Lives of the Stoics: The Art of Living From Zeno to Marcus Aurelius

* There is not room here to discuss the complicated and disappointing life of Commodus, but if you have seen the movie Gladiator, you have a surprisingly accurate picture of the man. Why was Commodus the way he was? No one can say, but the loss of so many brothers and sisters must explain some of it, and certainly much of Marcus and Faustina’s responsibility for it.

* Lentils were then seen as a food eaten only by poor people. Undoubtedly, Crates was attempting to challenge the snobbish identity of Zeno’s upper-class upbringing.

* One thirty-nine-line poem from Cleanthes survives in its entirety. You can see it at https://dailystoic.com/cleanthespoem/.