![]() ![]() ![]() However, if one would’ve asked Marcus what he studied, his answer would have not been “Stoicism” but simply “philosophy”. Today Marcus Aurelius is considered as the quintessential Stoic. One of the philosophies that particularly inspired Marcus was Stoicism, which is the main source of the key terms and concepts that appear in the Meditations. Sadly, he turned out to be a dissolute tyrant whose defects were only emphasised by the contrast with his father.ĭuring this era, philosophy was not just a subject to write and argue about, but one that was expected to provide a “design for living” – a set of rules to live one’s life by. ![]() His last years were spent in “warfare and a journey far from home” – Meditations 2.17Īfter his death, he was succeeded by his son Commodus. It had been a particularly dark and stressful period for him. ![]() He wrote the Meditations from 170 to 180 A.D, before his death at the age of 58. It seems unlikely that he gave the work a title at all. He had clearly no expectation that anyone but himself would ever read his Meditations. Marcus used philosophy as a soothing ointment. The Meditations can be best seen as “spiritual exercises” written as reflections against the stress and confusion of everyday life, a sort of self-help book. ![]()
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