seneca said, at the end of every day, you should make an account of what you've and write it down. And that's a way of becoming a better person. I think we've beeng a bit unfair to him as as a stoic and in terms of his philosophical knowledge. The meditation shows really quite a deep engagement with the physical and logical basis of stoic ethics. Not an enormous amount, but it is there. He understands the arguments that, you know, fate gives us the push, but i it gives the cylinder thePush. So es, he's really thinking about the relationship between our idual moral responsibility and what's been predetermined.
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