Marcus Aurelius: The Philosopher Emperor
The Ancients19 Loka 2025

Marcus Aurelius: The Philosopher Emperor

He's known as Rome’s philosopher-emperor and faced plague, rebellion and war in the East. Yet Marcus Aurelius ruled with a pen as much as a sword, finding peace in philosophy which still inspires the world today.


In this episode of The Ancients, Tristan Hughes is joined by Professor William Stephens to uncover the life, legacy, and stoic philosophy of Marcus Aurelius. From his rise to emperor at the height of Rome’s power to his struggles with plague, rebellion, and invasion, they unpack how this philosopher-king embodied the ideals of Stoicism while leading through crisis and ask what Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations can tell us about duty, resilience, and the mind of Rome’s most thoughtful ruler?


MORE

Commodus: The Gladiator Emperor

Pax Romana


Presented by Tristan Hughes. Audio editor is Tim Arstall, the producer is Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds

The Ancients is a History Hit podcast.


Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.


You can take part in our listener survey here:

https://uk.surveymonkey.com/r/6FFT7MK

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jaksot(596)

King Herod

King Herod

Thanks largely to his feature in the Gospel of Matthew, King Herod ‘the Great’ of Judaea is one of the most infamous figures from the whole of history. So what do we know about this ancient near easte...

19 Joulu 202156min

How to Party Like a Roman

How to Party Like a Roman

Contrary to popular belief, parties in Ancient Rome were not all depraved wine-fuelled orgies. In fact, Roman get-togethers were relatively tame by the standards of today. They often consisted of nobl...

16 Joulu 202145min

Songlines: Australia's Book of Genesis

Songlines: Australia's Book of Genesis

What the Book of Genesis is to the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament, songlines are to Indigenous Australians. Epic tales of desire, pursuit, shape-shifting spirits, strength and family tie...

12 Joulu 202156min

Homosexuality & Ancient Greece

Homosexuality & Ancient Greece

Frederick the Great, Marie Antoinette and Oscar Wilde. Each of them have talked about, or been talked about in terms of, Ancient Greek ideas of homosexual love. From men taking on young apprentices, t...

9 Joulu 202147min

The Bronze Age Burials at Stonehenge

The Bronze Age Burials at Stonehenge

Today we’re talking all about science, Stonehenge and what we know about a massive migration into Britain at the start of the Bronze Age some 4,500 years ago: the Steppe migration. For years the detai...

5 Joulu 202139min

The Origins of Life on Earth

The Origins of Life on Earth

Today we’re going back to the beginning – no Romans, Celts, Egyptians or Macedonians in sight. We’re going much further back, covering billions of years of prehistory as we look at the emergence of li...

2 Joulu 20211h 24min

Vindolanda's 2021 Excavation

Vindolanda's 2021 Excavation

Situated roughly one mile south of Hadrian’s Wall is one of the great jewels of Roman and early medieval archaeology: Vindolanda. Over the past 50 years, annual excavations at this site have revealed ...

28 Marras 202142min

Menka: Village of the Breadfruit Goddess

Menka: Village of the Breadfruit Goddess

It is one of the most remote ancient sites in the world. Situated on the isolated Micronesian island of Kosrae are the ruins of an ancient religious centre called Menka, also known as the Village of t...

25 Marras 20211h 2min

Suosittua kategoriassa Historia

olipa-kerran-otsikko
gogin-ja-janin-maailmanhistoria
mayday-fi
huijarit
totuus-vai-salaliitto
mystista
tsunami
rss-ikiuni
konginkangas
rss-subjektiivinen-todistaja
rss-i-dont-like-mondays-2
rouva-diktaattori
sotaa-ja-historiaa-podi
tiedetta-ja-sirkushuveja-vanhojen-aikojen-podcast
rss-kirkon-ihmeellisimmat-tarinat
rss-peter-peter
romani-podcast
rss-iltanuotiolla
rss-sattuu-sita-suomessakin
rss-kalmakabinetti