Stoicism dates back to Athens in the third century BC. Developed as a distinct philosophy by Zeno of Citium (Cyprus), he held Socrates and the Cynics as primary influences. Stoics got their name from the stoa (porch) in the city agora (open-air market), where they met and engaged in philosophical teachings and debates. They engaged closely with the Academics, Skeptics, and Epicureans.

Zeno’s conception of the discipline spanned the categories of physics, logic, and ethics. Virtue ethics centered on “eudaimonia,” or a well-lived and thus happy life, serves as the basis. The ideal life requires maintaining virtuous thought and conduct, as the stoics define. It differed from contemporaries since they placed practical value on achieving wisdom to benefit oneself and society as a whole. Steps to attaining eudaimonia included developing a sense of personal ethics, humility, self-discipline, and the ability to learn from experience and self-actualize knowledge.

Stoic philosophy emerged as a predominant one in Athens and imported to Rome as the city-state grew in power. At times, during the Roman Empire, the Stoics experienced persecution under the Emperors Domitian and Vespasian. Cato the Younger emerged as a role model for Stoics in recognition of his opposition to Julius Caesar, considered a tyrant as emperors, such as Marcus Aurelius, attempted to live by Stoic philosophy.

In his “Meditations,” Aurelius provided a cornerstone of the Stoic approach that still resonates with some: “Do away with all fancies. Cease to be passion’s puppet. Limit time to the present. Learn to recognize every experience for what it is, whether it be your own or another’s.”