Meditations
Marcus Aurelius
Stoicism · Beginner
Written for himself rather than for publication, it survives as the most personal document of Roman Stoic practice.
Marcus Aurelius · first circulated c. 170–180 CE
Free edition: Meditations, translated by George Long (1800 to 1879). Public domain.
Main ideas
- Private exercises in attention, duty, and impermanence.
- Judgements, not events, determine disturbance.
Important themes
Reading context
Written in Greek in army camps on the Danube frontier while Marcus was campaigning and plague moved through the empire. He is not teaching anyone; he is talking himself back into Stoic discipline, which is why the same consolations keep returning.
How to approach it
Read Book 2 first, then dip anywhere. It repeats itself on purpose, so read a few entries a day rather than straight through. Watch for the moments he fails to convince himself: they are the honest ones.