11 Stoic Lessons Ryan Learned in Rome
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How did Ryan first discover Stoicism and what sparked his journey in Rome?
Welcome to the Daily Stoic Podcast, designed to help bring those four key stoic virtues, courage, discipline, justice, and wisdom into the real world. I'm here in the Caput Mundi, the center of the world, ancient Rome. Rome is the city that changed the course of history, that changed the course of civilization, and it also changed the course of my life. Because about 20 years ago, I read this book, Marcus Aurelius' Meditations. The private thoughts of the most powerful man in the world. I had no idea who Marcus Aurelius was. I had no idea about Stoic philosophy, and this sent me down. A rabbit hole. Marcus Aurelius led me to Seneca. Seneca led me to Epitetus and indeed to all the other stoics. But look, Stoicism isn't a theoretical philosophy, it isn't an abstract philosophy.
It's a philosophy for life. It was used by real people in the real world in this city. So that's what we're gonna do in today's episode. I want to take you to the places where those people were challenged, where these ideas were tested, where they had to be put into practice, because ultimately that's what stuff. Stoic philosophy is something real, it's something tangible, it's something you do. Behind me is an enormous mausoleum built by and for one of the most powerful men. in history, a man of enormous ego and enormous vanity. Hadrian, when he had this built in 139 AD, he said to his architect, Make it bigger and more impressive than Augustus's. And indeed it it rivals not just Augustus, but it rivals some of the Egyptian pharaohs.
And it held not just Hadrian's remains, but that of his successors too, Antoninus and Marcus Aurelius himself. But Marcus Aurelius would have found this Be the antithesis of Stoic philosophy. He he actually addresses it in meditations. He says, consider that before long you'll be nobody, just like Hadrian, just like Augustus. He said, So live and act with humility. Now you might think the fact that this is still here 2,000 years later, that that it's it's a museum, that it has endured through all these centuries, that it might disprove Marcus's point. But actually It doesn't because you know what happened in 400 AD, Rome was sacked by the Goths and they broke into the temple and they scattered the ashes everywhere.
We have no idea where they are, they were lost to the ages. Which is also something Marcus Reelus talks about in meditations. He says, Alexander the Great and his mule driver, they both died, and the same thing happened to both. And indeed, the same thing happened to Augustus, or we have no idea where his body. is. The same thing happened to Hadrian, the same thing happened to Antoninus, the same thing happened to Marcus Aurelius. And the very same thing will happen to you. He's saying, you know, ego is the enemy. Live with humility.
What does the massive mausoleum of Hadrian teach us about humility and ego?
Remember you are not immortal. You are not a god. You are not special. You cannot defy the laws ultimately of gravity or of time or of decomposition. Behind me is is one of the great trophies of the ancient world. It's over a hundred and thirty feet tall, stretching way up into the sky. It's made out of enormous marble blocks, and the carvings spiral up almost two dozen times. It's nearly 400 feet of ornate, intricate carvings depicting all of Marcus Aurelius' campaigns and victories in the Marcomanic Wars, which were waged. Against Germanic tribes, hundreds and hundreds of miles from Rome. When Marcus really said life is warfare and a journey far from home, this is what he was talking about. He earned this in sweat and blood, and so did the Roman armies.
And yet, this statue, which is put up to commemorate his victory, is also a reminder of a Latin saying and a key Stoic concept, this idea of sick transit gloria. Right? All glory is Fleeting. None of it lasts. But this does last. The statue has been here for almost 2,000 years. But there's a twist. You see, that's not Marcus Aurelius on the top of that statue. That's actually Saint Paul. Because in the 1500s, a Pope, the statue is beginning to crumble, set out to restore it. He knocks Marcus Aurelius off the top and he puts Saint Paul up there instead, who, as you'll see, actually does have a connection to Stoic philosophy.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
How did Ryan first discover Stoicism and what sparked his journey in Rome?
0:00–2:47
2
What does the massive mausoleum of Hadrian teach us about humility and ego?
2:47–5:49
3
Why is the equestrian statue above the mausoleum really Saint Paul and what does that mistake reveal about fame?
5:49–7:52
4
How does the ruined Mamertine Prison illustrate the Stoic lesson of standing up against corruption?
7:52–11:08
5
What Stoic principle is embodied by the Colosseum’s gladiatorial games and Marcus Aurelius’ view of them?
11:08–13:19
6
How does the Circus Maximus chariot race serve as a metaphor for the virtues of courage, discipline, justice and wisdom?
13:19–16:45
7
Why did Seneca practice daily cold‑water plunges and what does that say about embracing discomfort?
16:45–19:55
8
What can the Imperial Palace on Palatine Hill teach us about living simply amid luxury?
19:55–22:47
Speakers
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