This book is one of a number of recent trade titles devoted to the ancient philosophy of Stoicism. Over the last decade or so there has been an upsurge of popular interest in this ancient school of philosophy. Although there had been a couple of earlier efforts, the first book to reach a wide audience was probably W. Irvine's A Guide to the Good Life (2009). Since then, a small industry has developed. Some have been written by academics, although not necessarily specialists in ancient philosophy; some have been written by non-academic authors. Beyond these, there is a lot that has been self-published by enthusiastic amateurs, with varying degrees of quality. What these books usually share is a desire to show how ancient Stoic ideas – primarily the practical advice of the Roman Stoics – might be useful for people today. Marcus Aurelius and Epictetus have tended to dominate. People have also been rediscovering Musonius Rufus, in part thanks to a self-published translation by retired classicist C. King, overseen by Irvine (2011). Seneca has also been present, although perhaps to a slightly lesser degree.

This new book is S.'s second contribution to this genre. Her first, Stoic Warriors (2005; see CR 57 [2007], 120–1), came out well before the recent burst of popular interest in Stoicism. It focused on the ways in which Stoic ideas had been taken up in the military, and it might best be described as a work of applied ethics. Her opening point of reference in that book – and often appearing in this new one too – was the reminiscences by Admiral James Stockdale of his time in a Vietnam prisoner of war camp and how his familiarity with Stoic ideas learnt from Epictetus helped him to survive his ordeal. (Stockdale's own account is available in BICS 40 [1995], 1–13, a transcript of a talk he gave at the Institute of Classical Studies in 1993.)

Stoic Wisdom opens with some reflections on this recent revival of interest in Stoicism. These are written from a perspective that is often difficult to pin down. Much of it reads as if written by a neutral observer surveying a phenomenon in which they have no part. Yet at the same time the book is presented as a series of practical lessons aimed at developing ‘modern resilience’. Some reservations are raised about overly macho appropriations of Stoicism, without the author perhaps fully recognising that her previous book on tough Stoic soldiers may have contributed to that tendency.

S. next offers a brief biographical history of the ancient Stoics. She starts with Socrates – not unreasonable given his influence on the Stoa –, then Diogenes of Sinope (which we are told was near Corinth [p. 6], rather than the northern coast of Asia Minor) and then the Stoics Zeno, Cleanthes and Chrysippus. We then get Cicero – not a Stoic but obviously an important source for Stoic ethics –, followed by Seneca, Musonius Rufus, Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius. The final ancient figure included is harder to justify: Philo of Alexandria. Philo crops up again later in the volume and seems an odd figure to co-opt into the Stoic tradition. Perhaps his presence is connected to S.'s claim that ‘Stoic DNA is embedded in Judaism and Christianity’ (p. 7). There is a substantial literature on Stoic influences on early Christianity, none of which is mentioned; the claim about Judaism seems harder to justify, and not even Philo embracing a couple of Stoic tropes would seem enough to support it.

Despite the title, this book is not focused squarely on ancient Stoic wisdom. Much of it is concerned with the present. It was written during the pandemic, and S. addresses this directly, along with a whole host of other contemporary issues in American life. These include the ‘Black Lives Matter’ and ‘Me Too’ movements, along with President Trump and various controversies involving the US Supreme Court and House of Representatives. Some of these topics are very much of the moment and may look dated quite soon; some might not mean much to readers from outside the United States. There is also a strong autobiographical element: we hear about S.'s relationship with her father, the death of her mother, her husband's time in hospital and various episodes in her teaching career. We also learn about people in the military, firefighters and hospital workers. There is a lot of storytelling, no doubt intended to give readers concrete examples of people coping with difficult situations. These are supposed to be examples of situations where Stoicism might help. The risk here, though, is that one falls back into a fairly old and now outdated stereotype of Stoicism as a coping strategy for the challenges of fortune but not much else. Other recent books have worked hard to move beyond that image of Stoicism.

The obvious core Stoic ideas are covered along the way, but the book does not offer a beginner's overview of what the Stoics thought; nor does it attempt to offer practical self-help lessons drawn from ancient Stoic texts, as some recent books do. Instead, it is more like an extended conversation piece, broadly journalistic in style, at one moment fairly distant and critical of what the Stoics had to say, at the next keen to extract some takeaway lesson. Again, it is difficult to pin the book down.

We are told that the Stoics were inevitably a product of their times, and so presumably not relevant to ours. But then, S. adds, our times are quite like theirs; so perhaps they can be of use to us after all. But we are moderns, different in kind to these ancients, we are told. That issue is just left hanging. We are also told, not unreasonably, that anyone trying to revive Stoicism today ought to try to avoid the mistakes of the ancient Stoics. As to what those mistakes might be, the main one seems to have been that they lacked empathy. Modern Stoics need to embrace empathy and love of fellow humankind, S. insists, with the implication that they have failed to do so thus far. Epictetus’ cold and unfeeling claim that we ought to be indifferent to anything not within our control (Ench. 1.1) ought to be rejected. S. reads it as justifying political quietude and inaction. But Epictetus seems to have had no problem in speaking truth to power even if it led to personal risk (e.g. Diss. 1.2.19–29). The love of all humankind that S. is keen to champion is of course also in Epictetus (e.g. Diss. 3.24.58–64) as well as in Seneca and Marcus Aurelius, both of whom S. prefers over the ex-slave. Indeed, S. dismisses Epictetus as a mere populariser early on in the book (p. 10) and not a good representative of nuanced Stoic thought. That judgement overlooks a lot of recent work on Epictetus that brings out the nuances. Inevitably she still draws on Epictetus quite a bit, because he is such a rich repository of the sort of practical advice that she wants to discuss.

Other recent books in this genre try to challenge misconceptions about Stoicism in order to present its key ideas in a positive light. S. seems unable to escape some of those misconceptions while at the same time remaining drawn to other aspects of Stoic advice. The result is a book that seems deeply conflicted about the value of Stoicism: ‘it is hard not to be attracted to some aspects’ (p. 4), she comments, almost as if this happened against her better judgement. There is some criticism of aspects of the modern Stoic movement, some praise too, but a pervading sense that the book cannot quite make up its mind.