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Hello Marcus Aurelius, 1-2-1-1-80-A-D, is known as the last of the five good emperors

of Rome and as a model of the philosopher King.

It was a stoic and while on military campaigns it compiled ideas on how best to live his life

and how best to rule.

These became known as his meditations.

They've been treasured ever since as an insight into the mind of a Roman emperor and an

example of how to avoid the corruption of power in turbulent times.

With me from the home, St. Nicholas Marcus Aurelius, Simon Goldhill, Professor of Greek

literature and culture and fellow King's College Cambridge, Angie Hobbs, Professor of

the Public Understanding of Philosophy at the University of Sheffield and Catherine Edwards,

Professor of Classics and Ancient History at Berkbeck University of London.

Catherine Edges, what was it about the Roman Empire in the second century that made

it seem stable?

Well, I think in some ways it's a piece of good fortune that there had been a succession

of emperors who were all relatively sensible and conscientious and all of whom had had

had relatively long reigns.

So the Emperor Trajan reigned for around 20 years, it's followed by Hadron for another 20

...