Wisdom-of-marcus-aurelius.jpg' alt='The Meditations Of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus The Meditations' title='The Meditations Of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus The Meditations' />Roman Timeline of the Second Century ADDid you know The series of five emperors of the Roman Empire who ruled in the 2nd century A.D is commonly refered to as The five good Emperors.The five emperors were known for their moderation and their reign corresponds to the period known as the Pax Romana.Lasting from AD 9.Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, and Marcus Aurelius.The Meditations Of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus AugustusWho Is Marcus Aurelius Getting To Know The Roman Emperor.Marcus Aurelius Roman emperor ce 161180, best known for his Meditations on Stoic philosophy.Marcus Aurelius has symbolized for many generations in the West the.Marcus Aurelius, Meditations Quotations.The Universe is change, life is an opinion.Marcus Aurelius Everything harmonises with me which is harmonious to.Top 15 Epictetus Quotes from The Art of Living Epictetus was born a slave around 55 A.D. in Hierapolis, Phrygia, in the eastern outreaches of the Roman Empire.Once. This is part of our 3 part short series on the three most important Stoic philosophers Marcus Aurelius, Seneca and Epictetus.Here you will find a short introduction to Marcus, suggested readings, three exerciseslessons from him as well as a selection of quotes.You can also read our introduction to Stoicism if you are not familiar with the philosophy.Introduction. Agasicles, king of the Spartans, once quipped that he wanted to be the student of men whose son I should like to be as well.It is a critical consideration we need to make in our search for role models.Stoicism is no exception.Before we begin our studies we need to ask ourselves Who are the people that followed these precepts Who can I point out as an exampleAm I proud to look up to this person Do I want to be more like them And Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius, born nearly two millennia ago 1.Marcus Annius Verus was born in a prominent and established family but nobody at the time would have predicted that he would one day be Emperor of the Empire.There is little that is known of his childhood but he was a serious young man who also enjoyed wrestling, boxing and hunting.Around his teenage years, the reigning emperor at the time, Hadrian was nearing death and was childless.He had to pick a successor and after his first choice, Lucius Ceionius, died unexpectedly, he chose Antoninus.He was a senator who was also childless and he would have to adopt Marcus, as per Hadrians condition, as well as Ceioniuss son, Lucius Verus.This is how Marcuss name changed to Marcus Aurelius Antoninus.Once Hadrian died, it was clear that Marcus was next in line for the most important position in the empire.His education would become of serious concern and he would have the privilege of studying under Herodes Atticus, a rhetorician from Athens Marcus would later write his Meditations in Greek as well as Marcus Cornelius Fronto, his instructor in Latin whose letters of correspondence with Marcus survive to this day.Marcus would also serve as a consul twice thus receiving valuable and practical education.In 1. 61, as Antoninus died and ended one of the longest reigns, Marcus became the Emperor of the Roman Empire and ruled for nearly two decades until his death in 1.He also co ruled in the beginning with Lucius Verus, his adopted brother until Lucius death eight years later.His reign wasnt easy wars with the Parthian Empire, the barbarian tribes menacing the Empire on the northern border, the rise of Christianity as well as the plague that left numerous dead.Marcuss death came in 1.Vienna. The historian Cassius Dio describes Marcuss attitude towards his son, Commodus who he made co emperor few years earlier and was now to succeed him Marcus was not strong in body and was involved in a multitude of troubles throughout practically his entire reign.But for my part, I admire him all the more for this very reason, that amid unusual and extraordinary difficulties he both survived himself and preserved the empire.Just one thing prevented him from being completely happy, namely, that after rearing and educating his son in the best possible way he was vastly disappointed in him.It is important to realize the gravity of that position and the magnitude of power that Marcus possessed.He held one ofif not the mostpowerful positions in the world at the time.If he chose to, nothing would be off limits. The Big Bang Theory Season 1 480P Download Music . He could indulge and succumb to temptations, there was nobody that could restrain him from any of his wishes.There is a reason the adage that power in absolute absolutely corrupts has been repeated throughout historyit unfortunately tends to be true.And yet, as the essayist Matthew Arnold remarked, Marcus proved himself worthy of the position he was in.And it was not only him who offered that verdict.The famous historian Edward Gibbon wrote that under Marcus, the last of the Five Good Emperors, the Roman Empire was governed by absolute power, under the guidance of wisdom and virtue.The guidance of wisdom and virtue.Thats what separates Marcus from the majority of past and present world leaders.Just think of the diary that he left behind, which is now known as his Meditations which we discuss below the private thoughts of the most powerful man in the world, admonishing himself on how to be more virtuous, more just, more immune to temptation, wiser.And for Marcus, Stoicism provided a framework for dealing with the stresses of daily life as a leader of one of the most powerful empires in human history.It is not surprising that he wrote his Meditations in the last decade of his life, while on campaigning against foreign invaders.Passed down from his mentors and teachers, Marcus embraced the studies of Stoicism which we see in him thanking his teacher Rusticus for introducing him to Stoicism and Epictetus inside Meditations.Another influence on Marcus came from Heraclitus, whose concepts we can see throughout Meditations and who had a strong influence on Stoic thought.Given the literary world at the time, Marcus was mostly likely not exposed to Seneca, another one of the three most prominent Stoics.What is tragic about Marcus, as one scholar wrote, is how his philosophywhich is about self restraint, duty, and respect for otherswas so abjectly abandoned by the imperial line he anointed on his death.Now it is on us to pick it back up.Notable Works Suggested Readings.Marcus has only one core work, which was actually never intended for publication his Meditations originally titled To Himself.This is not only one of greatest books ever written but perhaps the only book of its kind.It is the definitive text on self discipline, personal ethics, humility, self actualization and strength.It proved to be equally inspirational to writers like Ambrose Bierce and Robert Louis Stevenson as he has been for statesmen like Theodore Roosevelt, Wen Jiabao and Bill Clinton.If you read it and arent profoundly changed by it, its probably because as Aurelius says what doesnt transmit light creates its own darkness.As John Stuart Mill put it in his On Liberty, Meditations are the highest ethical product of the ancient mind.It is important to remind ourselves that we are lucky to have access these.As Gregory Hays explains, for centuries traces of it was lost until the beginning of the 1.Arethas. You HAVE to read the Hayss translation.If you end up loving Marcus, go get.The Inner Citadel and Philosophy as a Way of Lifeby Pierre Hadot that studies the man and men behind the work.And if you want more on the topic, Marcus inspired.The Obstacle is the Way, which you can get a free chapter of if you sign up for the Daily Stoic newsletter.Stoic Exercises From Marcus Aurelius.Practice The Virtues You Can Show.Its easy to succumb to self pity when we start telling ourselves that we lack certain talents, that we miss stuff that seems to come so easily to other people.We need to catch ourselves when we do so.We need instead to focus on the things that are always within us our capacity and potential for virtuous action.As Marcus wrote to himself,No one could ever accuse you of being quick witted.All right, but there are plenty of other things you cant claim you havent got in you.Practice the virtues you can show honesty, gravity, endurance, austerity, resignation, abstinence, patience, sincerity, moderation, seriousness, high mindedness.Dont you see how much you have to offerbeyond excuses like cant And yet you still settle for less.Draw Strength from Others.As discussed earlier, Marcus most likely wrote the notes to himself which are now Meditations on the battlefield, during the last decade of his life.In those times of difficulty and adversity hed write to himself notes of encouragement, to pick himself back again, to do his duty.One exercise that we can borrow from him is to draw strength from people in our lives or simply role models that inspire us.As he wrote,When you need encouragement, think of the qualities the people around you have this ones energy, that ones modesty, anothers generosity, and so on.Nothing is as encouraging as when virtues are visibly embodied in the people around us, when were praactically showered with them.Its good to keep this in mind.Focus on The Present.Marcus knew the temptations that exist for all of us to let our imagination run wild envisioning all the ways things can go wrong.
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