The movie Gladiator which won five Oscars in 2000 gives the uninitiated a brief view into the mind of an aging Marcus Aurelius…
Who was Marcus Aurelius?
Who was this Emperor who even being involved in tumultuous time of leading Rome, a superpower of its times, still found time to reflect and introspect deeply on the human condition?
Who was this Emperor who was almost a sole exception to Lord Acton’s famous remark that, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men…”,
His jottings about the human condition, which were truly notes to himself and not for the public consumption miraculously survived (now called Meditations) and have provided a philosophical grounding for so many over the past 2,000 years. It remains in print to this day and is as popular as ever.
Despite having absolute power over his empire, his modicum of restraint in his everyday dealings, and his writings give us a window into this remarkable mind aptly called as the Stoic Philosopher Emperor. His journal shows that the most powerful man on the planet had the same problems that a human deals with today and will face in the future..
I have not seen some expound so eloquently on who Marcus Aurelius was as has it has been in this series of video’s…
