CONTENTS Biographical Sketch Philosophy of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus The Thoughts Index of Terms General Index

This book contains a complete translation, by George Long, of the 12 books that make up "The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus", which are his private notes to himself and ideas on Stoic philosophy. It is 'abridged' only in the sense that most of the footnotes have been omitted in order to publish a 'cleaner' translation. George Long's translation is considered to be one of the more accurate ones. Many of the footnotes that have been left out contained sections written in the original Koine Greek language, eg: which for most of us would be unintelligible anyway Marcus Aurelius Antoninus was a Roman emperor from 161 AD to 180 AD, ruling jointly with Lucius Verus until Verus' death in 169 AD and jointly with his son, Commodus, from 177 AD. He was the last of the so-called Five Good Emperors. He was born: April 26, 121 AD, in Rome, Italy and died March 17, 180 AD, in Vindobona, Austria. His spouse was Faustina the Younger (m. 145 AD-175 AD). His father, Annius Verus, died while he was praetor. His mother was Domitia Calvilla, also named Lucilla. The Emperor T. Antoninus Pius married Annia Galeria Faustina, the sister of Annius Verus, and was consequently the uncle of Marcus Antoninus. When Hadrian adopted Antoninus Pius and declared him his successor in the empire, Antoninus Pius adopted both L. Ceionius Commodus, the son of Aelius Caesar, and Marcus Antoninus, whose original name was Marcus Annius Verus. Antoninus then took the name of Marcus Aelius Aurelius Verus, to which was added the title of Caesar in a. d. 139: the name Aelius belonged to Hadrian's family, and Aurelius was the name of Antoninus Pius. When Marcus Antoninus became Augustus, he dropped the name of Verus and took the name of Antoninus. Accordingly he is generally named Marcus Aurelius Antoninus or simply Marcus Antoninus.

Emperor of the Romans

M. Antoninus was born at Rome, A.D. 121, on the 26th of April. His father, Annius Verus, died while he was praetor. His mother was Domitia Calvilla, also named Lucilla. The Emperor T. Antoninus Pius married Annia Galeria Faustina, the sister of Annius Verus, and was consequently the uncle of M. Antoninus.

Meditations on ethics and life by Marcus Aurelius.

The second century CE Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius was also a Stoic philosopher, and his private Meditations, written in Greek, gives readers a unique opportunity to see how an ancient person (indeed an emperor) might try to live a Stoic life, according to which only virtue is good, only vice is bad, and the things which we busy ourselves with are all indifferent. The difficulties Marcus faces putting Stoicism into practice are philosophical as well as practical, and understanding his efforts increases our philosophical appreciation of Stoicism.

Marcus Aurelius was Emperor of Rome from 121 to 180. Thoughts of Marcus Aurelius was written for school age children. The author believed that children should be given the wisdom of great leaders from all eras. Marcus Aurelius believed that human happiness arises in part from man's acceptance of his duties and responsibilities. He believed that one should accept calmly what cannot be avoided and perform one's duties as well as possible. "It was the doctrine of Marcus Aurelius that most of the ills of life come to us from our own imagination, that it was not in the power of others seriously to interfere with the calm, temperate life of an individual, and that when a fellow being did anything to us that seemed unjust he was acting in ignorance, and that instead of stirring up anger within us it should stir our pity for him. Oftentimes by careful self-examination we should find that the fault was more our own than that of our fellow, and our sufferings were rather from our own opinions than from anything real."