A

A WORD ON THE TRANSLATIONS,

REFERENCES, AND SOURCES

ll the translations in this volume were rendered with the aid of two primary and indispensable
sources. The first is the incomparable treasure of the Loeb Classical Library (Harvard University
Press), which has been the standard resource for the original language texts for generations. Today, in
addition to the handsome green and red printed volumes loved by many, the full Greek and Latin texts are
now available via online subscription, with terrific search capabilities in both languages, as well as in
English for the general reader, at www.loebclassics.com. I have found this service to be a godsend in
organizing and managing my work. From a lexical standpoint, the resources at www.perseus.tufts.edu
have proved to be invaluable, offering, in addition to search capabilities, links to the superlative lexicon
of Liddell and Scott (Greek) and the dictionary of Lewis and Short (Latin), along with comparative usage
statistics and occurrences across authors and time periods. I also used extensively the print editions of
both works (Oxford University Press) for particularly challenging passages and for source texts not
available online (Musonius Rufus). Of course, the translations were informed by the excellent work of
Loeb translators W. A. Oldfather, C. R. Haines, Richard M. Gummere, John W. Basore, and others. In the
case of Epictetus, I especially enjoyed consulting the works of Thomas Wentworth Higginson, a fellow
Harvard divinity graduate, and George Long (both available in print and at www.perseus.tufts.edu). There
have been quite a few more recent translations of Marcus Aurelius, and among them Ryan and I both enjoy
the lyrical Gregory Hays (Modern Library); for a more literal modern rendering, particularly for
precision with philosophical terms, the Robin Hard translation (Oxford University Press) is hard to beat.
With regard to the translations, the goal was to make the work of these late Stoic thinkers as
accessible, digestible, and coherent as possible. In the major terms of Stoic thought and its development
in Epictetus and Marcus, my effort has been placed on consistency and avoiding anachronism while
pointing out any places of difference in emphasis or use as necessary. Apart from the core terminology,
the translations have been made with an aim to remain as literal as possible, with only a few liberties
taken when needed to make a point stand out or to avoid repeated images or phrases. A special thanks to
Amanda C. Gregory for her review of my glossary and translations.
All source and line references given, unless otherwise noted, are to the original texts as found on
[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu, and most of the remaining ones are to the Loeb texts (online version, which](http://www.perseus.tufts.edu, and most of the remaining ones are to the Loeb texts (online version, which)
occasionally differs from the printed editions in line numbering). The pieces from Musonius Rufus came
from an edition of the Greek text in Cora Lutz’s 1947 work, Musonius Rufus, Lectures and Fragments
(Yale), which I procured from a reprinter in India (but it contains only the Lectures and is missing her
introduction, the Fragments, and much of the textual notes). I have spoken with the director of Yale
University Press about possibly bringing that work back into print, and it is under review.