Who is Epictetus? Unlike other more famous Stoic philosophers such as Marcus Aurelius or Seneca, Epictetus was born a slave. His place of birth was Hierapolis in Anatolia in around 50 AD. Whether Epictetus had other names is not know – his name in Greek means ‘gained’ or ‘acquired’. It seems likely that this was …
How did Pompey get the name Adulescentulus Carnifex? How did Pompey get the name ‘Adulescentulus Carnifex’ or ‘teenage butcher’? One thing is for certain, it wasn’t from his friends and supporters. Pompey acquired the name as a result of his campaigns in Sicily, where he had been sent by Sulla. The target of Pompey’s forces …
Who were the Celts? Who were the Celts? If you ask Diodorus Siculus, a Greek historian writing in the first century BC, they were a bunch of wine addicted, quarrelsome warriors with outlandishly coloured clothes who are prone to falling out during drunken feasts. Unfortunately the Celts left no written records of their own. To …