Epictetus Works (Discourses, Enchiridion, Fragments) (1866) - Page 32

...him about the conspiracy: “If I feel like saying anything,” he replied, “I will tell it to your master.”

What resources do we have, then, on such occasions? What else can we do but distinguish between what belongs to us and what does not belong to us; what is right and what is wrong? I must die—must I die groaning, too? I must be chained. Must I lament as well? I am exiled. And what stops me, then, from going with a smile, cheerful and serene?

“Betray a secret.”

I will not betray it, for this choice is within my own power.

“Then I will chain you.”

What are you saying, man? Chain me? You will chain my leg, but not even Zeus himself can conquer my free will.

“I will throw you into prison; I will behead that poor body of yours.”

Did I ever tell you that I alone had a head that couldn't be cut off? These are the things philosophers should study; these are what they should write about daily, and in these they should practice constantly.

Thraseas* used to say, “I would rather be killed today than banished tomorrow.” But how did Rufus† answer him? “If you prefer death because you think it is a heavier misfortune, what a foolish choice! If you prefer it because it is a lighter burden, who has given you the power to choose? Why do you not strive to be content with whatever is assigned to you?”

Well, and what did Agrippinus‡ say about this ac—

* Thraseas Paetus was a Stoic philosopher put to death by the Emperor Nero. He was the husband of Arria, who is famous for a beautiful poem by Martial. The historian Tacitus remarked on him: "After the murder of so many excellent men, Nero finally desired to destroy Virtue itself by executing Thraseas Paetus and Bareas Soranus." (Annals, book 16, chapter 21).

† Musonius Rufus was a Tuscan of the equestrian order equestrian order: a high-ranking social class in Ancient Rome, similar to knights and a Stoic philosopher. When the Emperor Vespasian banished other philosophers from Rome, Rufus was the only one allowed to stay.

‡ Agrippinus was banished by Nero, for no other crime than the...