“My judgment always was mine. Always”

Epictetus was born without a name and sold as property before he could speak. His master broke his leg deliberately. When it broke he said calmly: did I not tell you? His master expected fear. He found indifference. Not performed. Real. His body was not his. His name was not his. His judgment always was. That was the Be.

Epictetus wrote nothing. Everything we have of him was written by his student Arrian who sat in his classroom and did not want to forget. He taught slaves and senators in the same room. The senator was not freer than the slave. Exiled from Rome by Emperor Domitian in 93 CE he walked to Nicopolis and opened a new school. Nothing external ever stopped him.

Epictetus owned nothing. He is quoted daily two thousand years later. Marcus Aurelius, Emperor of Rome, carried his words in a tent on the Danube. His teachings influenced Marcus Aurelius, Christian monasticism and modern cognitive behavioral therapy. He died around 135 CE aged approximately 85. No grave is known. His words remain.