Arrian

Arrian (Flavius Arrianus) , fl. 2d cent. AD, Greek historian, philosopher, and general, b. Nicomedia in Bithynia. He was governor of Cappadocia under Emperor Hadrian and in AD 134 repulsed an invasion of the Alans. His chief work is the Anabasis, the prime extant source on Alexander the Great. Modeled on Xenophon's famous book, the Anabasis relies chiefly on the writings of two of Alexander's generals (Ptolemy I and Aristobulus) for source material. Other extant works include the Indica (an account of a voyage of Alexander's general Nearchus to India) and parts of his edition of and commentaries on the Discourses of Epictetus.

Epictetus (c.60 ad–after 100), a Stoic philosopher. He wrote nothing himself; the Encheiridion, or collection of his principles, was complied by his disciple Arrian. Epictetus held health, pleasure, possessions to be of no account. Virtue resided in the will which should direct man to abstain and endure. The Encheiridion influenced Chapman and was highly valued by Dryden and M. Arnold.