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I read the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius the summer of 1955 when house sitting my fraternity in Pullman, Washington. I also read Brave New World and 1984 that month, and all of those books made a lasting impression on my world view and behavior. Marcus was the Emperor of Rome at the pinnacle of its success, although he probably thought of his time as beset with unsolvable problems, like invasions from barbarians, and unruly provinces. And yet, when looking at the long-term problems of the world generally it was a time of grandeur and peace.

Rome of that time is easily compared to America of the 20th century, when we felt we were besieged on all sides by problems, and yet the daily life of Americans was secure, with reasonable laws reasonably enforced. In both cases society was filled with plenty of food, and an ever-growing supply of interesting new technical goodies. For Americans it was trains, then cars, then airplanes, for entertainment it was stage, then movies, then TV and the internet. For the Romans it was Mediterranean travel on sailing ships, and on land it was an extensive system of paved roads for horses and wagons, and their entertainment had grown to huge displays in Colosseums and theaters in large cities, and baths. And lots more.

Amid that Roman abundance there lurked a menace that Marcus was aware of that would prove worse than the barbarians, but it seemed like a non-threatening assertion of religious values. The problem was a movement for a codified religion to bring about the stabilization of the Roman society. But, the effect was the rigidification of thought and when any person or people ceases to respond with adaptive energy to problems that arise it will soon wither and die. The Romans of Marcus’ time permitted any religion, as does America today; the only requirement was that you gave lip service to the state gods of the Emperor, but there was no proof one believed in another person’s gods. The citizen didn’t actually have to do much other than obey published laws, pay taxes, and not insult other people’s religion.

Marcus was a practicing Stoic, as were many of the others of the ruling class of the time, and a central tenet of the Stoics was to respect those things over which you have no influence, and give your attention to those things you can influence. It was a set of beliefs aimed at living a reasonable and comfortable life here on this earth, and avoiding excess and foolishness. Untestable beliefs, such as life in heaven after death if you lived a life defined by a hierarchy of priests, was avoided. Christianity was a cult of those people who refused to acknowledge that the head of state should be granted a special place and be called a god. There was only one god, and to call some human, other than their chosen one, a god was unacceptable, and they proclaimed themselves enemies of the state, at least on that fundamental issue. The Roman government was giving a stable society and the possibility of living a contented life controlled by their own will, but the church was offering the people much more, the promise of an eternal life of bliss living in heaven where they needn’t waste time thinking about their own behavior. All they needed to do was obey the priests and participate in routine rituals.

Marcus Aurelius was a fine proponent of Stoicism, and an example of living a well-balanced life, even though he was chosen to be Emperor, and was the most powerful man in the world. During his time people were living good lives, and science and society and law were improving, but a few emperors later when Constantine came to the throne and declared Christianity to be the state religion the minds of the people shifted from living a reasonable life in this world to one of living a fantasy life in a fantasy world after their physical death. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but it brought on a thousand years of intellectual darkness and social regression.

The world might be slipping back into a desperate mentality where life in the physical world isn’t enough and people will demand more, and because there isn’t more to reality than reality itself, they will turn to fantasy, and fantasy is unlimited. Fantasy can be anything that appeals to the person, and a person filled with fear is easily manipulated into anything that makes them feel better.

If Marcus Aurelius can not bring rational Stoicism to the world, who can?