hierapolis in
Phrygia;[1] a philosopher; a slave[2] of Epaphroditus, one of the bodyguards of the emperor Nero.[3] Disabled in a leg because of a flux,[4] he lived in Nicopolis,[5] [a city] of [the province of] New Epirus;[6] and his life extended until the reign of Marcus Antoninus.[7] He wrote many books.
[sc.
Damascius says that][8] the philosopher Theosebius[9] drew much of his speeches' matter from
Epictetus'
Disputations,[10] but others of these he elaborated on his own, as inventions of a Muse adept in reproducing characters[11] and sufficient to convince and abash those souls which are not completely hard-hearted and tough: [12] [e.g. the necessity of] keeping away and eschewing the worst aspects of life as much as possible, and, on the other side, of cherishing and pursuing the best ones, as it is possible with all one's might. Thus, he left his admonitions also in treatises of the same kind - in some way - of those by which
Epictetus had previously taught his doctrine. And on the other side, it seems to me that if we directly compare [these two philosophers] to each other, this man [= Theosebius] turns out to be the
Epictetus of our age, yet without the [whole] Stoic doctrine[13]: for there was nothing that Theosebius followed and admired as much as the truth of
Plato. He wrote indeed a small opuscule concerning
The Ingenious Ideas in the great 'Republic', praising the divine wisdom coming down from the gods. This he especially honored and worshipped: for it was evident that he always dealt rather with moral speculations. He grew indeed more interested in [the topic of] a good life than in scientific knowledge, meaning by "good life" not a quiet one, nor a life only trained in speculative activities, but one involved enough in practical problems, if certainly he lived his life not according to the public way, but according to his own private way, the same pursued by the great Socrates, by
Epictetus and by every wise man, administering his own set of rules, the one he had inside - and that was the first issue - then [a set of rules] also connecting others, each one privately for his part, for the best end.
*)epi/kthtos, *(ierapo/lews th=s *frugi/as, filo/sofos, dou=los *)epafrodi/tou, tw=n swmatofula/kwn tou= basile/ws *ne/rwnos. phrwqei\s de\ to\ ske/los u(po\ r(eu/matos e)n *nikopo/lei th=s ne/as *)hpei/rou w)/|khse, kai\ diatei/nas me/xri *ma/rkou *)antwni/nou: e)/graye polla/. o(/ti *qeose/bios o( filo/sofos e)/lege polla\ a)po\ tw=n *)epikth/tou sxolw=n, ta\ de\ kai\ au)to\s e)petexna=to th=s h)qopoiou= dianoh/mata mou/shs, i(kana\ pei/qein kai\ duswpei=n tw=n yuxw=n ta\s mh\ panta/pasin a)te/gktous kai\ a)tera/monas: a)postre/fesqai de\ kai\ a)podidra/skein ta\ xei/rw th=s zwh=s ei)/dh kata\ du/namin, a)spa/zesqai de\ ta\ a)mei/nw kai\ metadiw/kein, kaqo/son oi(=o/n te panti\ sqe/nei: toigarou=n kai\ e)n suggra/mmasi katale/loipe toiou/tois tisi\ ta\s e(autou= nouqeth/seis oi(/ois *)epi/kthtos pro/teron. kai/ moi dokei= o( a)nh\r gegone/nai a)/ntikrus, w(s e(/na pro\s e(/na a)ntibalei=n, o( tou= kaq' h(ma=s xro/nou *)epi/kthtos, a)/neu me/ntoi tw=n *stwi+kw=n docasma/twn. o( ga\r *qeose/bios ou)deno\s tosou=ton o(/son th\n *pla/twnos a)lh/qeian h)spa/zeto kai\ e)qau/maze. kai\ dh/ ti kai\ sunegra/yato mikro\n bibli/dion peri\ tw=n e)n *politei/a| th=| mega/lh| kekomyeume/nwn, th\n a)po\ tw=n qew=n h(/kousan qeosofi/an e)cai/rwn lo/gw|: tau/thn ga\r diafero/ntws e)ti/ma kai\ e)/seben. a)ei\ ga\r e)n toi=s h)qikwte/rois filosofh/masi diatri/bwn e)fai/neto. kai\ ga\r eu)= e)pefu/kei pro\s eu)zwi/+an ma=llon h)\ e)pisth/mhn, ou)de\ tau/thn h(suxa/zousan, ou)de\ e)n mo/nais tai=s fantasi/ais gumnazome/nhn, a)lla\ zw=san i(kanw=s e)p' au)tw=n tw=n pragma/twn. ei) mh\ ga\r kai\ to\n dhmo/sion e)politeu/sato tro/pon, a)lla\ to\n i)/dion, o(\n kai\ *swkra/ths e)kei=nos kai\ o( *)epi/kthtos kai\ pa=s eu)= fronw=n metaxeiri/zetai, th\n e(autou= kai\ e)n e(autw=| politei/an diakosmw=n: tou=to me\n prw=ton, e)/peita kai\ pro\s a)/llous e)n me/rei kaqe/kaston i)di/a| sunistame/nhn pro\s to\ be/ltiston.
For
Epictetus see already under
alpha 3868, and generally Brad Inwood in OCD(4) s.v.
[1] The qualifier is necessary because there were at least five cities of this name in Asia Minor alone. This one is present-day Pamukkale; Barrington Atlas map 65 grid B2. Probably founded by Greeks, it was was situated about five miles north of Laodiceia, on the road from
Apameia to
Sardis. On this site and its warm springs see
Strabo 13.4.14;
Vitruvius,
On architecture 8.3;
Stephanus of
Byzantium s.v.
[2] On this detail of
Epictetus' life see John Chrysostom,
Homily 13 on Acts, PG 60.111.30;
Macrobius,
Saturnalia 2.11.4 (who records an epigram attributed to
Epictetus himself, commemorating his life as a slave, as opposed to the freedom of his soul);
Simplicius,
In Epicteti encheiridion 45.35, 55.30; and the epigram written by a certain Leontianus in praise of the philosopher, found in an inscription in
Pisidia.
[3] For this man see OCD(4) s.v. Epaphroditus(1). The Greek text suggests that Epaphroditus would have been an
a cubiculo. An imperial freedman, he was accepted into Rome's
decuriae as
apparitor Caesarum, viator tribunicius, then
a libellis for Nero. He might have held the position of
a cubiculo in an early stage of his career, but the mention of Epaphroditus as 'bodyguard' (
swmatofu/lac) may also refer to the last period of Nero's life: rewarded by the emperor for his contribution to the disclosure of Piso's conspiracy, Epaphroditus was very close to Nero and accompanied him in his flight in 68 AD, helping him to commit suicide. For this reason he was executed under Domitian. Some scholars think this is the Epaphroditus to whom Flavius
Josephus dedicated his writings.
[4] The tradition provides many accounts of
Epictetus' disabled leg. As
xwlo/s or
to\ sw=ma a)sqenh\s he is recorded by
Simplicius (see preceding note); most say that he was hit and bound during his slavery by his master (Gregory of Nazianzus,
Oration I against Julian PG 35.592.14;
Epistle 32
to Philagrius 10.2;
Celsus in
Origen,
Against Celsus 3.368) or by a "tyrant of Macedonia" (thus
Nonnus PG 36.933; Cosmas of
Jerusalem PG 38.532). These accounts show a rather apophthegmatic character, intended to oppose the interior freedom of
Epictetus' soul to his bound body. To the master (or the tyrant) asking, "Do you want me to let you loose,
Epictetus?" the philosopher would have answered: "Why? Am I in any way bound?". For this reason, Schenkl gives more credit to the Suda's version.
[5] For this place see generally OCD(4) s.v. Nicopolis(3).
Epictetus actually moved to Nicopolis after Domitian banished the philosophers from Rome in 89 AD. Cf. Aulus
Gellius,
Attic Nights 15.11;
Simplicius,
op.cit. 65.37.
[6] The two provinces of
Epirus Vetus and
Epirus Nova, established under Domitian, were still known in the Byzantine age. Nicopolis, founded by Octavian after his victory at Actium (31 BC), was actually the capital of
Epirus Vetus, while the capital of
Epirus Nova was Dyrrachium.
[7] This remark (cf. also
Themistius,
Oration 5, 63d5 Harduin), according to which
Epictetus would have been held in honor by "both Antonini", that is Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius) is still under discussion. If we admit that
Epictetus was alive, though very old, under Marcus Aurelius, he must have been renowned as a philosopher at the age of twenty, or even earlier. A misunderstanding in the Suda's sources and
Themistius could arise from the honor Marcus Aurelius paid to
Epictetus as a great model of Stoic philosophy (cf. Marcus Aurelius,
Meditations 1.7) and from the frequent association of his name with that of Arrian, the disciple who wrote the notes known as
Epictetus'
Handbook (see further below, n. 10)).
[8]
Damascius,
Life of Isidore fr. 109 Zintzen (58 Asmus). The passage directly concerns not
Epictetus but the Neoplatonic Theosebius, for whom see next note.
[9] Active in the second half of the fifth century AD, a disciple of
Hierocles, Theosebius was a Neoplatonic philosopher, also renowned for his ability to perform exorcism. He is only known through
Damascius' fragments quoted by
Photius. According to
Photius he wrote a commentary on
Plato's
Gorgias, which consisted of notes written down during
Hierocles' lectures. See also
iota 178.
[10] Different titles for the collection of notes by Arrian are attested, though the most common is
Encheiridion, "Handbook". Here
sxolai\ amounts to "discussions", "disputations".
[11] Different interpretation of the word
h)qopoio\s by R. Henry (
Photius,
Bibliotheque, Paris 1971):
"Muse morale".
[12] For this word see
alpha 4329.
[13]
Damascius implies that Theosebius was only (and superficially) interested in Stoic ethics, concerning the individual dimension (see below).
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