The Daily Stoic - Who was Marcus Aurelius? The Life Of The Stoic Emperor

Episode Date: January 3, 2021

Marcus’s "Meditations" is perhaps the only document of its kind ever made. It is the private thoughts of the world’s most powerful man giving advice to himself on how to make good on the responsibilities and obligations of his positions. On today’s podcast, Ryan talks about the man behind "Meditations," who he was, what his life was like, and how he applied Stoicism in it.This episode is brought to you by LinkedIn Jobs. LinkedIn Jobs is the best platform for finding the right candidate to join your business this fall. It’s the largest marketplace for job seekers in the world, and it has great search features so that you can find candidates with any hard or soft skills that you need. Visit http://linkedin.com/stoic to get fifty dollars off your first job post.***If you enjoyed this week’s podcast, we’d love for you to leave a review on Apple Podcasts. It helps with our visibility, and the more people listen to the podcast, the more we can invest into it and make it even better.Sign up for the Daily Stoic email: http://DailyStoic.com/signupFollow @DailyStoic:Twitter: https://twitter.com/dailystoicInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/dailystoic/Facebook: http://facebook.com/dailystoicYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/dailystoicSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey, prime members, you can listen to the Daily Stoic podcast early and add free on Amazon music. Download the app today. Welcome to the weekend edition of the Daily Stoic. Each weekday we bring you a meditation inspired by the ancient Stoic, something that can help you live up to those four Stoic virtues of courage, justice, wisdom, and temperance. And here on the weekend, we take a deeper dive into those same topics. We interview stoic philosophers, we reflect, we prepare, we think deeply about the challenging issues of our time. And we work through this philosophy in a way that's more possible here when we're not rushing to work or to get the kids to school. When we have the time to think, to go for a walk, to sit with our journals, and to prepare for what the future will bring.

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What does our obsession with these feud say about us? The first season is packed with some pretty messy pop culture drama, but none is drawn out in personal as Britney and Jamie Lynn Spears. When Britney's fans formed the free Britney movement dedicated to fraying her from the infamous conservatorship, Jamie Lynn's lack of public support, it angered some fans, a lot of them. It's a story of two young women who had their choices taken away from them by their controlling parents, but took their anger out on each other. And it's about a movement to save a superstar, which set its sights upon anyone who failed

to fight for Brittany. Follow Disenthal wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen ad-free on Amazon Music or The Wondery App. Hey, it's Ryan Holiday. Welcome to another weekend episode, The Daily Stoic. Look, I don't need to tell you guys who Marcus really is. So when we titled this online, we call it, in a sort of who is Marcus really is. But you know, it's a really a better way to think about today's episode is, why is Marcus

really a matter? What was the life of this man? That's what I tried to do in lines of the Stoics. That's what I try to do in my stories of the Stoics. That's what I try to do in my stories about Marcus and in all the Stoics. I try to put sort of flesh on the bones. I try to to look at their lives because again, as we've said so many times, it's not just what one says, but it's how one lives. And I think there's so much to learn from Marcus, to realize that one of the ancient historians was saying that, you know, Marcus was probably the wisest rulers to ever live, one of the most fundamentally decent rulers to ever live,

one of the least corruptible leaders to ever live, one of the most qualified rulers to ever live. And yet he did not meet with the luck or the good fortune that one would hope, right? Marcus's reign was beset by adversity. The Antenine plague wars at the border, a coup, difficult children in the case of Communists. But what we see in Marcus is an ability to persevere, an ability to even use this difficulty as a chance to grow. That's what the idea of the obstacle is the way it is. How impressive would it be if Marcus wrote this great idea of the impediment to action advances, action would stand in the way it becomes the way. But then his life wasn't an example of that. I think that would be

one one would dare say disqualifying, right? And so I think in today's episode, when I wanted to give you a glimpse of is who Marcus was, how he lived, what made him great, what we ought to remember by just a few, as Plutarch talks about. Sometimes it's a scene, it's a moment, it's a quote that gives us a greater glimpse into the whole of the person. And that's what today's episode is about. If you want more on Marcus, we have a whole chapter about him in the lives of the Stoics book.

And of course, I write about him in pretty much all my books and we talk about them a lot here. But this today is, why does Marcus matter? What can you teach us? The answer is a whole hell of a lot. How did it happen? How did this boy of pedestrian ancestry handpicked and groomed to become king? It remains a mystery. The boy's name was Marcus Aurelius and for all the incredible expectations and hope placed upon him, he managed to paraphrase his great admirer Matthew Arnold to prove himself worthy of it. Born April 26th, 121 AD, Marcus was raised by both his grandfathers who doated on him. By the time he was 10 or 11, he'd already taken to philosophy, dressing like one and following the sober and restrained habits,

even sleeping on the ground to toughen himself up. He had already developed a reputation for honesty, the Emperor Hadrian, who would have known young Marcus through his early academic accomplishments, sensed his potential and kept a keen eye on him. His nickname for Marcus, whom he liked to go hunting with, was Verismus, a play on his name Verist, the truest one. What could it have been that Hadrian noticed in this young boy? What could have given him the sense that he might be destined for great things. It's impossible to say for sure, but he must have seen something in his soul that Marcus likely could not even see himself, because by Marcus's 17th birthday Hadrian had begun planning something extraordinary. He was going to make Marcus Aurelius, the emperor of Rome. On February 25th, 138 AD, Hadrian adopted a 51-year-old man

named Aurelius Antoninus Pius on the condition that he in turn adopt Marcus. Tutors were selected. A course of successive offices laid out, and by the time Hadrian died a few months later, Destiny was set. Marcus Aurelius was to be groomed for a position that only 15 people had ever held in Rome.

He was to wear the purple. He was to be made Caesar. But unlike most princes, Marcus did not yearn for power. He was more like those great leaders, the best ones, who had reservations worries that they could not do a good enough job. But around the time he learned of Hadrian's adoption plans, Marcus would dream a dream that he had shoulders made of ivory. He took it as a sign. He could

do this. In 161 at age 40 he was made emperor. The same position held by Nero in Demission and Vespassian and Caligula and so many other monsters. Being chosen to be king, having enormous power thrust upon him at so early an age, somehow seems to have made Marcus Aurelius a better person. This utterly anomalous event in human history, how one man did not go the way of all other kings can only be explained by one thing, his stoic philosophy. It wasn't just the headwind of power that Mark has faced in his life.

He had recurring painful health problems. He lost seven or eight children. His reign from 161 to 180 was marked by some 19 years of wars at the border in the Antonin plague in which some 5 million people died. Yet like all great heroes, he rose to the occasion. He took reality on reality's terms and proved to really have those ivory shoulders.

So how did he do it? One biography cites his lack of ego and his shrewd and careful personnel selection. He searched for and hired the best, breaking the mold and filling his staff with talent, not aristocrats or cronies. He listened to advice. He empowered people to make decisions.

When the Antonine plague hit Rome and the streets were littered with bodies and danger hung in the air, Marcus's first move was hiring Galen, the now famous physician and polymath to lead medical lectures and anatomy demonstrations and to elevate the intellectual tone of his court. His second move was a masterstroke

of inspirational leadership. In response to the economic crisis growing from the ravages of the plague and the endless wars, Marcus took all the imperial ornaments to the forum and sold them for gold, one biographer tells us. Another clarifies that it wasn't just imperial possessions, but under the hammer went also his wife's silken and gold embroidered robes and her jewels. And as for us, Marcus said to the Senate, even the house in which we live is yours. The unfailing selfishness, the unshakable courage,

the unwavering resolve to put his own well-being behind that of his people at the core of this power as a leader and a king and a human being was actually a pretty simple exercise. Marcus must have heard about it in Seneca's writings and then in epicetises, the morning or the evening review, the journal. Every day and night keep these things at hand. Epicetis had said of Stoke philosophy. Write them, read them aloud, talk to yourself, and others about them. Indeed, Marcus' only work meditations translates from Greek into

to himself. Yet somehow in writing exclusively to and for himself these notes, these admonitions, these criticisms, these reflections, Marcus managed to produce a book that is not only survived through the centuries, but is still teaching and helping people today. In these pages, he was stealing himself against the blows that fate seemed to so regularly target him for. He was preparing himself for what the upcoming day might have in store. He was clearing his mind. He was reminding himself of what was important. He was keeping his ego in check. And there is no theme that appears more in his writings than death. And how to think like a Roman emperor, the author Donald Robertson talks about how the Romans, knowing little about the spread of germs or disease and their pronest to superstitions,

burned incense to keep them safe and to protect a family from falling ill. Marcus then woke up every day to a surreal smelling city, a mixture of the putrid smell of dead bodies and the sweet aroma of incense. It was a constant reminder as Donald writes that he was living under the shadow of death and that survival from one day to the next should never be taken for granted. Marcus' writings in meditations reflect this insight time and time again. Think of yourself as dead he writes, you have lived your life.

Now, take what's left and live it properly. You could leave life right now, he says on another page, let that determine what you do and say and think. People of means fled Rome during the plague, but Marcus braved the dangers, the deadliest pandemic of Rome's 900-year history. He was Churchill during the blitz, inspiring the people to keep calm and carry on. He didn't get rattled under pressure. He didn't panic. He kept himself strong for others. He insisted on what was right,

never what was politically expedient. He showed up for the people assuring them that he did not value his safety more than his responsibility. He was the perfect embodiment of what stoicism is supposed to mean. And yet, for all his dignity and poise, it cannot be said that Marcus was perfect. He wouldn't claim to be nor did he expect he could have been. The toughest part of his legacy,

the question that still baffles students and scholars alike, how did a man so committed to wisdom, injustice, and moderation encourage, allow his unstable son, Commodus, to succeed him? If you have seen the movie Gladiator, Joaquin Phoenix gives you a fairly accurate idea of the complicated and disappointing life of Commodus. Why Commodus was the way that he was,

we can't say for sure, but certainly the early and painful loss of so many brothers and sisters would explain it. Marcus's later years were defined by this loss, five sons and three daughters died before he did. His brother and co-emperor Lucius Varis died the same year as the son that was supposed to rule alongside Comedis. Shortly after Marcus's beloved wife of 35 years also died. When Marcus spoke of death, he didn't do so as an academic, but a person who'd felt it's hard and cold hand on his shoulders constantly.

And then finally, in 180 CE, it was Marcus who fell ill. It was a fate that was inevitable given his style of leadership. By his doctor's diagnosis, he knew he had only a few days to live. So he sent for his five most trusted friends to plan for his succession and to ensure a peaceful transition of power. For Reft with grief, these advisors were almost too pain to focus. Weep not for me began Marcus' famous last words, think rather of the pestilence and the deaths of so many others. And then on March 17th, 180 AD at age 58, Marcus turned to his guard and said,

go to the rising sun, I am already setting. And then he covered his head to go to sleep and never woke up. Rome and us, her descendants, would never see such greatness again. And they knew it. In his own lifetime, Marcus Aurelius was honored with the creation of a bronze statue depicting him a top of horse addressing his troops, perhaps following some great victory on the battlefield. It is the only bronze equestrian statue of a pre-Christian emperor to survive to the modern era

at the height of his powers as an artist, Michael Angelo designed a new base for it, where it stands today in front of the Capitalign Museum. Matthew Arnold tells us that his bust was to be seen in the houses of private men throughout the wide Roman Empire in the homes of Gaul, Britain, and Italy. In more recent years, archaeologists have uncovered larger than life statues of the emperor near present-bay Budapest, another in Jordan, and another at the site of Roman baths in present-day Turkey.

But the real monument can be purchased at any bookstore, as Bran Blanchard observed in 1984, few care now about the marches and counter marches of the Roman commanders. What the centuries have clung to is the notebook of thoughts by a man who put down in the midnight dimness not the events of the day nor the plans of the morrow, but something of far more permanent interest, the ideals and aspirations that a rare spirit lived by. That notebook is truly one of the greatest books ever written, the definitive text on self-discipline, personal ethics, humility, self-actualization, and strength. Theodore Roosevelt, one of history's most resilient leaders, carried it with him on

his deadly river of doubt expedition. Beatrice Webb, who helped found the London School of Economics and who first conceptualized the idea of collective bargaining, called it her manual of devotion. The former Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiayibo has read it hundreds of times. Great coaches like Nick Sabin have praised it. Grammy award-winning musicians like Lupe Fiasco have written lyrics about it. Hollywood stars like Brie Larson have tweeted about it. Once in a generation

authors like JK Rowling have it pinned on their website, General James Mattis carried it with him on every command. No one is really dead if they're still widely remembered as one biographer praised the 19th century writer Samuel Butler, and on this basis Marcus Aurelius is more alive than most living people. The great irony is that Marcus Aurelius didn't care about posthumous fame. He didn't want it. People out for posthumous fame forget that the generations to come will be the same annoying people they know now,

he said, and just as mortal, what does it matter to you if they say X about you or think Y? The more blunt way to put it is, what will any of it matter since you'll be dead. Instead, he said, give yourself the gift of the present moment. Enjoy today, pay attention only to your actions and behaviors right here and now. Waste no more time talking about what a good man is like Marcus said, be one. There is no better expression or embodiment of stoicism or his life than that. That's what his philosophy was, that it was about what you do.

It's who you are. It's the acts of virtue of wisdom, self-control, justice, courage, not the act of talking about virtue or reading about it or writing about it, just that you do the right thing, Marcus said, the rest doesn't matter. The stoics were not just thinkers and writers. Even 2,000 years ago, they talked about pen and ink philosophers. They meant that derisively. They wanted philosophers who were doers.

And that's the point of stoicism. It's to help make you better in the real world. And so the new book, Lives of the Stokes, is going to look at how did these actual human beings live the ideas in the philosophy they espoused? In all my other books, I've been talking about the ideas, the teachings of stoicism, but this is the first time the lives of the Stokes have been documented all in one place, literally ever in history. It's how did these men and women apply the ideas of Stoicism to the challenges of their lives and of their times?

From the Stokes, we can learn so much about resilience, about perseverance, about happiness, about virtue. So I'm so excited about the new book, Lies of the Stoics, The Art of Living from Xenodomarkis Relius. Please check it out, and thank you very much. Lies of the Stoics, The Art of Living from Xenodomarkis Relius, by Ryan Holiday

and Stephen Hanselman,, available anywhere books are sold. Hey, it's Ryan. Thanks so much for listening. If you could leave a review for the podcast, we'd really appreciate it. Did the reviews make a difference? And of course, every nice review from a nice person helps balance out.

The crazy people who get triggered and angry anytime we say something they disagree with. So if you could rate this podcast and leave a review on iTunes, that would mean so much to us and it would really help the show. We appreciate it. I'll see you next episode. Hey, Prime Members, you can listen to the Daily Stoic early and ad-free on Amazon Music. Download the Amazon Music app today, or you can listen early and ad-free on Amazon Music, download the Amazon Music app today, or you can listen early and ad-free with Wondery Plus in Apple podcasts. Ah, the Bahamas.

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