December 1, 2024 • 64 mins
Teetering on the edge of a nervous breakdown, Jon found this book, or part of it anyways. Now we are all going to be exposed to Meditations by Marcus Aurelius.
Featured Sources:
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Meditations-by-Marcus-Aurelius
https://www.coursehero.com/lit/Meditations/book-1-summary/
Visit Website: www.abracast.com
The Red Vault / Subscribestar: www.subscribestar.com/abracast
The voice of The Abracast – Hila Assor https://hilaassor.com/
Theme Song “Red Horse Rising” by X-Proph3t: http://www.reverbnation.com/xproph3t
Written / Produced / researched / Performed – Jon Towers
Featured Sources:
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Meditations-by-Marcus-Aurelius
https://www.coursehero.com/lit/Meditations/book-1-summary/
Visit Website: www.abracast.com
The Red Vault / Subscribestar: www.subscribestar.com/abracast
The voice of The Abracast – Hila Assor https://hilaassor.com/
Theme Song “Red Horse Rising” by X-Proph3t: http://www.reverbnation.com/xproph3t
Written / Produced / researched / Performed – Jon Towers
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
In the dark shadows, in the white cold. Fearlessly we
search for knowledge new and old. We drink the strong
spirits and read the ancient tongs. The order of the Abercast.
We are the brave and the bold. The Abercast a cold, history,
(00:38):
conspiracy and violence.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Hey, everybody, welcome to the Evercast. I'm your host, John Towers.
And as promised, this evening, we're going to be getting
into meditations by Marcus Aurelius. And I'm like, okay, why
and also who is Marcus Aurelius? And so the Meditations
(01:41):
by Marcus Aurelius is uh. He was the Roman emperor.
He lived from one twenty one to one and he
was the emperor from one sixty one to one eighty.
And meditations consists of Stoicism inspired philosophical reflections, probably written
(02:04):
during the early one seventies while Marcus was leading a
series of military campaigns against Germanic tribes along the Danube
Ribber in Central Europe. To what extent Marcus intended meditations
for eyes other than his own is uncertain. They are
fragmentary notes, discursive in epigrammatic, and by turn, I don't
(02:31):
even know what that means of his reflections in the
midst of military campaigning and administration. In a way, it
seems he wrote them to nerve himself for his daunting responsibilities,
strikingly through the compromise and the innermost thoughts of a Roman.
The Meditations were written in ancient Greek to such an
(02:52):
extent that the union of cultures became a reality, and
many ages these thoughts have been admired, and modern age, however,
is more likely to be struck by the pathology of them.
Their mixture of briggishness and hysteria. Marcus was forever proposing
(03:13):
to himself unattainable goals of conduct, forever contemplating the triviality, brutishness,
and transience of the physical world, of humanity in general,
and himself in particular, otherworldly, yet believing in no other world.
He was therefore tied to duty and service, with no
(03:35):
hope even of everlasting fame to sustain him. Sickly all
through his life, and probably plagued with the chronic ulcer,
he took a daily dose of a drug. The suggestion
has been made that the apocalyptic imagery in the Meditations
betrays the addict. More certain and more important is the
(03:57):
point that Marcus's anxiety reflects, in an exaggerated manner, the
ethos of his age. So this is from the Encyclopedia Britannica,
you know, because who could even use Wikipedia anymore? Sorry
(04:19):
about that. So so the next question is, Towers, why
why are we gonna have to listen to you ramble
your way through meditations? And the the answer is, you know,
(04:43):
it was pretty forthcoming with you guys last week. I
said a bunch of shit that I never ever thought
I would talk about on this show. And I've you know,
the last year. I mean, I've never been a good sleeper,
but the last last year has really been difficult for
(05:04):
me to sleep. I think I even talked about sleeping
and parking lots and stuff last week. So not like
a homeless person, I'm in a car, you know what
I mean. But one of the things that I've been
doing is I downloaded this sleep app and it's got
like pre recorded like meditations and like sleep sounds, and
(05:28):
they read you stories until you fall asleep. And one
of the you know, I have a soft spot for stoicism.
Anyone who has listened to the show for any number
of years or whatever, well, know, you know, we went
through you know, Epictetis and Introduction to Western Philosophy and
(05:49):
all of this stuff. And one of the stories that
I listened to on this app when I'm trying to
go to sleep is Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. However, I
won't pay for to unlock the whole book, so I
only get to hear like the first chapter, and I'm
(06:11):
usually out by then. But it starts off really good,
so I was like, I gotta go pick up this
book and I gotta share it. So that's why we're
all here tonight, probably for the next couple of weeks,
getting through Marcus Aurelius's Meditation. And in the meantime, I
do have my weapon of mass distraction, my gingy hide
(06:33):
here by my side. And it's interesting. I got a
new I don't know why I think it's interesting. I
got a new ice management. So ice management is a
pretty big deal, as you can imagine, in my in
my house. So I got a new ice training kind
(06:53):
of thing. So I'm just wondering if it's gonna sound different,
like if the new ice is gonna sound different than
the old days. I think it does. I think to
a discerning ear. I think it does sound different, So God,
(07:14):
let me go back to the old light. No, I'm
just kidding. So what else is going on before we
get started? P Diddy? He's been in the news again
or gross. I never met P Diddy, but I did
give him bad directions one time went purpose and it
wasn't for Diddy parties or any kind of weird sex stuff.
(07:34):
Is because he sampled a riff from Jimmy Page for
a shitty song for that Matthew Broderick Godzilla movie. And
when I had my opportunity to steer him wrong, boy,
I fucking did this. I might have told the story before,
(07:56):
I don't remember. I'm not gonna redo it, Okay, So okay,
here we go.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
Oh.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Next thing is I can't bitch too much about Sprinker
is my podcast host. I have a deal with them
where basically I do not pay for them to host
the Abercast. I have like a high tier pro plan
or something, but I don't pay. It's a whole, big,
(08:20):
long story, but they have been going bananas with insisting
on mid roll ad breaks. At first, you know, a
couple of years ago, I was able just to get
it done by putting like I think one at the beginning,
when in the middle of one at the end. But like,
I don't know what their fine print says nowadays, but
they're like, you need more AD breaks, you need more
(08:41):
AD breaks, So I try to design spots to fit
them in. It seems like they want more and more
every fucking week. I don't know. Like I said, I'm
not complaining. I'm just trying to explain it. Like I
I would do the show with no ads if I could.
It's not like anyone's getting rich off the fucking ad
(09:03):
share from spreaker, you know what I mean. So please
as you're going forward and you're like, god, how many
times have I got to hear about this fucking underwear
or what I don't want? I don't even know what
they plug in. So just as a kind of explanation
for the show, the host that I used to have
(09:25):
like way back in the day, like before moving day, Uh,
they didn't they didn't give a shit about ad breaks,
they didn't want to plug them in, they didn't have
like a policy regarding them. So this is all something
that's you know, been since moving day. So I just
want to explain, Dear, dear listener, It's not my fault.
(09:47):
And if I don't design a spot to put them in,
they'll just put them in wherever. So there, there it is.
Everyone had a good Thanksgiving. Hope everyone had a nice, safe, Thanksgiving.
I was so proud of my family because not a
(10:07):
single person there it was packed this year. Not a
single fucking person mentioned politics. No one had to get mad.
It was amazing, it was great, It was terrific, tremendous.
Ask anybody you know some families not so bad, are
not so good? All right? I feel like I started
(10:31):
off good, and so we'll get into meditations after this. Hey,
(11:42):
I also I want to say thank you to you
got to those of you who reached out after last
week's episode. I got some messages saying, you know, hey,
I can't believe how similar our stories are, and you know,
just nice, you know, nice overall reaching out. I appreciate that.
(12:03):
Thank you. So here we go. Meditations Marcus Arelius A
book one from my grandfather Verus. I learned good morals
and the government of my temper from the reputation and
remembrance of my father, Modesty and a manly character from
(12:27):
my mother, Piety and beneficence and abstinence not only from
evil deeds, but even from evil thoughts, and further simplicity
in my way of living far removed from the habits
of the rich. For my grandfather not to have frequented
public schools and have had good teachers at home, and
(12:50):
to know that on such things a man should spend liberally.
For my governor to be neither of the green nor
the Blue party at the games in the circus, nor
the partisan, either of the paramilarius and the sanctarious at
(13:12):
the gladiator's fights. From him, too, I learned endurance of labor,
and to want little, and to work with my own hands,
and not to meddle in other people's affairs, and not
to be ready to listen to slander from diageneitis, not
(13:35):
to busy myself about trifling things, and not to give
credit to what is said by miracle workers and jugglers
about incantations and the driving away of demons and such things,
and not to breed quails for fighting, nor to give
myself up passionately to such things, and to endure freedom
(13:58):
of speech. Not to have become intimate with the philosophy,
and to have been a hearer first of Bacchius, then
of Tandasis and Marcianus, and to have written dialogues in
my youth, and to have desired a plank bed and skin,
(14:19):
and whatever else of the kind that belongs to the
Grecian discipline. From Rusticus I received the impression that my
character required improvement and discipline. And from him I learned
not to be led astray to suffolk emulation, nor to
writing on speculative manners, nor to delivering the horritory orations,
(14:46):
nor to showing myself off as a man who practices
such discipline or does benevolent acts in order to make
a display, and to abstain from rhetoric and poetry and
fine writing, and not to walk about in the house
in my outdoor dress, nor to do other things of
(15:07):
the kind, and to write many letters with simplicity, like
the letter which Rusticus wrote to Sinusia, to my mother,
and with respect to those who have offended me by
words or done me wrong, to be easily disposed to
be pacified and reconciled, so as they have shown a
(15:34):
readiness to be reconciled, and to read carefully, and not
to be satisfied with superficial understandings of a book, nor
hastily give my assent to those who talk over much.
And I am indebted to him for being acquainted with
the discourses of Epictetis, from which he communicated to me
(15:58):
out of his own collection. From Apollonius I learned freedom
of will and undeviating steadiness of purpose, and to look
to nothing else, not even for a moment, except to reason,
to be aware, or to be always the same in
sharp pains and occasion of the loss of a child,
(16:22):
and in long illness, And to see clearly in a
living example, that the same man can be both resolute
and yielding and not peevish in giving his instructions, and
not have had before my eyes a man who can clearly,
who clearly considered his experience and his skill expounding philosophical
(16:47):
principles as the smallest of his merits. And from him
I learned how to receive from friends what are esteemed favors,
without either being humbled by them or let them pass unnoticed.
From Sextus a benevolent disposition, and the example of a
(17:08):
family governed in a fatherly manner, and the idea of
living comfortably to nature and gravity without affection, to look
carefully after the interests of friends, and to tolerate ignorant
persons and those who form opinions without consideration. He had
(17:29):
the power of readily accommodating himself to all, so that
intercourse with him was more agreeable than any flattery. And
at the same time he was most highly venerated by
those who associate with him. And he had the faculty
both of discovering and ordering in an intelligent and methodical way,
(17:50):
the principles necessary for life. And he never showed anger
or any other possession, but was entirely free from passion,
and also most affectionate. He could express a probation without
noisy display, and he possessed much knowledge without ostentation. From
(18:13):
Alexander the Grammarian, to refrain from fault finding, and not
in a reproachful way, to chide those who uttered any
barbarous or so okay, what I'm gonna try it, solicitic
(18:34):
or strange sounding expressions, but dexterous to introduce the very
expression which ought to have been used in the way
of answering or giving confirmation or joining in inquiry about
the thing itself, not about the word, or by some
other fit suggestion. And from Frondo I learned to observe
(19:00):
what envy and duplicity and hypocrisy are in a tyrant
the general, and that generally those among us who are
called Parttricians are rather deficient in paternal affection. From Alexander
(19:24):
the Platonist, not frequently, nor without necessity, to say to anyone,
or to write in a letter, that I have no leisure,
nor continually to excuse the neglect of duties required by
our relations to those with whom we live, by alleging
urgent occupations from catalysts. Not to be indifferent when a
(19:51):
friend finds fault, even if you should find fault without reason,
but to try to restore him to the usual position.
And to be ready to speak well of teachers, it
is reported of Dominitis and Ethnodotus, and to love my
children truly, and from my brother Severus to love my kin,
(20:16):
and to love truth, and to love justice. And through
him I learned to know Thorazia, hell Edivus, Canto Dion Brutus,
and from him I received the idea of polity, in
which there is the same law for all. A polity
(20:38):
administered with regard to equal rights and equal freedom of speech,
and the idea of a kingly government which respects most
of all the freedom of the governed. I learned from
him that also consistency in undeviating steadiness in my regard
(21:05):
for philosophy, and a disposition to do good and to
give to others readily, and to cherish good hopes, and
to believe that I am loved by my friends. And
in him I observed no concealment of the opinions with
the respect to those whom he condemned. That his friends
(21:27):
had no need to conject to conjecture what he wished
or did not wish. But it was quite plain from
Maximus I learned self government and not to be led
aside by anything, and cheerfulness in all circumstances, as well
as illness, and a just admixture in the moral character
(21:52):
of sweetness and dignity, and to do what was set
before me without complaining. I have deserved that everybody believed
that he thought as he spoke, and that in all
that he did, he never had any bad intentions, and
he never showed amazement and surprise, and he was never
(22:14):
in a hurry and never put off doing a thing,
or was he perplexed nor dejected, nor did he ever
laugh to disguise his vexation, Nor on the other hand,
was he ever passionate or suspicious. He was accustomed to
do acts of benefice beneficence, and he was ready to
(22:40):
forgive that was free from all falsehoods. And he presented
the appearance of a man who could not be delivered
from right, rather than a man who had improved. I
observed too that no man could ever think that he
was despised by Maximus, nor ever venture to think himself
about a man. He had also the art of being
(23:03):
humorous in an agreeable way. In my father I observed
mindfulness of temper, unchangeable resolution in the things in which
he had determined after due deliberation, and no vainglory in
those things which men call honors, and the love of
(23:27):
labor and perseverance, and a readiness to listen to those
who had anything to propose for the common good, the
undeviating firmness giving to every man according to his deserts,
and a knowledge derived from experience of the occasions for
vigorous action and for the remission. And I observed that
(23:52):
he had overcome all passions for boys, and he considered
himself no more than any other citizen. And he released
his friends from all obligations to sup with him or
to attend him of necessity when he went abroad, and
those who had failed to accompany him by reason of
any urgent circumstances always found him the same. I observed
(24:16):
two of his habit of careful inquiry in all matters
of deliberation, and his persistency. And he never stopped investigation
through being satisfied with appearances which first present themselves. And
his disposition was to keep his friends and not to
(24:36):
be soon tired of them, nor yet to be extravagant
in his affections, and to be satisfied of all occasions
and cheerful, and to foresee things in a long off way,
and to provide the smallest without display, to check immediate
popular applause and all flattery, not ever be wh froll
(25:00):
over the things which were necessary for the administration of
the empire, to be a good manager of the expenditure
and patiently, and to endure the blame which he got
for such conduct. And he was neither superstitious with respect
to the gods, nor did he court men by gifts,
(25:22):
or trying to please them by flattering the populace. But
he showed sobriety in all things, in firmness, in every
never any mean thoughts or actions, nor love of novelty,
and the things which conduce in any of the way,
in any of the commodity of life, and of which
(25:45):
fortune and abundant supply, he used without arrogance, and without
excusing himself, so that he had them, he enjoyed them
without affection, and he had them not where we at,
he did not want them. No one could ever say
(26:07):
of him that he was either a sophist, or a homebred,
flippant slave, or a pendant. But everyone acknowledged him to
be a man ripe, perfect and above flattery, able to
manage his own and other men's affairs. Besides this, he
honored those who were true philosophers, and he did not
(26:30):
reproach those who pretend to be philosophers, Nor yet was
he easily led by them. So easy conversation, he made
himself agreeable without any offensive affectation, and he took a
reasonable care of his body and his health, not as
(26:50):
one who was greatly attached to life, nor out of
regard to a personal appearance, yet in a careless way,
but so that through his own attentions he was very
seldom stood in need of a physician's art, or of medicine,
or external application. He was most ready to give away
(27:11):
without envy, to those who possess any particular faculty, such
as that of eloquence, or knowledge of the law, or
of morals, or of anything else. He gave them his
help that might enjoy reputation according to his desserts. He
(27:33):
always acted comfortably to the institutions of his country, without
showing any affection of doing so. Further, he was not
fond of change or unsteady, but he loved to stay
the same places and to employ himself about the same things.
And after his paraximis of headaches, he came immediately fresh
(27:58):
and vigorous in his usual occupations. His secrets were not
very few, but very rare, and these only about public matters.
That he showed prudence and economy in the exhibition of
public spectacles and the construction of public buildings, his donations
(28:19):
to the people, and such things as he was a
man who looked to what ought to be done, not
for the reputation which a man got by his ax.
He did not take the bath at unreasonable hours, and
he was not fond of building houses, nor curious about
what he ate, nor about the texture and the color
(28:42):
of his clothes, nor about the beauty of his slaves.
His dress came from Laurelum, his villa at the coast,
and from Lanuvium. Generally. We know how he behaved to
the toll collector at to Scalum, who asked his pardon,
(29:04):
And such was all his behavior. There was in him
nothing harsh, nor implacable, nor violent, nor as one may say,
anything carried to the sweating point. But he examined all
(29:26):
things severally severely, as if he had abundance of time,
and without confusion, in an orderly way, vigorously and consistently,
that he might be applied to him, which is recorded
of Socrates. And what he was able both to abstain
(29:47):
from and enjoy those things which many are two weak
to abstain from and cannot enjoy without excess, but to
be strong enough both to bear the one and to
(30:08):
be sober in the other. And it is a mark
of a man who has perfectly and invincible soul such
that he shows in the illnesses of Maximus. So there's
a lot of good stuff in here. You can kind
of see how they said it was like a self
(30:31):
help eat kind of thing. There's a lot of thought here,
especially when he starts talking about governing or ruling and
he is like, you know, basically, the way it comes
off to me is, hey, don't try any stunts to
win people's favor, just to do what you're supposed to do.
Don't overspend money. I think this we should send this
(30:56):
book to Washington just that. I mean, you know, to
(32:02):
the gods, I am indebted for having good grandfathers, good parents,
a good sister, good teachers, good associates, good kinsmen and friends,
nearly everything good. Further, I owe it to the gods
(32:22):
that I was not hurried into any offense against any
of them, though I had a disposition which, if opportunity
had offered, might have led me to do something of
this kind. But through their favor, there's never was such
an occurrence or circumstance as put me on trial. Further,
(32:46):
I am thankful to the gods that I was not
longer brought up with my grandfather's concubine, and that I
preserved the flower of my youth, and that I did
not make proof of my virility before the proper season. Wow,
but even deferred the time that I was subjected to
a ruler and a father who was able to take
(33:08):
away all pride from me, and to bring me to
the knowledge that it is possible for a man to
live in a palace without wanting either guards or embroidered dresses,
or torches or statues and such like show. But that
(33:31):
it is such a man's power to bring himself very
nearly to the fashion of a private person, without being
for this reason either meaner in thought or more remiss
in actions with the respect to the things which must
be done in public interest in a matter that benefits
(33:52):
a ruler. They God, I thank the gods for giving
me such a brother who was able, by his moral
character to rouse me to vigilance over myself, and who
at the same time pleased me by his respect and affection.
That my children have not been stupid or deformed in body.
(34:15):
And that I did not make more proficiency in rhetoric, poetry,
and other studies, and which I should perhaps have been
completely engaged in. And I had seen that I was
making progress them, and it made haste to gosh, I'm
sorry about that those who brought me up in the
(34:37):
station of honor which they seemed to desire, without putting
them off with hope of my doing. And sometime after,
because they were still young, I knew that Apollonius Rusticus maximus,
that I received clear and frequent impressions without living according
(34:58):
to nature? What kind of life that is? So that,
so far as dependent on the gods and their gifts
and help the inspirations, nothing hindered me from forthwith living
according to nature, though I still fall short of it
(35:19):
through my own fault and through not observing the abdmonishments
of the gods. I may almost say they're direct instructions
that my body has held out so long in such
a kind of life that I never touched either Benedicta
(35:40):
or Theotis. And after having fallen into amatory passions, I
was cured. And though I was often out of humor
with Rusticus, I never did anything of which I had
occasion to repent. That, though through sorry, though it was
(36:03):
my mother's fate to die young, she spent the last
years of her life with me. Whenever I wished to
help any man in his need or any occasion, I
was never told that I had not the means of
doing it, and that to myself the same necessity never
happened to receive anything from another. And I have such
(36:28):
a wife, so obedient, and so affectionate, and so simple,
that I had abundance of good masters for my children.
And remedies have been shown to me by dreams, both
others and against blood spitting and giddiness. That's the part
again about his ulcer. I bet right there, and that
(36:51):
when I had an inclination to philosophy, I did not
fall into the hands of any sophist, and that I
did not waste my time on writers of histories or
the resolutions of syllogisms, or occupy myself with the investigation
of appearances and heavens. For all these things require the
helps of God and of fortune, so that that's how
(37:17):
it ends. I'm usually knocked out by that. So I
went and I found this. Since we have a little
bit of time left, I found this summary and analysis
of Meditations book one by course Hero include the link
in the show notes, and I thought we could just
talk this through here the summary. The opening section of
(37:51):
Meditation serves as both an introduction to the philosophical and
ethical orientations of the the author and a dedicate acknowledgments passage.
The first sentence reads from my grandfather Verus, I learned
good morals and the government of my temper. Subsequent paragraphs
(38:13):
include in kind naming his influences and then stating what
he learned from each one of them. The book provides
a kind of symbolic shrine, the which Aurelius pays homage
to his forefathers and mothers, and peers and mentors, teachers,
and those philosophers who contributed to the foundation of his
(38:33):
personal sense of moral, ethical, and reverential honor. The last
paragraph thanks the gods and the givers of all those
good people in his life. By mentioning his sources of inspiration,
Realius reminds himself of his intent to maintain simple, humble,
(38:54):
and respectful attitude over the course of his life. It
is remarkable that, unlike usual acknowledgments of Roman pat patriar,
familiar arrays familiar as really the father of families. I
(39:19):
guess my Latin isn't what it used to be. Here
also Aurelius here also credits his mother as well as
his paternal forefathers, and he mentions his relationship with his
household servants and slaves. Greeks as well as Romans are included,
regardless of social status, in a manner appropriate to Aurelius's
(39:41):
philosophical orientations. Following are some of the names he evokes
as having influenced his life and beliefs. Epictitis number one
with the bullet our boy. Epictetus had a strict moral
underpinning to his formal question and answer approach, not unlike
that of Socrates, who was also illiterate. His attitudes towards
(40:06):
life supported by the idea that individuals, rather than fate,
are responsible for their own actions and that the consequences
resulting from them. Diogenitis was possibly Greek and one of
his tutors Aurelius praised for having provided him with a
(40:28):
good sense of skepticism regarding superstitiousness and miracle workers. Diagenitus
also instilled in his student a high regard for sensible
foundations in education. Bacchius of Fephos was listed as a
Platonist whose lectures Aurelius attended when he was a young man. Benedicta, Theotis,
(40:55):
and Rusticus are presumed to have been household servants during
time time when Aurelius was growing up. The mention of
Benedicta and Theodius in the same phrase discussing amatory passions
lust suggests that these people had been physically attractive and
(41:17):
vulnerable to sexual indulgences of their masters. As for Rusticus,
it seemed that it seems likely that since this person
is mentioned in the same phrase as the other two,
he is not Rusticus the Stoic. Okay, so they're just
(41:38):
sorting out these references here. The name Cado here most
certainly refers to Cado the Younger, a Stoic and Roman
senator from the Republic who opposed Julius Caesar and forty
nine BCE. Cado took his own life rather than submit
to the tyranny of a dictator. Mhm. Marcianis was probably
(42:04):
Lucius Volcius massive Annius, who is a juror who was
also tutored Aurelius in law. God damn, I'm so sorry
for this. I don't know how to get through this.
(42:27):
We'll come back, we'll finish this up and wrap this
episode up. Aurelius could not have known his father, Marcus
(43:49):
Annius Verus, because he died when Aurelius was born or
when he was about three. He likely heard many stories
about him, which he presents in the first book. His
grandfather Verus, who first adopted Aurelius at a young age,
is presumed to have been a Roman council Marcus Annius Verus,
(44:12):
while his great grandfather, Senator and pretor Annius Verus, amassed
a fortune from the production of olive oil of all things.
The four of Virus is also named Lucius seltonis Commandius,
and is Aurelius is adoptive brother and co emperor, and
(44:35):
naming him here Aurelius is being gracious for other accounts
of Commodus did not hold him in particularly high regard.
Given Aurelius's approach to people, it is likely that the
lessons gained from Commodus Commodius Commodus could have been more
(44:55):
cautionary than exemplary. That's interesting because I was like, who
are all these viruses that he's naming? So it's fun
that course hero broke it down. I wonder if that's
the guy from Gladiator was it the dude from Gladiator
(45:18):
named commutists commodus really as states his thanks that he
does not follow either. Oh yeah, I wanted to touch
back to this, the part where he's talking about the
the the different sides of the circus and the different gladiators.
(45:41):
I appreciate that so much as not being a sports guy,
specifically football, baseball, basketball like that. And it's the ironic
part is I've probably been in the building with for
more more live NFL games, probably and National Baseball League
(46:06):
games probably not anyone listening right now. For a large
part of my life, I was a security professional that
worked the two well they used to be just one
stadium here in Pittsburgh. Now they're two, and I've worked
uh there, you know for a long time. I've whipped
(46:27):
more ass in Pittsburgh's football stadium whichever one you're talking about,
than any football player there in history. But the thing
about football games, and I stopped thinking about it eventually.
(46:48):
But when I first started working at three Rivers Stadium
or you know, wherever you know, and at the time,
my best friend was a giant football fan. Not only
a football fan. You played semi pro football, Madden All
All day, all night, all the stuff, and I'm like,
(47:09):
why do you care? Like I never understood, like why
people were so loyal to the teams because the people
that play on these teams aren't from the city that
the teams are in. It reminds me of the Jerry
Seinfeld boo wrong shirt, you're wearing the wrong shirt. I mean, basically,
that's the joke I'm trying to get to, but yeah,
(47:32):
I never got it. So I wanted to touch back
on this in Meditations, where Realius is talking about the
gladiator games and the circuses, really estates his thanks that
he does not follow either Paramilararius or Scatchetarius at the
gladiator fights. These two classes or types of gladiators are
(47:53):
often pitted against each other in arena games. The first
one refers to any gladiator who carry a parma, or
a small round iron framed shield the edge which could
be used to strike a blow that protects the torso.
Scaretarius gladiator carried a much larger and heavier rectangular shield
(48:18):
that protected the upper body as well, and combats between
these two classes of gladiators emphasize speed and agility to
oppose the blocking of the gladius which I know is
a sword, small sword. Sorry, Many more gladiators preferred the
scariest to the parma, reflecting changes in military equipment. Early
(48:42):
Roman foot soldiers used the parma, but switched to the
larger rectangular shields that could be used enclosed ranks to
withstand volleys of arrows. Equestrian warriors or knights mounted on
horseback continued to use the less cumbersome parma. Okay, so
that is a great hit, little history lesson. Thank you
(49:06):
very much, of course, hero, I appreciate that. I, like
I said, will definitely put this link in the show notes.
The Realius closes his book with the sentence among the
Quaddy at the Grana. So this must have been an
editorial change to my copy of the book that I
(49:31):
just got here, because that line appears on the chapter
heading to book two, which we'll be talking about next week.
So let's see what they have to say about this
will be one step ahead for next week. Quaddy at
the Grana. On here, I'm looking at this chapter heading.
(49:52):
It's called book two, written among the Quaddy at the
River Girana. So remember when we read are the introduction
on Britannica, and it was saying that he wrote this
while he was on campaign a bunch of while he
was boring against a bunch of these Germans on the
Danube river. So this suggests a date for the recording
(50:15):
of this book. The Quadi were a small, fiercely combative
Germanic tribe encountered by the Romans in the early century
CE the Common era. Their defeat is represented on the
commemorative column of Marcus Aurelius in Rome, which, according to
the legend, occurred when the Roman legions were much refreshed
(50:38):
by rainwater while the Quadi forces against them were struck
by lightning. The event is recorded having taken place on
June eleventh, one seven to Common Era the modern day
Slovakia as the River Grana refers to the tributary of
the Danube in that area. Look at that, Look all
(51:00):
this context we're getting that, but that just reminds me,
you know, like when you're camping and it's a rainy
day and you're just sitting in your tent looking at
your phone or playing Uno or reading something, maybe you're
writing something that That's what this conjures up to me,
Like it's raining. Marcus is kind of pouting in his tent,
(51:20):
you know, writing like his thank you page for this
great book he's gonna write for him. So I just
see like through the tent, like he's sitting there and
there's like some kind of like slow do do do do,
like kind of like a piano music or something, and
he and he's like this, and it's raining outside and
you hear it, and there there's thunder and there's lightning
(51:42):
because of the thunder and the lightning striking the combative
Germanic tribe, and you know, the sad music is coming.
The tents lit by you know warm you know, candle light.
There's a couple Legionnaires standing sentry outside. I had his tent,
you know, in the in the rain and internal monologue
(52:04):
from Marcus Aurelius, from my grandfather faris, I learned good
morals and the government of my temper Do do do do?
I'm John Towers. This has been the abercast meditations of
Marcus Realius one. I'll see you guys next week. Yeah,
(52:27):
I don't know. So here's the deal. I was working
Super Bowl. I don't remember what year. I do know
that it was in New Audians, so it must have
been the year nine. To eleven happened, So it was
(52:48):
the two thousand and one two thousand and two NFL
season was in it because an eleven h super Bowl,
the NFL schedule got knocked back a week, which meant
that the Super Bowl was going on in the middle
(53:08):
of Marty Garos. So I you couldn't pay me to
stay away from this, So I'm there that year. What
did I do on game Day? I was I was
the security supervisor for the main concourse of the super Dome.
(53:32):
So on game Day I was there like fucking four
o'clock in the morning, getting everything organized, figuring out where
all the posts were, who my people were gonna be,
choosing my team, doing all the all this stuff. But
when Super Bowl takes over a town, they take over
the town for like a month leading up to it. Uh,
you know, there's like photo things and events and all
(53:57):
kinds of shit. So like you're all on the ground
for like two or three weeks leading up to the
leading up to Super Bowl Sunday. So for game Day,
I was gonna be running the main concourse. I didn't
know this yet, they didn't. I didn't find that out
until the actual day of the game. They were handing
out assignments and they were like Towers Main Concourse, and
I was like, holy fuck, I had felt like I
had won some kind of fucking award. Anyhow, I'm like,
(54:21):
why do I get to run the main? This is amazing? Uh,
that's funny. So this is a given evening. It must
have been like right before the game, because I think
he was going. I think he was trying to catch
the halftime rehearsals, you know where you get to watch
(54:42):
a bunch of vagous people pretend like they're singing a song,
their lips singing a song. But I think that he
was trying to get there for the rehearsals, which was interesting.
It was like a fucking gigantic suv, brand new windows
rolled down. It was Sean Puffy Combs was driving, and
(55:05):
some other dude that he was always in videos with
was in the passenger seat, and I was in uniform,
which I guess is why they thought that they could
ask me or whatever, because I doubt that they would
just roll up on the side of the road with
and just ask anybody. I don't know the answer to that.
It's still kind of like, I don't know why why
they did this. But they were like, hey, where's the
(55:26):
Superdome at? And I didn't act like I knew. I
was really good at that when I ran into famous people,
especially if I didn't give a fuck about them, which
was almost everybody. There's only like a handful of people
where I'm like, oh my god, I'm about to mark
out on this guy. Anyhow, where from where I was
standing outside the Media Center and where he was parked
right next to me, facing me, you know, side passenger
(55:48):
window to me, you could see the fucking super Dome.
This's right down the fucking street. It was gigantic, and
I'm like, you're trying to figure out where to get
to the super Dome and I kind of pointed at
it like duh, and they were like, yeah, you know,
we don't. Uh yeah, we're looking at how to get
to the Superdome. And I'm like just looking at it.
I'm like, Okay, well here's what you're gonna do. You're
gonna go down this street. You're gonna and I gave
(56:10):
him directions on how to get back on the highway
going out, going outbound, and I was telling my friends
about it, and they were like, dude, you did not
give Sean Puffy combs the wrong directions, and I did,
motherfucker I did. They didn't believe he was there. They
(56:31):
didn't believe it was him. What, I don't care. And
they were like, why did you do that? And I
was like because, And they're asking me why why? And
I said because in nineteen ninety nine or nineteen ninety eight, Well,
(56:52):
I can't remember, but the song is so unimpressive probably,
you know. And that's a weird thing with rap music
is that unless it's super special, it's dated. Like there's
no such thing as like classic rap radio stations, you
know what I mean? Anyhow, so, any whatever, this is
(57:13):
why I did it. Injured civil defense stations are being
set up throughout the island of Manhattan since the World
Traits enter bombing hundreds of thousands. He lifted so much
of Kashmir led Zeppelin Kashmir and put it into this
fucking retarded rap song about Godzilla. This is why I
(57:36):
fuck puff Natio.
Speaker 4 (58:11):
Traveling all right, Well, then you justine do pup days
(58:52):
and you get you on the highway and go on
the opposite day and then you're climbing Superdome right away.
Speaker 2 (58:57):
Bro Oh dude, he just turned to a bunch of
(59:36):
birds and went to heaven. I can't take it. It
offends I don't know which offends worse. I don't know
if it offends well my taste of music obviously my
reverence for led Zeppelin, or if it offends my reverence
(01:00:07):
for fucking Godzilla more. I I don't know how. I
don't know what more A fucking offended by anyhow enough
of this. I feel like we went in a fucking overtime.
I'm John Towers. This has been the Ambercast and Sean
have fun in prison, and dear listeners, I'll see you
(01:00:28):
next week and we'll get into a book two of
Marcus Aurelius's meditations. You gotta get that oil.
Speaker 3 (01:00:41):
Are you interested in the occult history, conspiracy and violence?
Learn more at abercast dot com and visit the storefront
for tarot cards.
Speaker 2 (01:00:54):
Merch and books.
Speaker 3 (01:00:58):
Support the show.
Speaker 1 (01:01:00):
Get access to the show at subscribe star dot com.
Speaker 2 (01:02:01):
A minute, I wanna quit it. I wanna jam. Don't jack, Jack,
don't mind me cool?
Speaker 3 (01:02:50):
Turn me up? Con Cloud, Yeah.
Speaker 4 (01:03:03):
You come on, you up, can't go, can't call your right,
you're just we ma, You're class.
Speaker 2 (01:03:16):
Call your heads, you know a b town home.
Speaker 3 (01:03:22):
And lord.
Speaker 2 (01:03:25):
Trying to do. Where are then you go back and
make up?
Speaker 3 (01:03:29):
Where can he be?
Speaker 2 (01:03:30):
Try around? Way you down? You guys got you white
baby braid. Tell me any time good you know with you,
Come with me, Come with me, Come with me, Come
with me, Come with me. I'm gonna tell you with
(01:03:54):
me to fight.
Speaker 3 (01:03:59):
Man.
Speaker 2 (01:04:01):
No, why Joy came to Jam.
Speaker 4 (01:04:05):
Don't surprise to.
Speaker 3 (01:04:10):
Joy that uh
In the dark shadows, in the white cold. Fearlessly we
search for knowledge new and old. We drink the strong
spirits and read the ancient tongs. The order of the Abercast.
We are the brave and the bold. The Abercast a cold, history,
(00:38):
conspiracy and violence.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Hey, everybody, welcome to the Evercast. I'm your host, John Towers.
And as promised, this evening, we're going to be getting
into meditations by Marcus Aurelius. And I'm like, okay, why
and also who is Marcus Aurelius? And so the Meditations
(01:41):
by Marcus Aurelius is uh. He was the Roman emperor.
He lived from one twenty one to one and he
was the emperor from one sixty one to one eighty.
And meditations consists of Stoicism inspired philosophical reflections, probably written
(02:04):
during the early one seventies while Marcus was leading a
series of military campaigns against Germanic tribes along the Danube
Ribber in Central Europe. To what extent Marcus intended meditations
for eyes other than his own is uncertain. They are
fragmentary notes, discursive in epigrammatic, and by turn, I don't
(02:31):
even know what that means of his reflections in the
midst of military campaigning and administration. In a way, it
seems he wrote them to nerve himself for his daunting responsibilities,
strikingly through the compromise and the innermost thoughts of a Roman.
The Meditations were written in ancient Greek to such an
(02:52):
extent that the union of cultures became a reality, and
many ages these thoughts have been admired, and modern age, however,
is more likely to be struck by the pathology of them.
Their mixture of briggishness and hysteria. Marcus was forever proposing
(03:13):
to himself unattainable goals of conduct, forever contemplating the triviality, brutishness,
and transience of the physical world, of humanity in general,
and himself in particular, otherworldly, yet believing in no other world.
He was therefore tied to duty and service, with no
(03:35):
hope even of everlasting fame to sustain him. Sickly all
through his life, and probably plagued with the chronic ulcer,
he took a daily dose of a drug. The suggestion
has been made that the apocalyptic imagery in the Meditations
betrays the addict. More certain and more important is the
(03:57):
point that Marcus's anxiety reflects, in an exaggerated manner, the
ethos of his age. So this is from the Encyclopedia Britannica,
you know, because who could even use Wikipedia anymore? Sorry
(04:19):
about that. So so the next question is, Towers, why
why are we gonna have to listen to you ramble
your way through meditations? And the the answer is, you know,
(04:43):
it was pretty forthcoming with you guys last week. I
said a bunch of shit that I never ever thought
I would talk about on this show. And I've you know,
the last year. I mean, I've never been a good sleeper,
but the last last year has really been difficult for
(05:04):
me to sleep. I think I even talked about sleeping
and parking lots and stuff last week. So not like
a homeless person, I'm in a car, you know what
I mean. But one of the things that I've been
doing is I downloaded this sleep app and it's got
like pre recorded like meditations and like sleep sounds, and
(05:28):
they read you stories until you fall asleep. And one
of the you know, I have a soft spot for stoicism.
Anyone who has listened to the show for any number
of years or whatever, well, know, you know, we went
through you know, Epictetis and Introduction to Western Philosophy and
(05:49):
all of this stuff. And one of the stories that
I listened to on this app when I'm trying to
go to sleep is Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. However, I
won't pay for to unlock the whole book, so I
only get to hear like the first chapter, and I'm
(06:11):
usually out by then. But it starts off really good,
so I was like, I gotta go pick up this
book and I gotta share it. So that's why we're
all here tonight, probably for the next couple of weeks,
getting through Marcus Aurelius's Meditation. And in the meantime, I
do have my weapon of mass distraction, my gingy hide
(06:33):
here by my side. And it's interesting. I got a
new I don't know why I think it's interesting. I
got a new ice management. So ice management is a
pretty big deal, as you can imagine, in my in
my house. So I got a new ice training kind
(06:53):
of thing. So I'm just wondering if it's gonna sound different,
like if the new ice is gonna sound different than
the old days. I think it does. I think to
a discerning ear. I think it does sound different, So God,
(07:14):
let me go back to the old light. No, I'm
just kidding. So what else is going on before we
get started? P Diddy? He's been in the news again
or gross. I never met P Diddy, but I did
give him bad directions one time went purpose and it
wasn't for Diddy parties or any kind of weird sex stuff.
(07:34):
Is because he sampled a riff from Jimmy Page for
a shitty song for that Matthew Broderick Godzilla movie. And
when I had my opportunity to steer him wrong, boy,
I fucking did this. I might have told the story before,
(07:56):
I don't remember. I'm not gonna redo it, Okay, So okay,
here we go.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
Oh.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Next thing is I can't bitch too much about Sprinker
is my podcast host. I have a deal with them
where basically I do not pay for them to host
the Abercast. I have like a high tier pro plan
or something, but I don't pay. It's a whole, big,
(08:20):
long story, but they have been going bananas with insisting
on mid roll ad breaks. At first, you know, a
couple of years ago, I was able just to get
it done by putting like I think one at the beginning,
when in the middle of one at the end. But like,
I don't know what their fine print says nowadays, but
they're like, you need more AD breaks, you need more
(08:41):
AD breaks, So I try to design spots to fit
them in. It seems like they want more and more
every fucking week. I don't know. Like I said, I'm
not complaining. I'm just trying to explain it. Like I
I would do the show with no ads if I could.
It's not like anyone's getting rich off the fucking ad
(09:03):
share from spreaker, you know what I mean. So please
as you're going forward and you're like, god, how many
times have I got to hear about this fucking underwear
or what I don't want? I don't even know what
they plug in. So just as a kind of explanation
for the show, the host that I used to have
(09:25):
like way back in the day, like before moving day, Uh,
they didn't they didn't give a shit about ad breaks,
they didn't want to plug them in, they didn't have
like a policy regarding them. So this is all something
that's you know, been since moving day. So I just
want to explain, Dear, dear listener, It's not my fault.
(09:47):
And if I don't design a spot to put them in,
they'll just put them in wherever. So there, there it is.
Everyone had a good Thanksgiving. Hope everyone had a nice, safe, Thanksgiving.
I was so proud of my family because not a
(10:07):
single person there it was packed this year. Not a
single fucking person mentioned politics. No one had to get mad.
It was amazing, it was great, It was terrific, tremendous.
Ask anybody you know some families not so bad, are
not so good? All right? I feel like I started
(10:31):
off good, and so we'll get into meditations after this. Hey,
(11:42):
I also I want to say thank you to you
got to those of you who reached out after last
week's episode. I got some messages saying, you know, hey,
I can't believe how similar our stories are, and you know,
just nice, you know, nice overall reaching out. I appreciate that.
(12:03):
Thank you. So here we go. Meditations Marcus Arelius A
book one from my grandfather Verus. I learned good morals
and the government of my temper from the reputation and
remembrance of my father, Modesty and a manly character from
(12:27):
my mother, Piety and beneficence and abstinence not only from
evil deeds, but even from evil thoughts, and further simplicity
in my way of living far removed from the habits
of the rich. For my grandfather not to have frequented
public schools and have had good teachers at home, and
(12:50):
to know that on such things a man should spend liberally.
For my governor to be neither of the green nor
the Blue party at the games in the circus, nor
the partisan, either of the paramilarius and the sanctarious at
(13:12):
the gladiator's fights. From him, too, I learned endurance of labor,
and to want little, and to work with my own hands,
and not to meddle in other people's affairs, and not
to be ready to listen to slander from diageneitis, not
(13:35):
to busy myself about trifling things, and not to give
credit to what is said by miracle workers and jugglers
about incantations and the driving away of demons and such things,
and not to breed quails for fighting, nor to give
myself up passionately to such things, and to endure freedom
(13:58):
of speech. Not to have become intimate with the philosophy,
and to have been a hearer first of Bacchius, then
of Tandasis and Marcianus, and to have written dialogues in
my youth, and to have desired a plank bed and skin,
(14:19):
and whatever else of the kind that belongs to the
Grecian discipline. From Rusticus I received the impression that my
character required improvement and discipline. And from him I learned
not to be led astray to suffolk emulation, nor to
writing on speculative manners, nor to delivering the horritory orations,
(14:46):
nor to showing myself off as a man who practices
such discipline or does benevolent acts in order to make
a display, and to abstain from rhetoric and poetry and
fine writing, and not to walk about in the house
in my outdoor dress, nor to do other things of
(15:07):
the kind, and to write many letters with simplicity, like
the letter which Rusticus wrote to Sinusia, to my mother,
and with respect to those who have offended me by
words or done me wrong, to be easily disposed to
be pacified and reconciled, so as they have shown a
(15:34):
readiness to be reconciled, and to read carefully, and not
to be satisfied with superficial understandings of a book, nor
hastily give my assent to those who talk over much.
And I am indebted to him for being acquainted with
the discourses of Epictetis, from which he communicated to me
(15:58):
out of his own collection. From Apollonius I learned freedom
of will and undeviating steadiness of purpose, and to look
to nothing else, not even for a moment, except to reason,
to be aware, or to be always the same in
sharp pains and occasion of the loss of a child,
(16:22):
and in long illness, And to see clearly in a
living example, that the same man can be both resolute
and yielding and not peevish in giving his instructions, and
not have had before my eyes a man who can clearly,
who clearly considered his experience and his skill expounding philosophical
(16:47):
principles as the smallest of his merits. And from him
I learned how to receive from friends what are esteemed favors,
without either being humbled by them or let them pass unnoticed.
From Sextus a benevolent disposition, and the example of a
(17:08):
family governed in a fatherly manner, and the idea of
living comfortably to nature and gravity without affection, to look
carefully after the interests of friends, and to tolerate ignorant
persons and those who form opinions without consideration. He had
(17:29):
the power of readily accommodating himself to all, so that
intercourse with him was more agreeable than any flattery. And
at the same time he was most highly venerated by
those who associate with him. And he had the faculty
both of discovering and ordering in an intelligent and methodical way,
(17:50):
the principles necessary for life. And he never showed anger
or any other possession, but was entirely free from passion,
and also most affectionate. He could express a probation without
noisy display, and he possessed much knowledge without ostentation. From
(18:13):
Alexander the Grammarian, to refrain from fault finding, and not
in a reproachful way, to chide those who uttered any
barbarous or so okay, what I'm gonna try it, solicitic
(18:34):
or strange sounding expressions, but dexterous to introduce the very
expression which ought to have been used in the way
of answering or giving confirmation or joining in inquiry about
the thing itself, not about the word, or by some
other fit suggestion. And from Frondo I learned to observe
(19:00):
what envy and duplicity and hypocrisy are in a tyrant
the general, and that generally those among us who are
called Parttricians are rather deficient in paternal affection. From Alexander
(19:24):
the Platonist, not frequently, nor without necessity, to say to anyone,
or to write in a letter, that I have no leisure,
nor continually to excuse the neglect of duties required by
our relations to those with whom we live, by alleging
urgent occupations from catalysts. Not to be indifferent when a
(19:51):
friend finds fault, even if you should find fault without reason,
but to try to restore him to the usual position.
And to be ready to speak well of teachers, it
is reported of Dominitis and Ethnodotus, and to love my
children truly, and from my brother Severus to love my kin,
(20:16):
and to love truth, and to love justice. And through
him I learned to know Thorazia, hell Edivus, Canto Dion Brutus,
and from him I received the idea of polity, in
which there is the same law for all. A polity
(20:38):
administered with regard to equal rights and equal freedom of speech,
and the idea of a kingly government which respects most
of all the freedom of the governed. I learned from
him that also consistency in undeviating steadiness in my regard
(21:05):
for philosophy, and a disposition to do good and to
give to others readily, and to cherish good hopes, and
to believe that I am loved by my friends. And
in him I observed no concealment of the opinions with
the respect to those whom he condemned. That his friends
(21:27):
had no need to conject to conjecture what he wished
or did not wish. But it was quite plain from
Maximus I learned self government and not to be led
aside by anything, and cheerfulness in all circumstances, as well
as illness, and a just admixture in the moral character
(21:52):
of sweetness and dignity, and to do what was set
before me without complaining. I have deserved that everybody believed
that he thought as he spoke, and that in all
that he did, he never had any bad intentions, and
he never showed amazement and surprise, and he was never
(22:14):
in a hurry and never put off doing a thing,
or was he perplexed nor dejected, nor did he ever
laugh to disguise his vexation, Nor on the other hand,
was he ever passionate or suspicious. He was accustomed to
do acts of benefice beneficence, and he was ready to
(22:40):
forgive that was free from all falsehoods. And he presented
the appearance of a man who could not be delivered
from right, rather than a man who had improved. I
observed too that no man could ever think that he
was despised by Maximus, nor ever venture to think himself
about a man. He had also the art of being
(23:03):
humorous in an agreeable way. In my father I observed
mindfulness of temper, unchangeable resolution in the things in which
he had determined after due deliberation, and no vainglory in
those things which men call honors, and the love of
(23:27):
labor and perseverance, and a readiness to listen to those
who had anything to propose for the common good, the
undeviating firmness giving to every man according to his deserts,
and a knowledge derived from experience of the occasions for
vigorous action and for the remission. And I observed that
(23:52):
he had overcome all passions for boys, and he considered
himself no more than any other citizen. And he released
his friends from all obligations to sup with him or
to attend him of necessity when he went abroad, and
those who had failed to accompany him by reason of
any urgent circumstances always found him the same. I observed
(24:16):
two of his habit of careful inquiry in all matters
of deliberation, and his persistency. And he never stopped investigation
through being satisfied with appearances which first present themselves. And
his disposition was to keep his friends and not to
(24:36):
be soon tired of them, nor yet to be extravagant
in his affections, and to be satisfied of all occasions
and cheerful, and to foresee things in a long off way,
and to provide the smallest without display, to check immediate
popular applause and all flattery, not ever be wh froll
(25:00):
over the things which were necessary for the administration of
the empire, to be a good manager of the expenditure
and patiently, and to endure the blame which he got
for such conduct. And he was neither superstitious with respect
to the gods, nor did he court men by gifts,
(25:22):
or trying to please them by flattering the populace. But
he showed sobriety in all things, in firmness, in every
never any mean thoughts or actions, nor love of novelty,
and the things which conduce in any of the way,
in any of the commodity of life, and of which
(25:45):
fortune and abundant supply, he used without arrogance, and without
excusing himself, so that he had them, he enjoyed them
without affection, and he had them not where we at,
he did not want them. No one could ever say
(26:07):
of him that he was either a sophist, or a homebred,
flippant slave, or a pendant. But everyone acknowledged him to
be a man ripe, perfect and above flattery, able to
manage his own and other men's affairs. Besides this, he
honored those who were true philosophers, and he did not
(26:30):
reproach those who pretend to be philosophers, Nor yet was
he easily led by them. So easy conversation, he made
himself agreeable without any offensive affectation, and he took a
reasonable care of his body and his health, not as
(26:50):
one who was greatly attached to life, nor out of
regard to a personal appearance, yet in a careless way,
but so that through his own attentions he was very
seldom stood in need of a physician's art, or of medicine,
or external application. He was most ready to give away
(27:11):
without envy, to those who possess any particular faculty, such
as that of eloquence, or knowledge of the law, or
of morals, or of anything else. He gave them his
help that might enjoy reputation according to his desserts. He
(27:33):
always acted comfortably to the institutions of his country, without
showing any affection of doing so. Further, he was not
fond of change or unsteady, but he loved to stay
the same places and to employ himself about the same things.
And after his paraximis of headaches, he came immediately fresh
(27:58):
and vigorous in his usual occupations. His secrets were not
very few, but very rare, and these only about public matters.
That he showed prudence and economy in the exhibition of
public spectacles and the construction of public buildings, his donations
(28:19):
to the people, and such things as he was a
man who looked to what ought to be done, not
for the reputation which a man got by his ax.
He did not take the bath at unreasonable hours, and
he was not fond of building houses, nor curious about
what he ate, nor about the texture and the color
(28:42):
of his clothes, nor about the beauty of his slaves.
His dress came from Laurelum, his villa at the coast,
and from Lanuvium. Generally. We know how he behaved to
the toll collector at to Scalum, who asked his pardon,
(29:04):
And such was all his behavior. There was in him
nothing harsh, nor implacable, nor violent, nor as one may say,
anything carried to the sweating point. But he examined all
(29:26):
things severally severely, as if he had abundance of time,
and without confusion, in an orderly way, vigorously and consistently,
that he might be applied to him, which is recorded
of Socrates. And what he was able both to abstain
(29:47):
from and enjoy those things which many are two weak
to abstain from and cannot enjoy without excess, but to
be strong enough both to bear the one and to
(30:08):
be sober in the other. And it is a mark
of a man who has perfectly and invincible soul such
that he shows in the illnesses of Maximus. So there's
a lot of good stuff in here. You can kind
of see how they said it was like a self
(30:31):
help eat kind of thing. There's a lot of thought here,
especially when he starts talking about governing or ruling and
he is like, you know, basically, the way it comes
off to me is, hey, don't try any stunts to
win people's favor, just to do what you're supposed to do.
Don't overspend money. I think this we should send this
(30:56):
book to Washington just that. I mean, you know, to
(32:02):
the gods, I am indebted for having good grandfathers, good parents,
a good sister, good teachers, good associates, good kinsmen and friends,
nearly everything good. Further, I owe it to the gods
(32:22):
that I was not hurried into any offense against any
of them, though I had a disposition which, if opportunity
had offered, might have led me to do something of
this kind. But through their favor, there's never was such
an occurrence or circumstance as put me on trial. Further,
(32:46):
I am thankful to the gods that I was not
longer brought up with my grandfather's concubine, and that I
preserved the flower of my youth, and that I did
not make proof of my virility before the proper season. Wow,
but even deferred the time that I was subjected to
a ruler and a father who was able to take
(33:08):
away all pride from me, and to bring me to
the knowledge that it is possible for a man to
live in a palace without wanting either guards or embroidered dresses,
or torches or statues and such like show. But that
(33:31):
it is such a man's power to bring himself very
nearly to the fashion of a private person, without being
for this reason either meaner in thought or more remiss
in actions with the respect to the things which must
be done in public interest in a matter that benefits
(33:52):
a ruler. They God, I thank the gods for giving
me such a brother who was able, by his moral
character to rouse me to vigilance over myself, and who
at the same time pleased me by his respect and affection.
That my children have not been stupid or deformed in body.
(34:15):
And that I did not make more proficiency in rhetoric, poetry,
and other studies, and which I should perhaps have been
completely engaged in. And I had seen that I was
making progress them, and it made haste to gosh, I'm
sorry about that those who brought me up in the
(34:37):
station of honor which they seemed to desire, without putting
them off with hope of my doing. And sometime after,
because they were still young, I knew that Apollonius Rusticus maximus,
that I received clear and frequent impressions without living according
(34:58):
to nature? What kind of life that is? So that,
so far as dependent on the gods and their gifts
and help the inspirations, nothing hindered me from forthwith living
according to nature, though I still fall short of it
(35:19):
through my own fault and through not observing the abdmonishments
of the gods. I may almost say they're direct instructions
that my body has held out so long in such
a kind of life that I never touched either Benedicta
(35:40):
or Theotis. And after having fallen into amatory passions, I
was cured. And though I was often out of humor
with Rusticus, I never did anything of which I had
occasion to repent. That, though through sorry, though it was
(36:03):
my mother's fate to die young, she spent the last
years of her life with me. Whenever I wished to
help any man in his need or any occasion, I
was never told that I had not the means of
doing it, and that to myself the same necessity never
happened to receive anything from another. And I have such
(36:28):
a wife, so obedient, and so affectionate, and so simple,
that I had abundance of good masters for my children.
And remedies have been shown to me by dreams, both
others and against blood spitting and giddiness. That's the part
again about his ulcer. I bet right there, and that
(36:51):
when I had an inclination to philosophy, I did not
fall into the hands of any sophist, and that I
did not waste my time on writers of histories or
the resolutions of syllogisms, or occupy myself with the investigation
of appearances and heavens. For all these things require the
helps of God and of fortune, so that that's how
(37:17):
it ends. I'm usually knocked out by that. So I
went and I found this. Since we have a little
bit of time left, I found this summary and analysis
of Meditations book one by course Hero include the link
in the show notes, and I thought we could just
talk this through here the summary. The opening section of
(37:51):
Meditation serves as both an introduction to the philosophical and
ethical orientations of the the author and a dedicate acknowledgments passage.
The first sentence reads from my grandfather Verus, I learned
good morals and the government of my temper. Subsequent paragraphs
(38:13):
include in kind naming his influences and then stating what
he learned from each one of them. The book provides
a kind of symbolic shrine, the which Aurelius pays homage
to his forefathers and mothers, and peers and mentors, teachers,
and those philosophers who contributed to the foundation of his
(38:33):
personal sense of moral, ethical, and reverential honor. The last
paragraph thanks the gods and the givers of all those
good people in his life. By mentioning his sources of inspiration,
Realius reminds himself of his intent to maintain simple, humble,
(38:54):
and respectful attitude over the course of his life. It
is remarkable that, unlike usual acknowledgments of Roman pat patriar,
familiar arrays familiar as really the father of families. I
(39:19):
guess my Latin isn't what it used to be. Here
also Aurelius here also credits his mother as well as
his paternal forefathers, and he mentions his relationship with his
household servants and slaves. Greeks as well as Romans are included,
regardless of social status, in a manner appropriate to Aurelius's
(39:41):
philosophical orientations. Following are some of the names he evokes
as having influenced his life and beliefs. Epictitis number one
with the bullet our boy. Epictetus had a strict moral
underpinning to his formal question and answer approach, not unlike
that of Socrates, who was also illiterate. His attitudes towards
(40:06):
life supported by the idea that individuals, rather than fate,
are responsible for their own actions and that the consequences
resulting from them. Diogenitis was possibly Greek and one of
his tutors Aurelius praised for having provided him with a
(40:28):
good sense of skepticism regarding superstitiousness and miracle workers. Diagenitus
also instilled in his student a high regard for sensible
foundations in education. Bacchius of Fephos was listed as a
Platonist whose lectures Aurelius attended when he was a young man. Benedicta, Theotis,
(40:55):
and Rusticus are presumed to have been household servants during
time time when Aurelius was growing up. The mention of
Benedicta and Theodius in the same phrase discussing amatory passions
lust suggests that these people had been physically attractive and
(41:17):
vulnerable to sexual indulgences of their masters. As for Rusticus,
it seemed that it seems likely that since this person
is mentioned in the same phrase as the other two,
he is not Rusticus the Stoic. Okay, so they're just
(41:38):
sorting out these references here. The name Cado here most
certainly refers to Cado the Younger, a Stoic and Roman
senator from the Republic who opposed Julius Caesar and forty
nine BCE. Cado took his own life rather than submit
to the tyranny of a dictator. Mhm. Marcianis was probably
(42:04):
Lucius Volcius massive Annius, who is a juror who was
also tutored Aurelius in law. God damn, I'm so sorry
for this. I don't know how to get through this.
(42:27):
We'll come back, we'll finish this up and wrap this
episode up. Aurelius could not have known his father, Marcus
(43:49):
Annius Verus, because he died when Aurelius was born or
when he was about three. He likely heard many stories
about him, which he presents in the first book. His
grandfather Verus, who first adopted Aurelius at a young age,
is presumed to have been a Roman council Marcus Annius Verus,
(44:12):
while his great grandfather, Senator and pretor Annius Verus, amassed
a fortune from the production of olive oil of all things.
The four of Virus is also named Lucius seltonis Commandius,
and is Aurelius is adoptive brother and co emperor, and
(44:35):
naming him here Aurelius is being gracious for other accounts
of Commodus did not hold him in particularly high regard.
Given Aurelius's approach to people, it is likely that the
lessons gained from Commodus Commodius Commodus could have been more
(44:55):
cautionary than exemplary. That's interesting because I was like, who
are all these viruses that he's naming? So it's fun
that course hero broke it down. I wonder if that's
the guy from Gladiator was it the dude from Gladiator
(45:18):
named commutists commodus really as states his thanks that he
does not follow either. Oh yeah, I wanted to touch
back to this, the part where he's talking about the
the the different sides of the circus and the different gladiators.
(45:41):
I appreciate that so much as not being a sports guy,
specifically football, baseball, basketball like that. And it's the ironic
part is I've probably been in the building with for
more more live NFL games, probably and National Baseball League
(46:06):
games probably not anyone listening right now. For a large
part of my life, I was a security professional that
worked the two well they used to be just one
stadium here in Pittsburgh. Now they're two, and I've worked
uh there, you know for a long time. I've whipped
(46:27):
more ass in Pittsburgh's football stadium whichever one you're talking about,
than any football player there in history. But the thing
about football games, and I stopped thinking about it eventually.
(46:48):
But when I first started working at three Rivers Stadium
or you know, wherever you know, and at the time,
my best friend was a giant football fan. Not only
a football fan. You played semi pro football, Madden All
All day, all night, all the stuff, and I'm like,
(47:09):
why do you care? Like I never understood, like why
people were so loyal to the teams because the people
that play on these teams aren't from the city that
the teams are in. It reminds me of the Jerry
Seinfeld boo wrong shirt, you're wearing the wrong shirt. I mean, basically,
that's the joke I'm trying to get to, but yeah,
(47:32):
I never got it. So I wanted to touch back
on this in Meditations, where Realius is talking about the
gladiator games and the circuses, really estates his thanks that
he does not follow either Paramilararius or Scatchetarius at the
gladiator fights. These two classes or types of gladiators are
(47:53):
often pitted against each other in arena games. The first
one refers to any gladiator who carry a parma, or
a small round iron framed shield the edge which could
be used to strike a blow that protects the torso.
Scaretarius gladiator carried a much larger and heavier rectangular shield
(48:18):
that protected the upper body as well, and combats between
these two classes of gladiators emphasize speed and agility to
oppose the blocking of the gladius which I know is
a sword, small sword. Sorry, Many more gladiators preferred the
scariest to the parma, reflecting changes in military equipment. Early
(48:42):
Roman foot soldiers used the parma, but switched to the
larger rectangular shields that could be used enclosed ranks to
withstand volleys of arrows. Equestrian warriors or knights mounted on
horseback continued to use the less cumbersome parma. Okay, so
that is a great hit, little history lesson. Thank you
(49:06):
very much, of course, hero, I appreciate that. I, like
I said, will definitely put this link in the show notes.
The Realius closes his book with the sentence among the
Quaddy at the Grana. So this must have been an
editorial change to my copy of the book that I
(49:31):
just got here, because that line appears on the chapter
heading to book two, which we'll be talking about next week.
So let's see what they have to say about this
will be one step ahead for next week. Quaddy at
the Grana. On here, I'm looking at this chapter heading.
(49:52):
It's called book two, written among the Quaddy at the
River Girana. So remember when we read are the introduction
on Britannica, and it was saying that he wrote this
while he was on campaign a bunch of while he
was boring against a bunch of these Germans on the
Danube river. So this suggests a date for the recording
(50:15):
of this book. The Quadi were a small, fiercely combative
Germanic tribe encountered by the Romans in the early century
CE the Common era. Their defeat is represented on the
commemorative column of Marcus Aurelius in Rome, which, according to
the legend, occurred when the Roman legions were much refreshed
(50:38):
by rainwater while the Quadi forces against them were struck
by lightning. The event is recorded having taken place on
June eleventh, one seven to Common Era the modern day
Slovakia as the River Grana refers to the tributary of
the Danube in that area. Look at that, Look all
(51:00):
this context we're getting that, but that just reminds me,
you know, like when you're camping and it's a rainy
day and you're just sitting in your tent looking at
your phone or playing Uno or reading something, maybe you're
writing something that That's what this conjures up to me,
Like it's raining. Marcus is kind of pouting in his tent,
(51:20):
you know, writing like his thank you page for this
great book he's gonna write for him. So I just
see like through the tent, like he's sitting there and
there's like some kind of like slow do do do do,
like kind of like a piano music or something, and
he and he's like this, and it's raining outside and
you hear it, and there there's thunder and there's lightning
(51:42):
because of the thunder and the lightning striking the combative
Germanic tribe, and you know, the sad music is coming.
The tents lit by you know warm you know, candle light.
There's a couple Legionnaires standing sentry outside. I had his tent,
you know, in the in the rain and internal monologue
(52:04):
from Marcus Aurelius, from my grandfather faris, I learned good
morals and the government of my temper Do do do do?
I'm John Towers. This has been the abercast meditations of
Marcus Realius one. I'll see you guys next week. Yeah,
(52:27):
I don't know. So here's the deal. I was working
Super Bowl. I don't remember what year. I do know
that it was in New Audians, so it must have
been the year nine. To eleven happened, So it was
(52:48):
the two thousand and one two thousand and two NFL
season was in it because an eleven h super Bowl,
the NFL schedule got knocked back a week, which meant
that the Super Bowl was going on in the middle
(53:08):
of Marty Garos. So I you couldn't pay me to
stay away from this, So I'm there that year. What
did I do on game Day? I was I was
the security supervisor for the main concourse of the super Dome.
(53:32):
So on game Day I was there like fucking four
o'clock in the morning, getting everything organized, figuring out where
all the posts were, who my people were gonna be,
choosing my team, doing all the all this stuff. But
when Super Bowl takes over a town, they take over
the town for like a month leading up to it. Uh,
you know, there's like photo things and events and all
(53:57):
kinds of shit. So like you're all on the ground
for like two or three weeks leading up to the
leading up to Super Bowl Sunday. So for game Day,
I was gonna be running the main concourse. I didn't
know this yet, they didn't. I didn't find that out
until the actual day of the game. They were handing
out assignments and they were like Towers Main Concourse, and
I was like, holy fuck, I had felt like I
had won some kind of fucking award. Anyhow, I'm like,
(54:21):
why do I get to run the main? This is amazing? Uh,
that's funny. So this is a given evening. It must
have been like right before the game, because I think
he was going. I think he was trying to catch
the halftime rehearsals, you know where you get to watch
(54:42):
a bunch of vagous people pretend like they're singing a song,
their lips singing a song. But I think that he
was trying to get there for the rehearsals, which was interesting.
It was like a fucking gigantic suv, brand new windows
rolled down. It was Sean Puffy Combs was driving, and
(55:05):
some other dude that he was always in videos with
was in the passenger seat, and I was in uniform,
which I guess is why they thought that they could
ask me or whatever, because I doubt that they would
just roll up on the side of the road with
and just ask anybody. I don't know the answer to that.
It's still kind of like, I don't know why why
they did this. But they were like, hey, where's the
(55:26):
Superdome at? And I didn't act like I knew. I
was really good at that when I ran into famous people,
especially if I didn't give a fuck about them, which
was almost everybody. There's only like a handful of people
where I'm like, oh my god, I'm about to mark
out on this guy. Anyhow, where from where I was
standing outside the Media Center and where he was parked
right next to me, facing me, you know, side passenger
(55:48):
window to me, you could see the fucking super Dome.
This's right down the fucking street. It was gigantic, and
I'm like, you're trying to figure out where to get
to the super Dome and I kind of pointed at
it like duh, and they were like, yeah, you know,
we don't. Uh yeah, we're looking at how to get
to the Superdome. And I'm like just looking at it.
I'm like, Okay, well here's what you're gonna do. You're
gonna go down this street. You're gonna and I gave
(56:10):
him directions on how to get back on the highway
going out, going outbound, and I was telling my friends
about it, and they were like, dude, you did not
give Sean Puffy combs the wrong directions, and I did,
motherfucker I did. They didn't believe he was there. They
(56:31):
didn't believe it was him. What, I don't care. And
they were like, why did you do that? And I
was like because, And they're asking me why why? And
I said because in nineteen ninety nine or nineteen ninety eight, Well,
(56:52):
I can't remember, but the song is so unimpressive probably,
you know. And that's a weird thing with rap music
is that unless it's super special, it's dated. Like there's
no such thing as like classic rap radio stations, you
know what I mean? Anyhow, so, any whatever, this is
(57:13):
why I did it. Injured civil defense stations are being
set up throughout the island of Manhattan since the World
Traits enter bombing hundreds of thousands. He lifted so much
of Kashmir led Zeppelin Kashmir and put it into this
fucking retarded rap song about Godzilla. This is why I
(57:36):
fuck puff Natio.
Speaker 4 (58:11):
Traveling all right, Well, then you justine do pup days
(58:52):
and you get you on the highway and go on
the opposite day and then you're climbing Superdome right away.
Speaker 2 (58:57):
Bro Oh dude, he just turned to a bunch of
(59:36):
birds and went to heaven. I can't take it. It
offends I don't know which offends worse. I don't know
if it offends well my taste of music obviously my
reverence for led Zeppelin, or if it offends my reverence
(01:00:07):
for fucking Godzilla more. I I don't know how. I
don't know what more A fucking offended by anyhow enough
of this. I feel like we went in a fucking overtime.
I'm John Towers. This has been the Ambercast and Sean
have fun in prison, and dear listeners, I'll see you
(01:00:28):
next week and we'll get into a book two of
Marcus Aurelius's meditations. You gotta get that oil.
Speaker 3 (01:00:41):
Are you interested in the occult history, conspiracy and violence?
Learn more at abercast dot com and visit the storefront
for tarot cards.
Speaker 2 (01:00:54):
Merch and books.
Speaker 3 (01:00:58):
Support the show.
Speaker 1 (01:01:00):
Get access to the show at subscribe star dot com.
Speaker 2 (01:02:01):
A minute, I wanna quit it. I wanna jam. Don't jack, Jack,
don't mind me cool?
Speaker 3 (01:02:50):
Turn me up? Con Cloud, Yeah.
Speaker 4 (01:03:03):
You come on, you up, can't go, can't call your right,
you're just we ma, You're class.
Speaker 2 (01:03:16):
Call your heads, you know a b town home.
Speaker 3 (01:03:22):
And lord.
Speaker 2 (01:03:25):
Trying to do. Where are then you go back and
make up?
Speaker 3 (01:03:29):
Where can he be?
Speaker 2 (01:03:30):
Try around? Way you down? You guys got you white
baby braid. Tell me any time good you know with you,
Come with me, Come with me, Come with me, Come
with me, Come with me. I'm gonna tell you with
(01:03:54):
me to fight.
Speaker 3 (01:03:59):
Man.
Speaker 2 (01:04:01):
No, why Joy came to Jam.
Speaker 4 (01:04:05):
Don't surprise to.
Speaker 3 (01:04:10):
Joy that uh
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce
Football’s funniest family duo — Jason Kelce of the Philadelphia Eagles and Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs — team up to provide next-level access to life in the league as it unfolds. The two brothers and Super Bowl champions drop weekly insights about the weekly slate of games and share their INSIDE perspectives on trending NFL news and sports headlines. They also endlessly rag on each other as brothers do, chat the latest in pop culture and welcome some very popular and well-known friends to chat with them. Check out new episodes every Wednesday. Follow New Heights on the Wondery App, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to new episodes early and ad-free, and get exclusive content on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. And join our new membership for a unique fan experience by going to the New Heights YouTube channel now!
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.