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Welcome to the Daily Stoke Podcast, where each day we bring you a passage of ancient

wisdom designed to help you find strength, insight, and wisdom every day life.

Each one of these passages is based on the 2000 year old philosophy that has guided some

of history's greatest men and women. For more, you can visit us at DailyStoke.com.

Are you being a good steward? Marcus Aurelius was adopted into an imperial family much larger

than the one defined by his blood relations. By assuming the purple in 160 AD, he became

the last link in a chain of the so-called good emperors, in which we now refer to as

the Pax Romana. 250 years prior to Marcus's ascension, Cato the Younger would be born into

a similar legacy, this one of great Roman statesmen. His great grandfather, Cato the Elder,

made his name fighting for ancestral customs against the modernizing influences of a budding

empire. His father was serving as a Tribune of the Plebes, and a candidate for office when

his ascendant career was cut short by a sudden death. His grandfather did attain that office,

but died in his first year. And Cato came to see himself as a successor to a long line

of protectors of Rome's old ways, the ways of his ancestors against decay and destruction.

These men from Cato the Elder to Marcus, whose lives span more than four centuries, woke

up each day aware of the obligations that their positions placed upon them. They tried to

be good stewards, not to let their ancestors down and to leave Rome better than they found

it. And each of us has been entrusted with something similar, not just in our roles

as citizens, but in whatever responsibilities we have in our work, our businesses, our

families, even the environment. The question we should always be asking ourselves then

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