Meditations (Annotated)

Nearly two thousand years ago, Marcus Aurelius wrote private reminders to himself about anger, duty, ambition, mortality and the uneasy search for a life lived well. He was the emperor of Rome, yet his writing often returns to the ordinary struggles of being human: what to do when another person behaves badly, how to act without needing applause, and how to meet a day that will not unfold as planned.

Those notes became Meditations, one of the enduring works of Stoic philosophy. Its questions remain familiar. The language of older English editions, however, can make the encounter harder than it needs to be.

This Vael Classics annotated edition presents all twelve books in carefully prepared modern English. P.K. Vael's adaptation draws on earlier translations, the surviving Greek text and scholarly sources, with attention to the distinctions that matter in Marcus's thought. A terminology key, selected textual notes and contextual notes offer help when a passage needs it. The philosophy has not been recast as a collection of reassuring modern slogans.

If you have ever wished you had answered an insult differently, worried too much about another person's judgment, or wondered where another year has gone, there may be something here you recognise. Marcus wrote for himself, not for an audience. That privacy is part of the book's unusual force.

Digital ISBN

978-93-345-2470-3

Format

EPUB eBook