Stoicism means that only the educated are free. The founder of stoicism was Zeno of Citium. Epicureanism meant that the gods are not to be feared, death cannot be felt and the good can be won, all that we dread can be conquered. It was founded by Epicurus. There were practical similarities between stoicism and epicureanism. Both were popular in the Roman era, stoicism was followed by the rank and file of Roman citizenry, and epicureanism behind closed doors, especially at the highest levels of the empire.