Rome, the Greek World, and the East, Vol. 2 - Government, Society, and Culture in the Roman Empire

Epictetus and the Imperial Court 107

encestoanotherpupilof Musonius,Euphratesthephilosopherandrheto-
rician,thoughneitherofthemclearlyindicatespersonalacquaintance.^15 He
also quotes verbatim a dialogue (not mentioned in any other source) be-
tweenHelvidiusPriscusandVespasian,whohadorderedhimnottoattend
theSenate:

‘‘ItisinyourpowernottoallowmetobememberoftheSenate,but

solongasIamoneImustattenditsmeetings.’’‘‘Verywellthen,’’he

[Vespasian]said,‘‘whenyouattend,holdyourpeace.’’‘‘Donotaskme

for myopinion and I will hold my peace.’’ ‘‘But I must ask for your

opinion.’’‘‘AndItoomustanswerwhatseemsright.’’‘‘Butifyouspeak,

Ishallkillyou.’’^16

The reference toVespasian asking opinions (sententiae) shows that the dia-
logue, if authentic, took place during one of Vespasian’s consulates (prob-
ably71or72,sinceHelvidiusseemstohavebeenexecutedfairlyearlyinthe
reign).ThenEpictetusmentionsthebanishmentunderDomitianofGratilla
(VerulanaGratilla,possiblythewifeofArulenusRusticus)andthecourage
ofanotherwomanwhopersistedinsendingaboatloadofsuppliestoher.^17
This period of Epictetus’ life ended when Domitian expelled the phi-
losophersfromRome,probablyin92–93.^18 EpictetusretiredtoNicopolisin
Epirus,whereheremained.Itshouldbenotedthatthereisnoevidenceas
towhetherEpictetushadpreviouslybeenmanumittedbyEpaphroditus,or
astowhathisstatuswasatthistimeorlater.
ItwasatNicopolisthathehadashispupil,amongmanyothers,Arrian;
anditistothefourbookswhichremainofArrian’stranscriptofEpicte-
tus’homiliesanddialoguesthatweowethevastmajorityofwhatweknow
about him.^19 In the letter to Lucius Gellius (perhaps L. Gellius Menander,
aprominentCorinthianoftheHadrianicperiod),^20 whichformsthepref-
acetotheexistingtext,ArrianclaimsthathewrotedownEpictetus’words
exactlyas they were spoken and deliberatelyavoided any process of liter-
arycomposition.^21 Internal evidence supports this claim. For instance, the

15. 3,15,8;4,8,17–20.


16. 1,2,19–21.Note4,1,123,areferencetothecondemnationofHelvidius.PIR^2 H59
    notesneitherpassage.
    17.2,7,8.


17. Foradiscussionofthedate,seeA.N.Sherwin-White,JRS47(1957):126–27.


18. ForadiscussionofthetraditionaboutEpictetus’works,seevol.IoftheBudétext
    byJ.Souilhé(Paris,1943),XII–XIII.


19. SeePIR^2 G132andCorinthVIII.2,no.93.
    21.Praef.‘‘IhavenotcomposedtheseWords of Epictetusasonemightbesaidto‘com-