Aurelius: The Meditations (1)

Few figures more perfectly embody the phrase "philosopher-king" than the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius. During his long reign at the Empire's height, and even while busy with natural disasters and military campaigns in the north, the scholarly Aurelius managed privately to set down one of the enduring masterpieces of Stoic philosophy: his "Meditations".

In this small volume, made up of of twelve "books" discovered after his death, Aurelius, from the zenith of earthly power, turned to philosophy and self-questioning in search of the virtuous life--and as a source of ultimate perspective and self-mastery. "Be like the rocky headland on which the waves constantly break", he counseled himself.

A pdf of the Hammond translation of Meditations is available on Archive here. Let's start with Books 1-4. Join us!