Aulus Gellius's "Attic Nights" is a collection of excerpts and anecdotes from various ancient Greek and Roman authors. It offers a glimpse into the intellectual life of the Roman Empire during the 2nd century AD. The work covers a wide range of topics, including literature, philosophy, history, and linguistics. Gellius's style is characterized by its erudite nature and its focus on preserving and transmitting knowledge from earlier eras. The book remains a valuable source for understanding the intellectual currents of its time and for accessing fragments of otherwise lost works.
Meditations is a series of private writings composed by Marcus Aurelius, one of Rome's greatest emperors, as he struggled to understand himself and make sense of the universe. Written between 170 and 180 CE while on military campaigns, this work combines Stoic philosophy with personal observations on leadership, duty, mortality, and human nature. Through twelve books of intimate thoughts never intended for publication, Marcus Aurelius explores themes of self-improvement, resilience in the face of adversity, and living virtuously while accepting what cannot be changed.
Discover the hidden gems of Stoic philosophy in this exploration of Epictetus' fragments - those powerful passages preserved by other philosophers but lost from his main works.
Caleb and Michael unpack these concentrated nuggets of wisdom, from the surprising idea that we should value people by their capacity to help friends rather than harm enemies, to the famous "persist and resist" maxim that captures the essence of Stoic emotional management.
Learn why terrible people are already punished by their own character, how to judge humans by their true virtue rather than superficial success, and why no one is truly free without mastering themselves.
(00:00) MT: Fragments
(05:18) Fragment 7: Helping Friends vs. Harming Enemies
(10:43) Fragment 10: The Clean Jar - Approaching Philosophy Properly
(16:19) Fragment 10: The Famous "Persist and Resist" Maxim
(19:31) Fragment 13: Why Bad People Are Their Own Punishment
(25:39) Fragment 18: Judging Humans by Their True Excellence
(28:41) Fragment 17: The Banquet of Life
(31:29) Fragment 20: Becoming Resilient to Emotions
(37:04) Fragment 26: A Soul Carrying a Corpse
(39:39) Fragment 35: True Freedom Through Self-Mastery
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Stoa Conversations: Stoicism Applied 
