THE OTHER NIGHT EPICTETUS RECOUNTED ONE OF HIS FAVORITE anecdotes, one he regularly uses to make a broader philosophical point. The story concerns Helvidius Priscus, a Roman statesman (and Stoic philosopher, as it turns out) who had the unusual stamina—and luck, until it ran out—to live under several emperors, from Nero to Galba, Otho, Vitellius, and finally Vespasian. According to our friend and guide, “When Vespasian
