He's a complex character. I think that's one of the reasons he fascinates me. And there are always these tensions between his practical daily life as a er, as a ruleer is a very ive ruler, very hands on. He reprimands himself for wanting to just reflect and study and read all the time. You can only short retreats into the citadel of your mind, and then you've got to go back to being to being active. The big monument to him is ringed by the number of barbarians he slaughtered. Christians were seemed to be near his philosophy in a way, but they were still criminals when he took power.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the man who, according to Machiavelli, was the last of the Five Good Emperors. Marcus Aurelius, 121 to 180 AD, has long been known as a model of the philosopher king, a Stoic who, while on military campaigns, compiled ideas on how best to live his life, and how best to rule. These ideas became known as his Meditations, and they have been treasured by many as an insight into the mind of a Roman emperor, and an example of how to avoid the corruption of power in turbulent times.
The image above shows part of a bronze equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius.
With
Simon Goldhill
Professor of Greek Literature and Culture and Fellow of King’s College, Cambridge
Angie Hobbs
Professor of the Public Understanding of Philosophy at the University of Sheffield
And
Catharine Edwards
Professor of Classics and Ancient History at Birkbeck, University of London
Producer: Simon Tillotson