Epictetus
2 of the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Epictetus. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
ep-ik-te'tus, a Stoic philosopher of Rome. He flourished during the latter half of the first century A. D. He was banished from Rome during the reign of Trajan. His sayings were taken down by a devoted follower and disciple. Such teachings as have not been lost inculcate the idea of immortality and breathe a calm spirit of resignation and piety not unlike that of the New Testament writers. SAYINGS OF EPICTETUS. Difficulties show what men are. Reason is not measured by size or height, but by principle. Were I a nightingale, I would act the part of a nightingale. Why, then, do you walk as if you had swallowed a ramrod? No great thing is created suddenly, any more than a bunch of grapes or a fig. What is the first business of one who studies philosophy? To part with self-conceit. He is unreasonable who is grieved at things which happen from the necessity of nature. Nothing is smaller than love of pleasure and love of gain and pride. Nothing is superior to magnanimity and gentleness and love of mankind and beneficence. What we ought not to do we should not even think of doing. No man is free who is not master of himself. Fortify yourself with contentment, for this is an impregnable fortress. Do not so much be ashamed of that disgrace which proceeds from men's opinions as fly from that which comes from the truth. No man who loves money and pleasure and fame, also loves mankind, but only he who loves virtue.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a Greek Stoic philosopher; born in Hierapolis, Phrygia, about A. D. 50. A slave and then a freed-man at Rome where he taught philosophy there till 94, when all philosophers were banished by Domitian; he apparently returned later and lived into Hadrian's reign. The essential tenets of Stoicism are nowhere more clearly or feelingly set forth than by him. No writings of his are known; but his maxims were gathered and published in the "Encheiridion," or handbook, and the "Commentaries."
What Has Changed in the Last Century
The two accounts disagree on one plain point of fact, and Collier's has it right: the expulsion of philosophers from Rome that sent Epictetus to Nicopolis in Epirus was Domitian's, around AD 93, not Trajan's as Aiton's Encyclopedia says in 1910. Both are also right that he wrote nothing himself; the Discourses (four of an original eight books) and the Encheiridion come from his pupil Arrian, though scholars now argue more openly about how far Arrian was a stenographer and how far an author shaping the material. What has really moved is his standing outside the classroom: Epictetus was the philosopher Admiral James Stockdale credited with getting him through seven years as a prisoner in Vietnam, and since the 2010s he has been a central figure in the popular Stoicism revival, with fresh translations and annual Stoic Week exercises. The substance of the entries, and the sayings Aiton's chose to print, read as well today as in 1910.
Written for this edition, 2026.