Epictetus and the Imperial Court 115themembersofthegoverningclassinRomebutawiderangeofindividu-
alsintheprovinces(especiallyintheGreekEast,wherecontactswithRome
and the court were so much closer). Of this toowe get evidence in Epic-
tetus.^74 Thereisforinstanceadialogue—probably,butnotcertainly,oneof
thoseinventedasanexamplebyEpictetus,sincethereisnosettingorintro-
duction—betweenEpictetusandamanonhiswaytoRometostandtrial
beforeCaesaronacapitalcharge.Epictetusreplieswithsomeratherinade-
quatecomfort:hetooriskshislifefromearthquakesatNicopolis,themanis
equallyindangerofhislifecrossingtheAdriatic,banishmentismerelynot
livinginRome,andifhedoesnotwishtogotoGyarus,suicideispossible.^75
Then we have anotherdialogue—this time clearly historical—between
Epictetus and another man on his way to Rome to appear before the em-
peror.^76 Theman’saimwastogethimselfelectedprostatēsoftheCnossians,
thatis,patronoftheRomancolonyofCnossus—ColoniaIuliaNobilisCnos-
sus—foundedbyOctavianprobablyin36.Ithappensthatweknowthatsuch
an office reallyexisted, fora Latin inscription from Cnossus shows a man
whowas aduovirthere,flamen(priest) of Vespasian and also patron of the
colony(patro[nus Coloniae]).^77 ItemergesfromhisconversationwithEpicte-
tusthatthewould-bepatronwastheperfecttypeofalocalmagnateunder
theEmpire.Hewasarichman,whopossessedlandandcattle,andgoldand
silverplate.Inhisyouthhehadstudiedrhetoric,hadpleadedcaseshimself,
andhadthenenteredpoliticallifeandheldvariousoffices.Nowhewanted
this further honour and was sailing to Rome—changing ships at Nicopo-
lis—at his own expense, in winter, to fight the case. Evidently there was
some opposition; the circumstances were perhaps not unlike, for instance,
thebusinessrecordedonaLycianinscriptionfromthereignofAntoninus
Pius:aLyciarch,Jason,sonofNicostratus,wasvotedhonoursbythekoinon
(commoncouncilofaleagueofcities),thenaccusedofsomethingunspeci-
fiedbyoneMoles.Anambassadorwassenttotheemperortotestifytothe
virtuesofJason;andtheemperorwrotebacktothekoinonevidentlyapprov-
ingthehonours.^78
ThattheemperorhimselfwasconcernedintheCnossuscaseonlyemerges
towardstheendofthedialogue,whenEpictetuscomparestheman’sanxi-
- Note,forinstance,2,13,11whichlistsamongunworthycausesofanxiety‘‘about
whatCaesarwillthink.’’ - 2,6,20–23.OntrialandcondemnationbyCaesar,seealso2,19,17–18and3,8,2.
BanishmenttoGyarusisarecurrenttheme:1,25,19–20;3,24,100;4,4,34. - 3,9.
77.AE1908,215Inscr. Cret.I,VIII,54.
78.IGRIII,704,Col.III.