Marcus Aurelius is best known as one of the many Emperors of Rome. But he’s also well known by people who practice stoicism.
While his anger issues aren’t what people remember about Aurelius, much of what we know about him touches on the possibility that he had anger issues.
And he left some good information about how he dealt with anger for us. Here’s some more information about Marcus Aurelius and how we can use what he left for us to help us deal with anger.
Who Was Marcus Aurelius?
Marcus Aurelius was born in 121 and died in 180. In 161 he took over as the Emperor of the Roman Empire after the former Emperor Hadrian died.
If you know much about history during the time of his life, you know that the first choice for the next Emperor was the firstborn son. But Aurelius wasn’t the firstborn son of Hadrian. In fact, he wasn’t even a blood-related son.
Marcus had a son named Commodus who took over as Emperor when he died.
Many people admire Aurelius because he was the most powerful man in the world during his rule. Yet he attempted to lead his life in a wise, just, and virtuous way. While he wasn’t perfect, his quest to live this way is far different from most other supreme rulers in history.
Why People Still Talk about Him Today
Why do people still talk about someone who died almost 2,000 years ago today? While some historians talk about him because he was an Emperor of the Roman Empire, this isn’t the main reason why Marcus is still a popular figure.
He wrote a book called Meditations. And the book is one of the core texts used by stoics today. The truth is he didn’t set out to write a book. He kept a journal, which survived, and was later translated into what is called the book Meditations today.
If it weren’t for the stoics following his teachings, Aurelius wouldn’t be as well known or popular today.
During his life, Marcus communicated with Marcus Cornelius Fronto, and the letters still exist. Between the book Aurelius wrote and these letters, we know a lot about his life and beliefs, and code of conduct.
The English are especially fond of the classics like Meditations.
What Aurelius Teaches about Anger
Aurelius wrote that he often became angry with Junius Rusticus. Rusticus was his mentor.
Marcus studied stoicism throughout his adult life and used it to help him deal with anger. In fact, some stoics say anger is a temporary madness.
Aurelius teaches anger does more harm than good by doing damage to your moral character. Expecting others to be perfect is a fool’s errand because none of us is perfect.
What causes anger? It’s not the actions of other people that truly cause anger. It’s how we judge their actions, which also tells us a lot about how we judge ourselves, which creates anger. When we learn how to judge ourselves fairly, we have a better opportunity to judge others correctly.
At the heart of the matter is developing a deeper understanding of ourselves so we don’t let the actions of others anger us. It’s easy to say you’re trying to live this way, but it’s a tall task. Only through constant effort and focus can any of us learn to control our anger.
Does Anger Ever Help You?
While Marcus didn’t address this directly in the information we have from his life, the core of the anger issue is this.
Does anger ever help you?
When you get angry, do you think clearer? Do you make good decisions when you’re angry? Is it healthy to be angry?
A few people can channel anger when they want to accomplish a hard task. But not everyone can do this. And I’m not sure it’s the best plan.
You can try channeling anger into productivity, but be careful. You might find that anger isn’t really helping you.
Even if you learn how to use anger, learning how to control your anger is better than giving in to anger.
Conclusion
Marcus Aurelius clearly had some anger issues. But it’s also clear he learned how to control his anger.
How can you use the information Marcus left behind for your anger? Are you willing to work on your anger issues so you can live a better life?
If you’re interested in learning more about Stoicism like Marcus tried to do, check out how to be a stoic. I warn you, it’s not for everyone. But it resonates with some people. Even gamblers seems to find use for Stoic ideas.
