How to Think Like a Roman Emperor: The Stoic Philosophy of Marcus Aurelius

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Do not act as if you will live 10,000 years. Death hangs over you. While you live, while it is in your power, be good This book breaks down into a fascinating combination of the life of Marcus Aurelius and in depth advice from a therapist about how to cooperate Stoicism into modern day life. You won’t learn how to suppress emotions, but how to accept them with grace and react to them with wisdom. I for some reason thought Stoicism was about shoving emotions down and ridiculing things like therapy. But it turns out that modern cognitive behavioral therapy is based on Stoic philosophy.

His son-in-law Pompeianus, his right-hand man and senior general during the Marcomannic Wars, is there as always. His lifelong friend Aufidius Victorinus, another one of his generals, is also present, as are Bruttius Praesens, the father-in-law of Commodus, and another of his sons-in-law, Gnaeus Claudius Severus, a close friend and fellow philosopher. They gather solemn-faced around his bed. Marcus stresses to them that they must take good care of Commodus, his only surviving son, who has ruled by his side as his junior co-emperor for the past three years. He has appointed the best teachers available for him, but their influence is waning. Commodus became emperor when he was only sixteen; Marcus had to wait until he was forty. Young rulers, such as the Emperor Nero, tend to be easily corrupted, and Marcus can see that his son is already falling in with bad company. He asks his friends, especially Pompeianus, to do him the honor of ensuring that Commodus’s moral education continues as if he were their own son. That means that mastering the art of Stoicism is no easy task; it requires putting theory into practice and patiently developing appropriate habits of mind that cannot come from simply reading a book, memorizing a few principles, and moving on. This is why, to truly master Stoicism, it helps to have a mentor, not in the sense of an all-knowing guru who will tell you exactly how to think and act, but in the sense of having someone with admirable character traits to emulate. Next chapter teaches us about the five virtues of speech. Also about how virtues are the most important things for Stoics. Something puzzled me, though. Hadot compared these philosophical practices to early Christian spiritual exercises. As a psychotherapist, I spotted immediately that most of the philosophical or spiritual exercises he identified could be compared to psychological exercises found in modern psychotherapy. It very soon became evident to me that Stoicism was, in fact, the school of ancient Western philosophy with the most explicitly therapeutic orientation and the largest armamentarium, or toolbox, of psychological techniques at its disposal. After scouring books on philosophy for over a decade, I realized that I’d been looking everywhere except in the right place. “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone” (118th Psalm). Most new Stoicism books tend to be quasi-historic at best and pseudohistoric at worst, presenting dubious interpretation of selective facts only to suit their personal understanding of Stoicism. Since Donald Robertson was a psychotherapist I was genuinely worried that this is going to be the case here and in the end was pleasantly surprised by the amount of research and respect for the historical approach. The book has a perspective, but is written in an intelligent and accurate manner.The Stoics defined fear as the expectation that something bad is going to happen. Inoculating ourselves against stress and anxiety through the Stoic premeditation of adversity is one of the most useful techniques for building general emotional resilience. I've noticed that over the past few years books about Stoicism have really been proliferating. As traditional religion seems to ebb, I think people are looking for guidance to morality and the good life, and a surprising number of them are finding it in an ancient philosophy that was highly popular in classical Rome. The Stoics give modern people a moral code that doesn't look too different from the one they grew up with, but it bases its ethics on reason rather than revelation and dogma. For Stoics, kindness first means educating others or wishing they would become wise, free from vice and passion. It's a desire to turn enemies into friends, fate permitting. The room falls silent as his gentle admonition sinks in. The sobbing quiets down. Nobody knows what to say. Marcus smiles and gestures weakly, giving them permission to leave. His parting words are, “If you now grant me leave to go then I will bid you farewell and pass on ahead of you.”3 As the news of his condition spreads through the camp, the soldiers grieve loudly—because they love him much more than they care for his son Commodus.

In my opinion, Robertson can present complex ideas in an easy to read manner. In addition, Robertson provided the research is accessible if you wanted to do further investigation on your own. Overall, I liked it. The final chapter of this book is written in a different style, resembling a guided meditation. It’s closely based on ideas presented in The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius, although I’ve paraphrased his words to turn them into a longer account that’s deliberately intended to evoke mental imagery and a more elaborate contemplative experience. I’ve also included a few sayings and ideas derived from other Stoic authors. I gave it the form of an internal monologue or fantasy because I felt that was a good way to present the Stoic contemplation of death and the “view from above.” The technique of exposing yourself to stressful situations repeatedly in small doses so that you build up a more general resistance to emotional disturbance is known in behavioral psychology as "stress inoculation" This book was life changing honestly. I had no idea what Stoicism truly was and how closely related to modern day therapeutic practices it is. Written by a therapist who has extensively studied philosophy, this book has not only given me new insight on dealing with anxiety but also on living your life with perspective and and in accordance with your own values. A final example would be the calm acceptance of the fact that usually all one can control is his or her best efforts; one cannot entirely control the actual outcome of most things in life. The author describes this attitude as the "stoic reserve clause," which is often phrased as a caveat such as "fate permitting" or "God willing."Specifically, he looks at how stoic philosophy provided Marcus Aurelius as a coping strategy for his role as the emperor. Marcus Aurelius is one of the few good Roman emperors, especially compared to Caligula or Nero. The author looks at the links between therapy and stoic wisdom. They also believed that we have many irrational desires and emotions, like fear, anger, craving, and certain forms of pleasure that are bad for us. Stoics did not believe that unhealthy emotions should be suppressed; rather, they should be replaced by healthy ones. However, these healthy emotions aren’t entirely under our control, and we’re not always guaranteed to experience them, so we shouldn’t confuse them with virtue, the goal of life. For Stoics, they’re like an added bonus. One snapshot: An emperor is facing assaults from barbarian tribes (as well as unrest among his own!) but he stops to consider the most virtuous course and he takes measured steps to dispel feelings of revenge or anger before considering his actions -- wow, that is humbling.

The second misconception is that Stoicism makes one apathetic to public life and civic responsibility. Marcus, being the emperor of Rome and all, should make it obvious how wrong this is. But there’s a deeper explanation for why this is incorrect. Robertson explains this best: This book is a wonderful introduction to one of history's greatest figures: Marcus Aurelius. His life and this book are a clear guide for those facing adversity, seeking tranquility and pursuing excellence." —Ryan Holiday, bestselling author of The Obstacle is the Way and The Daily Stoic Every chapter at first describes some part of Marcus's life and then the chapter continues with lessons from Stoicism. Every lesson teaches us something different and valuable for our lives. To begin with, the modern idea that we are all slaves to our passions, or that reason is slave to emotion, is patently false. If it were true, we would constantly indulge our appetites, sacrificing our health and never saving or planning for the future. We can all clearly make decisions that sacrifice immediate gratification for future benefits.

One Stoic technique particularly caught my attention. Although it’s well attested in the ancient sources, there’s very little mention of anything like the “view from above”—as Hadot called it—in modern psychotherapy or self-help literature. It involves picturing events as though seen from high overhead, as they might be seen by the gods atop Mount Olympus, perhaps. Broadening our perspective often induces a sense of emotional equanimity. As I practiced it myself, I noticed, as Hadot did, that it brings together a confluence of themes central to ancient philosophy in a single vision. I also found that it was easy to turn it into a guided meditation script. As I was now training psychotherapists myself and speaking at conferences, I was able to guide rooms full of experienced therapists and trainees, up to a hundred at a time, through my version of the exercise. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that they took to it instantly, and it became one of their favorite exercises. They would describe how they were able to remain exceptionally calm while contemplating their situation in life from a detached perspective. I began sharing my resources online via my personal blog. This book is unique in its ability to present a gripping narrative without the need of such simplifications. I should note, that anyone interested in the religious and metaphysical believes in Antiquity would need to look elsewhere. However this book does not obscure the subject and the reader is not led to believe that Marcus Aurelius was taught by some yogi masters with togas or that Classic mythology was not the lens through which the ancients view the world. Donald Robertson took an old topic and breathed new life into it creating a truly unique brew - kind of a modern-day antidote to confusion and anxiety. And I'm hooked on the topic of Stoic philosophy. The only problem with the Stoics is that when they are taken in their raw form, they can be unacceptably bitter to modern tastes. In How to Think Like a Roman Emperor, Donald Robertson sugars the pill a little, making it digestible. He uses the teachings of Marcus Aurelius and other stoic philosophers as a foundation, and then builds a structure of modern techniques for finding peace and self-improvement on top of it. I had never read a “modern Stoic” book before this and considered them superfluous cash-ins to an already vastly oversaturated “Stoic self-help” genre. The original three big Roman Stoics, who I had read extensively (Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus, and Seneca), were all I or anyone should read or need at all. I was wrong about this book though and it now sits side by side my copy or Marcus’s Meditations, Epictetus’ Discourses, and Seneca’s Letters on my shelf, aka a very nice place to be.