âDuration: momentary. Nature: changeable. Perception: dim. Condition of Body: decaying. Soul: Incomprehensible. Fortune: unpredictable. Lasting Fame: meaningless.
The body and its parts are a river, the soul is just a dream and mist. Life is warfare, a journey far from home. And after life...is oblivion."
-Marcus Aurelius, The Meditations.
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus: the last of the Five Good Emperors, the great Philosopher-King. At least, that is how his legacy is remembered 2000 years on. Behind the peace and stability of his rule lies a reign defined as much by catastrophe and loss as by wisdom. Marcus Aureliusâ early rule coincided with one of the most devastating crises of the Roman world: the Antonine Plague
The plague entered the Roman Empire around 165AD, it spread rapidly along trade routes and through densely populated cities within the Roman world. Contemporary accounts, like the physician Galen describes high fevers, skin eruptions, and death on a previously unfathonable scale. Millions within the Roman borders died, with some regions losing a quarter of their population. The pandemic weakened the empireâs economy, depleted its manpower, and undermined it's military at a time when Rome faced increasing pressure along its frontiers.
It was in this environment of disease, war, and uncertainty that Marcus Aurelius ruled. The Pax Romana was not the image of stability and tranquility we often like to believe. Instead it was a peace maintained through constant warfare and personal sacrifice. Marcus spent most of his reign with the legions campaigning along the Danube borderlands. In this environment of war and plague, we received the most intimate window into Marcus Aureliusâ inner life. Here, he penned his private journals, later compiled as "The Meditations". These fragmented, repetitive, and intensely personal notes written to himself for himself were never intended for any eyes other than his own. In them, we glimpse the private thoughts of the most powerful man of the second century as he struggled to reconcile the philosophy of his youth with the relentless realities of the world.
Understanding the context of Marcus Aurelius' life as the first great pandemic of the Roman era is crucial in understanding the full depth of his writings. He and his wife, Faustina, had at least 13 children, yet only one son, the infamous Commodus, survived to adulthood. Us later generations often ask how Marcus Aurelius, after a lifetime of disciplined and principled rule, could leave the empire to a successor so ill-suited to the task. The answer may be more plainly understood than we wish to see. In The Meditations, we hear the voice of a man acutely aware of impermanence, duty, and the limits of his own power. A voice of a father who has outlived most of his children.
What we find amongst the inner monologue of Marcus Aurelia are measured, thoughtful, and often sobering reminders on how to live well: to act according to nature, to remain humble, and to accept death. Yet the circumstances under which these maxims were written should never be forgotten. When Marcus addresses âyouâ in the Meditations, he is addressing himself. These are not commands given to students, but reminders to himself to buttress against his most critical and personal weaknesses: exhaustion, grief, and doubt.
Marcus Aurelius was human, and more sentimental than he wished to be. He knew death, loss, and sorrow not as abstractions, but as daily companions. By the end of his life, worn down by illness and years of campaigning, he returned to nature as he had long counseled, expressing the quiet hope that even his name would one day fade. And yet, nearly two thousand years later, his private reminders endure. Written amid pandemic, war, and personal tragedy, Marcus Aureliusâ words are an unintended inheritance to usâone that, that if listened to with the same level of humility and acceptance of oneâs own weaknesses, as Marcus did, can still yet offer wisdom.
Sources:
The Meditations; Marcus Aurelius 170AD - 180AD
The Fate of Rome: Climate, Disease and the End of an Empire; Kyle Harper
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
â Live Streamingâ Interactive Chatâ Private Showsâ HD Qualityâ Free Actions
Free to watch ⢠No registration required ⢠HD streaming
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
â Live Streamingâ Interactive Chatâ Private Showsâ HD Qualityâ Free Actions
Free to watch ⢠No registration required ⢠HD streaming
When I was plunged into hopelessness and despair after my breakup, I finally decide to read into stoic philosophy as a means to sooth the discomfort and absence I felt. To my surprise, even the surface research of this school of thought, lifted me out of the darkness that I was drowning in. Hence, Ive decided to create this post to serve as a reminder to myself about the strength passed down by ancient wisdom, that I can easily adopt into my daily life.
âAll you need are these: certainty of judgment in the present moment;
action for the common good in the present moment;
and an attitude of gratitude in the present moment for anything that comes your way.â
âMARCUS AURELIUS
âFrame your thoughts like thisâyou are an old person, you wonât let yourself be enslaved by this any longer, no longer pulled like a puppet by every impulse, and youâll stop complaining about your present fortune or dreading the future.â
âMARCUS AURELIUS
Who then is invincible? The one who cannot be upset by anything outside their reasoned choice.â
âEPICTETUS
âWe have the power to hold no opinion about a thing and to not let it upset our state of mindâfor things have no natural power to shape our judgments.â
âMARCUS AURELIUS
It isnât events themselves that disturb people, but only their judgments about them.â
âEPICTETUS
âThrow out your conceited opinions, for it is impossible for a person to begin to learn what he thinks he already knows.â
âEPICTETUS
âWe cry to God Almighty, how can we escape this agony? Fool, donât you have hands? Or could it be God forgot to give you a pair? Sit and pray your nose doesnât run! Or, rather just wipe your nose and stop seeking a scapegoat.â
âEPICTETUS
âDonât behave as if you are destined to live forever. Whatâs fated hangs over you. As long as you live and while you can, become good now.â
âMARCUS AURELIUS
âDeath lies heavy upon one
who, known exceedingly well by all,
dies unknown to himself.â
âSENECA
âEverything lasts for a day, the one who remembers and the remembered.â
âMARCUS AURELIUS
âTo bear trials with a calm mind
robs misfortune of its strength and burden.â
âSENECA
âIn short, you must remember thisâthat if you hold anything dear outside of your own reasoned choice, you will have destroyed your capacity for choice.â
âEPICTETUS
âDonât allow yourself to be heard any longer griping about public life, not even with your own ears!â
âMARCUS AURELIUS
âDig deep within yourself, for there is a fountain of goodness ever ready to flow if you will keep digging.â
âMARCUS AURELIUS
"Success comes to the lowly and to the poorly talented, but the special characteristic of a great person is to triumph over the disasters and panics of human life.â
âSENECA,