Polemon of Athens

2nd century BC, Polemon was a Stoic Philosopher and geographer.

I am interested in researching these ancient figures and the skills that they may have possessed to be exceed in society in the ways that they did.

Polemon made extensive journeys around Greece to collect materials for geographical works. He paid particular attention to the inscriptions on votive offerings and columns. In addition to this he compiled a collection of epigrams he uncovered on monuments  and votive offerings. From this rigorous approach to antiquaries he obtained the nickname 'monument-tapper'. Hi knowledge of monuments and the surrounding literature were extensive.

More about Stoicism - teaches the development of self-control and foritude as a means of overcoming destructive emotions.

Epictetus, "sick and yet happy, in peril and yet happy, dying and yet happy, in exile and happy, in disgrace and happy,"

 The four cardinal virtues of the Stoic philosophy are wisdom (Sophia), courage (Andreia), justice (Dikaiosyne), and temperance (Sophrosyne),

Philosophy for a Stoic is not just a set of beliefs or ethical claims, it is a way of life involving constant practice and training (or askesis, see asceticism). Stoic philosophical and spiritual practices included logic, Socratic dialog and self-dialog, contemplation of death, training attention to remain in the present moment (similar to some forms of Eastern meditation), and daily reflection on everyday problems and possible solutions. Philosophy for a Stoic is an active process of constant practice and self-reminder.

In his Meditations, Marcus Aurelius defines several such practices. For example, in Book II, part 1:

Say to yourself in the early morning: I shall meet today ungrateful, violent, treacherous, envious, uncharitable men. All of these things have come upon them through ignorance of real good and ill... I can neither be harmed by any of them, for no man will involve me in wrong, nor can I be angry with my kinsman or hate him; for we have come into the world to work together...

Parallels between Stoic spiritual exercises and modern cognitive-behavioral therapy have been detailed at length in Robertson's The Philosophy of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy

Below are some quotations from major Stoic philosophers, selected to illustrate common Stoic beliefs:

Epictetus:

• "Freedom is secured not by the fulfilling of men's desires, but by the removal of desire." (iv.1.175)
• "Where is the good? In the will. Where is the evil? In the will. Where is neither of them? In those things that are independent of the will." (ii.16.1)
• "Man is disturbed not by things, but by the views he takes of them." (Ench. 5)
• "If, therefore, any be unhappy, let him remember that he is unhappy by reason of himself alone." (iii.24.2)
• "I am formed by nature for my own good: I am not formed for my own evil." (iii.24.83)
• "Permit nothing to cleave to you that is not your own; nothing to grow to you that may give you agony when it is torn away." (iv.1.112)

Marcus Aurelius:

• "Get rid of the judgment, get rid of the 'I am hurt,' you are rid of the hurt itself." (viii.40)
• "Everything is right for me that is right for you, O Universe. Nothing for me is too early or too late that comes in due time for you. Everything is fruit to me that your seasons bring, O Nature. From you are all things, in you are all things, to you all things return." (iv.23)
• "If you work at that which is before you, following right reason seriously, vigorously, calmly, without allowing anything else to distract you, but keeping your divine part pure, as if you were bound to give it back immediately; if you hold to this, expecting nothing, but satisfied to live now according to nature, speaking heroic truth in every word that you utter, you will live happy. And there is no man able to prevent this." (iii.12)
• "How ridiculous and how strange to be surprised at anything that happens in life!" (xii.13)
• "Outward things cannot touch the soul, not in the least degree; nor have they admission to the soul, nor can they turn or move the soul; but the soul turns and moves itself alone." (v 19)
• "Because your own strength is unequal to the task, do not assume that it is beyond the powers of man; but if anything is within the powers and province of man, believe that it is within your own compass also" (vi.19)
• "Or is it your reputation that's bothering you? But look at how soon we're all forgotten. The abyss of endless time that swallows it all. The emptiness of those applauding hands." (iv.3)

Seneca the Younger:

• "The point is, not how long you live, but how nobly you live." (Ep. 101.15)
• "That which Fortune has not given, she cannot take away." (Ep. 59.18)
• "Let Nature deal with matter, which is her own, as she pleases; let us be cheerful and brave in the face of everything, reflecting that it is nothing of our own that perishes." (De Provid. v.8)
• "Virtue is nothing else than right reason." (Ep. 66.32)

...What skills could he have offered?