Who Can You Adopt?

One of the most remarkable traditions of ancient Rome—and one for which we have no real modern analog—was the tradition of wealthy, successful families adopting and raising young men (sometimes women) to be their heir. Scipio Aemilianus, one of the early patrons of Stoicism, for instance, was adopted into the famous Scipio family, while his elder brother Quintus was adopted by the Fabii family, an equally grand legacy. Seneca was not adopted (nor did he adopt anyone), but his brother Novatus was adopted by Lucius Junius Gallio, an admired rhetorician, and eventually changed his name accordingly. You might be familiar with it, in fact, because Gallio—Seneca’s brother—appears in the Bible, having fairly adjudicated a legal case against the apostle Paul. Marcus Aurelius himself underwent a similar process when Hadrian (adopted by Trajan) adopted Antoninus who in turn adopted Marcus Aurelius. The point of today’s email is not to tell you to rush out and sign up to be a foster parent—although it would be wonderful if more people did this—but to suggest a more modern analogy. The process of choosing a promising young person, mentoring them, guiding their ascent into public life, looking out for them, helping pass along some of the advantages and wisdom you have accumulated—this is a timeless idea. It makes rational sense why fathers and mothers do this for their own children (and grandchildren) but it is truly beautiful when strangers do it for each other. When we help others get ahead not because they are our blood, but because we see something in them, or simply because we are in the privileged position of having such benefits to share. Remember, the Stoics believed that we were all in this thing together. That we were all part of the same hive, that we were all serving the same great cause—be it the empire, the nation, the human race—and therefore we are obligated to help others. To lend a hand. To adopt. To advocate for. To cultivate. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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  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. Who can you adopt? One of the most remarkable traditions of ancient Rome, and one for which we have no real modern analog, was the tradition of wealthy, successful families adopting and raising young men, sometimes women, to be their heir. CPO, one of the early patrons of Stoicism,

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  for instance, was adopted into the famous CPO family, while his elder brother Quintus was adopted by the Fabi family, an equally grand legacy. Seneca was not adopted, nor did he adopt anyone, but his brother Novatus was adopted by Lucius Junius Gallio, an admired writer, and eventually changed his name accordingly. You might be familiar with it, in fact, because Gallio, Seneca's brother, appears in the Bible, having fairly adjudicated a legal case against the apostle Paul. Marcus Aurelius himself underwent a similar process when Hadrian, adopted by Trajan, adopted Antoninus, who in turn adopted Marcus Aurelius.

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  The point of today's email is not to tell you to rush out and sign up to be a foster parent, although it would be wonderful if more people did this, but to suggest a more modern analogy. The process of choosing a successful young person, mentoring them, guiding their ascent into public life, looking out for them, helping pass along some of the advantages and wisdom you have accumulated, this is a timeless idea. It makes rational sense why fathers and mothers do this for their own children and grandchildren, but it is truly beautiful when strangers do it for each other. When we help others get ahead... Not because they are our blood, but because we see something in them,

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  or simply because we are in the privileged position of having such benefits to share. Remember, the Stoics believed that we were all in this thing together, that we were all part of the same hive, that we were all serving the same great cause, be it the empire, the nation, the human race. And therefore, we are obligated to help others, to lend a hand, to adopt, to advocate for, to cultivate. Hey, thanks for listening to the Daily Stoic Podcast. You can sign up to get our daily email at dailystoic.com/email. I also encourage you, if you want to take your practice of Stoicism to the next level, to sign up for Daily Stoic Life, which is our members-only program. It's got all sorts of awesome benefits.

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  You can check that out at dailystoiclife.com.