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THE MEDITATIONS OF MARCUS AURELIUS

This new translation of Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations joins a rather crowded field. Recent paperback translations include the Penguin Classics (2006) by M. Hammond, with introduction by D. Clay, and the Oxford World’s Classics (2011) by R. Hard, with my introduction and notes, which includes a selection of the correspondence with Fronto. There is also my (hardback) translation of Books 1–6, with introduction and commentary (Oxford 2013). However, there is widespread current appetite for practically oriented Stoic writings such as the Meditations, partly because of the upsurge of interest in applied Stoicism as life-guidance; and this book is a valuable addition, with some notable features. The title and preface highlight annotation as the distinctive feature. In fact, the other two translations just noted (Penguin Classics and Oxford World’s Classics) also have notes and full introductions. However, W.’s notes are more numerous and detailed, as well as being incisive and accessible. They are also conveniently placed at the foot of the page, rather than at the end of the book; in these respects, they make the book a very useful resource for various types of reader. W.’s introduction, like those in the other translations, covers the main relevant topics: Marcus’ life and political career, the character, style and transmission of the Meditations, Marcus’ relationship to Stoic philosophy and the main recurrent themes in the work. However, his introduction, at 58 pages, is longer than that of other translations aimed at a broad readership, and this gives scope for more detailed treatment. W. draws effectively on recent scholarship, including J. Sellars’s illuminating monograph on Marcus (2021); he also includes a useful review of further reading at the end of the book. The main interpretative positions adopted are reasonable and well defended. While exploring the evidence for Marcus’ life in some depth, he largely avoids the (intractable and complex) problem of trying to explain fully the relationship between Marcus’ politics and his Stoicism. He is content with presenting Marcus both as a sincere and committed adherent of Stoic ethics and as a hard-working, traditionalist and moderate emperor. He sees the Meditations as largely consistent with standard Stoic theory, rather than as drawing eclectically on various philosophical approaches, as has sometimes been claimed; at the same time, he sees the work as shaped by Marcus’ special emphases and idiom. Marcus is presented as focused primarily on Stoic ethics, though deploying certain themes from Stoic physics viewed with an ethical lens. The Meditations are described throughout as ‘notebooks’ and interpreted purely in that way, rather than as writings intended for publication or as drafts for that purpose. One topic that is rather under-explored is the role of the work as a vehicle for Marcus’ own ongoing ethical development and the ‘therapy’ of emotions. In this respect, it can be argued, the function of the Meditations is closely related to that of other ethically educative vehicles, including Seneca’s letters to Lucilius and Epictetus’ sermon-like discussions with his students and visitors (the Discourses). This topic has been a central preoccupation of much recent scholarship, and this has helped to promote wider public interest in Stoicism as life-guidance. However, the themes that W. highlights as especially important in the Meditations (pp. lii–lvii) do, in effect, illustrate this dimension of the work: he discusses interestingly Marcus’ treatment of anger-management, the prospect of death, the triviality of fame and appropriate ways of dealing with other people. In addition, the THE CLASSICAL REVIEW 355