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Companion to Musonius Rufus

18/11/2025

Many years in the making, my colleague Liz Gloyn and I have finally finished the manuscript for Brill’s Companion to Musonius Rufus. It has now been through peer review, revised, and copyedited. Publication is planned for 2026. The first idea for this book came out of a workshop we ran in 2019. Rather than simply publish a collection of papers from the event, we both thought it would be far more useful to try to offer comprehensive coverage - something that had never been done before. The book has a chapter on each of the 21 longer Discourses, as well as discussion of the shorter fragments and the publication of some newly discovered fragments too. All this is prefaced with some orienting essays.

Here’s the full table of contents:

PART ONE: LIFE AND CONTEXT

Musonius Rufus: Philosophy as a Way of Life? Sarah Lawrence

Musonius’ Philosophical Affiliation Gretchen Reydams-Schils

Musonius Rufus’ Social/Political Context Catharine Edwards

Texts and Transmission John Sellars

PART TWO: THE DISCOURSES

Discourse 1 That there is no Need of Giving Many Proofs for One Problem Robert Heller

Discourse 2 That we are Born with an Inclination Towards Virtue Benjamin Harriman

Discourse 3 That Women too Should Study Philosophy Georgia Tsouni

Discourse 4 Should Daughters Receive the Same Education as Sons? Sophia Connell

Discourse 5 Which is More Effective, Theory or Practice? Mark Gatten

Discourse 6 On Training: A Case Study of Influence in Roman Stoicism Jean-Baptiste Gourinat

Discourse 7 That One Should Consider Suffering to be Unimportant Sophie Ngan

Discourse 8 Musonius Rufus on Kingship Carol Atack

Discourse 9 That Exile is Not an Evil Attila Németh

Discourse 10 Will the Philosopher Prosecute Anyone for Personal Injury? Kurt Lampe

Discourse 11 What Means of Livelihood is Appropriate for a Philosopher? Tomohiko Kondo

Discourse 12 Sexual Indulgence in Musonius Rufus Eva Anagnostou-Laoutides

Discourse 13 What is the Chief End of Marriage? Valéry Laurand

Discourse 14 Is Marriage a Handicap for the Pursuit of Philosophy? Valéry Laurand

Discourse 15 ‘Should Every Child That Is Born Be Raised?’ The Ethics of Infant Exposure and Childrearing in Early Imperial Rome Mairéad McAuley

Discourse 16 Must One Obey One’s Parents Under all Circumstances? Liz Gloyn

Discourse 17 What is the Best Viaticum for Old Age? Barbara Del Giovani

Discourses 18A-B On Food William O Stephens

Discourse 19 On Clothing and Shelter Robin Weiss

Discourse 20 On Furnishings Will Desmond

Discourse 21 On Cutting the Hair William O Stephens

PART THREE: THE FRAGMENTS

The Fragments Max Bergamo

New Fragments Max Bergamo

The Stoic Leader

7/11/2025

Next month sees the publication of a new book, The Stoic Leader, which I’ve co-written with my good friend and co-founder of the Aurelius Foundation, Justin Stead. I first met Justin in 2019 and we launched the Aurelius Foundation on 2020. Since then we’ve been discussing ideas for this book on many occasions but this year we finally got the opportunity to put it all down on paper.

We have tried to show how one might put Stoic ideas into practice in real world situations. In ancient Rome many of the key figures who were drawn to Stoicism, such as Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, Musonius Rufus, and Cato, were actively engaged in politics and leadership. All of them did their best to act with integrity in often difficult situations. Speaking to a business audience, this is not a book about how to become more financially successful but instead a book that stresses the importance of good character in both personal and professional life.

Companion to Musonius Rufus

The Stoic Leader

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