It’s Better To Share

For Julius Caesar’s grip on power to be complete, he had to eliminate his rivals. So too did Octavius, Caesar’s nephew who succeeded him. Claudius eliminated senators who threatened his reign. Nero, even with the moderating influence of Seneca, violently dispatched his mother and stepbrother. That’s basically the entire history of emperors and kings—an endless parade of heirs getting rid of other potential heirs and anyone who might exert influence on the throne. All this makes what Marcus Aurelius did upon ascending to power all the more remarkable. Because he too had a rival, at least on paper: his stepbrother, Lucius Verus, the biological son of Antoninus Pius. Yet what did Marcus do? What was the first thing he did with the absolute power that we all know corrupts absolutely? He named his brother co-emperor. He willingly ceded half his power and wealth to someone else. Imagine that. Why did he do this? Well, for starters, he had a problem with murdering people just because they might want what he had. But more philosophically, Marcus was wise enough to understand that there was plenty of power to go around—that the job of emperor was really hard and it might actually be better to split the duties with someone else rather than to try to selfishly shoulder the whole burden yourself. It would be wonderful if we could get better at seeing this ourselves. That someone else’s gain is not our loss—in fact, it might actually make our lives easier. That historically, those who try to maintain an exclusive and tyrannical grip on the reigns don’t actually tend to hold them that long. That we are improved by the process of sharing and collaborating and bringing people in (did you notice that there are two authors for The Daily Stoic and The Daily Stoic Journal? Both those books were incalculably improved by Stephen Hanselman’s translations and insights. Sharing works!). It’s lonely to go through life alone, to try to do everything by yourself and for yourself. That approach rarely brings out the best in anyone or anything. So start sharing. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. 📢 Share | ⚙️ Manage Subscription

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:06Ryan Holiday?

  Welcome to The Daily Stoic, where each day we read a short passage designed to help you cultivate the strength, insight, wisdom necessary for living the good life. Each one of these passages is based on the 2,000-year-old philosophy that has guided some of history's greatest men and women. For more, you can visit us at DailyStoic.com.

• 0:29Ryan Holiday?

  It's better to share. For Julius Caesar's grip on power to be complete, he had to eliminate his rivals. So too did Octavius, Caesar's nephew, who succeeded him. Claudius eliminated senators, who threatened his reign. Nero, even with the moderating influence of Seneca, violently dispatched his mother and stepbrother. That's basically the entire history of emperors and kings, an endless parade of heirs getting rid of other potential heirs and anyone who might exert influence on the throne. All this makes what Marcus Aurelius did upon ascending

• 1:10Ryan Holiday?

  to power all the more remarkable, because he too had a rival, at least on paper, his stepbrother, the other son of Antoninus Pius. Yet, what did Marcus do? What was the first thing he did with the absolute power that we all know corrupts absolutely? He named his brother co-emperor. He willingly ceded half his power and wealth to someone else. Imagine that. Why did he do this? Well, for starters, he had a problem with murdering people, just because they might want what he had. But more philosophically, Marcus was wise enough to understand that there was plenty of power to go around, that the

• 1:55Ryan Holiday?

  job of emperor was really hard, and it might actually be better to split the duties with someone else, rather than try to selfishly shoulder the entire burden himself. It would be wonderful if we could get better at seeing this ourselves, that someone else's gain is not our loss. In fact, it might actually make our lives easier, that historically, those who try to maintain an exclusive and tyrannical grip On the reins don't actually tend to hold them very long, that we are improved by the process of sharing and collaborating and bringing people in. Did you notice that there are two authors for The Daily Stoic and The Daily Stoic Journal? Both of these

• 2:40Ryan Holiday?

  books were incalculably improved by Steve Hanselman's translations and insights because sharing works. It's lonely to go through life alone, to try to do everything by yourself and for yourself. And worse, that approach rarely brings out the best in anyone or anything. So start sharing. Please check out the Daily Stoic store where we sell products that we ourselves use that are designed to take these Stoic lessons to the next level. Just go to dailystoic.com/store.