Sublime
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And finally Marcus Aurelius, once the most powerful man in the world. The philosopher emperor,
Brigid Delaney • Reasons Not to Worry
Horace on aging:
Horace frequently reflected on aging in his works, addressing its inevitability, challenges, and wisdom. He approached the topic with a blend of resignation, humor, and philosophical acceptance, often influenced by the teachings of Epicureanism and Stoicism. Here are some key insights Horace provides about aging:
1️⃣ Inevitability of
... See moreStoicism, by enlarging human association, emancipates the individual.
Numa Denis Fustel de Coulanges • The Ancient City: A Study of the Religion, Laws, and Institutions of Greece and Rome (Illustrated)
That was Catiline’s position after he had been beaten in the annual elections for the consulship in both 64 and 63 BCE. Although the usual story is that he had been leaning in that direction before, he now had little option but to resort to ‘revolution’ or ‘direct action’ or ‘terrorism’, whichever you choose to call it.
Mary Beard • SPQR
The hint of political danger is reinforced when we remember that Seneca is here alluding to an earlier Roman writer who used the same fable to discuss the dangers of a writer submitting to popular opinion—specifically, of submitting to the dangers of a close relationship with an imperial regime. A generation earlier, Horace, writing to his patron M
... See moreEmily Wilson • The Greatest Empire: A Life of Seneca
One poem, addressed to her on the death of her son Drusus in 9 BCE, even calls her Romana princeps. It was the female equivalent of a term regularly applied to Augustus, Romanus princeps, or ‘first citizen of Rome’, and meant something close to ‘first lady’.
Mary Beard • SPQR
Even now, the image of a wolf suckling the baby Romulus and his twin brother Remus signals the origins of Rome.
Mary Beard • SPQR
For many, slavery was in any case only a temporary status, which added to the conceptual confusion. The Roman habit of freeing so many slaves may have been driven by all kinds of coldly practical considerations: it was certainly cheaper, for example, to give slaves their freedom than to keep them in their unproductive old age. But this was one cruc
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