Epictetus was a Greek Stoic philosopher, born into slavery at Hierapolis in Phrygia, who later taught in Nicopolis after philosophers were banished from Rome. He held that philosophy is a way of life, and that while external events lie beyond our control, we answer for our own actions and can examine and govern them through self-discipline. His pupil Arrian recorded and published his teachings in the Discourses and the Enchiridion, works that shaped Marcus Aurelius. Among the books under his name are The Enchiridion and A Manual for Living.
