Marcus Aurelius
Examine yourself every day, do your duty without complaint, and remember that you belong to one community of all rational beings.
Placement
The philosopher emperor: his “Meditations” are Stoic exercises of the soul.
Key ideas
- Self-examination
- Cosmopolitanism
Influence
Influenced by 2
Heraclitus
influenced by
Marcus Aurelius cited Heraclitus on the cycle of the elements and on sleepers as co-workers in the world, and pictured time as a river (Meditations IV.43, IV.46, VI.42). Marcus Aurelius, Meditations IV.43, IV.46, VI.42; SEP “Heraclitus”
Evidence: AI draft
Heraclitus › c. 535–475 BCE
Epictetus
influenced by
Marcus Aurelius thanked Junius Rusticus for giving him Epictetus’ discourses and took up his distinction between what is and is not up to us (Meditations I.7). Marcus Aurelius, Meditations I.7, IV.41; P. Hadot, La citadelle intérieure (1992); SEP “Marcus Aurelius”
Evidence: also in InPhO · InPhO
Epictetus › c. 50–135
Influenced 1
Shaftesbury
influenced
Shaftesbury’s private notebooks, the Askêmata (1698–1704), are, like Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations, reminders of principles and exhortations to live by them, full of quotations from Marcus. Shaftesbury, Askêmata, ed. B. Rand as Philosophical Regimen (1900); Standard Edition II.6, ed. W. Benda et al. (2011); SEP “Lord Shaftesbury”
Evidence: AI draft
Shaftesbury › 1671–1713
Works
- c. 175Meditations
An emperor's private Stoic notes, written in the field camp.
Position
Marcus Aurelius wrote his Meditations – notes “to himself” in Greek – as a private spiritual exercise, never meant for publication. Again and again he reminds himself that everything is transient, that the cosmos is a rational whole and that each person has a place in it to fill with duty, justice and kindness. Disturbance comes from our judgements, not from things; obstacles can become material for virtue. What makes the book so moving is the tension between the most powerful man in the world and his daily effort to remain humble, patient and fair. It remains one of the most widely read works of ancient philosophy.
Life & context
Marcus Aurelius was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 CE. Adopted into the ruling family as a youth, he was educated by the leading teachers of his time, among them the Stoic Junius Rusticus, who introduced him to the teachings of Epictetus. Much of his reign was spent on military campaigns along the Danube, during which he died.
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