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75-673: Arrian of Nicomedia ( / ˈ æ r i ə n / ; Greek : Ἀρριανός Arrianos ; Latin : Lucius Flavius Arrianus ; c.  86/89  – c.  after 146/160 AD ) was a Greek historian, public servant, military commander, and philosopher of the Roman period . The Anabasis of Alexander by Arrian is considered the best source on the campaigns of Alexander the Great . Scholars have generally preferred Arrian to other extant primary sources, though this attitude has changed somewhat in light of modern studies into Arrian's method. Arrian

150-543: A pitch accent . In Modern Greek, all vowels and consonants are short. Many vowels and diphthongs once pronounced distinctly are pronounced as /i/ ( iotacism ). Some of the stops and glides in diphthongs have become fricatives , and the pitch accent has changed to a stress accent . Many of the changes took place in the Koine Greek period. The writing system of Modern Greek, however, does not reflect all pronunciation changes. The examples below represent Attic Greek in

225-457: A citizen of one's own nation or commonwealth; but we are also a member of the great city of gods and people. Nature places us in certain relations to other persons, and these determine our obligations to parents, siblings, children, relatives, friends, fellow-citizens, and humankind in general. The shortcomings of our fellow people are to be met with patience and charity, and we should not allow ourselves to grow indignant over them, for they too are

300-451: A clean text. The Discourses were first printed (in Greek) by Vettore Trincavelli , at Venice in 1535, although the manuscript used was very faulty. This was followed by editions by Jakob Schegk (1554) and Hieronymus Wolf (1560). John Upton 's edition published 1739–41 was an improvement on these since he had some knowledge of several manuscripts. This in turn was improved upon by

375-471: A few fragments of the others. In a preface attached to the Discourses, Arrian explains how he came to write them: I neither wrote these Discourses of Epictetus in the way in which a man might write such things; nor did I make them public myself, inasmuch as I declare that I did not even write them. But whatever I heard him say, the same I attempted to write down in his own words as nearly as possible, for

450-726: A formal presentation of Stoic philosophy. Instead the Discourses are intensely practical. They are concerned with the conscious moral problem of right living, and how life is to be carried out well. Epictetus divides philosophy into three fields of training, with especial application to ethics. The three fields, according to Epictetus, are, (1) desire (ὄρεξις); (2) choice (ὁρμή); (3) assent (συγκατάθεσις): There are three fields of study in which people who are going to be good and excellent must first have been trained. The first has to do with desires and aversions, that they may never fail to get what they desire, nor fall into what they avoid;

525-466: A fourth edition published posthumously in 1807. It influenced later translations: e.g. those of Higginson and George Long (see his Introduction for comments, some critical of Carter). A complete list of English translations is as follows: All of these are complete translations with the exception of Robert Dobbin's book, which contains only 64 of the 95 Discourses. Robin Hard has produced two translations:

600-477: A lack of contemporaneous evidence. Several theories exist about what Hellenic dialect groups may have existed between the divergence of early Greek-like speech from the common Proto-Indo-European language and the Classical period. They have the same general outline but differ in some of the detail. The only attested dialect from this period is Mycenaean Greek , but its relationship to the historical dialects and

675-419: A lesser degree. Pamphylian Greek , spoken in a small area on the southwestern coast of Anatolia and little preserved in inscriptions, may be either a fifth major dialect group, or it is Mycenaean Greek overlaid by Doric, with a non-Greek native influence. Regarding the speech of the ancient Macedonians diverse theories have been put forward, but the epigraphic activity and the archaeological discoveries in

750-419: A necessary element in the universal system. The universe is wholly governed by an all-wise, divine Providence. All things, even apparent evils, are the will of God, and good from the point of view of the whole. In virtue of our rationality we are neither less nor worse than the gods, for the magnitude of reason is estimated not by length nor by height but by its judgments. The aim of the philosopher therefore

825-545: A number of monographs or biographies, including of Dion of Syracuse , Timoleon of Corinth, and Tilliborus, a brigand or robber of Asia Minor , which are now lost. Everything known of his life derives from the 9th century writing of Photius in his Bibliotheca , and from those few references which exist within Arrian's own writings. The knowledge of his consulship, is derived at the least from literature produced by Suidas . Arnobius (c. 3rd century AD) mentions Arrian. Arrian

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900-652: A period, some time about 126 AD, he was a friend of the emperor Hadrian 's, who appointed him to the Senate . He was appointed to the position consul suffectus around 130 AD, and then, in 132 AD (although Howatson shows 131), he was made prefect or legate (governor) of Cappadocia by Hadrian, a service he continued for six years. Historian Cassius Dio states that not long after the Bar Kokhba revolt in Judea had been quelled, in 135 AD, King Pharasmanes II of Iberia caused

975-550: A prefix /e-/, called the augment . This was probably originally a separate word, meaning something like "then", added because tenses in PIE had primarily aspectual meaning. The augment is added to the indicative of the aorist, imperfect, and pluperfect, but not to any of the other forms of the aorist (no other forms of the imperfect and pluperfect exist). The two kinds of augment in Greek are syllabic and quantitative. The syllabic augment

1050-608: A separate historical stage, though its earliest form closely resembles Attic Greek , and its latest form approaches Medieval Greek . There were several regional dialects of Ancient Greek; Attic Greek developed into Koine. Ancient Greek was a pluricentric language , divided into many dialects. The main dialect groups are Attic and Ionic , Aeolic , Arcadocypriot , and Doric , many of them with several subdivisions. Some dialects are found in standardized literary forms in literature , while others are attested only in inscriptions. There are also several historical forms. Homeric Greek

1125-630: A standard subject of study in educational institutions of the Western world since the Renaissance . This article primarily contains information about the Epic and Classical periods of the language, which are the best-attested periods and considered most typical of Ancient Greek. From the Hellenistic period ( c.  300 BC ), Ancient Greek was followed by Koine Greek , which is regarded as

1200-578: A strikingly urgent and vivid voice quite distinct from Arrian's authorial persona in his other works. The Discourses are set in Epictetus' own classroom in Nicopolis and they show him conversing with visitors, and reproving, exhorting, and encouraging his pupils. These pupils appear to have been young men like Arrian, of high social position and contemplating entering the public service. The Discourses are neither formal lectures nor are they part of

1275-404: A time to fall into his pupillage, a fact attested to by Lucian . All that is known about the life of Epictetus is due to Arrian, in that Arrian left an Encheiridion ( Handbook ) of Epictetus' philosophy. After Epirus, he went to Athens, and while there, he became known as the "young Xenophon" as a consequence of the similarity of his relationship to Epictetus as Xenophon had to Socrates . For

1350-510: A vowel or /n s r/ ; final stops were lost, as in γάλα "milk", compared with γάλακτος "of milk" (genitive). Ancient Greek of the classical period also differed in both the inventory and distribution of original PIE phonemes due to numerous sound changes, notably the following: The pronunciation of Ancient Greek was very different from that of Modern Greek . Ancient Greek had long and short vowels ; many diphthongs ; double and single consonants; voiced, voiceless, and aspirated stops ; and

1425-570: Is a literary form of Archaic Greek (derived primarily from Ionic and Aeolic) used in the epic poems , the Iliad and the Odyssey , and in later poems by other authors. Homeric Greek had significant differences in grammar and pronunciation from Classical Attic and other Classical-era dialects. The origins, early form and development of the Hellenic language family are not well understood because of

1500-596: Is about the successors of Alexander the Great , circa 323 – 321 or 319. A lost work of seventeen books, fragments of Parthica were maintained by the Suda and Stephanus of Byzantium . The work survives only in adaptations made later by Photius and Syncellus . Translated, the title is History of the Parthians . Arrian's aim in the work was to set forth events of the Parthian war of Trajan . The writing mentioned that

1575-418: Is added to stems beginning with consonants, and simply prefixes e (stems beginning with r , however, add er ). The quantitative augment is added to stems beginning with vowels, and involves lengthening the vowel: Some verbs augment irregularly; the most common variation is e → ei . The irregularity can be explained diachronically by the loss of s between vowels, or that of the letter w , which affected

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1650-666: Is called 'East Greek'. Arcadocypriot apparently descended more closely from the Mycenaean Greek of the Bronze Age. Boeotian Greek had come under a strong Northwest Greek influence, and can in some respects be considered a transitional dialect, as exemplified in the poems of the Boeotian poet Pindar who wrote in Doric with a small Aeolic admixture. Thessalian likewise had come under Northwest Greek influence, though to

1725-448: Is considered by some linguists to have been closely related to Greek . Among Indo-European branches with living descendants, Greek is often argued to have the closest genetic ties with Armenian (see also Graeco-Armenian ) and Indo-Iranian languages (see Graeco-Aryan ). Ancient Greek differs from Proto-Indo-European (PIE) and other Indo-European languages in certain ways. In phonotactics , ancient Greek words could end only in

1800-403: Is external of us, not even Zeus, can overcome our choice: it alone can control itself. Nothing external, neither death nor exile nor pain nor any such thing, can ever force us to act against our will. We are bound up by the law of nature with the whole fabric of the world. In the world the true position of a human is that of a member of a great system. Each human being is in the first instance

1875-405: Is good or evil; all the rest is neither good nor evil; it concerns us not, it is beyond our reach; it is something external, merely a subject for our choice: in itself it is indifferent, but its application is not indifferent, and its application is either consistent with or contrary to nature. This choice, and consequently our opinion upon it, is in our power; in our choice we are free; nothing that

1950-465: Is highly esteemed and important. He produced eight extant works (cf. Syvänne, footnote of p. 260). The Indica and the Anabasis are the only works completely intact. His entire remaining oeuvre is known as FGrH 156 to designate those collected fragments that exist. This work is the earliest extant work that is dated with any confidence. It is a writing addressed to Emperor Hadrian. Arrian

2025-472: Is thus required to oppose them. To this first practice must be added a second, which is directed towards that which is appropriate (duty), and a third, the object of which is certainty and truth; but the latter must not pretend to supplant the former. Avoidance of the bad, desire for the good, the direction towards the appropriate, and the ability to assent or dissent, this is the mark of the philosopher. Scholars disagree on whether these three fields relate to

2100-429: Is to reach the position of a mind which embraces the whole world. The person who recognizes that every event is necessary and reasonable for the best interest of the whole, feels no discontent with anything outside the control of moral purpose. The historical models to which Epictetus refers to are Socrates and Diogenes . But he describes an ideal character of a missionary sage, the perfect Stoic—or, as he calls him,

2175-475: Is Τέχνη τακτική. This work has generally been considered in large part a panegyric to Hadrian, written for the occasion of his vīcennālia , although some scholars have argued that its second half may have had practical use. Cynegeticus (Κυνηγετικός), translated as A treatise on hunting with hounds , On Hunting , or On Coursing , is a work about the Celtic sport of coursing hare with sighthounds, specifically

2250-613: The Alani to invade neighbouring territories, including Cappadocia, where their advance was robustly halted by Arrian's legions. A second war was begun by the Alani (they are Massagetae ) at the instigation of Pharasmanes. It caused dire injury to the Albanian territory and Media , and then involved Armenia and Cappadocia; after which, as the Alani were not only persuaded by gifts from Vologaesus , but also stood in dread of Flavius Arrianus,

2325-561: The Bodleian Library , Oxford as MS Auct. T. 4. 13. In the Bodleian manuscript, a blot or stain has fallen onto one of the pages, and has made a series of words illegible; in all the other known manuscripts these words (or sometimes the entire passage) are omitted, thus all the other manuscripts are derived from this one archetype. It is thought that the Bodleian manuscript may be a copy of one owned by Arethas of Caesarea in

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2400-480: The Cynic . This philosopher has neither country nor home nor land nor slave; his bed is the ground; he is without wife or child; his only home is the earth and sky and a cloak. He must suffer beatings, and must love those who beat him. The ideal human thus described will not be angry with the wrong-doer; he will only pity his erring. The earliest manuscript of the Discourses is a twelfth-century manuscript kept at

2475-500: The Discourses has long been a matter of vigorous debate. Extreme positions have been held ranging from the view that they are largely Arrian's own compositions to the view that Epictetus actually wrote them himself. The mainstream opinion is that the Discourses report the actual words of Epictetus, even if they cannot be a pure verbatim record. A. A. Long writes: More likely, perhaps, he [Arrian] made his own detailed notes and used his memory to fill them out. No doubt he worked up

2550-619: The Dissertations and the Discourses . The Discourses are also known as Diatribai and are apparently a verbatim recording of Epictetus' lectures. The Enchiridion is a short compendium of all Epictetus' philosophical principles. It is also known as a handbook, and A Mehl considers the Enchiridion to have been a vade mecum for Arrian. The Enchiridion is apparently a summary of the Discourses. JB Stockdale considered that Arrian wrote eight books of which four were lost by

2625-759: The Greek region of Macedonia during the last decades has brought to light documents, among which the first texts written in Macedonian , such as the Pella curse tablet , as Hatzopoulos and other scholars note. Based on the conclusions drawn by several studies and findings such as Pella curse tablet , Emilio Crespo and other scholars suggest that ancient Macedonian was a Northwest Doric dialect , which shares isoglosses with its neighboring Thessalian dialects spoken in northeastern Thessaly . Some have also suggested an Aeolic Greek classification. The Lesbian dialect

2700-541: The Parthians trace their origins to Artaxerxes II . A work of eight books, Bibliotheca (via Photius) states it is the fourth to have been written by Arrian. A work translated a Nicodemian script (minor) . Indica is a work on a variety of things pertaining to India , and the voyage of Nearchus in the Persian Gulf. The first part of Indica was based largely on the work of the same name of Megasthenes ,

2775-610: The ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek ( c.  1400–1200 BC ), Dark Ages ( c.  1200–800 BC ), the Archaic or Epic period ( c.  800–500 BC ), and the Classical period ( c.  500–300 BC ). Ancient Greek was the language of Homer and of fifth-century Athenian historians, playwrights, and philosophers . It has contributed many words to English vocabulary and has been

2850-501: The present , future , and imperfect are imperfective in aspect; the aorist , present perfect , pluperfect and future perfect are perfective in aspect. Most tenses display all four moods and three voices, although there is no future subjunctive or imperative. Also, there is no imperfect subjunctive, optative or imperative. The infinitives and participles correspond to the finite combinations of tense, aspect, and voice. The indicative of past tenses adds (conceptually, at least)

2925-412: The 16th century, they have been translated into multiple languages and reprinted many times. The books did not have a formal title in ancient times. Although Simplicius called them Diatribai (Διατριβαί, Discourses), other writers gave them titles such as Dialexis (Διαλέξεις, Talks), Apomnêmoneumata (Ἀπομνημονεύματα, Records), and Homiliai (Ὁμιλίαι, Conversations). The modern name comes from

3000-1031: The 5th century BC. Ancient pronunciation cannot be reconstructed with certainty, but Greek from the period is well documented, and there is little disagreement among linguists as to the general nature of the sounds that the letters represent. /oː/ raised to [uː] , probably by the 4th century BC. Greek, like all of the older Indo-European languages , is highly inflected. It is highly archaic in its preservation of Proto-Indo-European forms. In ancient Greek, nouns (including proper nouns) have five cases ( nominative , genitive , dative , accusative , and vocative ), three genders ( masculine , feminine , and neuter ), and three numbers (singular, dual , and plural ). Verbs have four moods ( indicative , imperative , subjunctive , and optative ) and three voices (active, middle, and passive ), as well as three persons (first, second, and third) and various other forms. Verbs are conjugated through seven combinations of tenses and aspect (generally simply called "tenses"):

3075-486: The Alani or The order of battle against the Alans or referred to simply as Alanica . It is thought not have been written as a presentation of facts but for literary reasons. Pertaining to the relevant historical facts, though, while governor of Cappadocia, Arrian repelled an invasion of the Alani sometime during 135 AD, a struggle in which Arrian's two legions were victorious. Within the work, Arrian explicitly identified

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3150-495: The Archaic period of ancient Greek (see Homeric Greek for more details): Μῆνιν ἄειδε, θεά, Πηληϊάδεω Ἀχιλῆος οὐλομένην, ἣ μυρί' Ἀχαιοῖς ἄλγε' ἔθηκε, πολλὰς δ' ἰφθίμους ψυχὰς Ἄϊδι προΐαψεν ἡρώων, αὐτοὺς δὲ ἑλώρια τεῦχε κύνεσσιν οἰωνοῖσί τε πᾶσι· Διὸς δ' ἐτελείετο βουλή· ἐξ οὗ δὴ τὰ πρῶτα διαστήτην ἐρίσαντε Ἀτρεΐδης τε ἄναξ ἀνδρῶν καὶ δῖος Ἀχιλλεύς. The beginning of Apology by Plato exemplifies Attic Greek from

3225-533: The Celtic greyhounds: in Greek (plural) ouertragoi , in Latin (plural) vertragi . The work was inspired by and designed as an addition to an earlier exposition made by Xenophon, whom Arrian recognised to be the Ancient Greek authority on the subject of hunting with scent hounds. Ektaxis kata Alanon (Ἔκταξις κατὰ Ἀλανῶν) is a work of a now fragmentary nature; the title is translated as Deployment against

3300-520: The Classical period of ancient Greek. (The second line is the IPA , the third is transliterated into the Latin alphabet using a modern version of the Erasmian scheme .) Ὅτι [hóti Hóti μὲν men mèn ὑμεῖς, hyːmêːs hūmeîs,   Discourses of Epictetus The Discourses have been influential since they were written. They are referred to and quoted by Marcus Aurelius . Since

3375-440: The Greek by the then Dean of Westminster, William Vincent , and published in 1809. Vincent published a commentary in 1797 on The voyage of Nearchus . The work was also translated into French by M. Billecocq, under the auspices of the government (cf. p. 321). Ancient Greek Ancient Greek ( Ἑλληνῐκή , Hellēnikḗ ; [hellɛːnikɛ́ː] ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and

3450-679: The March of Cyrus as the basis for this work. History of the Diadochi or Events after Alexander is a work originally of ten books; a commentary on this work was written by Photius (FW Walbank, p. 8). Three extant fragments are the Vatican Palimpsest (of the 10th century AD), PSI 12.1284 ( Oxyrhynchus ), and the Gothenburg palimpsest (of the 10th century also), these possibly stemming originally from Photius. The writing

3525-584: The Middle Ages and the remaining ones became the Discourses . In a comparison of the contents of the Enchiridion with the Discourses , it is apparent that the former contains material not present within the latter, suggesting an original lost source for the Enchiridion . Friendly conversations with Epictetus ( Homiliai Epiktetou ) is a 12 book work mentioned by Photius in his Bibliotheca , of which only fragments remain. The Anabasis of Alexander comprises seven books. Arrian used Xenophon's account of

3600-550: The aorist. Following Homer 's practice, the augment is sometimes not made in poetry , especially epic poetry. The augment sometimes substitutes for reduplication; see below. Almost all forms of the perfect, pluperfect, and future perfect reduplicate the initial syllable of the verb stem. (A few irregular forms of perfect do not reduplicate, whereas a handful of irregular aorists reduplicate.) The three types of reduplication are: Irregular duplication can be understood diachronically. For example, lambanō (root lab ) has

3675-419: The augment when it was word-initial. In verbs with a preposition as a prefix, the augment is placed not at the start of the word, but between the preposition and the original verb. For example, προσ(-)βάλλω (I attack) goes to προσ έ βαλoν in the aorist. However compound verbs consisting of a prefix that is not a preposition retain the augment at the start of the word: αὐτο(-)μολῶ goes to ηὐ τομόλησα in

3750-438: The center of Greek scholarship, this division of people and language is quite similar to the results of modern archaeological-linguistic investigation. One standard formulation for the dialects is: West vs. non-West Greek is the strongest-marked and earliest division, with non-West in subsets of Ionic-Attic (or Attic-Ionic) and Aeolic vs. Arcadocypriot, or Aeolic and Arcado-Cypriot vs. Ionic-Attic. Often non-West

3825-604: The curriculum proper. The regular classes involved reading and interpreting characteristic portions of Stoic philosophical works, which, as well as ethics, must have included instruction in the logic and physics which were part of the Stoic system. The Discourses instead record conversations which followed the formal instruction. They dwell on points which Epictetus regarded as of special importance, and which gave him an opportunity for friendly discourse with his pupils and to discuss their personal affairs. They are not, therefore,

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3900-563: The dialect of Sparta ), and Northern Peloponnesus Doric (including Corinthian ). All the groups were represented by colonies beyond Greece proper as well, and these colonies generally developed local characteristics, often under the influence of settlers or neighbors speaking different Greek dialects. After the conquests of Alexander the Great in the late 4th century BC, a new international dialect known as Koine or Common Greek developed, largely based on Attic Greek , but with influence from other dialects. This dialect slowly replaced most of

3975-440: The early 10th century. Arethas was an important collector of manuscripts and he is also responsible for transmitting a copy of Marcus Aurelius' Meditations . The Bodleian manuscript contains marginal notes which have been identified as by Arethas. The manuscript is however "full of errors of all kinds". Many corrections were made by medieval scholars themselves, and many emendations have been made by modern scholars to produce

4050-427: The five volume edition by Johann Schweighäuser , 1799–1800. A critical edition was produced by Heinrich Schenkl in 1894 (second edition 1916) which was based upon the Bodleian manuscript. The first English translation did not appear until 1758 with the appearance of Elizabeth Carter 's translation. This proved to be very successful, with a second edition appearing a year later (1759), a third edition in 1768, and

4125-423: The governor of Cappadocia, it came to a stop. Arrian referred to himself as "the second Xenophon", on account of his reputation and the esteem in which he was held. Lucian stated him to be: a Roman of the first rank with a life-long attachment to learning This quality is identified as paideia (παιδεία), which is the quality considered to be of one who is known as an educated and learned personage, i.e., one who

4200-561: The historical Dorians . The invasion is known to have displaced population to the later Attic-Ionic regions, who regarded themselves as descendants of the population displaced by or contending with the Dorians. The Greeks of this period believed there were three major divisions of all Greek people – Dorians, Aeolians, and Ionians (including Athenians), each with their own defining and distinctive dialects. Allowing for their oversight of Arcadian, an obscure mountain dialect, and Cypriot, far from

4275-476: The historical circumstances of the times imply that the overall groups already existed in some form. Scholars assume that major Ancient Greek period dialect groups developed not later than 1120 BC, at the time of the Dorian invasions —and that their first appearances as precise alphabetic writing began in the 8th century BC. The invasion would not be "Dorian" unless the invaders had some cultural relationship to

4350-399: The ideas that present themselves to our consciousness, we are absolutely responsible for the way in which we use them. In the realm of judgment the truth or falsity of the external impression is to be decided. Here our concern is to assent to the true impression, reject the false, and suspend judgment regarding the uncertain. This is the act of choice. Only that which is subject to our choice

4425-424: The material into a more finished form. In some cases, he may have relied on others' reports, or checked his own record with Epictetus himself. However Arrian actually compiled the discourses, there are numerous reasons, internal to the text, for taking the gist of his record to be completely authentic to Epictetus' own style and language. These include a distinctive vocabulary, repetition of key points throughout, [and]

4500-508: The older dialects, although the Doric dialect has survived in the Tsakonian language , which is spoken in the region of modern Sparta. Doric has also passed down its aorist terminations into most verbs of Demotic Greek . By about the 6th century AD, the Koine had slowly metamorphosed into Medieval Greek . Phrygian is an extinct Indo-European language of West and Central Anatolia , which

4575-508: The particular means of pursuing warfare as being based on Greek methods. Ektaxis kata Alanon is also translated as Acies contra Alanos . The work was known for a time as A History of the Alani ( Alanike via Photius). A fragment describing a plan of battle against the Alani was found in Milan around the 17th century which was thought at that time to belong to the History . There were also

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4650-487: The perfect stem eilēpha (not * lelēpha ) because it was originally slambanō , with perfect seslēpha , becoming eilēpha through compensatory lengthening. Reduplication is also visible in the present tense stems of certain verbs. These stems add a syllable consisting of the root's initial consonant followed by i . A nasal stop appears after the reduplication in some verbs. The earliest extant examples of ancient Greek writing ( c.  1450 BC ) are in

4725-482: The purpose of preserving them as memorials to myself afterward of the thoughts and the freedom of speech of Epictetus. The Discourses purport to be the actual words of Epictetus. They are written in Koine Greek unlike the Attic Greek Arrian uses in his own compositions. The differences in style are very marked, and they portray a vivid and separate personality. The precise method Arrian used to write

4800-403: The second part based on a journal written by Nearchus . Written 136/137 AD (in the 20th year of Hadrian), Techne Taktike is a treatise on Roman cavalry and military tactics, and includes information on the nature, arms and discipline of the phalanx . The hippika gymnasia is a particular concern of Arrian in the treatise. Another translation of the title is Ars tactica , which, in Greek,

4875-451: The second with cases of choice and of refusal, and, in general, with duty, that they may act in an orderly fashion, upon good reasons, and not carelessly; the third with the avoidance of error and rashness in judgment, and, in general, about cases of assent. The first and most essential practice is directed towards our passions and desires, which are themselves only types of impression, and as such they press and compel us. A continued practice

4950-464: The study of human nature was part of the wider subject of the nature of things. True education lies in learning to distinguish what is our own from what does not belong to us. But there is only one thing which is fully our own: that which is our will or choice ( prohairesis ). The use which we make of the external impressions is our one chief concern, and upon the right kind of use depends exclusively our happiness. Although we are not responsible for

5025-517: The syllabic script Linear B . Beginning in the 8th century BC, however, the Greek alphabet became standard, albeit with some variation among dialects. Early texts are written in boustrophedon style, but left-to-right became standard during the classic period. Modern editions of ancient Greek texts are usually written with accents and breathing marks , interword spacing , modern punctuation , and sometimes mixed case , but these were all introduced later. The beginning of Homer 's Iliad exemplifies

5100-420: The titles given in the earliest medieval manuscript: "Arrian's Diatribai of Epictetus" ( Greek : Ἀρριανοῦ τῶν Ἐπικτήτου Διατριβῶν ). The Greek word Diatribai literally means "informal talks". As to the date, it is generally agreed that the Discourses were composed sometime in the years around 108 AD. Epictetus himself refers to the coins of Trajan , which shows he was teaching during that reign. Arrian

5175-455: The traditional Stoic division of philosophy into Logic, Physics, and Ethics. The third field unambiguously refers to logic since it concerns valid reasoning and certainty in judgment. The second field relates to ethics, and the first field, on desires and aversions, appears to be preliminary to ethics. However Pierre Hadot has argued that this first field relates to physics since for the Stoics

5250-540: Was suffect consul in around 130, and since forty-two was the standard age for that position, he would have been at the right age of around twenty in 108. Furthermore the "commissioner" of the "free cities" to whom Discourse iii. 7 is addressed is thought to be the same man Pliny the Younger addresses his Letter viii. 24—a letter which has been dated to around 108. There were originally eight books, but only four now remain in their entirety, along with

5325-480: Was Aeolic. For example, fragments of the works of the poet Sappho from the island of Lesbos are in Aeolian. Most of the dialect sub-groups listed above had further subdivisions, generally equivalent to a city-state and its surrounding territory, or to an island. Doric notably had several intermediate divisions as well, into Island Doric (including Cretan Doric ), Southern Peloponnesus Doric (including Laconian ,

5400-404: Was a pupil of Epictetus around 108 AD, and, according to his own account, he was moved to publish his notes of Epictetus' lectures, which are known as Discourses of Epictetus , by their unauthorized dissemination. According to George Long , Arrian noted from Epictetus' lectures for his private use and some time later made of these, the Discourses . Photius states that Arrian produced two books

5475-557: Was also known of by Aulus Gellius . Pliny the Younger addressed seven of his epistles to him. Simplicius made a copy of the Enchiridion, which was transmitted under the name of the monastic father Nilus during the 5th century, and as a result found in every monastery library. Nicholas Blancard made translations of Arrian in 1663 and 1668. The voyage of Nearchus and Periplus of the Erythrean Sea were translated from

5550-533: Was born in Nicomedia (present-day İzmit ), the provincial capital of Bithynia . Cassius Dio called him Flavius Arrianus Nicomediensis. Sources provide similar dates for his birth, within a few years prior to 90, 89, and 85–90 AD. The line of reasoning for dates belonging to 85–90 AD is because of Arrian being made a consul around 130 AD, and the usual age for this, during this period, being 42 years of age. (ref. pp. 312, & SYME 1958, ibid. ). His family

5625-527: Was from the Greek provincial aristocracy, and his full name, L. Flavius Arrianus , indicates that he was a Roman citizen, suggesting that the citizenship went back several generations, probably to the time of the Roman conquest some 170 years before. Sometime during the second century AD (117 to 120 AD) while in Epirus, probably Nicopolis , Arrian attended lectures of Epictetus of Nicopolis, and proceeded within

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