Epictetus
c. 50 – 135 · 85 years · Nicopolis (Epirus) · Europe
Stoic and former slave: freedom and peace come from distinguishing what is in our power, our judgements and desires, from what is not. His pupil Arrian wrote down his teachings.
Wikipedia (Russian) · Wikipedia (English) · 1st century
Portrait: Theodoor Galle · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Contemporaries around the world
Europe
- Marcus Aurelius — Roman emperor and Stoic philosopher, 71 years younger
- Vespasian — Roman emperor, 41 years older
- Seneca the Younger — Roman Stoic philosopher, 54 years older
Middle East
- Paul the Apostle — apostle and Christian missionary, 45 years older
Africa
- Claudius Ptolemy — astronomer and geographer, 50 years younger
Asia
- Ban Zhao — historian and writer, 5 years older
- Zhang Heng — astronomer, inventor of the seismoscope, 28 years younger
The world in their lifetime
- 70 Siege of Jerusalem and destruction of the Temple — aged 20, Middle East
- 80 The Colosseum opens — aged 30, Europe
- c. 100 The rise of Aksum — aged 50, Africa
- 105 Cai Lun and the invention of paper — aged 55, Asia
- c. 126 The dome of the Pantheon — aged 76, Europe
- 132 Zhang Heng's seismoscope — aged 82, Asia