Thinker · TH-0279
Marcus Aurelius
Marcus Aurelius was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 and the last major Stoic writer of antiquity. During long campaigns on the Danube frontier…
Also known as Marcus Aurelius Antoninus
121 – 180 · Rome; military camps on the Danube frontier
Traditions: Greek & Roman
Schools: Stoicism
Marcus Aurelius was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 and the last major Stoic writer of antiquity. During long campaigns on the Danube frontier he kept private notes in Greek, later known as the Meditations, never intended for publication. They return repeatedly to mortality, impermanence and the brevity of fame, using Stoic principles to steady the writer in his duties. The book has become one of the most widely read works of ancient philosophy.
Key ideas
- Death is a natural process of change, no more to be feared than any other part of nature.
- What disturbs us is not things themselves but our judgements about them, which are in our power.
- Each person is part of a rational whole and owes duties to fellow human beings as members of one community.
- Fame and possessions are fleeting; only virtuous action in the present moment is truly one's own.
Major works
- Meditations (Ta eis heauton, c. 170s CE)
- Correspondence with Marcus Cornelius Fronto (letters)
In the conversation
- Discussion Epictetus was a slave and I drive the 413. What counts as ‘up to us’ at work?
- Discussion Can I keep Stoic advice and leave Stoic determinism behind?
- Discussion Does contemplating death dissolve the fear, or does it just stop us arguing about it?
- Debate If the Stoic technique works without the Stoic cosmos, the cosmos was never doing the work
- Debate Take away the rational cosmos and Stoic ethics becomes a coping technique