Meditations

Front Cover
Penguin, 1964 - History - 187 pages
Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius wrote his famous "Meditations" during his campaigns against the barbarian invaders. Composed among the reeds and mists of the swampy Danube, his private journals record the passing thoughts, maxims, and musings on life and death of a sensitive and humble mind trained in the Stoic philosophy which, to a certain extent, anticipated the development of Christianity. Philosophy was both a religion and a guiding force for Marcus Aurelius. His is a transitional phase of thought in Stoic philosophy, where diffidence and willingness to recognize failure have replaced assurance and self-sufficiency. Instead of the Stoic virtue of pride Marcus Aurelius appears to anticipate Christian humility.
 

Selected pages

Contents

INTRODUCTION
7
THE HYMN OF CLEANTHES
29
TRANSLATORS NOTE
31
BOOK 1
35
BOOK 2
45
BOOK 3
53
BOOK 4
63
BOOK 5
77
BOOK 6
91
BOOK 7
105
BOOK 8
121
BOOK 9
137
BOOK 10
151
BOOK 11
165
BOOK 12
179
Copyright

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Meditations
Marcus Aurelio (emperador de Roma)
No preview available - 1964

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accept accords with nature action Aesculapius another's Antoninus Antoninus Pius Aristophanes atoms Avidius Cassius become befalls body breath Cecrops Christian Chrysippus Cleanthes creation creatures death Demetrius of Phaleron destiny Diogenes Laertius dispersion divine duty earth elements Empedocles emperor Epictetus Epicurus Euripides everything evil existence eyes feel fire flesh follow friends give gods Hadrian hand happens harm heart Heraclitus human impression impulse indifferent judgement justice keep kind living look Lucius Verus man's Marcus Annius Verus Marcus Aurelius Marcus's master-reason material matter means Meditations mind Mind-Fire moral Nature's never once pain particles pass Penguin Books philosophy pleasure praise present principles rational reason remember sense sins of desire social Socrates soul Stoic Stoicism temper things thou thought tion true truth turn universe Verus virtue whole words World-Nature write to Penguin

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About the author (1964)

Marcus Aurelius Antoninus was born to an upper-class Roman family in A.D. 121 and was later adopted by the future emperor Antoninus Pius, whom he succeeded in 161. His reign was marked by a successful campaign against Parthia, but was overshadowed in later years by plague, an abortive revolt in the eastern provinces, and the deaths of friends and family, including his co-emperor Lucius Verus. A student of philosophy from his earliest youth, he was especially influenced by the first-century Stoic thinker Epictetus. His later reputation rests on his Meditations, written during his later years and never meant for formal publication. He died in 180, while campaigning against the barbarian tribes on Rome's northern frontier.

Bibliographic information

TitleMeditations
Classics Series
Penguin classics
AuthorMarcus Aurelius (Emperor of Rome)
Translated byMaxwell Staniforth
Editionreprint
PublisherPenguin, 1964
ISBN0140441409, 9780140441406
Length187 pages
Subjects ›  › 

History / Ancient / Rome
Philosophy / Ethics & Moral Philosophy
Philosophy / General
Philosophy / History & Surveys / Ancient & Classical
  
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