Epictetus · c. 50 – c. 135 CE
Fragments 33 — Epictetus
Translation by George Long (1877)
Epictetus, Fragments 33
In your banquets (meals) take care that those who serve (your slaves) are not more than those who are served; for it is foolish for many souls (persons) to wait on a few couches (seats).
Cite this passage
Epictetus, Fragments 33, tr. George Long (1877)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/epictetus-fragments/33
Epictetus, Enchiridion and Fragments, tr. George Long (1877). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesDo not host meals where the servants, who in this text are slaves, outnumber the diners. It is foolish to have a crowd of people working just to serve a handful of people lounging at the table.
Older wording
- “couches”
- — the reclining seats Romans used at meals
- “banquets”
- — formal feasts
Themes and situations
- Simplicity and frugality
- Wealth and poverty
- Pride and humility
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