The event takes place on Sunday, October 11, and only 20 places are available. Reserve your ticket through TicketScene.

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How to Think Like a Roman Emperor

In conversation with Donald Robertson

Sunday, October 11, 2026
Indigo Pointe-Claire (map)
Doors open: 2:30 p.m.
Talk and Q&A: 3:00–4:00 p.m.

Tickets: $5, or $30 including a signed paperback copy of How to Think Like a Roman Emperor

Only 20 places available

What can the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius teach us about coping with adversity, managing difficult emotions, and living with greater purpose?

In this talk, I’ll explore some of the central ideas in How to Think Like a Roman Emperor and explain how ancient Stoic philosophy anticipated several techniques used in modern cognitive-behavioural therapy. We’ll look at practical ways to apply these ideas in everyday life, followed by an audience Q&A and book signing.

The event is suitable both for readers who are new to Stoicism and for those already familiar with the philosophy. Reserve your place through TicketScene.

Reserve your Place

On the trip from Laguna Beach, my Uber driver was a great guy, who was really into yoga and philosophy. I’d already been talking nonstop for nearly two hours when I arrived at Andre’s place, so you can probably hear by the end my voice is starting to get a little tired! But I wouldn’t change anything about it. It was a great day and we had a fantastic conversation. Enjoy!

The modern word “stoicism” (lowercase) means someone who has a stiff upper-lip, or mor…

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The real Marcus was more interesting than that. He experienced grief, wept, and worried. He struggled with anger, fear, illness, bereavement, war, plague, political intrigue, and the moral burden of ruling th…

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In this episode, I talk to award-winning historian, and novelist, Dr. Adrian Goldsworthy. He is the author of numerous books on ancient history, especially the Romans, and we’ll be discussing his latest one, which came out in May, Athens and Sparta: The Rivalry that Shaped Ancient Greece.

Highlights

• Do you think readers will perceive any parallels between ancient Athenian politics and recent history?

• What are our sources like for this period? How biased are they? What’s missing?

• How Athenian were the Spartans and how Spartan were the Athenians?

• How did Athens and Sparta become rival powers? What set the stage for the Peloponnesian War?

• What can we learn about the strengths and weaknesses of democracy from the Athenians?

• What was the status of slaves and women in Athens and Sparta?

• What can we learn about how alliances work, or don’t work?

• What role did ancient “technological” advantage play in the outcome of the war?

• What would have happened if the Athenians had stuck to the military policies of Pericles?

• Was Sparta a bit of a myth? How distorted is the popular image of the Spartans today?

• If the Athenians had conquered Sicily and defeated Sparta, would they have invaded Persia? (What caused the Sicilian disaster?)

Links

• Adrian Goldsworthy’s Amazon author profile

• Athens and Sparta on Amazon

I talk with Prof. Massimo Pigliucci about Stoicism, Cicero, and his forthcoming book How to be a (Happy) Skeptic.

Thank you , , , , , and many others for tuning into my live video with !

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In a recent article, I told the story of how a forgotten form of psychotherapy from the Second World War was used by military psychiatrist Douglas M. Kelley to treat American soldiers suffering from combat stress, now called PTSD. (Link at the bottom of this page.) This short follow-up article focuses on how you can apply the same ideas today for self…

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Later today, 15th of June, at 12pm eastern time, I’ll be chatting with Massimo Pigliucci about skepticism and his forthcoming book How to Be a (Happy) Skeptic: The Power of Doubt in a Meaningful Life–Lessons from Cicero’s Philosophy.

Everyone is welcome. You’ll be able to join the live stream on Substack using this link, and a recording will be sent out afterwards.

View the Live Stream

In How to Be a (Happy) Skeptic, philosopher Massimo Pigliucci reveals the way to a meaningful, happy life through the power of curiosity and doubt with the ancient Roman public advocate, orator, statesman, and thinker Marcus Tullius Cicero as his guide. Cicero lived in turbulent times at the end of the Roman Republic. Though he mostly lived as a Stoic, Cicero also followed Plato’s Skeptical Academy, believing a spirit of inquiry and an open-minded attitude were the secrets to living well.

One of the most robust findings in the field of psychotherapy research is that people can overcome anxiety by systematically facing what they have been avoiding. Therapists call this exposure therapy. It has been a central component of behaviour therapy, and cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) since the 1950s. Exposure involves deliberately facing fe…

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If you undertake a role which is beyond your powers, you both disgrace yourself in that one, and at the same time neglect the role which you might have filled with success.

Commentary

We all adopt different roles in life, which depend on our ability to influence external events, in various ways. Epictetus seems to mean that if we’re going to undertake roles where we’re expected to manage people or events appropriately then we should first be certain that this is within our power. Otherwise, it’s as though we’re making a promise that we don’t know if we can keep.

I don’t think he’s talking about external success so much as fulfilling a role in accord with wisdom and virtue. He presumably means that we disgrace ourselves when we undertake tasks beyond our power because fear or temptation lead us astray. For example, some people would have the wisdom and temperance to endure political office without being corrupted, whereas others would find it stressful and would be tempted to abandon their principles. How do we know that it is within our power to fulfil a role without being corrupted? We can only learn this through self-observation and experience.

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