The Boy Who Would Be King

This is a fable about the early life of Marcus Aurelius — written for children, but layered enough for adults.

Ryan Holiday reimagines the childhood of Marcus Aurelius through a short, illustrated story — one that’s deceptively simple, but grounded in the foundational Stoic ideas Marcus would later write in Meditations.

The structure is minimal. The writing is clean. It’s not a dense book. It’s a primer. A gateway into philosophy for new minds, or a soft reminder for older ones.

I’ll probably read it again — and read it aloud to my little sister. That says enough.