108 The Imperial Government
DissertationsusethekoinewhereaselsewhereArrianwritesinAttic,^22 and
thehomiliesinthefirstbookatleastcomeinchronologicalorder.^23 Epicte-
tus’teaching,whichseemstohavecentredroundthereadingoutofpassages
fromStoicwriters,sometimestooktheformofhomiliesongeneraltopics,
sometimesof homiliesto,ordialogueswith,oneof hisregularpupilsora
visitorfromRomeorelsewhere,andsometimesof imaginarydialoguesin
whichEpictetushimselftookbothparts.^24
ThedateoftheDissertations(giventhatwedonotknowhowlongArrian
stayed)canbeestablishedwithinayearortwo.Firstly,weknowthereign
from a comparison Epictetus makes between the coinage of Nero and of
Trajan.^25 Then,givingexamplesofmajorwars,Epictetusends‘‘andnowthe
RomansagainsttheGetae’’^26 —thatshouldmeanatleastthathewasspeak-
ingbeforetheoutbreakoftheParthianwarin113.Moreoveranumberof
passages(discussedbelow)indicatethatthetimewasoneatwhichtheem-
peror was in Rome (so 99–101, 102–4,or late 106–early 113). But thevital
passageisthelongdialoguebetweenEpictetus,andaRomanvisitorcalled
Maximus,describedas‘‘commissioner’’(diorthōtes)and‘‘judge’’(kritēs)ofthe
Hellenes.Thereisnoconcreteargumentagainstidentifyingthismanwith
theMaximustowhomPlinywritesinEp.8,24,abouthisappointment‘‘to
setinordertheconditionsofthefreecities’’(ad ordinandum statum liberarum
civitatum) in Greece.^27 BookVIIIofthelettersbelongsinabout108,^28 and
thislettershouldbefairlycloseindatetothedialogue,whichimpliesclearly
thatMaximusisonthewaytotakeuphispost.Moreover,Arrianwassuffect
consulabout130;^29 ifthiswasatthestandardageofforty-twoorso,^30 Arrian
pose’booksofthiskind,norhaveIofmyownactpublishedthemtotheworld;indeed,I
acknowledgethatIhavenot‘composed’thematall.ButwhateverIheardhimsayIused
towritedown,wordforword,asbestIcould,endeavouringtopreserveitasamemorial
formyownfutureuse,ofhiswayofthinkingandthefranknessofhisspeech.’’
- SeeK.Hartmann,‘‘ArrianundEpiktet,’’Neue Jahrbücher15(1905):248,on275.
- See1,18,15and29,21andHartmann(n.22),259.Cf.n.69andthetexttoit.
- SeeI.Bruns,De Scholae Epicteti(1897)and,fortheformoftheDiscourses,seeTh.
Colardeau,Étude zur Épictète(1903),283–84. - 4,5,17–18.SeeT.O.Mabbott,‘‘EpictetusandNero’sCoinage,’’Class. Phil.36(1941):
- 2,22,22.
- 3, 7. Compare M. N. Tod, ‘‘TheCorrectorMaximus,’’Anatolian Studies Presented to
W. M. Buckler(1939),333,esp.336–37. - SeeR.Syme,Tacitus(1958),661.
29.PIR^2 F219. - Suggested by Syme (n. 28),App. 18, and fully documented by J. Morris, ‘‘Leges
AnnalesunderthePrincipate,’’Listy Filologické87(1964):316.