Last night (13/06/24) I gave a talk about Marcus Aurelius, who is well-known for his self-help jottings, 'Meditations', which are based on the principles of Stoic philosophy. A question I have been asked is why did his son, Commodus, the next Emperor, behave in such an opposite way to his father. Marcus was known as a 'good Emperor', who advocated, justice, duty, reason, and virtue but Commodus is notorious for being cruel, impulsive and self-indulgent.
The father-son relationship is complex so it is a difficult question to answer whether you are a psychologist or anthropologist: it may be about individuality, parenting, generational change, the personal relationship between father and son or even genetics.
In Ridley Scott's film 'Gladiator', Joaquin Phoenix plays Commodus as an unhinged sadist. Maybe, but we can only speculate about the historical Commodus. It is a fascinating question which has its relevance today.
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