Book Notes - Marcus Aurelius

(Originally written November 9, 2006 in Book 11)

Marcus Aurelius

Marcus Aurelius (121-180 AD) was a nobleman adopted into the Emperor line by Emperor Hadrian.

Aurelius became Emperor in 161. Despite being a peaceful man his reign was plagued with war with barbarians in the frontier and quelling revolutions.

He instituted a host of social and political reforms.

"His reign and that of Antoninus Pius were, according to Gibbon, 'possibly the only period of history in which the happiness of a great people was the sole object of government'" (Jones, 341).

Aurelius' son and heir, Commodus was incompetent and violent. He marks the beginning of the fall of the Empire.

Aurelius marks the end of an epoch.

Aurelius' Meditations were not intended for instruction, but for his own personal use.

They were random reflections of his doubts and indecisions and faith in philosophy.

While Aurelius does not provide an encompassing philosophical view he does show how deeply Stoicism had penetrated Roman thought.

Conception of Nature

Nature, for Aurelius, was a cosmos that persisted is a Heraclitean flux. Change was orderly and regular. The universe was rational and intelligent. The universe was one living Being. It possessed a single soul.

Man was a portion of this rational cosmos. His reason was how he participated in the rationality of the universe.

Emphasis on Social Duties

Aurelius' temperament and outgoing nature caused him to interpret Stoicism differently than Epictetus.

Aurelius' mantra of that all men as fellow creatures led him to a number of social and political duties.

Plato's and Aristotle's view of man as both rational and civic was used by Aurelius, but Aurelius added the concept of obligation to it.

Aurelius lived in a time when the culture was tired and discouraged. Since their was no real hope, the appeal of Aurelius' brand of Stoicism was to "stiffen the back and endure until the end" (Jones, 343).

Aurelius was wont to say that we are to welcome dear as inevitable, but he thought it was wrong to commit suicide.

The Stoics maintained the notion of moderation. Aurelius was the last to hold this notion for a long time.

Stoicism as an Operative Ideal in Roman Life

The world of the Romans was dying with Aurelius' death. The old Greek schools were to begin to decay.

Law

The law was instituted with new changes due to the change in Roman society. The old ways were finished and the freeing of tons of slaves caused a new law to be needed.

Charity

Humanizing became prevalent in this age.

Charity became commonplace in Roman society.

Jus Naturale

Juris prudence was introduced to the notion of natural law because of Stoicism's influence.

Natural law demanded that everyone be under one law, not just citizens.