Lessons from Great Romans for these troubled times

During my recent travels across Italy, I found myself unexpectedly drawn into the world of three extraordinary Romans - Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, and Cicero.

- BY ABHIK ROY

Although separated by more than a century, their writings share a striking common thread: each confronted periods of political anxiety and uncertainty, and each offered profound insights on how individuals and societies should conduct themselves in troubled times.Their reflections on power, law, virtue, fear, compassion, and the responsibilities of citizenship illuminate not only the world they lived in, but also the dilemmas we face today.

Marcus Aurelius (121-180 CE), the philosopher-king, governed an empire beset by war, plague, and instability. Yet in his private notebook - the Meditations - he repeatedly warned himself against arrogance, cruelty, and the intoxication of absolute power. He urged leaders to act with empathy, reminding himself that anger and division weaken a nation from within. “What harms the hive harms the bee,” he wrote, insisting that a ruler must never create enemies among his own people or stoke fear for political gain. His emphasis on compassion, dignity, and humility stands in stark contrast to modern leaders who weaponize institutions, silence critics, and divide societies by turning citizens against one another. Seneca (4 BCE-65 CE), tutor to Nero and one of Rome’s great Stoic thinkers, wrote eloquently about the shortness of life.