Musonius Rufus: Epictetus’s teacher, who said women should study philosophy too

Gaius Musonius Rufus was born around 30 CE in Volsinii, in Etruria in central Italy, into a family of the equestrian class. He became one of the best-known teachers of Stoic philosophy in Rome, so much so that some called him "the Roman Socrates". His most famous student was Epictetus, the former slave who later became a great teacher himself.

Philosophers and emperors

Musonius's life was shaped heavily by politics. The emperor Nero exiled him around 65 to Gyaros, a small, dry island in the Aegean Sea. According to ancient sources he found a spring of water on the island, and people came to hear him even there. After Nero's death he returned to Rome, but was later exiled again by the emperor Vespasian, before returning once more.

The lectures

Musonius wrote no books. But one of his students, called Lucius, recorded some of his lectures, and these have survived. They are short, clear and very practical.

• Practice over theory. For Musonius, philosophy was not only knowing what is right but doing it. Just as a doctor is of no use if he only knows the theory, a philosopher must exercise virtue.
• Training body and soul. He recommended enduring cold and heat, simple food and physical work, to strengthen character.
• Food. He advised simple, easily obtained foods, and pointed out that the way we eat is a daily test of self-control.

Women and philosophy

Two of his lectures are especially striking for their time. In one, Musonius argues that women should study philosophy, because they have the same capacity for reasoning and the same inclination towards virtue as men. In the other, he says that daughters should receive the same education as sons. He was not thinking of full social equality in the modern sense, but for his time these ideas were bold.

According to Musonius, philosophy is learned like medicine or music: by practising it, not only by listening.

Lessons for today

1. Judge yourself by what you do, not by what you know.
2. Practise endurance in small things: a slightly cooler shower, a simpler meal, a walk instead of the car.
3. Good education is for everyone. An idea Musonius defended two thousand years ago.