How Marcus Aurelius Would Have Responded To COVID-19

This is the end of the world!! If you ever listen to any news outlet, which their whole existence relies on keeping you glued to your TVs. You will have the sense that this is the end of the world as we know it. They claim that this pandemic will radically change human interactions and even human existence on this earth. But this has happened before, many times, and it will most probably happen again. The thing that we need right now is not toilet papers, what we need are leaders bigger than life. The Antonine plague, as it came to be called, killed more than 5 million in the Roman empire. The pandemic lasted 14 years. But Rome had the emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus.

Symptoms were first reported from the East, possibly as far as China. This pestilence spiraled east, west, north, and south. Crossing borders, then oceans as it overwhelmed the world. People panicked, doctors were baffled, government officials dwindled and failed. Travel was delayed or rerouted or aborted altogether. Festivals, gatherings, sporting events, all canceled. The economy plunged and bodies piled up. It is eerily similar to COVID-19.

Primarily symptoms were flu-like nothing to be afraid of; fever, headache, fatigue, but then it escalated quickly black rash, coughing up blood. Strong men and women shivered from fear, the symptoms were so gruesome that they were grateful that they only had up to 5 days to live. The most prosperous empire at the time looked like a battlefield filled with dead bodies.

All of Rome looked to one man for guidance, they all looked to their emperor Marcus Aurelias and asked him, “what should we do?”. The philosopher-king that was famous for his stoicism wrote: “ bear in minds constantly that all of this has happened before .. and all will happen again, the same plot from beginning to end”.

Sometimes in the midst of the news, the daily shows, and youtube videos, we forget that all of this happened before, and life went on. The most widely used coping strategy with death is denial, we live in denial from the fact that we all die eventually. Stoicism teaches us to be brave enough to confront death “Memento Mori”, and to accept that a lot of what happens is out of our control. We are not responsible for the collapse of the economy, or the death of our loved one, and even our own death. It is important that we wash our hands, and wear masks in public. But in the end, we could not control which life the virus would take.

The great emperor stood bravely, even when the richest have fled Rome. Marcus had no ego, he surrounded himself with doctors and scientists, he empowered people to make decisions. He had to deal with the biggest economic crisis, debts from the people to the government had been canceled. Big fundraising campaigns swept all of Rome, all of the upper class had to pay. But Marcus led by example, he sold everything that he and his family-owned, from gold goblets to silk robes and chandeliers, even his wife's jewelry.

He knew that in times of crisis you need all people to trust the government or things will get even worse, he audited his own officials. He showed up, he never showed fear or injustice, he gave speeches and attended funerals, always reassuring people. He was feared by a few loved by many. He was Churchill during the Blitz inspiring everyone to keep calm, he was Franklin D. Roosevelt during the world war 2, “The only thing that we have to fear is fear itself”.

Marcus was strong but that did not mean that he did not feel for others, there is a famous story of him breaking down crying when he heard someone say “blessed are those who have died in the plague”.

He ordered a lockdown all over Rome but kept his doors open. He led Rome through the crisis but eventually, he got ill, and he knew that this was the end for him. He sent for 5 of his most trusted friends to plan for a peaceful transition of power to his son. Even on his deathbed, he was the strongest person in Rome, he dreaded the idea that people were heartbroken because of his condition and he urged them to focus on the task at hand.

"Death smiles at us all, but all a man can do is smile back" - Marcus Aurelius 

This pandemic is just a reminder that we are mortals, and no president, no country, no company, no cooperation is safe. Marcus lived by reminding himself that all will be gone, the words “Memento Mori” and “Amor Fati” never escaped his mind and he acted accordingly.

“Do not act as if you were going to live ten thousand years. Death hangs over you. While you live, while it is in your power, be good.” ― Marcus Aurelius

We do have great leaders, we have someone like the prime minister of New Zealand Jacinda that announced she, ministers in her cabinet and public service chief executives would take a 20% pay cut for the next 6 month, she acted fast by putting New Zealand on lockdown, she regularly appears on Facebook live chat, casually dressed, talking with a soft manner, and comforting the people who lost loved ones. She did not declare war on COVID-19 but she urged all people to unite against COVID-19 so they can overcome the pandemic.