11 Stoic Lessons Ryan Learned in Rome

The Daily Stoic

Ryan Holiday takes a walking tour through ancient Rome to illustrate eleven practical lessons from Stoic philosophy. By visiting historical

Key takeaways

• Hadrian's Mausoleum serves as a reminder that even the most powerful figures are subject to time and decay.
• The history of Trajan's Column illustrates how glory is fleeting and historical narratives can be rewritten.
• The story of Catiline's failed coup highlights the Stoic duty to stand against corruption rather than being complicit.
• Epictetus demonstrates that true freedom is found in controlling one's internal reactions rather than external circumstances.
• The Baths of Diocletian provide a metaphor for finding inner stillness and focus amidst a noisy, chaotic world.

Main topics

• Stoic virtues
• Ancient Roman history
• Humility and ego

Notable quotes

Ego is the enemy.

Conclusion

The episode teaches that true power comes from self-mastery and the ab

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:00) Welcome to the Daily Stoic Podcast, designed to help bring those four key Stoic virtues, courage, discipline, justice, and wisdom into the real world. Speaker 1 (0:14) 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 Mark Zeroulis was. I had no idea about stoic philosophy and this sent me down a rabbit hole. Mark Zeroulis led me to Seneca. Seneca led me to Epictetus and indeed all the other Stoics. But look, Stoicism isn't a theoretical philosophy, 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 going to 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 Stoic philosophy is. It's something real. It's something tangible. It's something you do. Speaker 1 (1:15) 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 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 to be the antithesis of Stoic philosophy. 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 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 Rios 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. 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. 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. Speaker 1 (3:03) Behind me is one of the great trophies of the ancient world. It's over 130 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 Marcomannic Wars which were waged against Germanic tribes hundreds and hundreds of miles from Rome. When Marcus Aurelius 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, it's also a reminder of a Latin saying and a key Stoic concept, this idea of sic 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 St. 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 St. Paul up there instead, who as you'll see actually does have a connection to Stoic philosophy. But then he puts a new base on there. And what does he put on the base? He celebrates himself, that he's the restorer of this column. And then you know what else he does? He wrongly attributes the victory, which the relief is all about, to Antoninus, Marcus Aurelius' stepfather and predecessor. So in another way, it's a monument to how quickly our accomplishments are forgotten, how quickly we ourselves are forgotten, how things are obscured and rewritten and redefined. And we have no control over this whatsoever. Mark Schwartz talks about this repeatedly in meditations about how history swallows us all up, how it forgets us, how names that were once in common use are quickly forgotten. Right down behind me are the ruins of Mamertine Prison, which isn't a super well-known historical site, but it should be a much better. known one. In 65 BC, when Caesar wins the election of Consul, there's a loser in that election. There's this sort of faux populist named Catiline. He's from an old money family. He can't wrap his head around losing to someone like Cicero. And so he attempts a coup, he alleges, electoral fraud and all this stuff. Maybe this is sounding a little bit familiar to you. But basically, he tries to overthrow an election. And this coup attempt almost succeeds. But he's stopped the last second by Cicero. And ultimately he's thrown in this prison and Cicero and Cato, two Stoics, put him on trial and eventually he's executed. It is a narrow run thing. The Roman Republic is almost overthrown here and it is saved by these two Stoics. I tell this story because it is an important lesson. The Stoics were not just in the mix. They were willing to sacrifice and save and fight for their country. They did not want to be complicit. I think