Marcus Aurelius
Marcus Aurelius
Meditations
Meditations
The most private book in ancient philosophy.
Discover what’s inside the box
Discover what’s inside the box
Details that make
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Details that make
the difference:
Bilingual edition
The Greek text appears on the left-hand page; the English translation faces it on the right, throughout all twelve books. The Greek is J. H. Leopold's 1908 Teubner text, established from the Codex Vaticanus Graecus 1950 and the readings of the lost Codex Palatinus preserved in Xylander's 1559 editio princeps. The English is C. R. Haines's 1916 Loeb translation, lightly modernized for this edition.
The Greek text appears on the left-hand page; the English translation faces it on the right, throughout all twelve books. The Greek is J. H. Leopold's 1908 Teubner text, established from the Codex Vaticanus Graecus 1950 and the readings of the lost Codex Palatinus preserved in Xylander's 1559 editio princeps. The English is C. R. Haines's 1916 Loeb translation, lightly modernized for this edition.
Two layers of annotation
The footnotes run in two distinct layers: Haines's own notes, identifying persons, places, and ancient sources, and a selection from Thomas Gataker's Latin commentary of 1652, the foundation of all subsequent Meditations scholarship, always attributed to their source. The apparatus totals around three hundred and fifteen notes across the twelve books.
The footnotes run in two distinct layers: Haines's own notes, identifying persons, places, and ancient sources, and a selection from Thomas Gataker's Latin commentary of 1652, the foundation of all subsequent Meditations scholarship, always attributed to their source. The apparatus totals around three hundred and fifteen notes across the twelve books.
Opening essay by Matthew Arnold
"An Essay on Marcus Aurelius," published in the Victoria Magazine in November 1863 and collected in Essays in Criticism (London: Macmillan, 1865). The essay that fixed the English-speaking world's image of Marcus Aurelius for over a century and a half.
"An Essay on Marcus Aurelius," published in the Victoria Magazine in November 1863 and collected in Essays in Criticism (London: Macmillan, 1865). The essay that fixed the English-speaking world's image of Marcus Aurelius for over a century and a half.
Glossary of Greek terms
A glossary of ninety-three Greek philosophical terms covering the Stoic vocabulary that runs throughout the twelve books, including the key concepts of the hegemonikon, the logikon, and the distinction between what depends on us and what does not.
A glossary of ninety-three Greek philosophical terms covering the Stoic vocabulary that runs throughout the twelve books, including the key concepts of the hegemonikon, the logikon, and the distinction between what depends on us and what does not.
Subject index
An index keyed by book and section rather than by page number, making every reference valid in any edition of the Meditations.
An index keyed by book and section rather than by page number, making every reference valid in any edition of the Meditations.
Hardcover binding
Durable, premium hardcover with a ribbon marker, designed for sustained reading and a lifetime on the shelf. 376 pages, 150 × 225 mm.
Durable, premium hardcover with a ribbon marker, designed for sustained reading and a lifetime on the shelf. 376 pages, 150 × 225 mm.
Logos Reader included
Includes a special issue of the Logos Reader dedicated to Marcus Aurelius, the Stoic tradition, and the government of the soul.
Includes a special issue of the Logos Reader dedicated to Marcus Aurelius, the Stoic tradition, and the government of the soul.
Meditations
The private notebook of the emperor of Rome, written in Greek during military campaigns on the Danube frontier, between approximately 170 and 180 AD.
The private notebook of the emperor of Rome, written in Greek during military campaigns on the Danube frontier, between approximately 170 and 180 AD.
Marcus Aurelius never gave this book a title. The Byzantine scribes who copied the manuscript called it Ta eis heauton — "To Himself." The Latin Meditationes comes from the title page of the first printed edition, prepared by Wilhelm Xylander and published in Zurich in 1559.
Marcus Aurelius never gave this book a title. The Byzantine scribes who copied the manuscript called it Ta eis heauton — "To Himself." The Latin Meditationes comes from the title page of the first printed edition, prepared by Wilhelm Xylander and published in Zurich in 1559.
The book is twelve collections of brief reflections returning again and again to the same questions. What is actually within my control? How much of what disturbs me depends entirely on how I interpret it? What does living well require from someone who holds this much power and knows he will not hold it forever? The Stoic philosopher Epictetus is present throughout, without ever being named in full. The repetition is the method: Marcus re-exposes himself to the doctrines of his school as a musician returns to scales, to possess what is already known.
The book is twelve collections of brief reflections returning again and again to the same questions. What is actually within my control? How much of what disturbs me depends entirely on how I interpret it? What does living well require from someone who holds this much power and knows he will not hold it forever? The Stoic philosopher Epictetus is present throughout, without ever being named in full. The repetition is the method: Marcus re-exposes himself to the doctrines of his school as a musician returns to scales, to possess what is already known.
The book was never intended for publication. Marcus made no apparent effort to preserve it, and spends considerable space arguing against the desire for posthumous fame. He was wrong about himself in a way he could not have predicted.
The book was never intended for publication. Marcus made no apparent effort to preserve it, and spends considerable space arguing against the desire for posthumous fame. He was wrong about himself in a way he could not have predicted.
Marcus Aurelius: A mind that governed both Rome and itself
Marcus Aurelius: A mind that governed both Rome and itself
Born in Rome on 26 April 121, into a senatorial family of Hispanic origin elevated to the patriciate under Vespasian. His father died young, when Marcus was still a child. The emperor Hadrian noticed him early and, playing on his family name Verus, took to calling him Verissimus — "the most truthful." Hadrian arranged his succession by adopting Antoninus Pius under the condition that Antoninus in turn adopt both Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus.
Born in Rome on 26 April 121, into a senatorial family of Hispanic origin elevated to the patriciate under Vespasian. His father died young, when Marcus was still a child. The emperor Hadrian noticed him early and, playing on his family name Verus, took to calling him Verissimus — "the most truthful." Hadrian arranged his succession by adopting Antoninus Pius under the condition that Antoninus in turn adopt both Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus.
Marcus Aurelius became emperor in 161, ruling jointly with Lucius Verus until Verus's death in 169. His reign was defined above all by war: the Parthian War of 162-166, and then the Marcomannic Wars, the sustained conflict with Germanic and Sarmatian peoples on the Danube frontier that would occupy the last decade of his life and produce the Meditations.
Marcus Aurelius became emperor in 161, ruling jointly with Lucius Verus until Verus's death in 169. His reign was defined above all by war: the Parthian War of 162-166, and then the Marcomannic Wars, the sustained conflict with Germanic and Sarmatian peoples on the Danube frontier that would occupy the last decade of his life and produce the Meditations.
He had studied philosophy seriously since his teens, eventually under Quintus Junius Rusticus, who introduced him to the lectures of Epictetus. In the Meditations he writes that Rusticus was the one who persuaded him to abandon rhetoric for philosophy. Petrarch, writing twelve centuries after his death, said he preferred the title of philosopher to the title of Caesar.
He had studied philosophy seriously since his teens, eventually under Quintus Junius Rusticus, who introduced him to the lectures of Epictetus. In the Meditations he writes that Rusticus was the one who persuaded him to abandon rhetoric for philosophy. Petrarch, writing twelve centuries after his death, said he preferred the title of philosopher to the title of Caesar.
Matthew Arnold, in his 1863 essay on Marcus, called him "perhaps the most beautiful figure in history." Galen was his physician and left detailed accounts of his character. Dio Cassius and Herodian, the closest historical sources to his reign, both wrote of him with exceptional admiration.
He died in March 180, on campaign, near the modern city of Vienna.
Matthew Arnold, in his 1863 essay on Marcus, called him "perhaps the most beautiful figure in history." Galen was his physician and left detailed accounts of his character. Dio Cassius and Herodian, the closest historical sources to his reign, both wrote of him with exceptional admiration.
He died in March 180, on campaign, near the modern city of Vienna.
Inside the Logos ReadeR
Inside the Logos ReadeR
The Citadel Within: Marcus Aurelius and the Government of the Soul
The Citadel Within: Marcus Aurelius and the Government of the Soul
This issue accompanies the Meditations with three texts that approach Marcus Aurelius from distinct but converging angles:
This issue accompanies the Meditations with three texts that approach Marcus Aurelius from distinct but converging angles:
Marcus Aurelius and the Philosophy of the Meditations A Logos Reader original covering Marcus Aurelius's life and intellectual formation, the Stoic inheritance and the debt to Epictetus, the distinction between what depends on us and what does not, the doctrine of nature and the logos, the image of the inner citadel, duty toward others, impermanence and death, and the encounter of Stoic philosophy with the rise of Christianity.
Marcus Aurelius and the Philosophy of the Meditations A Logos Reader original covering Marcus Aurelius's life and intellectual formation, the Stoic inheritance and the debt to Epictetus, the distinction between what depends on us and what does not, the doctrine of nature and the logos, the image of the inner citadel, duty toward others, impermanence and death, and the encounter of Stoic philosophy with the rise of Christianity.
"A Discourse of Marcus Aurelius," by Walter Pater From Marius the Epicurean (1885). Pater encases a young Roman witnessing the emperor deliver an address to the Senate — almost entirely de contemptu mundi — and lets the reader feel simultaneously the nobility of the Stoic position and its coldness. It remains the most penetrating portrait of Marcus Aurelius in English after Matthew Arnold.
"A Discourse of Marcus Aurelius," by Walter Pater From Marius the Epicurean (1885). Pater encases a young Roman witnessing the emperor deliver an address to the Senate — almost entirely de contemptu mundi — and lets the reader feel simultaneously the nobility of the Stoic position and its coldness. It remains the most penetrating portrait of Marcus Aurelius in English after Matthew Arnold.
"The Individualism of Marcus Aurelius," by W. A. Watt Published in the International Journal of Ethics, 1904. Watt asks whether the emperor's interiority — for all its grandeur — does not ultimately leave the self alone: whether a philosophy of self-governance can give the self anything outside itself on which to rest.
"The Individualism of Marcus Aurelius," by W. A. Watt Published in the International Journal of Ethics, 1904. Watt asks whether the emperor's interiority — for all its grandeur — does not ultimately leave the self alone: whether a philosophy of self-governance can give the self anything outside itself on which to rest.
"Individualism and Religion in the Early Roman Empire," by Clifford Herschel Moore A lecture published in the Harvard Theological Review, 1909. Moore places Marcus Aurelius within the full religious history of his epoch, tracing the conditions that made possible both the Stoic reflection of the Meditations and the simultaneous spread of Christianity.
"Individualism and Religion in the Early Roman Empire," by Clifford Herschel Moore A lecture published in the Harvard Theological Review, 1909. Moore places Marcus Aurelius within the full religious history of his epoch, tracing the conditions that made possible both the Stoic reflection of the Meditations and the simultaneous spread of Christianity.
Further Reading Academic references for deeper study.
Further Reading Academic references for deeper study.
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