William O. Stephens

And it's just all too easy to be merciless and violent and punitive against people and ruin their lives or punish them corporately or kill them and execute them.

And so for Marcus to avoid all of that,

As we read the memoranda, which I will still call it, you know, clearly there's a lot of humility there.

There's remarkable modesty.

There's self-knowledge.

He's aware of his own weaknesses and shortcomings, and he writes them down, right?

He's got a temper, and he knows that that's a big problem.

For anyone in a position of power to have a short temper, that's an inch away from disaster and a bloodbath, right?

And so he recognizes he's got to work hard at trying to be a good person because he's not going to be a good emperor unless he's a good person.

Yes.

Yes.

And that's why book one of the memoranda is so special.

Yeah.

Because it's it's a dedication to all of those people who modeled a wide range of virtues to him.

And he identifies him.

He's taking inventory on all the positive character traits, all the strengths, all the virtues, all the excellences.

that his tutors and teachers and friends and relatives and parents modeled for him.

And he's thanking them and the gods for putting him in this position to absorb all that like a sponge because he needs it.

And Rome needs him to be the best that he can be, right?

You mentioned the statue.