What Would Marcus Aurelius Do With $50 Million?

We often assume that having more money automatically leads to a better life. But history — and human behaviour — suggests otherwise.

So, let’s try a thought experiment: If the Roman Emperor and Stoic philosopher Marcus Aurelius were handed $50 million tomorrow, how would he use it?

Wealth Without Wisdom

Marcus Aurelius lived in immense privilege. He had palaces, power, and the resources of an empire at his disposal. Yet his writings in Meditations reveal a deep scepticism about the trappings of wealth and status.

To him, luxury was fleeting, power was precarious, and possessions were just things — temporary, perishable, easily lost. What mattered was virtue: living with wisdom, justice, courage, and self-discipline.

If you gave him $50 million, he wouldn’t see it as freedom to indulge.He’d see it as a test.

The Stoic Investment Strategy

Through a Stoic lens, wealth isn’t good or bad it’s indifferent. What matters is how you use it.

If Marcus managed a modern portfolio, his “investment strategy” might look less like chasing maximum returns and more like optimising for:

• Justice: Funding projects that alleviate suffering or promote fairness.

• Wisdom: Supporting education, research, and public discourse.

• Courage: Investing in causes that are unpopular but morally right.

• Temperance: Setting personal limits on consumption, even when he could have more.

For him, $50 million wouldn’t be a ticket to opulence. It would be a tool to live his principles more effectively.

The Discipline to Resist “Because I Can”

One of the hardest things about having wealth is not using it simply because it’s there. Neurofinance research shows that humans struggle with self-imposed limits. The dopamine hit of acquisition, a bigger house, a faster car, a rarer watch is real.

But Stoicism teaches that self-control is a form of power greater than any purchase. Marcus might choose to live well, but simply — using the surplus not to inflate his lifestyle, but to amplify his impact.

Measuring Wealth Differently

Marcus Aurelius would measure the success of his $50 million not in luxury consumed, but in:

• How many lives it improved.

• How much wisdom it spread.

• How resilient his household and community became.

The return on investment wouldn’t be financial first. It would be moral and societal.

A Modern Challenge

In our world, wealth is often equated with more: more travel, more possessions, more status. But what if the real measure of wealth was less: less fear, less waste, less dependence on external validation?

If Marcus Aurelius could remind us of anything, it’s that the purpose of money is not to prove our worth, it’s to free us to live it.

Questions to Ask (Marcus Would Approve)

1. If I had $50 million, how would I use it differently than I do now?

2. Am I living in a way that aligns with my values — or with others’ expectations?

3. Would spending this bring lasting fulfilment, or only momentary pleasure?

4. 
   

The Final Word

Stoicism doesn’t ask us to reject money, but to hold it lightly. Whether you have $50 or $50 million, the real wealth is knowing what’s enough — and using the rest to leave the world better than you found it.

If you had $50 million, what would you not do with it?

Your answer might say more about your values than your spending plans ever could.