Epicrătes, a Milesian, servant to Julius Cæsar.——A poet of Ambracia. Ælian.——The name is applied to Pompey, as expressive of supreme authority. Cicero, Letters to Atticus, bk. 3, ltr. 3.
Epictētus, a stoic philosopher of Hieropolis in Phrygia, originally the slave of Epaphroditus, the freedman of Nero. Though driven from Rome by Domitian, he returned after the emperor’s death, and gained the esteem of Adrian and Marcus Aurelius. Like the Stoics he supported the doctrine of the immortality of the soul, but he declared himself strongly against suicide, which was so warmly adopted by his sect. He died in a very advanced age. The earthen lamp of which he made use was sold some time after his death for 3000 drachmas. His Enchiridion is a faithful picture of the stoic philosophy, and his dissertations which were delivered to his pupils, were collected by Arrian. His style is concise and devoid of all ornament, full of energy and useful maxims. The value of his compositions is well known from the saying of the emperor Antoninus, who thanked the gods he could collect from the writings of Epictetus wherewith to conduct life with honour to himself and advantage to his country. There are several good editions of the works of Epictetus, with those of Cebes and others; the most valuable of which, perhaps, will be found to be that of Reland, Utrecht, 4to, 1711; and Arrian’s by Upton, 2 vols. 4to, London, 1739.
Epĭcūrus, a celebrated philosopher, son of Neocles and Cherestrata, born at Gargettus in Attica. Though his parents were poor and of an obscure origin, yet he was early sent to school, where he distinguished himself by the brilliancy of his genius, and at the age of 12, when his preceptor repeated to him this verse from Hesiod,
Ἠτοι μεν πρωτιστα χαος γενετ’, &c.,
In the beginning of things the Chaos was created,
Epicurus earnestly asked him who created it? To this the teacher answered that he knew not, but only philosophers. “Then,” says the youth, “philosophers henceforth shall instruct me.” After having improved himself, and enriched his mind by travelling, he visited Athens, which was then crowded by the followers of Plato, the Cynics, the Peripatetics, and the Stoics. Here he established himself, and soon attracted a number of followers by the sweetness and gravity of his manners, and by his social virtues. He taught them that the happiness of mankind consisted in pleasure, not such as arises from sensual gratification, or from vice, but from the enjoyments of the mind, and the sweets of virtue. This doctrine was warmly attacked by the philosophers of the different sects, and particularly by the Stoics. They observed that he disgraced the gods by representing them as inactive, given up to pleasure, and unconcerned with the affairs of mankind. He refuted all the accusations of his adversaries by the purity of his morals, and by his frequent attendance on places of public worship. When Leontium, one of his female pupils, was accused of prostituting herself to her master and to all his disciples, the philosopher proved the falsity of the accusation by silence and an exemplary life. His health was at last impaired by continual labour, and he died of a retention of urine, which long subjected him to the most excruciating torments, and which he bore with unparalleled fortitude. His death happened 270 years before Christ, in the 72nd year of his age. His disciples showed their respect for the memory of their learned preceptor, by the unanimity which prevailed among them. While philosophers in every sect were at war with mankind and among themselves, the followers of Epicurus enjoyed perfect peace, and lived in the most solid friendship. The day of his birth was observed with universal festivity, and during a month all his admirers gave themselves up to mirth and innocent amusement. Of all the philosophers of antiquity, Epicurus is the only one whose writings deserve attention for their number. He wrote no less than 300 volumes, according to Diogenes Laërtius; and Chrysippus was so jealous of the fecundity of his genius, that no sooner had Epicurus published one of his volumes, than he immediately composed one, that he might not be overcome in the number of his productions. Epicurus, however, advanced truth and arguments unknown before; but Chrysippus said what others long ago had said, without showing anything which might be called originality. The followers of Epicurus were numerous in every age and country; his doctrines were rapidly disseminated over the world, and when the gratification of the sense was substituted to the practice of virtue, the morals of mankind were undermined and destroyed. Even Rome, whose austere simplicity had happily nurtured virtue, felt the attack, and was corrupted. When Cineas spoke of the tenets of the Epicureans in the Roman senate, Fabricius indeed entreated the gods that all the enemies of the republic might become his followers. But those were the feeble efforts of expiring virtue; and when Lucretius introduced the popular doctrine in poetical composition, the smoothness and beauty of the numbers contributed, with the effeminacy of the Epicureans, to enervate the conquerors of the world. Diogenes Laërtius, Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers.—Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 4, ch. 13.—Cicero, de Natura Deorum, bk. 1, chs. 24 & 25; Tusculanæ Disputationes, bk. 3, ch. 49; De Finibus Bonorum et Malorum, bk. 2, ch. 22.
Epicydes, a tyrant of Syracuse, B.C. 213.
Epidamnus, a town of Macedonia on the Adriatic, nearly opposite Brundusium. The Romans planted there a colony, which they called Dyrrachium, considering the ancient name (ad damnum) ominous. Pausanias, bk. 6, ch. 10.—Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 23.—Plautus, Menæchmi, scene 2, act 1, li. 42.
Epidaphne, a town of Syria, called also Antioch. Germanicus son of Drusus died there. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 2, ch. 83.
Epidauria, a festival at Athens in honour of Æsculapius.——A country of Peloponnesus.