The Boy Who Slept on the Floor

The story

Marcus Aurelius was born on 26 April 121. His mother owned vast brickworks in a city that never stopped building, and his grandfather raised him. He grew into a solemn boy: the emperor Hadrian nicknamed him “Truest”, he became a priest of Mars while still a child, and, an ancient biographer tells us, he slept on the floor.

Meanwhile the old emperor is dying, and his court is tearing itself apart over who will rule next. How does a boy who sleeps on the floor end up chosen to rule the world?

Chapters

1. 0:00Cold open
2. 0:50The happiest age
3. 2:35A boy from the brick family
4. 4:30The solemn boy
5. 7:04The giving boy
6. 8:22The dying emperor
7. 13:09The weight