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History celebrates Marcus Aurelius. Philosophy celebrates Cato. We know the great deeds of great men, because they were there on the public stage. Because they wrote about them. Because generations read these writings, imitated them and added their own heroic deeds to the story.
But we know, of course, that something was missing.
We talk about Rutilius Rufus and his stand against Roman corruption, his willingness to go into exile for it. The same goes with Musonius Rufus. But what of their families? In Right Thing, Right Now we tell the story of Regulus (who Seneca loved) and how he willingly returned to almost certain death at the hands of Carthage rather than break his word. This took incredible Stoicism—upper and lowercase—but we have to imagine his nameless, uncredited wife who was left to raise his children and pick up the pieces was pretty stoic too, in both senses of the word. What of his parents? His friends? His siblings? Cato’s daughter is probably one of the only female Stoics whose deeds (or even existence) was recognized by history, but her heroic struggle against Caesar and brave death, should make us think of all the women like her who we have never heard of. The same is true for Epictetus—there must have been many more slaves like him whose stories and hard won wisdom was never even noticed.
The band Rush has a song called Nobody's Hero which talks about how we rightly recognize the heroism of someone who saves a drowning child or cures a wasting disease, someone who lands a crippled airplane or solves a great mystery. But the song also takes pains to mention other heroic displays of poise, selflessness and courage. It sings of the closeted gay person, living with dignity, as they died of AIDS. It talks about a family carrying on after a brutal crime, still believing in their fellow human beings.
We so easily give short shrift to the real Stoics of history. We forget that the vast majority of them are people we never heard of, who did what was right, who endured great adversity, without expecting recognition or attention. The sexism and classism and racism of society of their time ignored them…and we have followed suit. This is a shame. We lose so many powerful examples and lessons as a result.
As we think about this virtue of justice, we have to remember: It’s not always this grand thing. It’s not always going to be celebrated or even noticed. But as Rush reminds us, heroism “is the pride of purpose / In the unrewarding job.” It’s doing what’s right because it’s right. It’s bearing what you have to bear because what other choice is there? That makes you a hero, regardless of whether it’s recognized.
P.S. Just wanted to say how grateful we are for the support of Ryan Holiday’s latest book, Right Thing, Right Now! The response and positive feedback through the book’s opening week has been overwhelming. If you haven’t picked up a copy yet, you can do so over in the Daily Stoic Store. And in case you missed it: as a small “thank you,” we've decided to extend the preorder bonuses (a signed page from the original manuscript, an annotated bibliography, bonus chapters, and more) for one more week!
Last thing—over on his YouTube channel, Ryan is documenting his book tour for Right Thing, Right Now, in a behind-the-scenes series.
 Check out the first three videos here, here, and here. The tour and the series are ongoing, so if you want to get a unique look into the process of launching and promoting a book, head over to subscribe to his channel!
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