The Symbolism of the Danube: Marcus Aurelius's Reflections on Nature and Leadership

This podcast episode contains the audio recording from a conversation about Marcus Aurelius, which I had with Markus Wachter, the CEO of the Carnuntum Archeological Park, at the Museum Carnuntinum, in 2019. I was visiting Austria for around a week, doing research for my books on Marcus Aurelius. The audio was recorded live in the main hall of the reconstructed Roman villa in the archeological park, hence the acoustics.

Marcus stationed himself at the Roman legionary fortress of Carnuntum, for part of the Marcomannic Wars. He included the note “At Carnuntum” near the start of the Meditations, proving that he must have written at least part of the manuscript there.

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Thanks to Landessammlungen Niederösterreich, Archäologischer Park Carnuntum for permission to film, and to Adam Piercey for filming and editing.

You can also watch the video hosted on Substack.

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