Sublime

1. accepts nothing false or uncertain; 2) directs its impulses only to acts for the common good; 3) limits its desires and aversions only to what’s in its own power; 4) embraces everything nature assigns it.” —MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 8.7

The first emperor

The message is clear. It was an axiom of the Augustan regime that the emperor paraded his generosity to the ordinary people of the city of Rome and that they in turn were to look to him as their patron, protector and benefactor.

Son maître préféré, dit l'HistoireAuguste 24, était Junius Rusticus pour lequel il avait beaucoup de respect et dont il était le disciple. Ce Rusticus était aussi efficace dans la guerre que dans la paix et il était un grand praticien du mode de vie stoïcien. Marc Aurèle le consultait sur toutes les affaires publiques ou privées. Il

Julius Caesar claimed to be descended from the gods, and when he died, the Roman Senate proclaimed him divine. Once he was declared to be a god, his nephew and heir, Augustus, claimed to be the son of a god. This trend continued until it came to a high point at the end of the first century with the emperor Domitian, who demanded to be called, “lord

“The best way to avenge yourself is to not be like that.” —MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 6.6

Marcus Aurelius presided over a period of relative political stability during the era now known as the golden age of Rome. He was respected as a just ruler and a skilled general who oversaw successful military campaigns against the Parthian Empire, the kingdom of Armenia, and assorted Germanic tribes. And thanks to his writings, he came to be rever