Epictetus · c. 50 – c. 135 CE
Discourses 4.1 ¶3 — Epictetus
From “About Freedom”
Translation by George Long (1877)
Epictetus, Discourses 4.1 ¶3
“And what,” you may say, “has this to do with being a slave?” Does it seem to you to be nothing to do a thing unwillingly, with compulsion, with groans, has this nothing to do with being a slave? “It is something,” you say: “but who is able to compel me, except the lord of all, Caesar?” Then even you yourself have admitted that you have one master. But that he is the common master of all, as you say, let not this console you at all: but know that you are a slave in a great family. So also the people of Nicopolis are used to exclaim, “By the fortune of Caesar, we are free.”
Cite this passage
Epictetus, Discourses 4.1 ¶3, tr. George Long (1877)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/discourses/4.1.3
Epictetus, Discourses (as recorded by Arrian), tr. George Long (1877). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesDoing things unwillingly, under compulsion and with groans, is a form of slavery, and having one master, even one shared by everybody, does not make you free. People who say they are free by the grace of a ruler are really just in a large household with one head.
Older wording
- “Caesar”
- — the Roman emperor
Themes and situations
- Freedom
- What is in our control
- Emotions and the passions
- Ambition and success
- Reputation and others' opinions
- A difficult boss
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