Full Idea
Stoics [before Epictetus] have a notion of assent, and hence the appropriate notion of a willing, but we do not yet have a notion of a choice [prohairesis], let alone of a will.
Gist of Idea
Earlier Stoics speak of assent, but not of choice, let alone of a will
Source
report of Stoic school (fragments/reports [c.200 BCE]) by Michael Frede - A Free Will 3
Book Reference
Frede,Michael: 'A Free Will' [Univ of California 2011], p.43
A Reaction
The assent is just giving in to a desire, which is either rational or irrational. Choice implies a second-level thinking, of weighing the two desires. The will would then be a faculty which can do this (which seems to be the invention of Epictetus).
Related Idea
Idea 23324 In the Discourses choice [prohairesis] defines our character and behaviour [Epictetus, by Frede,M]