What Our Fathers Teach Us, For Better Or Worse | Tom Junod
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What lessons did Marcus Aurelius learn from Antoninus Pius?
Welcome to the Daily Stoic Podcast, designed to help bring those four key Stoic virtues, courage, discipline, justice, and wisdom into the real world. How does a boy of aristocratic but decidedly non-royal bloodlines become not just the most powerful man in the world, not just the emperor of Rome, but become such a great man of history? How does this absolute power given to him at a relatively young age not make him awful? How does he manage not just to be corrupted by his privilege and his fame and his influence, but managed to prove himself worthy of the responsibility? It was his adopted father that made Marcus Aurelius the person that he became. And we know this because at the end of his life, Marcus Aurelius sits down and writes what he learned from Antoninus.
And it's an impressive, beautiful, inspiring list. And that's what's going to be the through line of today's video. As I said, Marcus Aurelius is not born to be the emperor, but he catches the notice of Hadrian, then the emperor of Rome. But Hadrian, knowing that he doesn't have much time left and thinking that Marcus Aurelius is too young, understands that he has to come up with a guardian to help and teach Marcus Aurelius what he needs to learn. So Hadrian adopts an older Roman senator named Antoninus Pius IV. on the condition that he in turn adopt Marcus Aurelius. And it is this influence that is the foremost guide to Marcus Aurelius' great life. The first thing that Marcus Aurelius says he learned from Antoninus was compassion.
And that's not a trait common with most Roman emperors, but it is in fact why Hadrian chose Antoninus in the first place.
How does compassion shape leadership in ancient Rome?
We're told that Hadrian is looking out over the Forum and he watches Antoninus help his elderly father-in-law up a flight of stairs. And Hadrian is struck by the compassion, the kindness, the gentleness. And it's part of what makes him think that Antoninus could be the person to do this unusual thing. And this would have been a particularly powerful image for the Romans because part of the founding Roman myth involves Aeneas fleeing Troy, carrying his father. I just take it to mean that Antoninus had a good heart. He wasn't mean, he wasn't cruel, he wasn't aggressive, he wasn't domineering. There was still goodness and kindness in him. And we actually know of Antoninus directing this towards Marcus Aurelius specifically, Marcus Aurelius' crime.
He's just been told that his favorite teacher has died. And one of the stoic philosophers says to Marcus, we don't do that. That's not how this works. Get a hold of yourself. And Antoninus, overhearing this, intervenes. He says, let the boy be human for once. He says, empire doesn't take away natural feeling.
What impact did Antoninus have on Marcus Aurelius's character?
And so here is a moment of grace. He probably understood that Marcus Aurelius was shamed and embarrassed. He probably understood this is a young man going through something difficult. And here we have Antoninus extending compassion and understanding and empathy. And what a powerful thing that was to give Marx to us in that specific example, but also to imbue in him as a future leader. Although Antoninus is not explicitly described as a philosopher, he is a lowercase p philosophical person. He sees the big picture. He's calm and measured. And Marcus Aurelius says that Antoninus honors those who were true philosophers, and yet he wasn't snooty and condescending or dismissive of those who pretended to be philosophers, nor was he easily misled or intimidated by them.
I think it's important that we see the study of philosophy as critical to the good life. And it's a pursuit that we have to undergo all of our lives. Musonius Rufus, the teacher of Epictetus, would say that every king needs to be a philosopher, but every philosopher needs to be a kingly person. Ultimately, Antoninus was a kingly person and a philosophical person. And it was that example that was incredibly powerful for Marcus Aurelius to see in action. That he was both reflective and... in the arena. We're told by Marcus Aurelius's biographer, Frank McLynn, that Antoninus has a liberal attitude towards education, that he thought people should have a broad basis in the humanities, not just masters of their disciplines, but also well-versed in politics, the problems of state.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What lessons did Marcus Aurelius learn from Antoninus Pius?
0:00–1:58
2
How does compassion shape leadership in ancient Rome?
1:58–3:06
3
What impact did Antoninus have on Marcus Aurelius's character?
3:06–5:52
4
How does Tom Junod describe his relationship with his father?
5:52–8:38
5
What complexities arise from loving a flawed father?
8:38–10:56
6
How does Tom's father's behavior influence his own life choices?
10:56–12:30
7
What insights does Tom provide about masculinity and moral injury?
12:30–14:50
8
How can we learn from the legacy of our fathers?
14:50–1:00:23
Speakers
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