gladiatorial combat and the brutal executions of the arena

a source of tedium (6.46); that they might be morally

wrong seems never to have occurred to him. He prides
himself on not having taken sexual advantage of his slaves,
not because it would have been harmful or unjust to them,
but because such self-indulgence would have been
damaging to his own character (1.17). There is no sign that
he ever questioned slavery as an institution. If asked, he
would no doubt have responded that “true” slavery is the
self-enslavement of the mind to emotion and desire (cf.
8.3, 9.40, 11.30); actual bodily slavery is merely a
condition to be accepted and endured, like nearsightedness
or a cold.

6. A still better title might be “Memoranda,” which suggests

both the miscellaneous character of the work and
something about its intended function. Scores of entries
begin with the injunctions to “remember . . .” or “keep in
mind . . . ,” while the syntax of others (e.g., 12.18)
presupposes such an admonition.

7. In order to stress the self-directed nature of the

Meditations I have sometimes preferred to translate these
as resolutions (“to . . .”) rather than direct commands.

8. The conventional divisions and numbering go back only to

the Latin translation published by Thomas Gataker in
1652. It cannot be regarded as authoritative, and I have
 occasionally split up a single entry into two (sometimes
following earlier editors, sometimes not).

9. There are some striking omissions, which may or may not

be significant. Antoninus’s predecessor, Hadrian, is not
mentioned, for example. It may be that Marcus
disapproved of him, or simply that he had little contact
with him before his death in 138. Perhaps more surprising
is the lack of any reference to Herodes Atticus, from
whom Marcus learned Greek rhetoric. Does this point to
personal tensions that arose between the two in later
years? Or does the omission stem from Marcus’s move
away from rhetoric toward philosophy? (It is noteworthy
that the Latin rhetorician Fronto, with whom Marcus seems
to have been close, is allotted only a very brief entry in
comparison with Marcus’s philosophical preceptors.)

10. The openings of Books 2 and 3 differ from those that

follow in including a brief note to identify (presumably)
the place of composition. We do not know whether these
notes go back to Marcus himself, or why the other books
lack them. The average length of the entries in these two
books is perhaps slightly longer than in the later books, but
there are few differences otherwise. Attempts to find a
thematic thread within Books 2 and 3 as a whole are not
convincing.

11. I have noted the most egregious instances in the notes,

 and have marked with an obelus (< . . . >) a few passages
where the original is impossible to reconstruct.

12. William Alexander Percy, Lanterns on the Levee (Baton

Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1973), p. 313.

13. A survey of work on the predecessors and rivals of the

Stoics is obviously beyond the scope of this note, but two
good starting points may be mentioned. The surviving
fragments of Heraclitus and other early philosophers who
appear in the Meditations are translated in Kathleen
Freeman, Ancilla to the Presocratic Philosophers
(Oxford: Blackwell, 1948 and later reprints). Any reader
unfamiliar with Plato should probably begin with the
Apology of Socrates, available in the Modern Library’s
Selected Dialogues of Plato, trans. B. Jowett, rev. H.
Pelliccia (New York: Random House, 2000) or any
number of other translations.
 Book 1

DEBTS AND LESSONS

1. MY GRANDFATHER VERUS

Character and self-control.

2. MY FATHER (FROM MY OWN MEMORIES AND HIS

REPUTATIONf)

Integrity and manliness.

3. MY MOTHER

Her reverence for the divine, her generosity, her inability not
only to do wrong but even to conceive of doing it. And the
simple way she lived—not in the least like the rich.
4. MY GREAT-GRANDFATHER

To avoid the public schools, to hire good private teachers,

and to accept the resulting costs as money well-spent.

5. MY FIRST TEACHER

Not to support this side or that in chariot-racing, this fighter

or that in the games. To put up with discomfort and not make
demands. To do my own work, mind my own business, and
have no time for slanderers.

6. DIOGNETUS

Not to waste time on nonsense. Not to be taken in by

conjurors and hoodoo artists with their talk about
incantations and exorcism and all the rest of it. Not to be
obsessed with quail-fighting or other crazes like that. To hear
unwelcome truths. To practice philosophy, and to study with
Baccheius, and then with Tandasis and Marcianus. To write
dialogues as a student. To choose the Greek lifestyle—the
camp-bed and the cloak.
7. RUSTICUS

The recognition that I needed to train and discipline my

character.

Not to be sidetracked by my interest in rhetoric. Not to

write treatises on abstract questions, or deliver moralizing
little sermons, or compose imaginary descriptions of The
Simple Life or The Man Who Lives Only for Others. To steer
clear of oratory, poetry and belles lettres.

Not to dress up just to stroll around the house, or things

like that. To write straightforward letters (like the one he
sent my mother from Sinuessa). And to behave in a
conciliatory way when people who have angered or annoyed
us want to make up.

To read attentively—not to be satisfied with “just getting

the gist of it.” And not to fall for every smooth talker.

And for introducing me to Epictetus’s lectures—and

loaning me his own copy.

8. APOLLONIUS

Independence and unvarying reliability, and to pay attention

to nothing, no matter how fleetingly, except the logos. And to
be the same in all circumstances—intense pain, the loss of a
child, chronic illness. And to see clearly, from his example,
that a man can show both strength and flexibility.

His patience in teaching. And to have seen someone who

clearly viewed his expertise and ability as a teacher as the
humblest of virtues.

And to have learned how to accept favors from friends

without losing your self-respect or appearing ungrateful.

9. SEXTUS

Kindness.

An example of fatherly authority in the home. What it

means to live as nature requires.

Gravity without airs.

To show intuitive sympathy for friends, tolerance to

amateurs and sloppy thinkers. His ability to get along with
everyone: sharing his company was the highest of
compliments, and the opportunity an honor for those around
him.

To investigate and analyze, with understanding and logic,

the principles we ought to live by.

Not to display anger or other emotions. To be free of

passion and yet full of love.

To praise without bombast; to display expertise without

pretension.

10. THE LITERARY CRITIC ALEXANDER

Not to be constantly correcting people, and in particular not

to jump on them whenever they make an error of usage or a
grammatical mistake or mispronounce something, but just
answer their question or add another example, or debate the
issue itself (not their phrasing), or make some other
contribution to the discussion—and insert the right
expression, unobtrusively.

11. FRONTO

To recognize the malice, cunning, and hypocrisy that power

produces, and the peculiar ruthlessness often shown by
people from “good families.”
12. ALEXANDER THE PLATONIST

Not to be constantly telling people (or writing them) that I’m

too busy, unless I really am. Similarly, not to be always
ducking my responsibilities to the people around me because
of “pressing business.”

13. CATULUS

Not to shrug off a friend’s resentment—even unjustified

resentment—but try to put things right.

To show your teachers ungrudging respect (the Domitius

and Athenodotus story), and your children unfeigned love.

14. [MY BROTHER] SEVERUS

To love my family, truth and justice. It was through him that I

encountered Thrasea, Helvidius, Cato, Dion and Brutus, and
conceived of a society of equal laws, governed by equality
of status and of speech, and of rulers who respect the liberty
of their subjects above all else.

And from him as well, to be steady and consistent in

valuing philosophy.