Meditations

Marcus Aurelius (Emperor of Rome)

Penguin, 1964 - Conduct of life - 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.

What people are saying

LibraryThing Review

User Review  - iSatyajeet - www.librarything.com

Reading Aurelius is an enlightening experience and as one reads it, it becomes clear as to how erroneous some of our beliefs / actions are. A foundation in stoic philosophy is essential to fully grasp ...

LibraryThing Review

User Review  - Renzomalo - www.librarything.com

A good read as far as references books go, but as with the other translations, sooner or later you begin to wonder what was actually written before the language was "updated" or modernized. Still, it ...

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

About the author

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

• Title: Meditations; Classics Series; Penguin classics
• Author: Marcus Aurelius (Emperor of Rome)
• Translated by: Maxwell Staniforth
• Edition: reprint
• Publisher: Penguin, 1964
• ISBN: 0140441409, 9780140441406
• Length: 187 pages