## Background - MARCUS AURELIUS ANTONINUS was born on April 26 , A.D. 121. - The ablest teachers were engaged for him, and he was trained in the strict doctrine of the Stoic philosophy, which was his great delight. - He was taught to dress plainly and to live simply, to avoid all softness and luxury. - His body was trained to hardihood by wrestling, hunting, and outdoor games; and though his constitution was weak, he showed great personal courage to encounter the fiercest boars. - At the same time he was kept from the extravagancies of his day. - In 140 Marcus was raised to the consulship, and in 145 his betrothal was consummated by marriage. - Antoninus Pius died in 161 , and Marcus assumed the imperial state. - As a soldier we have seen that Marcus was both capable and successful; as an administrator he was prudent and conscientious. - He trod the path beaten by his predecessors, seeking only to do his duty as well as he could, and to keep out corruption. - The Stoic system of physics was materialism with an infusion of pantheism. - In contradiction to Plato’s view that the Ideas, or Prototypes, of phenomena alone really exist, the Stoics held that material objects alone existed; but immanent in the material universe was a spiritual force which acted through them, manifesting itself under many forms, as fire, aether, spirit, soul, reason, the ruling principle. - [[In Logic, the Stoic system is noteworthy for their theory as to the test of truth, the Criterion.]] - They compared the new-born soul to a sheet of paper ready for writing. - Carrying this theory to its extreme, the Stoic said that there could be no gradations between virtue and vice, though of course each has its special manifestations. - Moreover, nothing is good but virtue, and nothing but vice is bad. - Those outside things which are commonly called good or bad, such as health and sickness, wealth and poverty, pleasure and pain, are to him indifferent ( _αδιάφορα_ ). - Two points in the Stoic system deserve special mention - One is a careful distinction between things which are in our power and things which are not. Desire and dislike, opinion and affection, are within the power of the will; whereas health, wealth, honour, and other such are generally not so. The Stoic was called upon to control his desires and affections, and to guide his opinion; to bring his whole being under the sway of the will or leading principle, just as the universe is guided and governed by divine Providence. - The second point is a strong insistence on the unity of the universe, and on man’s duty as part of a great whole. - Such is the system which underlies the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius. - We do not come to Marcus Aurelius for a treatise on Stoicism. - These notes are not sermons; they are not even confessions. - His philosophy is not an eager intellectual inquiry, but more what we should call religious feeling. - The Roman scrutinises his faults with severity, but without the self-contempt which makes the Christian “vile in his own sight.” - He never poses before an audience; he may not be profound, he is always sincere. - In their intimacy and frankness lies their great charm. ## Source Material - [[Marcus Aurelius Meditations (Full Book)]]