Epictetus was born a slave and served a master at the imperial court in Rome. He walked with a limp; according to tradition because his master broke his leg. As a slave he was allowed to attend the lectures of a Stoic teacher, and after being freed he began to teach himself. When emperor Domitian banished all philosophers from Rome around the year 93, Epictetus lost his city, his circle and his livelihood in one stroke. He left for Nicopolis, a provincial town in Greece, and started over: a school building, a few students. Within years, people traveled from across the empire to hear him. Everything we have of him was written down there.
Born without freedom, made lame, and banished at the height of his work. Three times life took from him what most people call their foundation.
His body, his status and his place of residence he demonstratively counted among what was not his. What remained, he called the only real possession: his judgment and his will. His most famous sentence is his life story in one line: some things are within our power, and some are not.
What do you call your foundation? And how much of it, honestly sorted, is actually on loan?
Yours, Not Yours · A Stoic practice ground · All cases