A series of spiritual exercises filled with wisdom, practical guidance, and profound understanding of human behavior, Marcus Aurelius's "Meditations remains one of the greatest works of spiritual and ethical reflection ever written. Marcus's insights and advice--on everything from living in the world to coping with adversity and interacting with others--have made the "Meditations required reading for statesmen and philosophers alike, while generations of ordinary readers have responded to the straightforward intimacy of his style. <BR>In Gregory Hays's new translation--the first in a generation--Marcus's thoughts speak with a new immediacy: never before have they been so directly and powerfully presented. <P>"From the Trade Paperback edition.
A new translation of the philosophical journey that has inspired luminaries from Matthew Arnold to Bill Clinton Written by an intellectual Roman emperor, the Meditations offer a wide range of spiritual reflections developed as the leader struggled to understand himself and the universe. Marcus Aurelius covers topics as diverse as the question of virtue, human rationality, the nature of the gods, and his own emotions, spanning from doubt and despair to conviction and exaltation.
* Includes an introduction, chronology, explanatory notes, general index, index of quotations, and index of names
Marcus Aelius Aurelius Antoninus (121 &180) became joint emperor in 161 with adoptive brother Lucius Verus, and ruled alone from 169.
Diskin Clay is professor of classical studies at Duke University.
Martin Hammond is headmaster of the Tonbridge School and has translated Homer's Iliad for Penguin Classics.