Marcus

Aurelius lived Stoicism

Breanna McOmber

on

Marcus Aurelius

Intro to Philosophy

Professor: Dr. Alexander Isrealisky

E-Portfolio Link:

https://breannamcomber.weebly.com/

MARCUS AURELIUS AND STOICISM

Throughout my life I have been drawn to a very specific quality in people. This quality is

called integrity. I dont know if my fixation is caused by the scarcity of exceptional role models

in the sense that they are hard to come by nowadays, however, I am passionate nonetheless. I

appreciate integrity in all the forms of which it is defined, such as the quality of being honest

and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness and the state of being whole and

undivided. Integrity interlaces with honor, fairness, truthfulness, trustworthiness, virtue,

scrupulousness and righteousness. But who could every live up to such an expectation? Well, I

found him. Marcus Aurelius was a man, king and philosopher who deeply exhibited all of these

qualities. Hence, why I consider him to be a great role model and even more so as a

philosopher. Marcus had the most integrity I have ever recognized in a person and lived his

philosophy more then he spoke it. The Historia Augusta would certainly attest to this

considering that its opening sentence reads,

Marcus Aurelius throughout his whole life, was a man devoted to philosophy and

was a man who surpassed all emperors in the integrity of his life.

So obviously, he wasnt an average man who lived before the fall of the Roman Empire.

He was instead the King of Rome who held it above water before the fall. With that, he was a

very virtuous Emperor who seized such a commitment to his duties above all else and highly

exposed his use of Stoic Philosophy through his actions. He certainly exhibited actions above his

words and the actions chosen were influenced by his philosophy. As a stoic, you have an

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unconditional sense of duty and because of this immense sense of duty he had the wellbeing of

his people on the forefront of his mind at all times. All in all, the stoic philosopher that he was

seems to interlace with the integrity he had.

Pertaining to his personal philosophy, all decisions and acts were made as if it were his

last and with the goal to make the lives of his citizens as prosperous and stable as possible. So

his kingdom flourish. The Silver Age of Rome was effectively maintained because of the high

morality he practiced. Note there were many, many internal and external struggles that Marcus

had to overcome such as the deaths of his children and Roman wars but he accomplished a

beautiful way of life and reign even still through the use of Stoic and his personal Philosophy.

He was commonly referred to as the last of the Good Emperors after the fall of the Roman

Empire, which was unfortunately caused by Marcuss son, Commodus who lavished much of

the kingdoms assets on his own pleasures thus he led the empire into insolvency.

Lets not give philosophy the all the credit to the kind of man Marcus was because it

takes a great person to love and understand philosophy. Originally, Marcus was born to an

aristocratic family but sadly his parents passed. This lead to his grandfather adopting him and

soon after he was taken in by his uncle, Aurelius Antoninus Pius, who then made our young

Marcus heir to the throne. During his early years of life Marcus was seen as a boy not dancing

with life but dueling it as a means of bettering himself. He was noted to keep his chin up

through the process and simultaneously motivated himself and others to become better than

they were before. As this ambitious boy grew up he was heavily influenced by the Stoics.

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 He studied philosophy intensely, even when he was still a boy. When he was twelve

years old he embraced the dress of a philosopher, and later, the endurance studying in a

Greek cloak and sleeping on the ground. However, (with some difficulty) his mother

persuaded him to sleep on a couch spread with skins. (Historia Augusta. 2. 6.)

So that was how young Aurelius became well versed in Stoic Philosophy and caused the

lead into the foundation of his own epistemology. So, what is Stoicism? The common definition

defines it as the philosophy in which one trains for endurance of pain or hardship without a

display of feelings and without complaint. Explained further it is the deeper conscious

understanding that you dont have control over any item in your life, but instead you have an

influence over them and more importantly yourself. Stoicism practices focus on the conscious

identification of what you cant control vs. what you can. Therefore, keeping a cool head will

ensure you dont miss opportunities you have more influence over. This will also help you to

avoid falling down unfavorable emotional paths. A common example given to explain this is

described through academics. You dont necessarily have control over your grade in a class

because no matter how many notes you take or how well you retain the material, you still

cannot control the ultimate outcome. Say, for whatever reason, your professor is holding a

grudge against you so this leads to your work being graded more harshly. On the other hand,

your professor could absolutely love you thus leading to extra credit points or leniency. Either

way you dont have control over this buffer zone. Stoics recognize there is a balance between

influence and control but ultimately Stoics heavily respect the buffer zone.

The buffer zone is what we know today as fate but this was more commonly recognized

by Stoic Philosophers as Logos to which they highly respected. Zeno, the first of the stoics,
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implemented Logos heavily with the philosophy and believed Logos ruled over the world.

Logos is considered the spiritual blueprint of nature and society that comes together to

envelope a Devine Plan or essence of direction to human life. Some see this as the will of God

but it was more of a faceless God to Stoics. This humble understanding is the heart of Stoicism

and it is understood that an individuals task is to identify the will of Logos and then quickly

begin to harmonize with it.

The wise person is the serene individual who lives courageously and responsibly, who

knowingly accepts everything that happens, be it good or bad, without becoming bitter or

broken and without resorting to distortion or denial. (Archetypes of Wisdom, Pg. 203)

It was also noted that there was no such thing as bad luck, just a test of Logos and Logos

always tested the strong. Marcus was definitely amongst the strongest by this definition as per

his hardships.

In 161 CE when Marcus became king. As a Stoic, he had an unwavering sense of duty

especially to those considered to be beneath him. It was said that when Germanic tribes began

to raid the boarders of the northern frontier, King Aurelius, rather than increasing taxes on his

people to bring funds he sold off all his imperial possessions to pay for this hardship. He

recognized this as not only a necessary action but one called onto him by his duty since he was

in a position of wealth and power, he didnt even view himself as a king, but a wealthier citizen

who had the means to help his people. The virtue within Stoicism shines brightly through this

example of his unconditional sense of duty As Ive said, he was to fulfill his duty unconditionally,

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even if others didnt fulfill their duty to him. You could see he was a man of service and would

always do all necessary to see his purpose was fulfilled as a father, commander and King.

He was even recognized as a Philosopher King as described by the Philosopher King

himself, Plato. Plato insisted on the idea that the only way justice can exist is if a philosopher

becomes a king, or a king becomes a philosopher. Marcus countlessly attributes this belief to be

true. When it came to the judicial system, Marcus heavily relied on the discipline of his

philosophical teachings. Within the Historia Augusta it writes that,

It was normal for [Marcus] to penalize all crimes with lighter sentences than were

generally imposed by the laws, but at times, toward those who were obviously guilty of

serious offences he remained unbending He meticulously observed justice, furthermore,

even in this contact with captured foes. He settled countless foreigners on Roman land.

The Emperor lived his entire life as a true philosopher, he spoke like a philosopher and

he rule like a philosopher. He was always at peace because of the Stoicism beliefs of respecting

your fate, but he loved his fate. Or as it is said he had immense Amor Fati - love for ones faith.

Marcus held a very serious connection with philosophy. He would be up while everyone

slept nights before a battle writing and reading about philosophy. In this, he established his

most profound understandings of human behavior which consists of twelve books that have

been dubbed The Meditations. He wrote this beliefs with no intention of ever having someone

read them. It is almost like a personal journal or notes. A piece that stood out to me in

particular was an affirmation he told himself every day. It is something I believe he really

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understood and that we as people of the today world need to recognize as well. It is that we

are all of the same fabric thus capable of the same and destructive all the same. It read,

When you wake up in the morning, tell yourself: the people I deal with today will be

meddling, ungrateful, arrogant, dishonest, jealous and surly. They are like this because they

cant tell good from evil. But I have seen the beauty of good, and the ugliness of evil, and

have recognized that the wrongdoer has a nature related to my own not of the same blood

and birth, but the same mind, and possessing a share of the devine. And so none of them can

hurt me. No one can implicate me in ugliness. Nor can I feel angry at my relative, or hate him.

We were born to work together like feet, hands and eyes, like the two rows of teeth, upper

and lower. To obstruct each other is unnatural. To feel anger at someone, to turn your back

on him: these are unnatural. (The Meditations, Book 2).

Amongst the many, many praises I could give and have given to Aurelius, I believe the

most proficient quality about him was his consistent integrity in leading by example. He

embodied his philosophy more than any philosopher Ive ever had the pleasure of studying.

This purity behind him generates my deep respect for him and in turn reflects what is possible

of a true stoic philosopher or any philosopher when he leads by example. So in the end there

might have been much less talk about philosophy, and only talk through a private journal but a

lot goes to exhibit how living philosophy can make for not only a better person but for a better

kingdom and to maybe one day an even a better world.

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 Lastly, I will leave with a pharse not quoted by Marcus Aurelius but I believe embodies

him nonetheless.

Work Cited:
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 https://www.ancient.eu/article/174/marcus-aurelius-platos-philosopher-king/

https://www.ancient.eu/Marcus_Aurelius/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k48toy-ILQk

http://www.brighthubeducation.com/history-homework-help/69994-what-caused-the-decline-

of-the-roman-empire/

Books: Historia Augusta, Archetypes of Wisdom, Historia Augusta and The Meditations