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323 BC. The death of Alexander the Great marked the end of the Classical era of Ancient Greece
and the beginning of the Hellenistic period.
The many socio-political changes and subsequent uncertainties of this period
led to the emergence of new schools of thought concerned with the main question;
“how do I get a grip on my life?”
This search for order can lead you towards the grander scale; to nature and the cosmos,
or it can lead you inwards, into the soul.
Interestingly; in the Hellenistic philosophies you’ll find a combination of both.
Among the most popular of these; the Stoa.
Your family will meet you in the afterlife.
The Stoic Philosophy of Gladiator - Based on the writings by Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus & Seneca
VI. After Hardship
Does the light of the lamp shine without losing its splendor until it is extinguished;
and shall the truth which is in thee and justice and temperance be extinguished before thy death?
Don't die.
What happens, has happened, and while it is not within our power to change what has happened,
as that is in the hands of nature, it is within our power to change our disposition,
and endure what life throws at us.
On the occasion of every accident that befalls you,
remember to turn to yourself and inquire what power you have for turning it to use.
Ultimately, we’re all dead men.
Sadly, we cannot choose how, but we can decide how we meet that end
in order that we are remembered as men.
Note that to be a wise stoic does not mean to eliminate or dishonor the emotions,
it means that you feel what is hurting you, that you feel your troubles, but you work to overcome them.
For ultimately,
Nothing happens to anyone that he is not fitted by nature to bear.
VII. On External Validation
All I’ve ever wanted was to live up to you,
Caesar.
Father.
Consider how often we search for our self-worth in the minds of others.
How often we feel it is within our power to demand external validation.
I will give the people a vision of Rome and they’ll love me for it.
But he who relies on this will never be content.
For, he who loves fame considers another man’s activity to be his own good.
And as long as he depends on that which is not naturally his own, he will live in fear.
For of necessity thou must be envious, jealous, and suspicious of those who can take away those things,
and plot against those who have that which is valued by thee;
and besides, he must often find fault with the gods.
By placing your happiness outside of the limits of your own soul and reason,
by enslaving yourself to the wills of others, even an emperor can believe himself to be a prisoner.
The whole thing is like some crazed nightmare.
And thus, always keep in mind how,
If someone tried to take control of your body and make you a slave, you would fight for freedom.
Yet how easily you hand over your mind to anyone who insults you.
When you dwell on their words and let them dominate your thoughts, you make them your master.
VIII. What to do?
Gladiators, I salute you.
What to do when you are put in chains?
How to act virtuously when your freedom is restricted or injustice is done towards you?
Remember first that,
The best way of avenging thyself is not to become like the wrong doer.
Others may decide the circumstances we find ourselves in, but our mind remains our own.
As long as we have our will, we can be free.
Ancestors I honor you. I will try to live with the dignity you have taught me.
Show those qualities then which are altogether in thy power, sincerity, gravity, endurance of labour,
aversion to pleasure, contentment with thy portion and with few things, benevolence,
frankness, no love of superfluity, freedom from trifling, magnanimity.
Dost thou not see how many qualities thou art immediately able to exhibit,
in which there is no excuse of natural incapacity and unfitness.
Free yourself from the pain of insults and see how he who aimed to harm you
had only done harm to himself.
Free yourself from the despair of a hopeless situation
and see that your fate has not been as decided as you had feared.
Free yourself from all your imagined constraints
and see how every trial becomes an opportunity for virtue and purposeful action.
Today I saw a slave become more powerful than the emperor of Rome.
And so, knowing the freedom that is within you at all times, you can be put in chains, and respond,
What are you talking about? Me in chains?
You may fetter my leg but my will, not even Zeus himself can overpower.
IX. On Friendship
That a man relies on his own reason and fortitude for his happiness doesn’t mean that he is to be alone,
that he needs not surround himself with companions and friends.
In the same way as there exists in man a distaste for solitude and a craving for society,
so too with this there is something inherent in it that stimulates us into seeking friendships.
Great pleasure is to be found not only in keeping up and old and established friendship
but also in beginning and building up a new one.
True friendship is to trust someone as you trust yourself.
This takes a bit of judgement, for while it is easy to find a friend in a time of prosperity,
not so easy is to find one in the face of adversity.
And let this guide your own actions as well,
do not seek and maintain friendships for their utility,
do not hold a friend because he is temporarily useful.
Remember that, if you want a true friend, then you must be one yourself.
Only then can you surround yourself with kindred spirits, and delight in their virtues.
Think about, for instance, the activity of one, and the modesty of another,
and the liberality of a third, and some other good quality of a fourth.
Nothing delights so much as the examples of the virtues,
when they are exhibited in the morals of those who live with us.
X. Echoes in Eternity
We mortals are but shadows and dust.
Shadows and dust Maximus!
If ultimately we are but shadows and dust, what is to be our legacy?
What drives us to even create one at all?
Remind yourself once again that to live with the knowledge of the oblivion that awaits you
does not mean to live without purpose.
First, do nothing inconsiderately, nor without a purpose.
Second, make thy acts refer to nothing else than to a social end.
Happy is the man who can make others better, not merely when he is in their company,
but even when he is in their thoughts.
Now we are free.
I will see you again.
Let your virtue inspire others to be virtuous as well,
and trust that their virtue will inspire even more.
Then, even though your life passes and your memory fades into history,
you can rest knowing the goodness you gave voice to echoes in eternity.
There was a dream that was Rome.
It shall be realized.
Think continually how many heroes are dead after killing thousands;
and how many tyrants who have used their power over men’s lives
with terrible insolence as if they were immortal;
and how many cities are entirely dead, so to speak.
Add to the reckoning all whom thou hast known, one after another.
One man after burying another has been laid out dead, and another buries him;
and all this in a short time.
Pass then through this little space of time conformably to nature,
and end thy journey in content,
just as an olive falls off when it is ripe, blessing nature who produced it,
and thanking the tree on which it grew.
After exploring the basics of stoicism in my video on The Shawshank Redemption,
I was really happy to return to this subject for a new video on Gladiator.
What I probably loved most about connecting ancient philosophy to contemporary cinema
is that it reminded me how great films carry with them timeless ideas.
If you want to find more of these great vessels for the wisdoms of old,
be sure to check out MUBI.
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