Epictetus (Hierápolis, AD 55 - Nicópolis, 135) was a Greek sage and Stoic philosopher. He was brought as a Greek slave from Hierapolis, Phrygia (southwest Anatolia present day Pamukkale, Turkey ) to Rome, released and then exiled. After his release, he taught the philosophy of the Stoics first in Rome and later in Nicopolis (northwestern Greece),in a school founded by him.

Together with other Roman philosophers such as Seneca and Marcus Aurelius Epictetus was one of the leading figures in the Stoic philosophy in the first centuries after Christ. Epictetus didn't write anything himself, but his pupil and admirer Arrian has composed eight books of learning conversations of Epictetus, of which four books have been preserved. Arrian also put together the Manual Booklet (Encheiridion): a collection of 53 quotes from Epictetus. The practical advice given herein are even now found worth while.