1. Anger does more harm to us than to the person with whom we’re angry.
2. Humans are essentially social creatures; Nature didn’t intend us to fight but to help each other.
He views this as another dichotomy: either we can educate the other person and change their opinions or we can’t. If we can teach them a better way, then we should do so; if not, we should accept that fact, without anger. Marcus therefore shows great consideration for the person with whom he’s angry, and he thinks about tactful ways in which they might be reconciled. Did he learn this from the way Rusticus and others spoke to him, correcting his own behavior, when he was a young man? 10. IT’S MADNESS TO EXPECT OTHERS TO BE PERFECT
Marcus describes these first nine strategies as gifts from Apollo’s Muses, which he says we should take to heart. He adds one more piece of advice from the Leader of the Muses himself: to expect bad people not to do bad things is madness because that is wishing for the impossible. Moreover, to accept their wrongdoing toward others while expecting them never to wrong you is both inconsiderate and foolish.
This final strategy is about Stoic determinism: the wise man who views the world rationally is never surprised by anything in life. It’s another standard type of Stoic argument. We already know that there are both good men and bad men in the world. Bad men are bound to do bad things. Therefore, it would be irrational to expect otherwise. “To crave impossibilities is insanity, but it is impossible for the wicked to act otherwise.” Wishing bad men never to do wrong is as foolish as wishing that babies would never cry and becoming angry with them when they do.21 We can easily imagine that Marcus had prepared for Cassius’s betrayal in this way. The Senate was shocked and caught off guard, and their hasty reaction just made full civil war more likely. Marcus, by contrast, responded calmly and confidently, as if he expected these things to happen in life.
People say “I can’t believe this!” when they’re upset, but usually they’re describing things that are very common in life, such as betrayal, deceit, or insults. The Stoics realized that in this sense surprise is not entirely authentic and needlessly exaggerates our emotional reaction. By contrast, someone with a more philosophical attitude might say, “That’s no surprise, these things are bound to happen—c’est la vie.” Marcus tells himself, “Everything that happens is as usual and familiar as the rose in spring and the fruit in summer,” including slander and treachery. When we’re surprised that a bad person acts badly, then we’re to blame for expecting the impossible.22 We can easily anticipate the sort of wrongs people do, at least in general terms, but when they actually happen, we behave as if it’s shocking. You should learn to immediately ask yourself this rhetorical question when you’re offended by someone’s shameless behavior: “Could it be that no obnoxious people exist in the world?” Of course not. So remember not to demand the impossible, and apply this technique to all forms of wrongdoing. Marcus believes that you will be able to show kindness toward others if you set aside feigned shock and surprise and adopt a more philosophical attitude to vice.
Marcus used these ten gifts from Apollo to cope with anger. Throughout The Meditations he returns again and again to selections from the list:
It is peculiar to man to love even those who do wrong. And this happens, if when they do wrong it occurs to you that they are kinsmen, and that they do wrong through ignorance and unintentionally, and that soon both of you will die; and above all, that the wrongdoer has done you no harm, for he has not made [the character of your mind] worse than it was before.23
Those are clearly tactics derived from the ten gifts of Apollo, as are the following:
With what are you discontented? The wickedness of men? Take this conclusion to heart, that rational creatures have been made for one another; that forbearance is part of justice; that wrongdoing is involuntary; and think how many before now, after passing their lives in implacable enmity, suspicion, hatred, and at daggers drawn with one another, have been laid out and burnt to ashes—think of this, I say, and at last stop your fretting.24
However, the strategy Marcus leans on most heavily when coping with anger is the first gift from Apollo and his Muses: he reminds himself to view others as his kinsmen, brothers, or sisters, and that Nature meant for people to work together. We should view even our enemies as part of our family. It’s our duty to learn how to live in harmony with them so that our life can go smoothly, even if they try to oppose us.
After listing the ten Gifts from Apollo, though, Marcus also reminds himself to have this precept at hand when he senses he might lose his temper: “To be angry is not manly but rather a mild and gentle disposition is more manly because it is more human.” This is striking because, as we’ve seen, Cassius reputedly insulted him by calling him a “philosophical old woman.” He meant to insinuate that Marcus was weak. However, Marcus believed that in reality someone who is capable of exercising gentleness and kindness in the face of provocation is stronger and more courageous than one who gives way to their anger, as Cassius was prone to do. Whereas people like Cassius often mistake this passionate anger for strength, the Stoics viewed it as very much a sign of weakness. This brings us back to our story: What was the outcome of the civil war between Cassius the hawk and Marcus the dove? THE MARCH SOUTHEAST AND CASSIUS’S DEATH
By means of daily meditations such as these, Marcus has maintained his famous composure in the face of Cassius’s rebellion. Philosophy has taught him to calmly anticipate events such as the appearance of a would-be usurper. Now, as a Stoic, it is time for him to reconcile acceptance with action as he marches toward another war far from home. The troops have gradually come to view him as blessed and divine. They’re genuinely humbled by the calm demeanor with which he faces adversity—even this, the greatest in a series of betrayals.
Rome is in a state of hysteria following the news of Cassius’s sedition, made worse by the Senate’s knee-jerk response. The people are terrified that Cassius will invade in Marcus’s absence and sack the whole city in revenge. One of Marcus’s senior officers on the northern frontier, Marcus Valerius Maximianus, has already been sent racing ahead to engage Cassius’s legions in Syria with a cavalry regiment twenty thousand strong. Marcus has also sent the distinguished military commander Vettius Sabinianus with a detachment from Pannonia to protect the city of Rome in case the enemy legions advance through Italy.
Cassius seems to be in a strong position at first. With the Syrian legions under his command and Egypt, the breadbasket of the empire, joining his cause, others have started to rally behind him. However, support for his rebellion fails to spread north of Syria. The legions of Cappadocia and Bithynia both remain fiercely loyal to Marcus Aurelius. Marcus has also retained the overall support of the Roman Senate. Cassius is left commanding seven legions: three in Syria, two in Roman Judaea, one in Arabia, and one in Egypt. However, they amount to less than a third of the troops still under Marcus’s command throughout the rest of the empire. Moreover, Marcus’s northern legions are formidable and highly disciplined veterans, whereas the legions under Cassius are still notoriously weak despite his draconian attempts to enforce discipline.