How Often Do You Think About the Roman Empire? If You Work in Publishing, Probably More Than You Realise David Salariya

Power, politics, and the enduring wisdom of Meditations in a world of erased credits and creative struggle

There was a TikTok trend from 2023 where women asked the men in their lives: “How often do you think about the Roman Empire? ” The responses - ranging from “At least once a day” to “Well, I was just thinking about Trajan’s column” - have left many baffled. The joke revolves around the idea that many men frequently think about Roman military strategy, gladiators, aqueducts, Julius Caesar, or empire-building - sometimes without even realising how often.

If theTikTok obsession with the Roman Empire wasn’t proof enough, the success of Tom Holland’s latest bestseller, The Lives of the Caesars, leaves little doubt - we are all still fascinated by Rome. Published in February 25 , this new translation of Suetonius’ Twelve Caesars breathes fresh life into the extraordinary, scandal-ridden world of Rome’s first emperors. It’s a reminder that while empires crumble, their stories endure. Suetonius understood that power is personal - that emperors were not just rulers, but performers, their reigns shaped by ambition, paranoia, and the endless theatre of politics. And perhaps that’s why publishing, in all its modern-day empire-building, feels oddly familiar. The dramas of Rome - the betrayals, the rebranding of legacies, the political manoeuvring -are still being played out today, albeit with fewer togas and more corporate PowerPoint decks. Marcus Aurelius may not have sought the throne, but he understood what it meant to wield power responsibly. If only certain publishing executives had spent more time reading Meditations - or at the very least, the footnotes.

The publishing industry is practically built on imperial principles -power struggles, political backstabbing, and the occasional rewriting of history (sometimes quite literally).

Stoicism in the Boardroom

And if there’s one Roman who might have something useful to say about this, it’s Marcus Aurelius. A reluctant emperor, a Stoic philosopher, and a man who spent much of his reign fending off plagues, betrayals, and endless crises - he sounds eerily like someone who’s sat through a publishing board meeting.

So, what can Meditations teach us about surviving the circus of modern publishing? Let’s take a leaf from his scrolls (or at least, a well-typeset edition of them) and find out.

I’ve struggled with the LinkedIn school of advice for publishing - those chirpy mantras about resilience, leadership, and corporate strategy that seem designed for people who have never had to fight for an invoice to be paid. Publishing, after all, isn’t an ancient Roman battlefield - there are no centurions storming the boardroom, no war elephants crashing through contract negotiations.

But the more I think about it, the more I wonder - is publishing really so different from the power struggles of Ancient Rome...let's take a closer look.

Caesar Invading Britain

Dated 1796

Wars, Betrayals, and Plagues (Welcome to Publishing)

Marcus Aurelius.didn’t seek power, but he bore its weight. He didn’t always win, but he endured.

His philosophy, Stoicism, teaches that while we can’t control external events - the politics of publishing, the erasure of creators, the corporate obsession with “rebranding” other people’s work - we can control how we respond.

So let’s take a leaf from the Meditations (or at least, a nicely typeset edition of it) and see what lessons Marcus Aurelius might have for the publishing world today.

Meditations

In Meditations, Marcus Aurelius didn’t write for an audience. He wrote to remind himself how to stay principled in a world driven by ambition and self-interest

This book was not intended to advocate for Stoicism. It was a collection of personal reflections meant solely for his own contemplation in daily life. He neither shared it with others nor published it, and he requested it be destroyed after his death. However as we are reading it - this obviously didn't happen..

In the cut-and-thrust of publishing - where contracts, credits, and careers can be rewritten with the drop of a well-placed press release - his wisdom is more relevant than ever.

His message? Stay steady. Keep your integrity. Let actions, not outrage, define you. Because whether it’s the Senate of Rome or a boardroom in London, the real battle is always within.

https://classics.mit.edu/Antoninus/meditations.html

On Power and Leadership

“Do not waste what remains of your life in speculating about others, unless it is for some mutual benefit. It is no part of a man’s business to think of what is in his neighbour’s soul, when he does not look into his own.” (Meditations, IV.18)

Translation: Congratulations, you’ve climbed the corporate ladder. You’re now a person of great influence. But before you get too comfortable, remember: your worth is not in your title but in your actions. The size of your company, your revenue charts, or how many people laugh at your jokes in meetings - none of it will define your legacy.

What will define it? How you treat the people who actually create the books upon which your business stands.

John Deare (1759-98), Caesar Invading Britain

On the Treatment of Creators

“What injures the hive, injures the bee.” (Meditations, VI.54)

Translation: You cannot run a publishing empire while treating your writers, illustrators, designers, and editors as an inconvenience. They are not obstacles to corporate efficiency; they are the foundation of everything you sell.

A publisher who does not respect authors is like a general who despises his own soldiers. And what happens to a general who treats his army like dirt? Eventually, they stop fighting for him.

On the Temptation of Vanity and Corporate Prestige

“Be not solicitous about fame, or for posterity, nor be ashamed to be ignorant of things that are of no moment.”(Meditations, VI.16)

Translation: You will be offered flattery. You will attend meetings full of expensive suits and empty words. You will be tempted to believe you are visionary, a game-changer, a publishing disruptor.

But what is publishing if not a service to ideas and knowledge?

If you spend more time crafting press releases than protecting your authors, congratulations—you’ve become the very thing Marcus Aurelius warned agains

On Legacy and Mortality"

“Alexander of Macedon and his mule-driver both died and the same thing happened to both.” (Meditations, VI.24)

Translation: You will one day be replaced. As all are.

The CEOs of yesterday? Mostly forgotten. The publishing executives who erased authors to streamline branding? Also forgotten (except when they’re used as cautionary tales). Corporate dominance is temporary. Integrity lasts.

One day, the people you’ve stepped over on your way up might be the ones writing your Wikipedia page. Choose wisely.

On Doing the Right Thing Despite Corporate Pressures

“Just that you do the right thing. The rest does not matter.” (Meditations, VI.2)

Translation: There will be pressure to prioritise profit over fairness, to obscure the truth with legalese, to treat authors and illustrators as disposable assets.

But your duty is not just to shareholders. It is to the readers, the creators, and the truth.

On Navigating Conflict with Honour

“If it is not right, do not do it. If it is not true, do not say it.” (Meditations, XII.17)

Translation: Every industry has its liars and its game-players. Publishing is no exception. The temptation to rewrite history, erase contributors, and distort narratives to suit corporate interests is very real.

But the people who do that? They never last.

Do not let your name become a footnote in the long, sad history of publishing scandals.

On Running a Just Organisation

“Be tolerant with others and strict with yourself.” (Meditations, V.33)

Translation: Hold yourself to a higher standard than those who came before you. Don’t excuse bad practices because “that’s how the industry works.”

Treat your authors and illustrators with the same fairness and dignity that you would demand if you stood in their place.

Marcus Aurelius’ Final Words to CEOs

“Think of yourself as dead. You have lived your life. Now take what’s left and live it properly.” (Meditations, VII.56)

Translation: Your career is finite. Your power is borrowed. Your choices will define not only your company, but how youwill be remembered.

You can rule with wisdom, integrity, and justice—or you can be another forgettable executive in a long line of people who thought they could reshape publishing without understanding its soul.

Choose well.

Illustration of the Ancient Roman World by David Salariya — Illustration by David Salariya of the Roman World

On Self-Promotion and Leadership

"The soul becomes dyed with the colour of its thoughts. If a man is concerned only with his own advancement, then he is bound to become the thing he seeks - an empty vessel, filled only with the opinions of others."

Ambition that serves itself rather than the common good is no true ambition at all. Power and titles are fleeting, and that those who seek power for power’s sake often leave no lasting mark beyond their own self-interest.

On the Risk of Stagnation and Blindness

"A fool is known by his actions. A man who does not test himself against the world beyond his own walls is like a sailor who never leaves the harbour - he mistakes still water for the open sea."

Internal promotion can be seen as a failure of perspective and wisdom. To lead without having truly observed the world is to be a prisoner of one’s own limited experience. A leader who has only known one way of doing things will struggle to adapt when the tides shift.

To be only led by those who have never known failure or challenge outside their own walls, they will remain blind to their own weaknesses. And like all rigid structures, they will break rather than bend when change comes.

Stoicism in the Boardroom

"The best revenge is not to be like your enemy."

CEO's are bound to corporate interests, short-term gains, and self-preservation—as an individual as a freelancer, on the other hand, are building something deeper, something lasting.

You do not need to be consumed by their games or their failures. Your work will endure beyond them—because it is driven by truth, creativity, and a genuine desire to make something of value.

Final Thought from Marcus Aurelius:

"Time is a river, a violent current of events, glimpsed once and already carried past us, and another follows and is gone."

In other words: corprate ,publishing's leadership attempts to rewrite history -these are all just passing waves. Let them rise and fall.

"It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live."

Marcus Aurelius (121–180 AD) was a Roman emperor and Stoic philosopher, ruling from 161 to 180 AD as the last of the Five Good Emperors. A member of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty, he is best known for his Meditations, a collection of philosophical reflections on leadership, resilience, and virtue. His reign was marked by military conflicts, political challenges, and his commitment to Stoic principles.