Who the Stoic philosophers were, from Zeno to Marcus Aurelius, and the modern readers who put the teaching to the test. Fifteen lives, each linked to the cases where they had to sort what was theirs from what was not.
around 334 to 262 BC
Merchant from Cyprus who lost his cargo at sea, found philosophy in an Athenian bookshop and founded the Stoa. The school takes its name from the painted colonnade where he taught.
around 330 to 230 BC
Boxer turned water-drawer who studied under Zeno for nineteen years while working nights, and led the school after him.
around 279 to 206 BC
The systematizer. Wrote hundreds of books ordering Stoic logic, physics and ethics; an ancient saying held that without him there would have been no Stoa.
chrysippus and the unglamorous work
around 365 to 285 BC
Cynic who gave away his fortune and taught Zeno. Athenians called him the door-opener because he was let into homes to settle quarrels.
crates and the given away fortune
around 4 BC to AD 65
Statesman, playwright and the most quoted Stoic writer. Spent eight years exiled on Corsica and later advised the emperor Nero.
seneca and the eight years on corsica · seneca and the charge of wealth · seneca and the arena · the fire of lyon · marcia and the third year
around AD 30 to 100
Teacher of Epictetus. Banished to the barren island of Gyaros, where he kept teaching. Argued that women should study philosophy on the same terms as men.
musonius rufus and the barest rock · musonius and the daughters
around AD 50 to 135
Born a slave, lamed, banished from Rome, and the most influential teacher of the dichotomy of control. Wrote nothing; his lectures survive through his student Arrian.
epictetus and the banishment · epictetus and the stolen lamp · epictetus and the child · epictetus and the earthenware jug
AD 121 to 180
Roman emperor through fifteen years of plague and war, who wrote private notes to himself that became the Meditations.
marcus aurelius and the betrayal · marcus and the fifteen years of plague · marcus and book one · the statue that survived
95 to 46 BC
Senator regarded as the conscience of the Roman republic; refused to buy votes and lost the consulship because of it.
died AD 66
Senator who walked out rather than vote thanks to Nero for his mother's murder, and paid for the stance with his life.
thrasea and the walk out of the senate
died around AD 75
Son-in-law of Thrasea, who told the emperor Vespasian to his face that each of them would do his own part.
helvidius priscus and the emperor
died around AD 107
Daughter of Thrasea and wife of Helvidius, exiled three times, who told a hostile court the truth without a single word to reduce her own danger.
around 135 to 51 BC
Polymath of Rhodes who lectured Pompey from his sickbed while gout attacked him, refusing to call pain an evil.
posidonius and the attack of gout
around 477 to 524
Roman consul under Ostrogothic rule who wrote The Consolation of Philosophy in his cell awaiting execution.
1923 to 2005
American naval aviator who spent nearly eight years as a prisoner of war in Hanoi and credited Epictetus with carrying him through.
Yours, Not Yours · A Stoic practice ground · All cases · Questions or suggestions