Marcus Aurelius
121 – 180 CE · Rome
A Roman emperor whose private notebook, never meant for publication, became one of the most widely read works of Stoic philosophy.
Key ideas
The Meditations are reminders written to himself, often on campaign. Their themes repeat: everything changes and passes; the people who irritate you are acting from ignorance and are your kin; death is natural and nothing to fear; your duty is to do your work well and justly, whatever others do.
He returns constantly to the vastness of time and the smallness of a single life, not to despair but to put petty concerns in perspective. It is Stoicism practised under pressure, and it bears on both the Stoic dichotomy of control and the meaning of life.
“The universe is transformation: life is opinion.”
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations IV.3, trans. George Long (1862)
Life, briefly
Marcus was adopted into the imperial family as a teenager and became emperor in 161. Much of his reign was spent fighting wars on the Danube frontier and coping with a devastating plague. He died in 180, probably near modern Vienna, and was succeeded by his son Commodus, whose reign was as chaotic as his father's was disciplined.
Major works
- Meditations (written in Greek, untitled by him)
Schools of thought
Appears in
Further reading
- EncyclopediaStanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Marcus Aurelius
- WikipediaMarcus Aurelius