Meditations

What's it about?

Marcus Aurelius (whose name I left in Latin for the bilingual tag bubbles) was the emperor of Rome in the 2nd century AD, at its peak. Like many emperors who followed him, he could have just indulged in the luxury his position afforded him. However, he decided to face challenges on all fronts. He is remembered for confronting the Antonine Plague, the barbarians, and internal political instability. He is also remembered for allowing Commodus to succeed him, with Commodus being far less concerned with Rome than his father. He is sometimes even considered "the Roman emperor who precipitated the fall of Rome."

What interests us today is his book Meditations. He apparently never intended to publish it. It was just his journal, where he tried to record what he had learned from Stoicism and its application to his duties.

What I liked

• Gaining access to the intimate thoughts of such an influential person.
• Marcus Aurelius had no reason to write this journal and lie in it.
• Very structured, coherent, yet evolving thoughts over more than 10 years.
• A grand message of Love.

What put me off

• Not the book itself, but the cult surrounding it. I’m thinking of Twitter profiles with a picture of a Greek philosopher, posting quotes without perhaps having read the entire book. When they miss the "Love" part, they distort the overall message of this journal.
• His use of divine concepts is quite distant from today's society. There’s some mental effort required to update the content to fit modern tastes.

A Few Gems

This section is empty. I need to reread it with my highlighter.