When Junius Rusticus handed the future emperor of Rome a book, it came with an implication. A true philosopher—a true leader—Rusticus insisted, could not be satisfied just getting the gist of something. They had to understand it inside and out.
None of the lessons that Marcus Aurelius took from Epictetus—the book Rusticus gave him in his mid-twenties—would have been possible without first listening to this lesson. He not only inhaled the book, he clearly went over it over and over until it seeped into his very soul. That’s why Meditations is filled with quotes from it. That’s why Marcus Aurelius, the most powerful man in the world, managed to stay sane, despite the inherent insanity of his position.
Maybe you’ve read Epictetus. Maybe you’ve been meaning to. But chances are, you haven’t treated it like Marcus did, like Rusticus expected, like Epictetus deserves.
In these writings (actually Epictetus’ lectures recorded by another student, Arrian) we have the life experiences of a man who spent 30 years as a slave. We also get his first-hand familiarity with temptation and corruption and vanity (having an owner who worked in Nero’s court). What Epictetus learned—and went on to teach others—was profound and enduring. He taught that true freedom comes from recognizing what lies beyond our control and focusing only on what is up to us. He came to see that the most powerful empire is ruling over ourselves, in living a life of virtue even in a world of corruption, darkness, or misfortune.
Marcus Aurelius was not satisfied just getting the gist of Epictetus’ powerful teachings and you shouldn’t be, either. You can see it in Meditations—the same ideas appear again and again—on anger, difficult people, dealing with death, on doing his duty when nobody is watching. Not because Marcus had mastered them, but because he hadn’t. He kept returning to Epictetus because the work was never finished. “Revert at once to yourself” is a note of a man still trying, wanting to do better and learn more.
That’s what Rusticus had given him. Not a book to finish, but a lifelong practice to return to.
Marcus Aurelius was lucky and privileged in many ways—not only in being given the throne, but that he had Rusticus as his guide to Epictetus. Since none of us are quite so fortunate, we’ll have to try the next best thing. If you want to go deep on Epictetus, we’d love to have you join us in our How to Read Epictetus: A Daily Stoic Digital Guide. We’ve distilled all of the best wisdom from Epictetus, everything we’ve learned from hundreds of hours of research and writing, into an engaging 14-module guide to make learning these timeless lessons more accessible. And, for the month of August, Epictetus Month here at Daily Stoic, we’re doing this deep dive into Epictetus together as a community—because if his work changed Marcus Aurelius’ life so profoundly, how might it change ours?
This month only, when you purchase our How To Read Epictetus: A Daily Stoic Digital Guide, you’ll not only get a copy of Epictetus’sDiscourses and Selected Writings for just $6, you’ll gain access to our online discussion community, where we’re going through the book and digital guide together, talking about Epictetus’ ideas and how to apply them to our lives today.
As a special bonus, you’ll get an invitation to join me (hey, Ryan here) for a LIVE Q&A call to discuss the teachings of Epictetus—just get the How To Read Epictetus: A Daily Stoic Digital Guide by August 26th. I hope to see you there.
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