The Thoughts of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus

Marcus Aurelius · 1890

Marcus wrote this in Greek, for himself, during the last years of a reign spent mostly on campaign, and he never meant it to be read. It is a working book: reminders, arguments with himself, the same few points returned to because they needed returning to. Long’s translation is the one most English readers met first, and it keeps the plainness of the original.