The Daily Stoic - What Limits You?

Episode Date: April 3, 2024

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What Limits You? There wasn't anyone who could tell Marcus Aurelius what to do, and yet he was still quite circumscribed. Again, not by Roman law, but by something much more voluntary. Marcus Aurelius subordinated himself to philosophy. He fought, as he said, to be the person that philosophy tried to make him. When he was betrayed by Avidius Cassius in 175 AD, he had immense power and latitude to deal with the problem. Blood could have run in the streets, his enemies could have been eliminated one by one, as previous emperors had done when threatened.

Instead, Marksorius not only tried to deal with the problem peacefully, but he instructed the Senate that he would not accept reprisals on his behalf either. As we talked about before, as a Roman male in a time of slavery and again as emperor, Marcus Rilius had incredible power over human beings in his household, too. Yet he writes with pride in Meditations, which was written to himself, about how he never laid a hand on anyone. It's not too much to say that Marcus Rilius was a slave himself, a slave to philosophy. He was supremely powerful, and yet he was also not free, because he had chosen to live according to the Stoics, and they had given him a clear

set of directions and rules about what he was allowed to do and not allowed to do. D.H. Lawrence once wrote sneeringly that Benjamin Franklin's view of virtue was that of a horse in a paddock, fenced in on all sides. But that's precisely what Marcus Aurelius loved about virtue. Instead of chafing at these constraints, he saw them for what they were, boundaries, protections. They were protections against himself, protections against being Caesarified and stained purple by his corrupting position that kept him good in a job and a world that had created so many bad people. And what about you?

You're not emperor, but you've still been blessed with incredible privileges, freedoms, and opportunities. Perhaps you have no small amount of power and authority, too. This is great. But what limits do you impose on yourself? What protects you from yourself? What keeps you in line? What keeps you in line, what keeps you good. early and ad free on Amazon Music, download the Amazon Music app today.

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