With an Introduction that outlines Marcuss life and career, the essentials of Stoic doctrine, the style and construction of the Meditations, and the works ongoing influence, this edition makes it possible to fully rediscover the thoughts of one of the most enlightened and intelligent leaders of any era. Never before have Marcuss insights been so directly and powerfully presented. In fresh and unencumbered English, Hays vividly conveys the spareness and compression of the original Greek text. His reign was marked by a successful campaign against Parthia, but was overshadowed in later years by plague, an abortive revolt in the eastern provinces, and the deaths of friends.

121 and was later adopted by the future emperor Antoninus Pius, whom he succeeded in 161. In Gregory Hayss new translationthe first in thirty-five yearsMarcuss thoughts speak with a new immediacy. Marcus Aurelius Antoninus was born to an upper-class Roman family in A.D.

For anyone who struggles to reconcile the demands of leadership with a concern for personal integrity and spiritual well-being, the Meditations remains as relevant now as it was two thousand years ago. Marcuss insights and adviceon everything from living in the world to coping with adversity and interacting with othershave made the Meditations required reading for statesmen and philosophers alike, while generations of ordinary readers have responded to the straightforward intimacy of his style. A series of spiritual exercises filled with wisdom, practical guidance, and profound understanding of human behavior, it remains one of the greatest works of spiritual and ethical reflection ever written. 121-180) succeeded his adoptive father as emperor of Rome in a.d.

Nearly two thousand years after it was written, Meditations remains profoundly relevant for anyone seeking to lead a meaningful life.įew ancient works have been as influential as the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius, philosopher and emperor of Rome (A.D. A new translation, with an Introduction, by Gregory Hays Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (a.d.

Marcus aurelius gregory hays