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Title: Thoughts of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus

Author: Emperor of Rome Marcus Aurelius

Translator: George Long

Release date: May 22, 2005 [eBook #15877]
Most recently updated: December 14, 2020

Language: English

Other information and formats: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/15877

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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THOUGHTS OF
MARCUS AURELIUS ANTONINUS ***

THE THOUGHTS

OF

THE EMPEROR

MARCUS AURELIUS
ANTONINUS
GEORGE LONG

MARCUS AURELIUS ANTONINUS

Front Page

CONTENTS.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH9

PHILOSOPHY OF MARCUS AURELIUS ANTONINUS45

THE THOUGHTS99

INDEX OF TERMS305

GENERAL INDEX311

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

OF

MARCUS AURELIUS ANTONINUS.
M. Antoninus was born at Rome, A.D. 121, on the 26th of April. His father,
Annius Verus, died while he was praetor. His mother was Domitia Calvilla,
also named Lucilla. The Emperor T. Antoninus Pius married Annia Galeria
Faustina, the sister of Annius Verus, and was consequently the uncle of M.
Antoninus. When Hadrian adopted Antoninus Pius and declared him his
successor in the empire, Antoninus Pius adopted both L. Ceionius Commodus,
the son of Aelius Caesar, and M. Antoninus, whose original name was M.
Annius Verus. Antoninus then took the name of M. Aelius Aurelius Verus, to
which was added the title of Caesar in A.D. 139: the name Aelius belonged to
Hadrian's family, and Aurelius was the name of Antoninus Pius. When M.
Antoninus became Augustus, he dropped the name of Verus and took the
name of Antoninus. Accordingly he is generally named M. Aurelius
Antoninus, or simply M. Antoninus.
The youth was most carefully brought up. He thanks the gods (i. 17) that he
had good grandfathers, good parents, a good sister, good teachers, good
associates, good kinsmen and friends, nearly everything good. He had the
happy fortune to witness the example of his uncle and adoptive father
Antoninus Pius, and he has recorded in his word (i. 16; vi. 30) the virtues of
the excellent man and prudent ruler. Like many young Romans he tried his
hand at poetry and studied rhetoric. Herodes Atticus and M. Cornelius Fronto
were his teachers in eloquence. There are extant letters between Fronto and
Marcus,[A] which show the great affection of the pupil for the master, and the
master's great hopes of his industrious pupil. M. Antoninus mentions Fronto
(i. 11) among those to whom he was indebted for his education.
[A] M. Cornelii Frontonis Reliquiae, Berlin, 1816. There are a few letters between Fronto
and Antoninus Pius.

When he was eleven years old, he assumed the dress of philosophers,
something plain and coarse, became a hard student, and lived a most
laborious, abstemious life, even so far as to injure his health. Finally, he
abandoned poetry and rhetoric for philosophy, and he attached himself to the
sect of the Stoics. But he did not neglect the study of law, which was a useful
preparation for the high place which he was designed to fill. His teacher was

L. Volusianus Maecianus, a distinguished jurist. We must suppose that he
learned the Roman discipline of arms, which was a necessary part of the
education of a man who afterwards led his troops to battle against a warlike
race.
Antoninus has recorded in his first book the names of his teachers, and the
obligations which he owed to each of them. The way in which he speaks of
what he learned from them might seem to savor of vanity or self-praise, if we
look carelessly at the way in which he has expressed himself; but if any one
draws this conclusion, he will be mistaken. Antoninus means to commemorate
the merits of his several teachers, what they taught, and what a pupil might
learn from them. Besides, this book, like the eleven other books, was for his
own use; and if we may trust the note at the end of the first book, it was
written during one of M. Antoninus' campaigns against the Quadi, at a time
when the commemoration of the virtues of his illustrious teachers might
remind him of their lessons and the practical uses which he might derive from
them.
Among his teachers of philosophy was Sextus of Chaeroneia, a grandson of
Plutarch. What he learned from this excellent man is told by himself (i. 9). His
favorite teacher was Q. Junius Rusticus (i. 7), a philosopher, and also a man of
practical good sense in public affairs. Rusticus was the adviser of Antoninus
after he became emperor. Young men who are destined for high places are not
often fortunate in those who are about them, their companions and teachers;
and I do not know any example of a young prince having had an education
which can be compared with that of M. Antoninus. Such a body of teachers
distinguished by their acquirements and their character will hardly be
collected again; and as to the pupil, we have not had one like him since.
Hadrian died in July A.D. 138, and was succeeded by Antoninus Pius. M.
Antoninus married Faustina, his cousin, the daughter of Pius, probably about
A.D. 146, for he had a daughter born in 147. He received from his adoptive
father the title of Caesar, and was associated with him in the administration of
the state. The father and the adopted son lived together in perfect friendship
and confidence. Antoninus was a dutiful son, and the emperor Pius loved and
esteemed him.
Antoninus Pius died in March, A.D. 161. The Senate, it is said, urged M.
Antoninus to take the sole administration of the empire, but he associated with
himself the other adopted son of Pius, L. Ceionius Commodus, who is

generally called L. Verus. Thus Rome for the first time had two emperors.
Verus was an indolent man of pleasure, and unworthy of his station.
Antoninus however bore with him, and it is said Verus had sense enough to
pay to his colleague the respect due to his character. A virtuous emperor and a
loose partner lived together in peace, and their alliance was strengthened by
Antoninus giving to Verus for wife his daughter Lucilla.
The reign of Antoninus was first troubled by a Parthian war, in which Verus
was sent to command; but he did nothing, and the success that was obtained
by the Romans in Armenia and on the Euphrates and Tigris was due to his
generals. This Parthian war ended in A.D. 165. Aurelius and Verus had a
triumph (A.D. 166) for the victories in the East. A pestilence followed, which
carried off great numbers in Rome and Italy, and spread to the west of Europe.
The north of Italy was also threatened by the rude people beyond the Alps,
from the borders of Gallia to the eastern side of the Hadriatic. These
barbarians attempted to break into Italy, as the Germanic nations had
attempted near three hundred years before; and the rest of the life of
Antoninus, with some intervals, was employed in driving back the invaders.
In 169 Verus suddenly died, and Antoninus administered the state alone.
During the German wars Antoninus resided for three years on the Danube at
Carnuntum. The Marcomanni were driven out of Pannonia and almost
destroyed in their retreat across the Danube; and in A.D. 174 the emperor
gained a great victory over the Quadi.
In A.D. 175, Avidius Cassius, a brave and skilful Roman commander who was
at the head of the troops in Asia, revolted, and declared himself Augustus. But
Cassius was assassinated by some of his officers, and so the rebellion came to
an end. Antoninus showed his humanity by his treatment of the family and the
partisans of Cassius; and his letter to the Senate, in which he recommends
mercy, is extant. (Vulcatius, Avidius Cassius, c. 12.)
Antoninus set out for the East on hearing of Cassius' revolt. Though he
appears to have returned to Rome in A.D. 174, he went back to prosecute the
war against the Germans, and it is probable that he marched direct to the East
from the German war. His wife Faustina, who accompanied him into Asia,
died suddenly at the foot of the Taurus, to the great grief of her husband.
Capitolinus, who has written the life of Antoninus, and also Dion Cassius,
accuses the empress of scandalous infidelity to her husband, and of

abominable lewdness. But Capitolinus says that Antoninus either knew it not
or pretended not to know it. Nothing is so common as such malicious reports
in all ages, and the history of imperial Rome is full of them. Antoninus loved
his wife, and he says that she was "obedient, affectionate, and simple." The
same scandal had been spread about Faustina's mother, the wife of Antoninus
Pius, and yet he too was perfectly satisfied with his wife. Antoninus Pius says
after her death, in a letter to Fronto, that he would rather have lived in exile
with his wife than in his palace at Rome without her. There are not many men
who would give their wives a better character than these two emperors.
Capitolinus wrote in the time of Diocletian. He may have intended to tell the
truth, but he is a poor, feeble biographer. Dion Cassius, the most malignant of
historians, always reports, and perhaps he believed, any scandal against
anybody.
Antoninus continued his journey to Syria and Egypt, and on his return to Italy
through Athens he was initiated into the Eleusinian mysteries. It was the
practice of the emperor to conform to the established rites of the age, and to
perform religious ceremonies with due solemnity. We cannot conclude from
this that he was a superstitious man, though we might perhaps do so if his
book did not show that he was not. But that is only one among many instances
that a ruler's public acts do not always prove his real opinions. A prudent
governor will not roughly oppose even the superstitions of his people; and
though he may wish they were wiser, he will know that he cannot make them
so by offending their prejudices.
Antoninus and his son Commodus entered Rome in triumph, perhaps for some
German victories, on the 23d. of December, A.D. 176. In the following year
Commodus was associated with his father in the empire, and took the name of
Augustus. This year A.D. 177 is memorable in ecclesiastical history. Attalus
and others were put to death at Lyon for their adherence to the Christian
religion. The evidence of this persecution is a letter preserved by Eusebius
(E.H. V. I; printed in Routh's Reliquiae Sacrae, vol. i, with notes). The letter is
from the Christians of Vienna and Lugdunum in Gallia (Vienna and Lyon) to
their Christian brethren in Asia and Phrygia; and it is preserved perhaps nearly
entire. It contains a very particular description of the tortures inflicted on the
Christians in Gallia, and it states that while the persecution was going on,
Attalus, a Christian and a Roman citizen, was loudly demanded by the
populace and brought into the amphitheatre; but the governor ordered him to
be reserved, with the rest who were in prison, until he had received

instructions from the emperor. Many had been tortured before the governor
thought of applying to Antoninus. The imperial rescript, says the letter, was
that the Christians should be punished, but if they would deny their faith, they
must be released. On this the work began again. The Christians who were
Roman citizens were beheaded; the rest were exposed to the wild beasts in the
amphitheatre. Some modern writers on ecclesiastical history, when they use
this letter, say nothing of the wonderful stories of the martyrs' sufferings.
Sanctus, as the letter says, was burnt with plates of hot iron till his body was
one sore and had lost all human form; but on being put to the rack he
recovered his former appearance under the torture, which was thus a cure
instead of a punishment. He was afterwards torn by beasts, and placed on an
iron chair and roasted. He died at last.
The letter is one piece of evidence. The writer, whoever he was that wrote in
the name of the Gallic Christians, is our evidence both for the ordinary and the
extraordinary circumstances of the story, and we cannot accept his evidence
for one part and reject the other. We often receive small evidence as a proof of
a thing we believe to be within the limits of probability or possibility, and we
reject exactly the same evidence, when the thing to which it refers appears
very improbable or impossible. But this is a false method of inquiry, though it
is followed by some modern writers, who select what they like from a story
and reject the rest of the evidence; or if they do not reject it, they dishonestly
suppress it. A man can only act consistently by accepting all this letter or
rejecting it all, and we cannot blame him for either. But he who rejects it may
still admit that such a letter may be founded on real facts; and he would make
this admission as the most probable way of accounting for the existence of the
letter; but if, as he would suppose, the writer has stated some things falsely, he
cannot tell what part of his story is worthy of credit.
The war on the northern frontier appears to have been uninterrupted during
the visit of Antoninus to the East, and on his return the emperor again left
Rome to oppose the barbarians. The Germanic people were defeated in a great
battle A.D. 179. During this campaign the emperor was seized with some
contagious malady, of which he died in the camp at Sirmium (Mitrovitz), on
the Save, in Lower Pannonia, but at Vindebona (Vienna), according to other
authorities, on the 17th of March, A.D. 180, in the fifty-ninth year of his age.
His son Commodus was with him. The body, or the ashes probably, of the
emperor were carried to Rome, and he received the honor of deification.
Those who could afford it had his statue or bust; and when Capitolinus wrote,

many people still had statues of Antoninus among the Dei Penates or
household deities. He was in a manner made a saint. Commodus erected to the
memory of his father the Antonine column which is now in the Piazza
Colonna at Rome. The bassi rilievi which are placed in a spiral line round the
shaft commemorate the victories of Antoninus over the Marcomanni and the
Quadi, and the miraculous shower of rain which refreshed the Roman soldiers
and discomfited their enemies. The statue of Antoninus was placed on the
capital of the column, but it was removed at some time unknown, and a
bronze statue of St. Paul was put in the place by Pope Sixtus the fifth.
The historical evidence for the times of Antoninus is very defective, and some
of that which remains is not credible. The most curious is the story about the
miracle which happened in A.D. 174, during the war with the Quadi. The
Roman army was in danger of perishing by thirst, but a sudden storm
drenched them with rain, while it discharged fire and hail on their enemies,
and the Romans gained a great victory. All the authorities which speak of the
battle speak also of the miracle. The Gentile writers assign it to their gods, and
the Christians to the intercession of the Christian legion in the emperor's army.
To confirm the Christian statement it is added that the emperor gave the title
of Thundering to this legion; but Dacier and others, who maintain the
Christian report of the miracle, admit that this title of Thundering or Lightning
was not given to this legion because the Quadi were struck with lightning, but
because there was a figure of lightning on their shields, and that this title of
the legion existed in the time of Augustus. Scaliger also had observed that the
legion was called Thundering (κεραυνοβόλος or κεραυνοφόρος) before the
reign of Antoninus. We learn this from Dion Cassius (Lib. 55, c. 23, and the
note of Reimarus), who enumerates all the legions of Augustus' time. The
name Thundering of Lightning also occurs on an inscription of the reign of
Trajan, which was found at Trieste. Eusebius (v. 5), when he relates the
miracle, quotes Apolinarius, bishop of Hierapolis, as authority for this name
being given to the legion Melitene by the emperor in consequence of the
success which he obtained through their prayers; from which we may estimate
the value of Apolinarius' testimony. Eusebius does not say in what book of
Apolinarius the statement occurs. Dion says that the Thundering legion was
stationed in Cappadocia in the time of Augustus. Valesius also observes that in
the Notitia of the Imperium Romanum there is mentioned under the
commander of Armenia the Praefectura of the twelfth legion named
"Thundering Melitene;" and this position in Armenia will agree with what
Dion says of its position in Cappadocia. Accordingly Valesius concludes that

Melitene was not the name of the legion, but of the town in which it was
stationed. Melitene was also the name of the district in which this town was
situated. The legions did not, he says, take their name from the place where
they were on duty, but from the country in which they were raised, and
therefore what Eusebius says about the Melitene does not seem probable to
him. Yet Valesius, on the authority of Apolinarius and Tertullian, believed that
the miracle was worked through the prayers of the Christian soldiers in the
emperor's army. Rufinus does not give the name of Melitene to this legion,
says Valesius, and probably he purposely omitted it, because he knew that
Melitene was the name of a town in Armenia Minor, where the legion was
stationed in his time.
The emperor, it is said, made a report of his victory to the Senate, which we
may believe, for such was the practice; but we do not know what he said in his
letter, for it is not extant. Dacier assumes that the emperor's letter was
purposely destroyed by the Senate or the enemies of Christianity, that so
honorable a testimony to the Christians and their religion might not be
perpetuated. The critic has however not seen that he contradicts himself when
he tells us the purport of the letter, for he says that it was destroyed, and even
Eusebius could not find it. But there does exist a letter in Greek addressed by
Antoninus to the Roman people and the sacred Senate after this memorable
victory. It is sometimes printed after Justin's first Apology, but it is totally
unconnected with the apologies. This letter is one of the most stupid forgeries
of the many which exist, and it cannot be possibly founded even on the
genuine report of Antoninus to the Senate. If it were genuine, it would free the
emperor from the charge of persecuting men because they were Christians, for
he says in this false letter that if a man accuse another only of being a
Christian, and the accused confess, and there is nothing else against him, he
must be set free; with this monstrous addition, made by a man inconceivably
ignorant, that the informer must be burnt alive.[A]
[A] Eusebius (v. 5) quotes Tertullian's Apology to the Roman Senate in confirmation of
the story. Tertullian, he says, writes that letters of the emperor were extant, in which he
declares that his army was saved by the prayers of the Christians; and that he "threatened
to punish with death those who ventured to accuse us." It is possible that the forged letter
which is now extant may be one of those which Tertullian had seen, for he uses the plural
number, "letters." A great deal has been written about this miracle of the Thundering
Legion, and more than is worth reading. There is a dissertation on this supposed miracle
in Moyle's Works, London, 1726.

During the time of Antoninus Pius and Marcus Antoninus there appeared the
first Apology of Justinus, and under M. Antoninus the Oration of Tatian
against the Greeks, which was a fierce attack on the established religions; the
address of Athenagoras to M. Antoninus on behalf of the Christians, and the
Apology of Melito, bishop of Sardes, also addressed to the emperor, and that
of Apolinarius. The first Apology of Justinus is addressed to T. Antoninus Pius
and his two adopted sons, M. Antoninus and L. Verus; but we do not know
whether they read it.[A] The second Apology of Justinus is entitled "to the
Roman Senate;" but this superscription is from some copyist. In the first
chapter Justinus addresses the Romans. In the second chapter he speaks of an
affair that had recently happened in the time of M. Antoninus and L,. Verus, as
it seems; and he also directly addresses the emperor, saying of a certain
woman, "she addressed a petition to thee, the emperor, and thou didst grant
the petition." In other passages the writer addresses the two emperors, from
which we must conclude that the Apology was directed to them. Eusebius
(E.H. iv. 18) states that the second Apology was addressed to the successor of
Antoninus Pius, and he names him Antoninus Verus, meaning M. Antoninus.
In one passage of this second Apology (c. 8), Justinus, or the writer, whoever
he may be, says that even men who followed the Stoic doctrines, when they
ordered their lives according to ethical reason, were hated and murdered, such
as Heraclitus, Musonius in his own times, and others; for all those who in any
way labored to live according to reason and avoided wickedness were always
hated; and this was the effect of the work of daemons.
[A] Orosius, vii. 14, says that Justinus the philosopher presented to Antonius Pius his
work in defence of the Christian religion, and made him merciful to the Christians.

Justinus himself is said to have been put to death at Rome, because he refused
to sacrifice to the gods. It cannot have been in the reign of Hadrian, as one
authority states; nor in the time of Antoninus Pius, if the second Apology was
written in the time of M. Antoninus; and there is evidence that this event took
place under M. Antoninus and L. Verus, when Rusticus was praefect of the
city.[A]
[A] See the Martyrium Sanctorum Justini, &c., in the works of Justinus, ed. Otto, vol. ii.
559. "Junius Rusticus Praefectus Urbi erat sub imperatoribus M. Aurelio et L. Vero, id
quod liquet ex Themistii Orat. xxxiv Dindorf. p. 451, et ex quodam illorum rescripto,
Dig. 49. 1. I, § 2" (Otto). The rescript contains the words "Junium Rusticum amicum
nostrum Praefectum Urbi." The Martyrium of Justinus and others is written in Greek. It
begins, "In the time of the wicked defenders of idolatry impious edicts were published
against the pious Christians both in cities and country places, for the purpose of
compelling them to make offerings to vain idols. Accordingly the holy men (Justinus,

Chariton, a woman Charito, Paeon, Liberianus, and others) were brought before Rusticus,
the praefect of Rome."
The Martyrium gives the examination of the accused by Rusticus. All of them professed
to be Christians. Justinus was asked if he expected to ascend into heaven and to receive a
reward for his sufferings, if he was condemned to death. He answered that he did not
expect: he was certain of it. Finally, the test of obedience was proposed to the prisoners;
they were required to sacrifice to the gods. All refused, and Rusticus pronounced the
sentence, which was that those who refused to sacrifice to the gods and obey the
emperor's order should be whipped and beheaded according to the law. The martyrs were
then led to the usual place of execution and beheaded. Some of the faithful secretly
carried off the bodies and deposited them in a fit place.

The persecution in which Polycarp suffered at Smyrna belongs to the time of
M. Antoninus. The evidence for it is the letter of the church of Smyrna to the
churches of Philomelium and the other Christian churches, and it is preserved
by Eusebius (E.H. iv. 15). But the critics do not agree about the time of
Polycarp's death, differing in the two extremes to the amount of twelve years.
The circumstances of Polycarp's martyrdom were accompanied by miracles,
one of which Eusebius (iv. 15) has omitted, but it appears in the oldest Latin
version of the letter, which Usher published, and it is supposed that this
version was made not long after the time of Eusebius. The notice at the end of
the letter states that it was transcribed by Caius from the copy of Irenaeus, the
disciple of Polycarp, then transcribed by Socrates at Corinth; "after which I
Pionius again wrote it out from the copy above mentioned, having searched it
out by the revelation of Polycarp, who directed me to it," &c. The story of
Polycarp's martyrdom is embellished with miraculous circumstances which
some modern writers on ecclesiastical history take the liberty of omitting.[A]
[A] Conyers Middleton, An Inquiry into the Miraculous Powers, &c. p. 126. Middleton
says that Eusebius omitted to mention the dove, which flew out of Polycarp's body, and
Dodwell and Archbishop Wake have done the same. Wake says, "I am so little a friend to
such miracles that I thought it better with Eusebius to omit that circumstance than to
mention it from Bp. Usher's Manuscript," which manuscript however, says Middleton, he
afterwards declares to be so well attested that we need not any further assurance of the
truth of it.

In order to form a proper notion of the condition of the Christians under M.
Antoninus we must go back to Trajan's time. When the younger Pliny was
governor of Bithynia, the Christians were numerous in those parts, and the
worshipers of the old religion were falling off. The temples were deserted, the
festivals neglected, and there were no purchasers of victims for sacrifice.
Those who were interested in the maintenance of the old religion thus found
that their profits were in danger. Christians of both sexes and all ages were

brought before the governor who did not know what to do with them. He
could come to no other conclusion than this, that those who confessed to be
Christians and persevered in their religion ought to be punished; if for nothing
else, for their invincible obstinancy. He found no crimes proved against the
Christians, and he could only characterize their religion as a depraved and
extravagant superstition, which might be stopped if the people were allowed
the opportunity of recanting. Pliny wrote this in a letter to Trajan (Plinius, Ep.
x. 97). He asked for the emperor's directions, because he did not know what to
do. He remarks that he had never been engaged in judicial inquiries about the
Christians, and that accordingly he did not know what to inquire about, or
how far to inquire and punish. This proves that it was not a new thing to
examine into a man's profession of Christianity and to punish him for it.[A]
[A] Orosius (vii. 12) speaks of Trajan's persecution of the Christians, and of Pliny's
application to him having led the emperor to mitigate his severity. The punishment by the
Mosaic law for those who attempted to seduce the Jews to follow new gods was death. If
a man was secretly enticed to such new worship, he must kill the seducer, even if the
seducer were brother, son, daughter, wife, or friend. (Deut. xiii.)

Trajan's rescript is extant. He approved of the governor's judgment in the
matter, but he said that no search must be made after the Christians; if a man
was charged with the new religion and convicted, he must not be punished if
he affirmed that he was not a Christian, and confirmed his denial by showing
his reverence to the heathen gods. He added that no notice must be taken of
anonymous informations, for such things were of bad example. Trajan was a
mild and sensible man; and both motives of mercy and policy probably also
induced him to take as little notice of the Christians as he could, to let them
live in quiet if it were possible. Trajan's rescript is the first legislative act of
the head of the Roman state with reference to Christianity, which is known to
us. It does not appear that the Christians were further disturbed under his
reign. The martyrdom of Ignatius by the order of Trajan himself is not
universally admitted to be an historical fact.[A]
[A] The Martyrium Ignatii, first published in Latin by Archbishop Usher, is the chief
evidence for the circumstances of Ignatius' death.

In the time of Hadrian it was no longer possible for the Roman government to
overlook the great increase of the Christians and the hostility of the common
sort to them. If the governors in the provinces were willing to let them alone,
they could not resist the fanaticism of the heathen community, who looked on
the Christians as atheists. The Jews too, who were settled all over the Roman

Empire, were as hostile to the Christians as the Gentiles were.[A] With the
time of Hadrian begin the Christian Apologies, which show plainly what the
popular feeling towards the Christians then was. A rescript of Hadrian to
Minucius Fundanus, the Proconsul of Asia, which stands at the end of Justin's
first Apology,[B] instructs the governor that innocent people must not be
troubled, and false accusers must not be allowed to extort money from them;
the charges against the Christians must be made in due form, and no attention
must be paid to popular clamors; when Christians were regularly prosecuted
and convicted of illegal acts, they must be punished according to their deserts;
and false accusers also must be punished. Antoninus Pius is said to have
published rescripts to the same effect. The terms of Hadrian's rescript seem
very favorable to the Christians; but if we understand it in this sense, that they
were only to be punished like other people for illegal acts, it would have had
no meaning, for that could have been done without asking the emperor's
advice. The real purpose of the rescript is that Christians must be punished if
they persisted in their belief, and would not prove their renunciation of it by
acknowledging the heathen religion. This was Trajan's rule, and we have no
reason for supposing that Hadrian granted more to the Christians than Trajan
did. There is also printed at the end of Justin's first Apology a rescript of
Antoninus Pius to the Commune of (τὸ κοινὸν τῆς ᾽ Ασίας) and it is also in
Eusebius (E.H. iv. 13). The date of the rescript is the third consulship of
Antoninus Pius.[C] The rescript declares that the Christians—for they are
meant, though the name Christians does not occur in the rescript—were not to
be disturbed unless they were attempting something against the Roman rule;
and no man was to be punished simply for being a Christian. But this rescript
is spurious. Any man moderately acquainted with Roman history will see by
the style and tenor that it is a clumsy forgery.
[A] We have the evidence of Justinus (ad Diognetum, c. 5) to this effect: "The Christians
are attacked by the Jews as if they were men of a different race, and are persecuted by the
Greeks; and those who hate them cannot give the reason of their enmity."

[B] And in Eusebius (E.H. iv. 8, 9). Orosius (vii. 13) says that Hadrian sent this rescript to
Minucius Fundanus, proconsul of Asia after being instructed in books written on the
Christian religion by Quadratus, a disciple of the Apostles, and Aristides, an Athenian, an
honest and wise man, and Serenus Granius. In the Greek text of Hadrian's rescript there is
mentioned Serenius Granianus, the predecessor of Minucius Fundanus in the government
of Asia.
This rescript of Hadrian has clearly been added to the Apology by some editor. The
Apology ends with the words: ὅ φίλον τῴ Οεῷ τοῦτο γενέσθω.

[C] Eusebius (E.H. iv. 12), after giving the beginning of Justinus' first Apology, which
contains the address to T. Antoninus and his two adopted sons, adds: "The same emperor
being addressed by other brethren in Asia, honored the Commune of Asia with the
following rescript." This rescript, which is in the next chapter of Eusebius (E.H. iv. 13) is
in the sole name of Caesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus Armenius, though
Eusebius had just before said that he was going to give us a rescript of Antoninus Pius.
There are some material variations between the two copies of the rescript besides the
difference in the title, which difference makes it impossible to say whether the forger
intended to assign this rescript to Pius or to M. Antoninus.
The author of the Alexandrine Chronicum says that Marcus, being moved by the
entreaties of Melito and other heads of the church, wrote an Epistle to the Commune of
Asia in which he forbade the Christians to be troubled on account of their religion.
Valesius supposes this to be the letter or rescript which is contained in Eusebius (iv. 13),
and to be the answer to the Apology of Melito, of which I shall soon give the substance.
But Marcus certainly did not write this letter which is in Eusebius, and we know not what
answer he made to Melito.

In the time of M. Antoninus the opposition between the old and the new belief
was still stronger, and the adherents of the heathen religion urged those in
authority to a more regular resistance to the invasions of the Christian faith.
Melito in his Apology to M. Antoninus represents the Christians of Asia as
persecuted under new imperial orders. Shameless informers, he says, men
who were greedy after the property of others, used these orders as a means of
robbing those who were doing no harm. He doubts if a just emperor could
have ordered anything so unjust; and if the last order was really not from the
emperor, the Christians entreat him not to give them up to their enemies.[A]
We conclude from this that there were at least imperial rescripts or
constitutions of M. Antoninus which were made the foundation of these
persecutions. The fact of being a Christian was now a crime and punished,
unless the accused denied their religion. Then come the persecutions at
Smyrna, which some modern critics place in A.D. 167, ten years before the
persecution of Lyon. The governors of the provinces under M. Antoninus
might have found enough even in Trajan's rescript to warrant them in
punishing Christians, and the fanaticism of the people would drive them to
persecution, even if they were unwilling. But besides the fact of the Christians
rejecting all the heathen ceremonies, we must not forget that they plainly
maintain that all the heathen religions were false. The Christians thus declared
war against the heathen rites, and it is hardly necessary to observe that this
was a declaration of hostility against the Roman government, which tolerated
all the various forms of superstition that existed in the empire, and could not
consistently tolerate another religion, which declared that all the rest were
false and all the splendid ceremonies of the empire only a worship of devils.

[A] Eusebius, iv. 26; and Routh's Reliquiae Sacrae, vol. I, and the notes. The
interpretation of this Fragment is not easy. Mosheim misunderstood one passage so far as
to affirm that Marcus promised rewards to those who denounced the Christians; an
interpretation which is entirely false. Melito calls the Christian religion "our philosophy,"
which began among barbarians (the Jews), and flourished among the Roman subjects in
the time of Augustus, to the great advantage of the empire, for from that time the power
of the Romans grew great and glorious. He says that the emperor has and will have as the
successor to Augustus' power the good wishes of men, if he will protect that philosophy
which grew up with the empire and began with Augustus, which philosophy the
predecessors of Antoninus honored in addition to the other religions. He further says that
the Christian religion had suffered no harm since the time of Augustus, but on the
contrary had enjoyed all honor and respect that any man could desire. Nero and
Domitian, he says, were alone persuaded by some malicious men to calumniate the
Christian religion, and this was the origin of the false charges against the Christians. But
this was corrected by the emperors who immediately preceded Antoninus, who often by
their rescripts reproved those who attempted to trouble the Christians. Hadrian,
Antoninus' grandfather, wrote to many, and among them to Fundanus, the governor of
Asia. Antoninus Pius, when Marcus was associated with him in the empire, wrote to the
cities that they must not trouble the Christians; among others, to the people of Larissa,
Thessalonica, the Athenians, and all the Greeks. Melito concluded thus: "We are
persuaded that thou who hast about these things the same mind that they had, nay rather
one much more humane and philosophical, wilt do all that we ask thee."—This Apology
was written after A.D. 169, the year in which Verus died, for it speaks of Marcus only and
his son Commodus. According to Melito's testimony, Christians had only been punished
for their religion in the time of Nero and Domitian, and the persecutions began again in
the time of M. Antoninus, and were founded on his orders, which were abused, as he
seems to mean. He distinctly affirms "that the race of the godly is now persecuted and
harassed by fresh imperial orders in Asia, a thing which had never happened before." But
we know that all this is not true, and that Christians had been punished in Trajan's time.

If we had a true ecclesiastical history, we should know how the Roman
emperors attempted to check the new religion; how they enforced their
principle of finally punishing Christians, simply as Christians, which Justin in
his Apology affirms that they did, and I have no doubt that he tells the truth;
how far popular clamor and riots went in this matter, and how far many
fanatical and ignorant Christians—for there were many such—contributed to
excite the fanaticism on the other side and to embitter the quarrel between the
Roman government and the new religion. Our extant ecclesiastical histories
are manifestly falsified, and what truth they contain is grossly exaggerated;
but the fact is certain that in the time of M. Antoninus the heathen populations
were in open hostility to the Christians, and that under Antoninus' rule men
were put to death because they were Christians. Eusebius, in the preface to his
fifth book, remarks that in the seventeenth year of Antoninus' reign, in some
parts of the world, the persecution of the Christians became more violent, and
that it proceeded from the populace in the cities; and he adds, in his usual
style of exaggeration, that we may infer from what took place in a single

nation that myriads of martyrs were made in the habitable earth. The nation
which he alludes to is Gallia; and he then proceeds to give the letter of the
churches of Vienna and Lugdunum. It is probable that he has assiged the true
cause of the persecutions, the fanaticism of the populace, and that both
governors and emperor had a great deal of trouble with these disturbances.
How far Marcus was cognizant of these cruel proceedings we do not know, for
the historical records of his reign are very defective. He did not make the rule
against the Christians, for Trajan did that; and if we admit that he would have
been willing to let the Christians alone, we cannot affirm that it was in his
power, for it would be a great mistake to suppose that Antoninus had the
unlimited authority which some modern sovereigns have had. His power was
limited by certain constitutional forms, by the Senate, and by the precedents
of his predecessors. We cannot admit that such a man was an active
persecutor, for there is no evidence that he was,[A] though it is certain that he
had no good opinion of the Christians, as appears from his own words.[B] But
he knew nothing of them except their hostility to the Roman religion, and he
probably thought that they were dangerous to the state, notwithstanding the
professions, false or true, of some of the Apologists. So much I have said,
because it would be unfair not to state all that can be urged against a man
whom his contemporaries and subsequent ages venerated as a model of virtue
and benevolence. If I admitted the genuineness of some documents, he would
be altogether clear from the charge of even allowing any persecutions; but as I
seek the truth and am sure that they are false, I leave him to bear whatever
blame is his due.[C] I add that it is quite certain that Antoninus did not derive
any of his ethical principles from a religion of which he knew nothing.[D]
[A] Except that of Orosius (vii. 15), who says that during the Parthian war there were
grievous persecutions of the Christians in Asia and Gallia under the orders of Marcus
(praecepto ejus), and "many were crowned with the martyrdom of saints."

[B] See xi. 3. The emperor probably speaks of such fanatics as Clemens (quoted by
Gataker on this passage) mentions. The rational Christians admitted no fellowship with
them. "Some of these heretics," says Clemens, "show their impiety and cowardice by
loving their lives, saying that the knowledge of the really existing God is true testimony
(martyrdom), but that a man is a self-murderer who bears witness by his death. We also
blame those who rush to death; for there are some, not of us, but only bearing the same
name, who give themselves up. We say of them that they die without being martyrs, even
if they are publicly punished; and they give themselves up to a death which avails
nothing, as the Indian Gymnosophists give themselves up foolishly to fire." Cave, in his
primitive Christianity (ii. c. 7), says of the Christians: "They did flock to the place of
torment faster than droves of beasts that are driven to the shambles. They even longed to
be in the arms of suffering. Ignatius, though then in his journey to Rome in order to his
execution, yet by the way as he went could not but vent his passionate desire of it 'Oh that

I might come to those wild beasts that are prepared for me; I heartily wish that I may
presently meet with them; I would invite and encourage them speedily to devour me, and
not be afraid to set upon me as they have been to others; nay, should they refuse it, I
would even force them to it;'" and more to the same purpose from Eusebius. Cave, an
honest and good man, says all this in praise of the Christians; but I think that he mistook
the matter. We admire a man who holds to his principles even to death; but these fanatical
Christians are the Gymnosophists whom Clemens treats with disdain.

[C] Dr. F.C. Baur, in his work entitled "Das Christenthum und die Christliche Kirche der
drei ersten Jahrhunderte," &c., has examined this question with great good sense and
fairness, and I believe he has stated the truth as near as our authorities enable us to reach
it.

[D] In the Digest, 48, 19, 30, there is the following excerpt from Modestinus: "Si quis
aliquid fecerit, quo leves hominum animi superstitione numinis terrerentur, divus Marcus
hujusmodi homines in insulam relegari rescripsit."

There is no doubt that the Emperor's Reflections—or his Meditations, as they
are generally named—is a genuine work. In the first book he speaks of
himself, his family, and his teachers; and in other books he mentions himself.
Suidas (v. Μάρκος) notices a work of Antoninus in twelve books, which he
names the "conduct of his own life;" and he cites the book under several
words in his Dictionary, giving the emperor's name, but not the title of the
work. There are also passages cited by Suidas from Antoninus without
mention of the emperor's name. The true title of the work is unknown.
Xylander, who published the first edition of this book (Zürich, 1558, 8vo, with
a Latin version), used a manuscript which contained the twelve books, but it is
not known where the manuscript is now. The only other complete manuscript
which is known to exist is in the Vatican library, but it has no title and no
inscriptions of the several books: the eleventh only has the inscription,
Μάρκου αῦτοκράτορος marked with an asterisk. The other Vatican
manuscripts and the three Florentine contain only excerpts from the emperor's
book. All the titles of the excerpts nearly agree with that which Xylander
prefixed to his edition, Μάρκου ᾿Αντωνίνου Αὐτοκράτορος τῶν εἰς ἑαυτὸν
βιβλία ιβ. This title has been used by all subsequent editors. We cannot tell
whether Antoninus divided his work into books or somebody else did it. If the
inscriptions at the end of the first and second books are genuine, he may have
made the division himself.
It is plain that the emperor wrote down his thoughts or reflections as the
occasions arose; and since they were intended for his own use, it is no
improbable conjecture that he left a complete copy behind him written with
his own hand; for it is not likely that so diligent a man would use the labor of

a transcriber for such a purpose, and expose his most secret thoughts to any
other eye. He may have also intended the book for his son Commodus, who
however had no taste for his father's philosophy. Some careful hand preserved
the precious volume; and a work by Antoninus is mentioned by other late
writers besides Suidas.
Many critics have labored on the text of Antoninus. The most complete
edition is that by Thomas Gataker, 1652, 4to. The second edition of Gataker
was superintended by George Stanhope, 1697, 4to. There is also an edition of
1704. Gataker made and suggested many good corrections, and he also made
a new Latin version, which is not a very good specimen of Latin, but it
generally expresses the sense of the original, and often better than some of the
more recent translations. He added in the margin opposite to each paragraph
references to the other parallel passages; and he wrote a commentary, one of
the most complete that has been written on any ancient author. This
commentary contains the editor's exposition of the more difficult passages,
and quotations from all the Greek and Roman writers for the illustration of the
text. It is a wonderful monument of learning and labor, and certainly no
Englishman has yet done anything like it. At the end of his preface the editor
says that he wrote it at Rotherhithe near London, in a severe winter, when he
was in the seventy-eighth year of his age, 1651—a time when Milton, Selden,
and other great men of the Commonwealth time were living; and the great
French scholar Saumaise (Salmasius), with whom Gataker corresponded and
received help from him for his edition of Antoninus. The Greek test has also
been edited by J. M. Schultz, Leipzig, 1802, 8vo; and by the learned Greek
Adamantinus Corais, Paris, 1816, 8vo. The text of Schultz was republished by
Tauchnitz, 1821.
There are English, German, French, Italian, and Spanish translations of M.
Antoninus, and there may be others. I have not seen all the English
translations. There is one by Jeremy Collier, 1702, 8vo, a most coarse and
vulgar copy of the original. The latest French translation by Alexis Pierron in
the collection of Charpentier is better than Dacier's, which has been honored
with an Italian version (Udine, 1772). There is an Italian version (1675),
which I have not seen. It is by a cardinal. "A man illustrious in the church, the
Cardinal Francis Barberini the elder, nephew of Pope Urban VIII., occupied
the last years of his life in translating into his native language the thoughts of
the Roman emperor, in order to diffuse among the faithful the fertilizing and
vivifying seeds. He dedicated this translation to his soul, to make it, as he says

in his energetic style, redder than his purple at the sight of the virtues of this
Gentile" (Pierron, Preface).
I have made this translation at intervals after having used the book for many
years. It is made from the Greek, but I have not always followed one text; and
I have occasionally compared other versions with my own. I made this
translation for my own use, because I found that it was worth the labor; but it
may be useful to others also; and therefore I determined to print it. As the
original is sometimes very difficult to understand and still more difficult to
translate, it is not possible that I have always avoided error. But I believe that I
have not often missed the meaning, and those who will take the trouble to
compare the translation with the original should not hastily conclude that I am
wrong, if they do not agree with me. Some passages do give the meaning,
though at first sight they may not appear to do so; and when I differ from the
translators, I think that in some places they are wrong, and in other places I
am sure that they are. I have placed in some passages a +, which indicates
corruption in the text or great uncertainty in the meaning. I could have made
the language more easy and flowing, but I have preferred a ruder style as
being better suited to express the character of the original; and sometimes the
obscurity which may appear in the version is a fair copy of the obscurity of
the Greek. If I should ever revise this version, I would gladly make use of any
corrections which may be suggested. I have added an index of some of the
Greek terms with the corresponding English. If I have not given the best
words for the Greek, I have done the best that I could; and in the text I have
always given the same translation of the same word.
The last reflection of the Stoic philosophy that I have observed is in
Simplicius' Commentary on the Enchiridion of Epictetus. Simplicius was not a
Christian, and such a man was not likely to be converted at a time when
Christianity was grossly corrupted. But he was a really religious man, and he
concludes his commentary with a prayer to the Deity which no Christian
could improve. From the time of Zeno to Simplicius, a period of about nine
hundred years, the Stoic philosophy formed the characters of some of the best
and greatest men. Finally it became extinct, and we hear no more of it till the
revival of letters in Italy. Angelo Poliziano met with two very inaccurate and
incomplete manuscripts of Epictetus' Enchiridion, which he translated into
Latin and dedicated to his great patron Lorenzo de' Medici, in whose
collection he had found the book. Poliziano's version was printed in the first
Bâle edition of the Enchiridion, A. D. 1531 (apud And. Cratandrum).

Poliziano recommends the Enchiridion to Lorenzo as a work well suited to his
temper, and useful in the difficulties by which he was surrounded.
Epictetus and Antoninus have had readers ever since they were first printed.
The little book of Antoninus has been the companion of some great men.
Machiavelli's Art of War and Marcus Antoninus were the two books which
were used when he was a young man by Captain John Smith, and he could not
have found two writers better fitted to form the character of a soldier and a
man. Smith is almost unknown and forgotten in England, his native country,
but not in America, where he saved the young colony of Virginia. He was
great in his heroic mind and his deeds in arms, but greater still in the
nobleness of his character. For a man's greatness lies not in wealth and station,
as the vulgar believe, nor yet in his intellectual capacity, which is often
associated with the meanest moral character, the most abject servility to those
in high places, and arrogance to the poor and lowly; but a man's true greatness
lies in the consciousness of an honest purpose in life, founded on a just
estimate of himself and everything else, on frequent self-examination, and a
steady obedience to the rule which he knows to be right, without troubling
himself, as the emperor says he should not, about what others may think or
say, or whether they do or do not do that which he thinks and says and does.

THE PHILOSOPHY

OF

MARCUS AURELIUS ANTONINUS.
It has been said that the Stoic philosophy first showed its real value when it
passed from Greece to Rome. The doctrines of Zeno and his successors were
well suited to the gravity and practical good sense of the Romans; and even in
the Republican period we have an example of a man, M. Cato Uticensis, who
lived the life of a Stoic and died consistently with the opinions which he
professed. He was a man, says Cicero, who embraced the Stoic philosophy
from conviction; not for the purpose of vain discussion, as most did, but in
order to make his life conformable to the Stoic precepts. In the wretched times
from the death of Augustus to the murder of Domitian, there was nothing but
the Stoic philosophy which could console and support the followers of the old
religion under imperial tyranny and amidst universal corruption. There were
even then noble minds that could dare and endure, sustained by a good
conscience and an elevated idea of the purposes of man's existence. Such were
Paetus Thrasae, Helvidius Priscus, Cornutus, C. Musonius Rufus,[A] and the
poets Persius and Juvenal, whose energetic language and manly thoughts may
be as instructive to us now as they might have been to their contemporaries.
Persius died under Nero's bloody reign; but Juvenal had the good fortune to
survive the tyrant Domitian and to see the better times of Nerva, Trajan, and
Hadrian.[B] His best precepts are derived from the Stoic school, and they are
enforced in his finest verses by the unrivalled vigor of the Latin language.
[A] I have omitted Seneca, Nero's preceptor. He was in a sense a Stoic, and he has said
many good things in a very fine way. There is a judgment of Gellius (xii. 2.) on Seneca,
or rather a statement of what some people thought of his philosophy, and it is not
favorable. His writings and his life must be taken together, and I have nothing more to
say of him here. The reader will find a notice of Seneca and his philosophy in "Seekers
after God," by the Rev. P. W. Farrar. Macmillan and Co.

[B] Ribbeck has labored to prove that those Satires, which contain philosophical
precepts, are not the work of the real, but of a false Juvenal, a Declamator. Still the verses
exist, and were written by somebody who was acquainted with the Stoic doctrines.

The best two expounders of the later Stoical philosophy were a Greek slave
and a Roman emperor. Epictetus, a Phrygian Greek, was brought to Rome, we
know not how, but he was there the slave and afterwards the freedman of an
unworthy master, Epaphroditus by name, himself a freedman and a favorite of
Nero. Epictetus may have been a hearer of C. Musonius Rufus, while he was

still a slave, but he could hardly have been a teacher before he was made free.
He was one of the philosophers whom Domitian's order banished from Rome.
He retired to Nicopolis in Epirus, and he may have died there. Like other great
teachers he wrote nothing, and we are indebted to his grateful pupil Arrian for
what we have of Epictetus' discourses. Arrian wrote eight books of the
discourses of Epictetus, of which only four remain and some fragments. We
have also from Arrian's hand the small Enchiridion or Manual of the chief
precepts of Epictetus. This is a valuable commentary on the Enchiridion by
Simplicius, who lived in the time of the emperor Justinian.[A]
[A] There is a complete edition of Arrian's Epictetus with the commentary of Simplicius
by J. Schweighaeuser, 6 vols. 8vo. 1799, 1800. There is also an English translation of
Epictetus by Mrs. Carter.

Antoninus in his first book (i. 7), in which he gratefully commemorates his
obligations to his teachers, says that he was made acquainted by Junius
Rusticus with the discourses of Epictetus, whom he mentions also in other
passages (iv. 41; xi. 34, 36). Indeed, the doctrines of Epictetus and Antoninus
are the same, and Epictetus is the best authority for the explanation of the
philosophical language of Antoninus and the exposition of his opinions. But
the method of the two philosophers is entirely different. Epictetus addressed
himself to his hearers in a continuous discourse and in a familiar and simple
manner. Antoninus wrote down his reflections for his own use only, in short,
unconnected paragraphs, which are often obscure.
The Stoics made three divisions of philosophy,—Physic (φυσικόν), Ethic
(ἠθικόν), and Logic (λογικόν) (viii. 13). This division, we are told by
Diogenes, was made by Zeno of Citium, the founder of the Stoic sect, and by
Chrysippus; but these philosophers placed the three divisions in the following
order,—Logic, Physic, Ethic. It appears, however, that this division was made
before Zeno's time, and acknowledged by Plato, as Cicero remarks (Acad.
Post. i. 5). Logic is not synonymous with our term Logic in the narrower sense
of that word.
Cleanthes, a Stoic, subdivided the three divisions and made six,—Dialectic
and Rhetoric, comprised in Logic; Ethic and Politic; Physic and Theology.
This division was merely for practical use, for all Philosophy is one. Even
among the earliest Stoics Logic, or Dialectic, does not occupy the same place
as in Plato: it is considered only as an instrument which is to be used for the
other divisions of Philosophy. An exposition of the earlier Stoic doctrines and

of their modifications would require a volume. My object is to explain only
the opinions of Antoninus, so far as they can be collected from his book.
According to the subdivision of Cleanthes, Physic and Theology go together,
or the study of the nature of Things, and the study of the nature of the Deity,
so far as man can understand the Deity, and of his government of the universe.
This division or subdivision is not formally adopted by Antoninus, for, as
already observed, there is no method in his book; but it is virtually contained
in it.
Cleanthes also connects Ethic and Politic, or the study of the principles of
morals and the study of the constitution of civil society; and undoubtedly he
did well in subdividing Ethic into two parts. Ethic in the narrower sense and
Politic; for though the two are intimately connected, they are also very
distinct, and many questions can only be properly discussed by carefully
observing the distinction. Antoninus does not treat of Politic. His subject is
Ethic, and Ethic in its practical application to his own conduct in life as a man
and as a governor. His Ethic is founded on his doctrines about man's nature,
the Universal Nature, and the relation of every man to everything else. It is
therefore intimately and inseparably connected with Physic, or the Nature of
Things, and with Theology, or the Nature of the Deity. He advises us to
examine well all the impressions on our minds (φαντασίαι) and to form a right
judgment of them, to make just conclusions, and to inquire into the meanings
of words, and so far to apply Dialectic; but he has no attempt at any
exposition of Dialectic, and his philosophy is in substance purely moral and
practical. He says (viii. 13), "Constantly and, if it be possible, on the occasion
of every impression on the soul,[A] apply to it the principles of Physic, of
Ethic, and of Dialectic: "which is only another way of telling us to examine
the impression in every possible way. In another passage (iii. 11) he says, "To
the aids which have been mentioned, let this one still be added: make for
thyself a definition or description of the object (τὸ φανταστόν) which is
presented to thee, so as to see distinctly what kind of a thing it is in its
substance, in its nudity, in its complete entirety, and tell thyself its proper
name, and the names of the things of which it has been compounded, and into
which it will be resolved." Such an examination implies a use of Dialectic,
which Antoninus accordingly employed as a means toward establishing his
Physical, Theological, and Ethical principles.
[A] The original is ἐπὶ πάσης φαντασίας. We have no word which expresses φαντασία,
for it is not only the sensuous appearance which comes from an external object, which

object is called τὸ φανταστόν, but it is also the thought or feeling or opinion which is
produced even when there is no corresponding external object before us. Accordingly
everything which moves the soul is φανταστόν, and produces a φαντασία.
In this extract Antoninus says φυσιολογεῑν, παθολογεῑν, διαλεκτικεύεσθαι. I have
translated παθολογεῑν by using the word Moral (Ethic), and that is the meaning here.

There are several expositions of the Physical, Theological, and Ethical
principles, which are contained in the work of Antoninus; and more
expositions than I have read. Ritter (Geschichte der Philosophie, iv. 241), after
explaining the doctrines of Epictetus, treats very briefly and insufficiently
those of Antoninus. But he refers to a short essay, in which the work is done
better.[A] There is also an essay on the Philosophical Principles of M. Aurelius
Antoninus by J.M. Schultz, placed at the end of his German translation of
Antoninus (Schleswig, 1799). With the assistance of these two useful essays
and his own diligent study, a man may form a sufficient notion of the
principles of Antoninus; but he will find it more difficult to expound them to
others. Besides the want of arrangement in the original and of connection
among the numerous paragraphs, the corruption of the text, the obscurity of
the language and the style, and sometimes perhaps the confusion in the
writer's own ideas—besides all this, there is occasionally an apparent
contradiction in the emperor's thoughts, as if his principles were sometimes
unsettled, as if doubt sometimes clouded his mind. A man who leads a life of
tranquillity and reflection, who is not disturbed at home and meddles not with
the affairs of the world, may keep his mind at ease and his thoughts in one
even course. But such a man has not been tried. All his Ethical philosophy and
his passive virtue might turn out to be idle words, if he were once exposed to
the rude realities of human existence. Fine thoughts and moral dissertations
from men who have not worked and suffered may be read, but they will be
forgotten. No religion, no Ethical philosophy is worth anything, if the teacher
has not lived the "life of an apostle," and been ready to die "the death of a
martyr." "Not in passivity (the passive effects) but in activity lie the evil and
the good of the rational social animal, just as his virtue and his vice lie not in
passivity, but in activity" (ix. 16). The emperor Antoninus was a practical
moralist. From his youth he followed a laborious discipline, and though his
high station placed him above all want or the fear of it, he lived as frugally
and temperately as the poorest philospher. Epictetus wanted little, and it seems
that he always had the little that he wanted and he was content with it, as he
had been with his servile station! But Antoninus after his accession to the
empire sat on an uneasy seat. He had the administration of an empire which

extended from the Euphrates to the Atlantic, from the cold mountains of
Scotland to the hot sands of Africa; and we may imagine, though we cannot
know it by experience, what must be the trials, the troubles, the anxiety, and
the sorrows of him who has the world's business on his hands, with the wish
to do the best that he can, and the certain knowledge that he can do very little
of the good which he wishes.
[A] De Marco Aurelio Antonino ... ex ipsius Commentariis. Scriptio Philologica. Instituit
Nicolaus Bachius, Lipsiae, 1826.

In the midst of war, pestilence, conspiracy, general corruption, and with the
weight of so unwieldy an empire upon him, we may easily comprehend that
Antoninus often had need of all his fortitude to support him. The best and the
bravest men have moments of doubt and of weakness; but if they are the best
and the bravest, they rise again from their depression by recurring to first
principles, as Antoninus does. The emperor says that life is smoke, a vapor,
and St. James in his Epistle is of the same mind; that the world is full of
envious, jealous, malignant people, and a man might be well content to get out
of it. He has doubts perhaps sometimes even about that to which he holds
most firmly. There are only a few passages of this kind, but they are evidence
of the struggles which even the noblest of the sons of men had to maintain
against the hard realities of his daily life. A poor remark it is which I have
seen somewhere, and made in a disparaging way, that the emperor's
reflections show that he had need of consolation and comfort in life, and even
to prepare him to meet his death. True that he did need comfort and support,
and we see how he found it. He constantly recurs to his fundamental principle
that the universe is wisely ordered, that every man is a part of it and must
conform to that order which he cannot change, that whatever the Deity has
done is good, that all mankind are a man's brethren, that he must love and
cherish them and try to make them better, even those who would do him harm.
This is his conclusion (ii. 17): "What then is that which is able to conduct a
man? One thing and only one, Philosophy. But this consists in keeping the
divinity within a man free from violence and unharmed, superior to pains and
pleasures, doing nothing without a purpose nor yet falsely and with hypocrisy,
not feeling the need of another man's doing or not doing anything; and
besides, accepting all that happens and all that is allotted, as coming from
thence, wherever it is, from whence he himself came; and finally waiting for
death with a cheerful mind as being nothing else than a dissolution of the
elements of which every living being is compounded. But if there is no harm,

to the elements themselves in each continually changing into another, why
should a man have any apprehension about the change and dissolution of all
the elements [himself]? for it is according to nature; and nothing is evil that is
according to nature."
The Physic of Antoninus is the knowledge of the Nature of the Universe, of its
government, and of the relation of man's nature to both. He names the
universe (ἡ τῶν ὑλων οίσία vi. 1),[A] "the universal substance," and he adds
that "reason " (λόγος) governs the universe. He also (vi. 9) uses the terms
"universal nature" or "nature of the universe." He (vi. 25) calls the universe
"the one and all, which we name Cosmos or Order" κόσμος). If he ever seems
to use these general terms as significant of the All, of all that man can in any
way conceive to exist, he still on other occasions plainly distinguishes
between Matter, Material things (ὕλη, ὑλίκόν), and Cause, Origin, Reason
(αἰτία, αἰτίῶδες, λόγος).[B] This is conformable to Zeno's doctrine that there
are two original principles (ἀρχαί) of all things, that which acts (τὸ ποίοῦν)
and that which is acted upon (τὸ πάσχον). That which is acted on is the
formless matter (ὕλη): that which acts is the reason (λόγος), God, who is
eternal and operates through all matter, and produces all things. So Antoninus
(v. 32) speaks of the reason (λόγος) which pervades all substance (οὐσία), and
through all time by fixed periods (revolutions) administers the universe (τὸ
πᾶν). God is eternal, and Matter is eternal. It is God who gives form to matter,
but he is not said to have created matter. According to this view, which is as
old as Anaxagoras, God and matter exist independently, but God governs
matter. This doctrine is simply the expression of the fact of the existence both
of matter and of God. The Stoics did not perplex themselves with the in-
soluble question of the origin and nature of matter.[C] Antoninus also assumes
a beginning of things, as we now know them; but his language is sometimes
very obscure. I have endeavored to explain the meaning of one difficult
passage (vii. 75, and the note).
[A] As to the word οὐσία, the reader may see the Index. I add here a few examples of the
use of the word; Antoninus has (v. 24), ἡ συμπᾶσα οὐσία, "the universal substance." He
says (xii. 30 and iv. 40), "there is one common substance" οὐσία, distributed among
countless bodies. In Stobaeus (tom. 1, lib. 1, tit. 14) there is this definition, οὐσίαν δέ
φασίν τῶν ὄντων ἁπάντων τὴν πρώτην ὕλην. In viii. II, Antoninus speaks of τὸ οὐσίῶδες
καὶ ὑλίκόν, "the substantial and the material;" and (vii. 10) he says that "everything
material" (ἔνυλον) disappears in the substance of the whole (τῇ τῶν ὅλων οὐσία). The
οὐσία is the generic name of that existence which we assume as the highest or ultimate,
because we conceive no existence which can be coordinated with it and none above it. It
is the philosopher's "substance:" it is the ultimate expression for that which we conceive

or suppose to be the basis, the being of a thing. "From the Divine, which is substance in
itself, or the only and sole substance, all and everything that is created exists"
(Swedenborg, Angelic Wisdom, 198).

[B] I remark, in order to anticipate any misapprehension, that all these general terms
involve a contradiction. The "one and all," and the like, and "the whole," imply
limitation. "One" is limited; "all" is limited; the "whole" is limited. We cannot help it. We
cannot find words to express that which we cannot fully conceive. The addition of
"absolute" or any other such word does not mend the matter. Even the word God is used
by most people, often unconsciously, in such a way that limitation is implied, and yet at
the same time words are added which are intended to deny limitation. A Christian martyr,
when he was asked what God was, is said to have answered that God has no name like a
man; and Justin says the same (Apol. ii. 6), "the names Father, God, Creator, Lord, and
Master are not names, but appellations derived from benefactions and acts." (Compare
Seneca, De Benef. iv. 8.) We can conceive the existence of a thing, or rather we may have
the idea of an existence, without an adequate notion of it, "adequate" meaning
coextensive and coequal with the thing. We have a notion of limited space derived from
the dimensions of what we call a material thing, though of space absolute, if I may use
the term, we have no notion at all; and of infinite space the notion is the same—no notion
at all; and yet we conceive it in a sense, though I know not how, and we believe that
space is infinite, and we cannot conceive it to be finite.

[C] The notions of matter and of space are inseparable. We derive the notion of space
from matter and form. But we have no adequate conception either of matter or space.
Matter in its ultimate resolution is as unintelligible as what men call mind, spirit, or by
whatever other name they may express the power which makes itself known by acts.
Anaxagoras laid down the distinction between intelligence (νοϋς) and matter, and he said
that intelligence impressed motion on matter, and so separated the elements of matter and
gave them order; but he probably only assumed a beginning, as Simplicius says, as a
foundation of his philosophical teaching. Empedocles said, "The universe always
existed." He had no idea of what is called creation. Ocellus Lucanus (i, § 2) maintained
that the Universe (τοπαν) was imperishable and uncreated. Consequently it is eternal. He
admitted the existence of God; but his theology would require some discussion. On the
contrary, the Brachmans, according to Strabo (p. 713, ed. Cas.), taught that the universe
was created and perishable; and the creator and administrator of it pervades the whole.
The author of the book of Solomon's Wisdom says (xi. 17): "Thy Almighty hand made
the world of matter without form," which may mean that matter existed already.
The common Greek word which we translate "matter" is ϋλη. It is the stuff that things are
made of.

Matter consists of elemental parts (στοίχεῖα) of which all material objects are
made. But nothing is permanent in form. The nature of the universe, according
to Antoninus' expression (iv. 36), "loves nothing so much as to change the
things which are, and to make new things like them. For everything that exists
is in a manner the seed of that which will be. But thou art thinking only of
seeds which are cast into the earth or into a womb: but this is a very vulgar
notion." All things then are in a constant flux and change; some things are

dissolved into the elements, others come in their places; and so the "whole
universe continues ever young and perfect" (xii. 23).
Antoninus has some obscure expressions about what he calls "seminal
principles" (σπερματίκοὶ λόγοί). He opposes them to the Epicurean atoms (vi.
24), and consequently his "seminal principles" are not material atoms which
wander about at hazard, and combine nobody knows how. In one passage (iv.
21) he speaks of living principles, souls (ψυχαὶ) after the dissolution of their
bodies being received into the "seminal principle of the universe." Schultz
thinks that by "seminal principles Antoninus means the relations of the
various elemental principles, which relations are determined by the Deity and
by which alone the production of organized beings is possible." This may be
the meaning; but if it is, nothing of any value can be derived from it.[A]
Antoninus often uses the word "Nature" (φύσις), and we must attempt to fix
its meaning, The simple etymological sense of φύσις is "production," the birth
of what we call Things. The Romans used Natura, which also means "birth"
originally. But neither the Greeks nor the Romans stuck to this simple
meaning, nor do we. Antoninus says (x. 6): "Whether the universe is [a
concourse of] atoms or Nature [is a system], let this first be established, that I
am a part of the whole which is governed by nature." Here it might seem as if
nature were personified and viewed as an active, efficient power; as
something which, it not independent of the Deity, acts by a power which is
given to it by the Deity. Such, if I understand the expression right, is the way
in which the word Nature is often used now, though it is plain that many
writers use the word without fixing any exact meaning to it. It is the same
with the expression Laws of Nature, which some writers may use in an
intelligible sense, but others as clearly use in no definite sense at all. There is
no meaning in this word Nature, except that which Bishop Butler assigns to it,
when he says, "The only distinct meaning of that word Natural is Stated,
Fixed, or Settled; since what is natural as much requires and presupposes an
intelligent agent to render it so, i.e., to effect it continually or at stated times,
as what is supernatural or miraculous does to effect it at once." This is Plato's
meaning (De Leg., iv. 715) when he says that God holds the beginning and
end and middle of all that exists, and proceeds straight on his course, making
his circuit according to nature (that is by a fixed order); and he is continually
accompanied by justice, who punishes those who deviate from the divine law,
that is, from the order or course which God observes.

[A] Justin (Apol. ii. 8) has the words κατὰ σπερματικοῦ λόγου μέρος, where he is
speaking of the Stoics; but he uses this expression in a peculiar sense (note II). The early
Christian writers were familiar with the Stoic terms, and their writings show that the
contest was begun between the Christian expositors and the Greek philosophy. Even in
the second Epistle of St. Peter (ii. I, v. 4) we find a Stoic expression, ἴνα διὰ τούτων
γένησθε θείας κοίνωνοὶ φύσεως.

When we look at the motions of the planets, the action of what we call
gravitation, the elemental combination of unorganized bodies and their
resolution, the production of plants and of living bodies, their generation,
growth, and their dissolution, which we call their death, we observe a regular
sequence of phenomena, which within the limits of experience present and
past, so far as we know the past, is fixed and invariable. But if this is not so, if
the order and sequence of phenomena, as known to us, are subject to change
in the course of an infinite progression,—and such change is conceivable,—
we have not discovered, nor shall we ever discover, the whole of the order and
sequence of phenomena, in which sequence there may be involved according
to its very nature, that is, according to its fixed order, some variation of what
we now call the Order or Nature of Things. It is also conceivable that such
changes have taken place,—changes in the order of things, as we are
compelled by the imperfection of language to call them, but which are no
changes; and further it is certain that our knowledge of the true sequence of all
actual phenomena, as for instance the phenomena of generation, growth, and
dissolution, is and ever must be imperfect.
We do not fare much better when we speak of Causes and Effects than when
we speak of Nature. For the practical purposes of life we may use the terms
cause and effect conveniently, and we may fix a distinct meaning to them,
distinct enough at least to prevent all misunderstanding. But the case is
different when we speak of causes and effects as of Things. All that we know
is phenomena, as the Greeks called them, or appearances which follow one
another in a regular order, as we conceive it, so that if some one phenomenon
should fail in the series, we conceive that there must either be an interruption
of the series, or that something else will appear after the phenomenon which
has failed to appear, and will occupy the vacant place; and so the series in its
progression may be modified or totally changed. Cause and effect then mean
nothing in the sequence of natural phenomena beyond what I have said; and
the real cause, or the transcendent cause, as some would call it, of each
successive phenomenon is in that which is the cause of all things which are,
which have been, and which will be forever. Thus the word Creation may

have a real sense if we consider it as the first, if we can conceive a first, in the
present order of natural phenomena; but in the vulgar sense a creation of all
things at a certain time, followed by a quiescence of the first cause and an
abandonment of all sequences of Phenomena to the laws of Nature, or to the
other words that people may Use, is absolutely absurd.[A]
[A] Time and space are the conditions of our thought; but time infinite and space infinite
cannot be objects of thought, except in a very imperfect way. Time and space must not in
any way be thought of when we think of the Deity. Swedenborg says, "The natural man
may believe that he would have no thought, if the ideas of time, of space, and of things
material were taken away; for upon those is founded all the thought that man has. But let
him know that the thoughts are limited and confined in proportion as they partake of
time, of space, and of what is material; and that they are not limited and are extended, in
proportion as they do not partake of those things; since the mind is so far elevated above
the things corporeal and worldly" (Concerning Heaven and Hell, 169).

THE TEMPLE OF PALLAS

Now, though there is great difficulty in understanding all the passages of
Antoninus, in which he speaks of Nature, of the changes of things and of the

economy of the universe, I am convinced that his sense of Nature and Natural
is the same as that which I have stated; and as he was a man who knew how to
use words in a clear way and with strict consistency, we ought to assume, even
if his meaning in some passages is doubtful, that his view of Nature was in
harmony with his fixed belief in the all-pervading, ever present, and ever
active energy of God. (ii. 4; iv. 40; x. 1; vi. 40; and other passages. Compare
Seneca, De Benef., iv. 7. Swedenborg, Angelic Wisdom, 349-357.)
There is much in Antoninus that is hard to understand, and it might be said
that he did not fully comprehend all that he wrote; which would however be in
no way remarkable, for it happens now that a man may write what neither he
nor anybody can understand. Antoninus tells us (xii. 10) to look at things and
see what they are, resolving them into the material (ὕλη) , the casual (αἲτιον),
and the relation (ἀναφορά), or the purpose, by which he seems to mean
something in the nature of what we call effect, or end. The word Cause (αἰτία)
is the difficulty. There is the same word in the Sanscrit (hétu); and the subtle
philosophers of India and of Greece, and the less subtle philosophers of
modern times, have all used this word, or an equivalent word, in a vague way.
Yet the confusion sometimes may be in the inevitable ambiguity of language
rather than in the mind of the writer, for I cannot think that some of the wisest
of men did not know what they intended to say. When Antoninus says (iv. 36),
"that everything that exists is in a manner the seed of that which will be," he
might be supposed to say what some of the Indian philosophers have said, and
thus a profound truth might be converted into a gross absurdity. But he says,
"in a manner," and in a manner he said true; and in another manner, if you
mistake his meaning, he said false. When Plato said, "Nothing ever is, but is
always becoming" (ἀεὶ γίγνεται), he delivered a text, out of which we may
derive something; for he destroys by it not all practical, but all speculative
notions of cause and effect. The whole series of things, as they appear to us,
must be contemplated in time, that is in succession, and we conceive or
suppose intervals between one state of things and another state of things, so
that there is priority and sequence, and interval, and Being, and a ceasing to
Be, and beginning and ending. But there is nothing of the kind in the Nature
of Things. It is an everlasting continuity (iv. 45; vii. 75). When Antoninus
speaks of generation (x. 26), he speaks of one cause (αἰτία) acting, and then
another cause taking up the work, which the former left in a certain state, and
so on; and we might perhaps conceive that he had some notion like what has
been called "the self-evolving power of nature;" a fine phrase indeed, the full
import of which I believe that the writer of it did not see, and thus he laid

himself open to the imputation of being a follower of one of the Hindu sects,
which makes all things come by evolution out of nature or matter, or out of
something which takes the place of Deity, but is not Deity. I would have all
men think as they please, or as they can, and I only claim the same freedom
which I give. When a man writes anything, we may fairly try to find out all
that his words must mean, even if the result is that they mean what he did not
mean; and if we find this contradiction, it is not our fault, but his misfortune.
Now Antoninus is perhaps somewhat in this condition in what he says (x. 26),
though he speaks at the end of the paragraph of the power which acts, unseen
by the eyes, but still no less clearly. But whether in this passage (x. 26) lie
means that the power is conceived to be in the different successive causes
(αἰτίαι), or in something else, nobody can tell. From other passages, however,
I do collect that his notion of the phenomena of the universe is what I have
stated. The Deity works unseen, if we may use such language, and perhaps I
may, as Job did, or he who wrote the book of Job. "In him we live and move
and are," said St. Paul to the Athenians; and to show his hearers that this was
no new doctrine, he quoted the Greek poets. One of these poets was the Stoic
Cleauthes, whose noble hymn to Zeus, or God, is an elevated expression of
devotion and philosophy. It deprives Nature of her power, and puts her under
the immediate government of the Deity.
"Thee all this heaven, which whirls around the earth,
Obeys, and willing follows where thou leadest.
Without thee, God, nothing is done on earth,
Nor in the ethereal realms, nor in the sea,
Save what the wicked through their folly do."

Antoninus' conviction of the existence of a divine power and government was
founded on his perception of the order of the universe. Like Socrates (Xen.
Mem., iv. 3, 13, etc.) he says that though we cannot see the forms of divine
powers, we know that they exist because we see their works.
"To those who ask, Where hast thou seen the gods, or how dost thou
comprehend that they exist and so worshipest them? I answer, in the first
place, that they may be seen even with the eyes; in the second place, neither
have I seen my own soul, and yet I honor it. Thus then with respect to the
gods, from what I constantly experience of their power, from this I
comprehend that they exist, and I venerate them." (xii. 28, and the note.
Comp. Aristotle de Mundo, c. 6; Xen. Mem. i. 4, 9; Cicero, Tuscul. i. 28, 29;

St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans, i. 19, 20; and Montaigne's Apology for
Raimond de Sebonde, ii. c. 12.) This is a very old argument, which has always
had great weight with most people, and has appeared sufficient. It does not
acquire the least additional strength by being developed in a learned treatise. It
is as intelligible in its simple enunciation as it can be made. If it is rejected,
there is no arguing with him who rejects it: and if it is worked out into
innumerable particulars, the value of the evidence runs the risk of being
buried under a mass of words.
Man being conscious that he is a spiritual power, or that he has such a power,
in whatever way he conceives that he has it—for I wish simply to state a fact
—from this power which he has in himself, he is led, as Antoninus says, to
believe that there is a greater power, which, as the old Stoics tell us, pervades
the whole universe as the intellect[A] (νοῦς) pervades man. (Compare
Epictetus' Discourses, i. 14; and Voltaire à Mad^e. Necker, vol. lxvii., p. 278,
ed. Lequien.)
[A] I have always translated the word νοῦς, "intelligence" or "intellect." It appears to be
the word used by the oldest Greek philosophers to express the notion of "intelligence" as
opposed to the notion of "matter." I have always translated the word λόγος by "reason,"
and λογικός by the word "rational," or perhaps sometimes "reasonable," as I have
translated νοερός by the word "intellectual." Every man who has thought and has read
any philosophical writings knows the difficulty of finding words to express certain
notions, how imperfectly words express these notions, and how carelessly the words are
often used. The various senses of the word λόγος are enough to perplex any man. Our
translators of the New Testament (St. John, c. 1.) have simply translated ὁ λόγος by "the
word," as the Germans translated it by "das Wort;" but in their theological writings they
sometimes retain the original term Logos. The Germans have a term Vernunft, which
seems to come nearest to our word Reason, or the necessary and absolute truths which we
cannot conceive as being other than what they are. Such are what some people have
called the laws of thought, the conceptions of space and of time, and axioms or first
principles, which need no proof and cannot be proved or denied. Accordingly the
Germans can say, "Gott ist die höchste Vernunft," the Supreme Reason. The Germans
have also a word Verstand, which seems to represent our word "understanding,"
"intelligence," "intellect," not as a thing absolute which exists by itself, but as a thing
connected with an individual being, as a man. Accordingly it is the capacity of receiving
impressions (Vorstellungen, φαντασίαι), and forming from them distinct ideas (Begriffe),
and perceiving differences. I do not think that these remarks will help the reader to
theunderstanding of Antoninus, or his use of the words νοῦς and λόγος. The emperor's
meaning must be got from his own words, and if it does not agree altogether with modern
notions, it is not our business to force it into agreement, but simply to find out what his
meaning is, if we can.
Justinus (ad Diognetum, c. vii.) says that the omnipotent, all-creating, and invisible God
has fixed truth and the holy, incomprehensible Logos in men's hearts; and this Logos is
the architect and creator of the Universe. In the first Apology (c. xxxii.), he says that the
seed (σπέρμα) from God is the Logos, which dwells in those who believe in God. So it

appears that according to Justinus the Logos is only in such believers. In the second
Apology (c. viii.) he speaks of the seed of the Logos being implanted in all mankind; but
those who order their lives according to Logos, such as the Stoics, have only a portion of
the Logos (κατὰ σπερματικοῦ λόγου μέρος), and have not the knowledge and
contemplation of the entire Logos, which is Christ. Swedenborg's remarks (Angelic
Wisdom, 240) are worth comparing with Justinus. The modern philosopher in substance
agrees with the ancient; but he is more precise.

God exists then, but what do we know of his nature? Antoninus says that the
soul of man is an efflux from the divinity. We have bodies like animals, but
we have reason, intelligence, as the gods. Animals have life (ψυχή) and what
we call instincts or natural principles of action: but the rational animal man
alone has a rational, intelligent soul (ψυχὴ λοική, υοερά). Antoninus insists on
this continually: God is in man,[A] and so we must constantly attend to the
divinity within us, for it is only in this way that we can have any knowledge of
the nature of God. The human soul is in a sense a portion of the divinity, and
the soul alone has any communication with the Deity; for as he says (xii. 2):
"With his intellectual part alone God touches the intelligence only which has
flowed and been derived from himself into these bodies." In fact he says that
which is hidden within a man is life, that is, the man himself. All the rest is
vesture, covering, organs, instrument, which the living man, the real[B] man,
uses for the purpose of his present existence. The air is universally diffused
for him who is able to respire; and so for him who is willing to partake of it
the intelligent power, which holds within it all things, is diffused as wide and
free as the air (viii. 54). It is by living a divine life that man approaches to a
knowledge of the divinity.[C] It is by following the divinity within δαίμων or
θεός, as Antonius calls it, that man comes nearest to the Deity, the supreme
good; for man can never attain to perfect agreement with his internal guide (το
ήγεμονικόν). "Live with the gods. And he does live with the gods who
constantly shows to them that his own soul is satisfied with that which is
assigned to him, and that it does all the daemon (δαίμων) wishes, which Zeus
hath given to every man for his guardian and guide, a portion of himself. And
this daemon is every man's understanding and reason" (v. 27).
[A] Comp. Ep. to the Corinthians, i. 3, 17, and James iv. 8, "Drawnigh to God and he will
draw nigh to you."

[B] This is also Swedenborg's doctrine of the soul. "As to what concerns the soul, of
which it is said that it shall live after death, it is nothing else but the man himself, who
lives in the body, that is, the interior man, who by the body acts in the world and from
whom the body itself lives" (quoted by Clissold, p. 456 of "The Practical Nature of the
Theological Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg, in a Letter to the Archbishop of Dublin
(Whately)," second edition, 1859; a book which theologians might read with profit). This

is an old doctrine of the soul, which has been often proclaimed, but never better
expressed than by the "Auctor de Mundo," c. 6, quoted by Gataker in his "Antoninus," p.
436. "The soul by which we live and have cities and houses is invisible, but it is seen by
its works; for the whole method of life has been devised by it and ordered, and by it is
held together. In like manner we must think also about the Deity, who in power is most
mighty, in beauty most comely, in life immortal, and in virtue supreme: wherefore though
he is invisible to human nature, he is seen by his very works." Other passages to the same
purpose are quoted by Gataker (p. 382). Bishop Butler has the same as to the soul: "Upon
the whole, then, our organs of sense and our limbs are certainly instruments, which the
living persons, ourselves, make use of to perceive and move with." If this is not plain
enough, be also says: "It follows that our organized bodies are no more ourselves, or part
of ourselves, than any other matter around us." (Compare Anton, x. 38).

[C] The reader may consult Discourse V., "Of the existence and nature of God," in John
Smith's "Select Discourses." He has prefixed as a text to this Discourse, the striking
passage of Agapetus, Paraenes. § 3: "He who knows himself will know God; and he who
knows God will be made like to God; and he will be made like to God, who has become
worthy of God; and he becomes worthy of God, who does nothing unworthy of God, but
thinks the things that are his, and speaks what he thinks, and does what he speaks." I
suppose that the old saying, "Know thyself," which is attributed to Socrates and others,
had a larger meaning than the narrow sense which is generally given to it. (Agapetus, ed.
Stephan. Schoning, Franeker, 1608. This volume contains also the Paraeneses of Nilus.)

There is in man, that is in the reason, the intelligence, a superior faculty which
if it is exercised rules all the rest. This is the ruling faculty (τὸ ἡγεμονικόν),
which Cicero (De Natura Deorum, ii. 11) renders by the Latin word
Principatus, "to which nothing can or ought to be superior." Antoninus often
uses this term and others which are equivalent. He names it (vii. 64) "the
governing intelligence." The governing faculty is the master of the soul (v.
26). A man must reverence only his ruling faculty and the divinity within him.
As we must reverence that which is supreme in the universe, so we must
reverence that which is supreme in ourselves; and this is that which is of like
kind with that which is supreme in the universe (v. 21). So, as Plotinus says,
the soul of man can only know the divine so far as it knows itself. In one
passage (xi. 19) Antoninus speaks of a man's condemnation of himself when
the diviner part within him has been overpowered and yields to the less
honorable and to the perishable part, the body, and its gross pleasures. In a
word, the views of Antoninus on this matter, however his expressions may
vary, are exactly what Bishop Butler expresses when he speaks of "the natural
supremacy of reflection or conscience," of the faculty "which surveys,
approves, or disapproves the several affections of our mind and actions of our
lives."
Much matter might be collected from Antoninus on the notion of the Universe
being one animated Being. But all that he says amounts to no more, as Schultz

remarks, than this: the soul of man is most intimately united to his body, and
together they make one animal, which we call man; so the Deity is most
intimately united to the world, or the material universe, and together they
form one whole. But Antoninus did not view God and the material universe as
the same, any more than he viewed the body and soul of man as one.
Antoninus has 110 speculations on the absolute nature of the Deity. It was not
his fashion to waste his time on what man cannot understand.[A] He was
satisfied that God exists, that he governs all things, that man can only have an
imperfect knowledge of his nature, and he must attain this imperfect
knowledge by reverencing the divinity which is within him, and keeping it
pure.
[A] "God, who is infinitely beyond the reach of our narrow capacities" (Locke, Essay
concerning the Human Understanding, ii. chap. 17).

From all that has been said, it follows that the universe is administered by the
Providence of God (πρόνοια), and that all things are wisely ordered. There are
passages in which Antoninus expresses doubts, or states different possible
theories of the constitution and government of the universe; but he always
recurs to his fundamental principle, that if we admit the existence of a deity,
we must also admit that he orders all things wisely and well (iv. 27; vi. 1; ix.
28; xii. 5; and many other passages). Epictetus says (i. 6) that we can discern
the providence which rules the world, if we possess two things,—the power of
seeing all that happens with respect to each thing, and a grateful disposition.
But if all things are wisely ordered, how is the world so full of what we call
evil, physical and moral? If instead of saying that there is evil in the world, we
use the expression which I have used, "what we call evil," we have partly
anticipated the emperor's answer. We see and feel and know imperfectly very
few things in the few years that we live, and all the knowledge and all the
experience of all the human race is positive ignorance of the whole, which is
infinite. Now, as our reason teaches us that everything is in some way related
to and connected with every other thing, all notion of evil as being in the
universe of things is a contradiction; for if the whole comes from and is
governed by an intelligent being, it is impossible to conceive anything in it
which tends to the evil or destruction of the whole (viii. 55; x. 6). Everything
is in constant mutation, and yet the whole subsists; we might imagine the solar
system resolved into its elemental parts, and yet the whole would still subsist
"ever young and perfect."

All things, all forms, are dissolved, and new forms appear. All living things
undergo the change which we call death. If we call death an evil, then all
change is an evil. Living beings also suffer pain, and man suffers most of all,
for he suffers both in and by his body and by his intelligent part. Men suffer
also from one another, and perhaps the largest part of human suffering comes
to man from those whom he calls his brothers. Antoninus says (viii. 55),
"Generally, wickedness does no harm at all to the universe; and particularly,
the wickedness [of one man] does no harm to another. It is only harmful to
him who has it in his power to be released from it as soon as he shall choose."
The first part of this is perfectly consistent with the doctrine that the whole
can sustain no evil or harm. The second part must be explained by the Stoic
principle that there is no evil in anything which is not in our power. What
wrong we suffer from another is his evil, not ours. But this is an admission
that there is evil in a sort, for he who does wrong does evil, and if others can
endure the wrong, still there is evil in the wrong-doer. Antoninus (xi. 18) gives
many excellent precepts with respect to wrongs and injuries, and his precepts
are practical. He teaches us to bear what we cannot avoid, and his lessons may
be just as useful to him who denies the being and the government of God as to
him who believes in both. There is no direct answer in Antoninus to the
objections which may be made to the existence and providence of God
because of the moral disorder and suffering which are in the world, except this
answer which he makes in reply to the supposition that even the best men may
be extinguished by death. He says if it is so, we may be sure that if it ought to
have been otherwise, the gods would have ordered it otherwise (xii. 5). His
conviction of the wisdom which we may observe in the government of the
world is too strong to be disturbed by any apparent irregularities in the order
of things. That these disorders exist is a fact, and those who would conclude
from them against the being and government of God conclude too hastily. We
all admit that there is an order in the material world, a Nature, in the sense in
which that word has been explained, a constitution (κατασκευή), what we call
a system, a relation of parts to one another and a fitness of the whole for
something. So in the constitution of plants and of animals there is an order, a
fitness for some end. Sometimes the order, as we conceive it, is interrupted,
and the end, as we conceive it, is not attained. The seed, the plant, or the
animal sometimes perishes before it has passed through all its changes and
done all its uses. It is according to Nature, that is a fixed order, for some to
perish early and for others to do all their uses and leave successors to take
their place. So man has a corporeal and intellectual and moral constitution fit

for certain uses, and on the whole man performs these uses, dies, and leaves
other men in his place. So society exists, and a social state is manifestly the
natural state of man—the state for which his nature fits him, and society
amidst innumerable irregularities and disorders still subsists; and perhaps we
may say that the history of the past and our present knowledge give us a
reasonable hope that its disorders will diminish, and that order, its governing
principle, may be more firmly established. As order then, a fixed order, we
may say, subject to deviations real or apparent, must be admitted to exist in
the whole nature of things, that which we call disorder or evil, as it seems to
us, does not in any way alter the fact of the general constitution of things
having a nature or fixed order. Nobody will conclude from the existence of
disorder that order is not the rule, for the existence of order both physical and
moral is proved by daily experience and all past experience. We cannot
conceive how the order of the universe is maintained: we cannot even
conceive how our own life from day to day is continued, nor how we perform
the simplest movements of the body, nor how we grow and think and act,
though we know many of the conditions which are necessary for all these
functions. Knowing nothing then of the unseen power which acts in ourselves
except by what is done, we know nothing of the power which acts through
what we call all time and all space; but seeing that there is a nature or fixed
order in all things known to us, it is conformable to the nature of our minds to
believe that this universal Nature has a cause which operates continually, and
that we are totally unable to speculate on the reason of any of those disorders
or evils which we perceive. This I believe is the answer which may be
collected from all that Antoninus has said.[A]
[A] Cleanthes says in his Hymn:—
"For all things good and bad to One thou formest,
So that One everlasting reason governs all."

See Bishop Butler's Sermons. Sermon XV., "Upon the Ignorance of Man."

The origin of evil is an old question. Achilles tells Priam (Iliad, 24, 527) that
Zeus has two casks, one filled with good things, and the other with bad, and
that he gives to men out of each according to his pleasure; and so we must be
content, for we cannot alter the will of Zeus. One of the Greek commentators
asks how must we reconcile this doctrine with what we find in the first book
of the Odyssey, where the king of the gods says, Men say that evil comes to
them from us, but they bring it on themselves through their own folly. The
answer is plain enough even to the Greek commentator. The poets make both

Achilles and Zeus speak appropriately to their several characters. Indeed,
Zeus says plainly that men do attribute their sufferings to their gods, but they
do it falsely, for they are the cause of their own sorrows.

THE APPIAN WAY, ROME.

Epictetus in his Enchiridion (c. 27) makes short work of the question of evil.
He says, "As a mark is not set up for the purpose of missing it, so neither does
the nature of evil exist in the universe." This will appear obscure enough to
those who are not acquainted with Epictetus, but he always knows what he is
talking about. We do not set up a mark in order to miss it, though we may miss
it. God, whose existence Epictetus assumes, has not ordered all things so that
his purpose shall fail. Whatever there may be of what we call evil, the nature
of evil, as he expresses it, does not exist; that is, evil is not a part of the
constitution or nature of things. If there were a principle of evil (ἀρχή) in the
constitution of things, evil would no longer be evil, as Simplicius argues, but
evil would be good. Simplicius (c. 34, [27]) has a long and curious discourse
on this text of Epictetus, and it is amusing and instructive.

One passage more will conclude this matter. It contains all that the emperor
could say (ii. 11): "To go from among men, if there are gods, is not a thing to
be afraid of, for the gods will not involve thee in evil; but if indeed they do
not exist, or if they have no concern about human affairs, what is it to me to
live in a universe devoid of gods or devoid of providence? But in truth they do
exist, and they do care for human things, and they have put all the means in
man's power to enable him not to fall into real evils. And as to the rest, if there
was anything evil, they would have provided for this also, that it should be
altogether in a man's power not to fall into it. But that which does not make a
man worse, how can it make a man's life worse? But neither through
ignorance, nor having the knowledge but not the power to guard against or
correct these things, is it possible that the nature of the universe has
overlooked them; nor is it possible that it has made so great a mistake, either
through want of power or want of skill, that good and evil should happen
indiscriminately to the good and the bad. But death certainly and life, honor
and dishonor, pain and pleasure, all these things equally happen to good and
bad men, being things which make us neither better nor worse. Therefore they
are neither good nor evil."
The Ethical part of Antoninus' Philosophy follows from his general principles.
The end of all his philosophy is to live conformably to Nature, both a man's
own nature and the nature of the universe. Bishop Butler has explained what
the Greek philosophers meant when they spoke of living according to Nature,
and he says that when it is explained, as he has explained it and as they
understood it, it is "a manner of speaking not loose and undeterminate, but
clear and distinct, strictly just and true." To live according to Nature is to live
according to a man's whole nature, not according to a part of it, and to
reverence the divinity within him as the governor of all his actions. "To the
rational animal the same act is according to nature and according to reason"[A]
(vii. 11). That which is done contrary to reason is also an act contrary to
nature, to the whole nature, though it is certainly conformable to some part of
man's nature, or it could not be done. Man is made for action, not for idleness
or pleasure. As plants and animals do the uses of their nature, so man must do
his (v. 1).
[A] This is what Juvenal means when he says (xiv. 321),—
"Nunquam aliud Natura aliud Sapientia dicit."

Man must also live conformably to the universal nature, conformably to the
nature of all things of which he is one; and as a citizen of a political
community he must direct his life and actions with reference to those among
whom, among other purposes, he lives.[A] A man must not retire into solitude
and cut himself off from his fellow-men. He must be ever active to do his part
in the great whole. All men are his kin, not only in blood, but still more by
participating in the same intelligence and by being a portion of the same
divinity. A man cannot really be injured by his brethren, for no act of theirs
can make him bad, and he must not be angry with them nor hate them: "For
we are made for co-operation, like feet, like hands, like eyelids, like the rows
of the upper and lower teeth. To act against one another then is contrary to
nature; and it is acting against one another to be vexed and to turn away" (ii.
1).
[A] See viii. 52; and Persius iii. 66

Further he says: "Take pleasure in one thing and rest in it in passing from one
social act to another social act, thinking of God" (vi. 7). Again: "Love
mankind. Follow God" (vii. 31). It is the characteristic of the rational soul for
a man to love his neighbor (xi. 1). Antoninus teaches in various passages the
forgiveness of injuries, and we know that he also practised what he taught.
Bishop Butler remarks that "this divine precept to forgive injuries and to love
our enemies, though to be met with in Gentile moralists, yet is in a peculiar
sense a precept of Christianity, as our Saviour has insisted more upon it than
on any other single virtue." The practice of this precept is the most difficult of
all virtues. Antoninus often enforces it and gives us aid towards following it.
When we are injured, we feel anger and resentment, and the feeling is natural,
just, and useful for the conservation of society. It is useful that wrong-doers
should feel the natural consequences of their actions, among which is the
disapprobation of society and the resentment of him who is wronged. But
revenge, in the proper sense of that word, must not be practised. "The best
way of avenging thyself," says the emperor, "is not to become like the wrong-
doer." It is plain by this that he does not mean that we should in any case
practise revenge; but he says to those who talk of revenging wrongs, Be not
like him who has done the wrong. Socrates in the Crito (c. 10) says the same
in other words, and St. Paul (Ep. to the Romans, xii. 17). "When a man has
done thee any wrong, immediately consider with what opinion about good or
evil he has done wrong. For when thou hast seen this, thou wilt pity him and
wilt neither wonder nor be angry" (vii. 26). Antoninus would not deny that

wrong naturally produces the feeling of anger and resentment, for this is
implied in the recommendation to reflect on the nature of the man's mind who
has done the wrong, and then you will have pity instead of resentment; and so
it comes to the same as St. Paul's advice to be angry and sin not; which, as
Butler well explains it, is not a recommendation to be angry, which nobody
needs, for anger is a natural passion, but it is a warning against allowing anger
to lead us into sin. In short the emperor's doctrine about wrongful acts is this:
wrong-doers do not know what good and bad are: they offend out of
ignorance, and in the sense of the Stoics this is true. Though this kind of
ignorance will never be admitted as a legal excuse, and ought not to be
admitted as a full excuse in any way by society, there may be grievous
injuries, such as it is in a man's power to forgive without harm to society; and
if he forgives because he sees that his enemies know not what they do, he is
acting in the spirit of the sublime prayer, "Father, forgive them, for they know
not what they do."
The emperor's moral philosophy was not a feeble, narrow system, which
teaches a man to look directly to his own happiness, though a man's happiness
or tranquillity is indirectly promoted by living as he ought to do. A man must
live conformably to the universal nature, which means, as the emperor
explains it in many passages, that a man's actions must be conformable to his
true relations to all other human beings, both as a citizen of a political
community and as a member of the whole human family. This implies, and he
often expresses it in the most forcible language, that a man's words and
actions, so far as they affect others, must be measured by a fixed rule, which is
their consistency with the conservation and the interests of the particular
society of which he is a member, and of the whole human race. To live
conformably to such a rule, a man must use his rational faculties in order to
discern clearly the consequences and full effect of all his actions and of the
actions of others: he must not live a life of contemplation and reflection only,
though he must often retire within himself to calm and purify his soul by
thought,[A] but he must mingle in the work of man and be a fellow laborer for
the general good.
[A] Ut nemo in sese tentat descendere, nemo.—Persius, iv. 21.

A man should have an object or purpose in life, that he may direct all his
energies to it; of course a good object (ii. 7). He who has not one object or
purpose of life, cannot be one and the same all through his life (xi. 21). Bacon

has a remark to the same effect, on the best means of "reducing of the mind
unto virtue and good estate; which is, the electing and propounding unto a
man's self good and virtuous ends of his life, such as may be in a reasonable
sort within his compass to attain." He is a happy man who has been wise
enough to do this when he was young and has had the opportunities; but the
emperor seeing well that a man cannot always be so wise in his youth,
encourages himself to do it when he can, and not to let life slip away before he
has begun. He who can propose to himself good and virtuous ends of life, and
be true to them, cannot fail to live conformably to his own interest and the
universal interest, for in the nature of things they are one. If a thing is not
good for the hive, it is not good for the bee (vi. 54).
One passage may end this matter. "If the gods have determined about me and
about the things which must happen to me, they have determined well, for it is
not easy even to imagine a deity without forethought; and as to doing me
harm, why should they have any desire towards that? For what advantage
would result to them from this or to the whole, which is the special object of
their providence? But if they have not determined about me individually, they
have certainly determined about the whole at least; and the things which
happen by way of sequence in this general arrangement I ought to accept with
pleasure and to be content with them. But if they determine about nothing—
which it is wicked to believe, or if we do believe it, let us neither sacrifice nor
pray nor swear by them, nor do anything else which we do as if the gods were
present and lived with us; but if however the gods determine about none of the
things which concern us, I am able to determine about myself, and I can
inquire about that which is useful: and that is useful to every man which is
conformable to his own constitution (κατασκευῄ) and nature. But my nature is
rational and social; and my city and country, so far as I am Antoninus, is
Rome; but so far as I am a man, it is the world. The things then which are
useful to these cities are alone useful to me" (vi. 44).
It would be tedious, and it is not necessary, to state the emperor's opinions on
all the ways in which a man may profitably use his understanding towards
perfecting himself in practical virtue. The passages to this purpose are in all
parts of his book, but as they are in no order or connection, a man must use
the book a long time before he will find out all that is in it. A few words may
be added here. If we analyze all other things, we find how insufficient they are
for human life, and how truly worthless many of them are. Virtue alone is
indivisible, one, and perfectly satisfying. The notion of Virtue cannot be

considered vague or unsettled, because a man may find it difficult to explain
the notion fully to himself, or to expound it to others in such a way as to
prevent cavilling. Virtue is a whole, and no more consists of parts than man's
intelligence does; and yet we speak of various intellectual faculties as a
convenient way of expressing the various powers which man's intellect shows
by his works. In the same way we may speak of various virtues or parts of
virtue, in a practical sense, for the purpose of showing what particular virtues
we ought to practice in order to the exercise of the whole of virtue, that is, as
man's nature is capable of.
The prime principle in man's constitution is social. The next in order is not to
yield to the persuasions of the body, when they are not conformable to the
rational principle, which must govern. The third is freedom from error and
from deception. "Let then the ruling principle holding fast to these things go
straight on, and it has what is its own" (vii. 55). The emperor selects justice as
the virtue which is the basis of all the rest (x. 11), and this had been said long
before his time.
It is true that all people have some notion of what is meant by justice as a
disposition of the mind, and some notion about acting in conformity to this
disposition; but experience shows that men's notions about justice are as
confused as their actions are inconsistent with the true notion of justice. The
emperor's notion of justice is clear enough, but not practical enough for all
mankind. "Let there be freedom from perturbations with respect to the things
which come from the external cause; and let there be justice in the things done
by virtue of the internal cause, that is, let there be movement and action
terminating in this, in social acts, for this is according to thy nature" (ix. 31).
In another place (ix. 1) he says that "he who acts unjustly acts impiously,"
which follows of course from all that he says in various places. He insists on
the practice of truth as a virtue and as a means to virtue, which no doubt it is:
for lying even in indifferent things weakens the understanding; and lying
maliciously is as great a moral offense as a man can be guilty of, viewed both
as showing an habitual disposition, and viewed with respect to consequences.
He couples the notion of justice with action. A man must not pride himself on
having some fine notion of justice in his head, but he must exhibit his justice
in act, like St. James' notion of faith. But this is enough.
The Stoics, and Antoninus among them, call some things beautiful (καλά) and
some ugly (αἰσχρά), and as they are beautiful so they are good, and as they are

ugly so they are evil, or bad (ii. 1). All these things, good and evil, are in our
power, absolutely, some of the stricter Stoics would say; in a manner only, as
those who would not depart altogether from common sense would say;
practically they are to a great degree in the power of some persons and in
some circumstances, but in a small degree only in other persons and in other
circumstances. The Stoics maintain man's free will as to the things which are
in his power; for as to the things which are out of his power, free will
terminating in action is of course excluded by the very terms of the
expression. I hardly know if we can discover exactly Antoninus' notion of the
free will of man, nor is the question worth the inquiry. What he does mean and
does say is intelligible. All the things which are not in our power (ἀπροαίρετα)
are indifferent: they are neither good nor bad, morally. Such are life, health,
wealth, power, disease, poverty, and death. Life and death are all men's
portion. Health, wealth, power, disease, and poverty happen to men,
indifferently to the good and to the bad; to those who live according to nature
and to those who do not.[A] "Life," says the emperor, "is a warfare and a
stranger's sojourn, and after fame is oblivion" (ii. 17). After speaking of those
men who have disturbed the world and then died, and of the death of
philosophers such as Heraclitus and Democritus, who was destroyed by lice,
and of Socrates whom other lice (his enemies) destroyed, he says: "What
means all this? Thou hast embarked, thou hast made the voyage, thou art
come to shore; get out. If indeed to another life, there is no want of gods, not
even there. But if to a state without sensation, thou wilt cease to be held by
pains and pleasures, and to be a slave to the vessel which is as much inferior
as that which serves it is superior: for the one is intelligence and Deity; the
other is earth and corruption" (iii. 3). It is not death that a man should fear, but
he should fear never beginning to live according to nature (xii. 1). Every man
should live in such a way as to discharge his duty, and to trouble himself about
nothing else. He should live such a life that he shall always be ready for death,
and shall depart content when the summons comes. For what is death? "A
cessation of the impressions through the senses, and of the pulling of the
strings which move the appetites, and of the discursive movements of the
thoughts, and of the service to the flesh" (vi. 28). Death is such as generation
is, a mystery of nature (iv. 5). In another passage, the exact meaning of which
is perhaps doubtful (ix. 3), he speaks of the child which leaves the womb, and
so he says the soul at death leaves its envelope. As the child is born or comes
into life by leaving the womb, so the soul may on leaving the body pass into
another existence which is perfect. I am not sure if this is the emperor's

meaning. Butler compares it with a passage in Strabo (p. 713) about the
Brachmans' notion of death being the birth into real life and a happy life, to
those who have philosophized; and he thinks Antoninus may allude to this
opinion.[B]

[A] "All events come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous and to the wicked: to
the good and to the clean and to the unclean," &c. (Ecclesiastes, ix. v. 2); and (v. 3), "This
is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all." In
what sense "evil " is meant here seems rather doubtful. There is no doubt about the
emperor's meaning. Compare Epictetus, Enchiridion, c. i., &c.; and the doctrine of the
Brachmans (Strabo p. 713, ed. Cas.): ἀγαθὸν δὲ ἠ κακὸν μηδὲν εἶναι τῶν συμβαινόντων
ἀνθρώποις.

[B] Seneca (Ep. 102) has the same, whether an expression of his own opinion, or merely
a fine saying of others employed to embellish his writings, I know not. After speaking of
the child being prepared in the womb to live this life, he adds, "Sic per hoc spatium, quod
ab infantia patet in senectutem, in alium naturae sumimur partum. Alia origo nos
expectat, alius rerum status." See Ecclesiastes, xii. 7; and Lucan, i. 457:—
"Longae, canitis si cognita, vitae
Mors media est."

Antoninus' opinion of a future life is nowhere clearly expressed. His doctrine
of the nature of the soul of necessity implies that it does not perish absolutely,
for a portion of the divinity cannot perish. The opinion is at least as old as the
time of Epicharmus and Euripides; what comes from earth goes back to earth,
and what comes from heaven, the divinity, returns to him who gave it. But I
find nothing clear in Antoninus as to the notion of the man existing after death
so as to be conscious of his sameness with that soul which occupied his vessel
of clay. He seems to be perplexed on this matter, and finally to have rested in
this, that God or the gods will do whatever is best, and consistent with the
university of things.
Nor, I think, does he speak conclusively on another Stoic doctrine, which
some Stoics practised,—the anticipating the regular course of nature by a
man's own act. The reader will find some passages in which this is touched
on, and he may make of them what he can. But there are passages in which
the emperor encourages himself to wait for the end patiently and with
tranquillity; and certainly it is consistent with all his best teaching that a man
should bear all that falls to his lot and do useful acts as he lives. He should not
therefore abridge the time of his usefulness by his own act. Whether he
contemplates any possible cases in which a man should die by his own hand, I
cannot tell; and the matter is not worth a curious inquiry, for I believe it would
not lead to any certain result as to his opinion on this point. I do not think that
Antoninus, who never mentions Seneca, though he must have known all about
him, would have agreed with Seneca when he gives as a reason for suicide,
that the eternal law, whatever he means, has made nothing better for us than
this, that it has given us only one way of entering into life and many ways of

going out of it. The ways of going out indeed are many, and that is a good
reason for a man taking care of himself.[A]
[A] See Plinius H.N. ii., c. 7; Seneca, De Provid. c. 6; and Ep. 70: "Nihil melius aeterna
lex," &c.

Happiness was not the direct object of a Stoic's life. There is no rule of life
contained in the precept that a man should pursue his own happiness. Many
men think that they are seeking happiness when they are only seeking the
gratification of some particular passion, the strongest that they have. The end
of a man is, as already explained, to live conformably to nature, and he will
thus obtain happiness, tranquillity of mind, and contentment (iii. 12; viii. 1,
and other places). As a means of living conformably to nature he must study
the four chief virtues, each of which has its proper sphere: wisdom, or the
knowledge of good and evil; justice, or the giving to every man his due;
fortitude, or the enduring of labor and pain; and temperance, which is
moderation in all things. By thus living conformably to nature the Stoic
obtained all that he wished or expected. His reward was in his virtuous life,
and he was satisfied with that. Some Greek poet long ago wrote:—
"For virtue only of all human things
Takes her reward not from the hands of others.
Virtue herself rewards the toils of virtue."

Some of the Stoics indeed expressed themselves in very arrogant, absurd
terms, about the wise man's self-sufficiency; they elevated him to the rank of a
deity.[A] But these were only talkers and lecturers, such as those in all ages
who utter fine words, know little of human affairs, and care only for notoriety.
Epictetus and Antoninus both by precept and example labored to improve
themselves and others; and if we discover imperfections in their teaching, we
must still honor these great men who attempted to show that there is in man's
nature and in the constitution of things sufficient reason for living a virtuous
life. It is difficult enough to live as we ought to live, difficult even for any
man to live in such a way as to satisfy himself, if he exercises only in a
moderate degree the power of reflecting upon and reviewing his own conduct;
and if all men cannot be brought to the same opinions in morals and religion,
it is at least worth while to give them good reasons for as much as they can be
persuaded to accept.
[A] J. Smith in his Select Discourses on "the Excellency and Nobleness of True Religion"
(c. vi.) has remarked on this Stoical arrogance. He finds it in Seneca and others. In

Seneca certainly, and perhaps something of it in Epictetus; but it is not in Antoninus.

THE THOUGHTS

OF

MARCUS AURELIUS ANTONINUS.

I.
From my grandfather Verus[A] [I learned] good morals and the government of
my temper.

2. From the reputation and remembrance of my father,[B] modesty and a
manly character.

3. From my mother,[C] piety and beneficence, and abstinence, not only from
evil deeds, but even from evil thoughts; and further, simplicity in my way of
living, far removed from the habits of the rich.

4. From my great-grandfather,[D] not to have frequented public schools, and to
have had good teachers at home, and to know that on such things a man
should spend liberally.
[A] Annius Verus was his grandfather's name. There is no verb in this section connected
with the word "from," nor in the following sections of this book; and it is not quite certain
what verb should be supplied. What I have added may express the meaning here, though
there are sections which it will not fit. If he does not mean to say that he learned all these
good things from the several persons whom he mentions, he means that he observed
certain good qualities in them, or received certain benefits from them, and it is implied
that he was the better for it, or at least might have been: for it would be a mistake to
understand Marcus as saying that he possessed all the virtues which he observed in his
kinsmen and teachers.

[B] His father's name was Annius Verus.

[C] His mother was Domitia Calvilla, named also Lucilla.

[D] Perhaps his mother's grandfather, Catilius Severus.

5. From my governor, to be neither of the green nor of the blue party at the
games in the Circus, nor a partisan either of the Parmularius or the Scutarius
at the gladiators' fights; from him too I learned endurance of labor, and to
want little, and to work with my own hands, and not to meddle with other
people's affairs, and not to be ready to listen to slander.

6. From Diognetus,[A] not to busy myself about trifling things, and not to give
credit to what was said by miracle-workers and jugglers about incantations
and the driving away of daemons and such things; and not to breed quails [for

fighting], nor to give myself up passionately to such things; and to endure
freedom of speech; and to have become intimate with philosophy; and to have
been a hearer, first of Bacchius, then of Tandasis and Marcianus; and to have
written dialogues in my youth; and to have desired a plank bed and skin, and
whatever else of the kind belongs to the Grecian discipline.
[A] In the works of Justinus there is printed a letter to one Diognetus, whom the writer
names "most excellent." He was a Gentile, but he wished very much to know what the
religion of the Christians was, what God they worshipped, and how this worship made
them despise the world and death, and neither believe in the gods of the Greeks nor
observe the superstition of the Jews; and what was this love to one another which they
had, and why this new kind of religion was introduced now and not before. My friend Mr.
Jenkins, rector of Lyminge in Kent, has suggested to me that this Diognetus may have
been the tutor of M. Antoninus.

7. From Rusticus[A] I received the impression that my character required
improvement and discipline; and from him I learned not to be led astray to
sophistic emulation, nor to writing on speculative matters, nor to delivering
little hortatory orations, nor to showing myself off as a man who practises
much discipline, or does benevolent acts in order to make a display; and to
abstain from rhetoric, and poetry, and fine writing; and not to walk about in
the house in my outdoor dress, nor to do other things of the kind; and to write
my letters with simplicity, like the letter which Rusticus wrote from Sinuessa
to my mother; and with respect to those who have offended me by words, or
done me wrong, to be easily disposed to be pacified and reconciled, as soon as
they have shown a readiness to be reconciled; and to read carefully, and not to
be satisfied with a superficial understanding of a book; nor hastily to give my
assent to those who talk overmuch; and I am indebted to him for being
acquainted with the discourses of Epictetus, which he communicated to me
out of his own collection.
[A] Q. Junius Rusticus was a Stoic philosopher, whom Antoninus valued highly, and
often took his advice (Capitol. M. Antonin. iii).
Antoninus says, τοῐς Ἐπικτείοις ὑπομνῄμασιν, which must not be translated, "the writings
of Epictetus," for Epictetus wrote nothing. His pupil Arrian, who has preserved for us all
that we know of Epictetus, says, ταῠτα ἐπειράθην ὑπομνῄματα ἐμαυτῷ δίαψυλάξαι τῆς
ἐκείνου διανοίας (Ep. ad. Gell.)

8. From Apollonius[A] I learned freedom of will and undeviating steadiness of
purpose; and to look to nothing else, not even for a moment, except to reason;
and to be always the same, in sharp pains, on the occasion of the loss of a
child, and in long illness; and to see clearly in a living example that the same
man can be both most resolute and yielding, and not peevish in giving his

instruction; and to have had before my eyes a man who clearly considered his
experience and his skill in expounding philosophical principles as the smallest
of his merits; and from him I learned how to receive from friends what are
esteemed favors, without being either humbled by them or letting them pass
unnoticed.
[A] Apollonius of Chalcis came to Rome in the time of Pius to be Marcus' preceptor. He
was a rigid Stoic.

9. From Sextus,[A] a benevolent disposition, and the example of a family
governed in a fatherly manner, and the idea of living conformably to nature;
and gravity without affectation, and to look carefully after the interests of
friends, and to tolerate ignorant persons, and those who form opinions without
consideration:+ he had the power of readily accommodating himself to all, so
that intercourse with him was more agreeable than any flattery; and at the
same time he was most highly venerated by those who associated with him:
and he had the faculty both of discovery and ordering, in an intelligent and
methodical way, the principles necessary for life; and he never showed anger
or any other passion, but was entirely free from passion, and also most
affectionate; and he could express approbation without noisy display, and he
possessed much knowledge without ostentation.

10. From Alexander[B] the grammarian, to refrain from fault-finding, and not
in a reproachful way to chide those who uttered any barbarous or solecistic or
strange-sounding expression; but dexterously to introduce the very expression
which ought to have been used, and in the way of answer or giving
confirmation, or joining in an inquiry about the thing itself, not about the
word, or by some other fit suggestion.

11. From Fronto[C] I learned to observe what envy and duplicity and hypocrisy
are in a tyrant, and that generally those among us who are called Patricians are
rather deficient in paternal affection.
12. From Alexander the Platonic, not frequently nor without necessity to say
to any one, or to write in a letter, that I have no leisure; nor continually to
excuse the neglect of duties required by our relation to those with whom we
live, by alleging urgent occupations.

13. From Catulus[D] not to be indifferent when a friend finds fault, even if he
should find fault without reason, but to try to restore him to his usual

disposition; and to be ready to speak well of teachers, as it is reported of
Domitius and Athenodotus; and to love my children truly.
[A] Sextus of Chaeronea, a grandson of Plutarch, or nephew, as some say; but more
probably a grandson.

[B] Alexander was a Grammaticus, a native of Phrygia. He wrote a commentary on
Homer; and the rhetorician Aristides wrote a panegyric on Alexander in a funeral oration.

[C] M. Cornelius Fronto was a rhetorician, and in great favor with Marcus. There are
extant various letters between Marcus and Fronto.

[D] Cinna Catulus, a Stoic philosopher.

14. From my brother[A] Severus, to love my kin, and to love truth, and to love
justice; and through him I learned to know Thrasea, Helvidius, Cato, Dion,
Brutus;[B] and from him I received the idea of a polity in which there is the
same law for all, a polity administered with regard to equal rights and equal
freedom of speech, and the idea of a kingly government which respects most
of all the freedom of the governed; I learned from him also + consistency and
undeviating steadiness in my regard for philosophy; and a disposition to do
good, and to give to others readily, and to cherish good hopes, and to believe
that I am loved by my friends; and in him I observed no concealment of his
opinions with respect to those whom he condemned, and that his friends had
no need to conjecture what he wished or did not wish, but it was quite plain.
[A] The word brother may not be genuine. Antoninus had no brother. It has been
supposed that he may mean some cousin. Schultz in his translation omits "brother," and
says that this Severus is probably Claudius Severus, a peripatetic.

[B] We know, from Tacitus (Annal. xiii., xvi. 21; and other passages), who Thrasea and
Helvidius were. Plutarch has written the lives of the two Catos, and of Dion and Brutus.
Antoninus probably alludes to Cato of Utica, who was a Stoic.

15. From Maximus[A] I learned self-government, and not to be led aside by
anything; and cheerfulness in all circumstances, as well as in illness; and a
just admixture in the moral character of sweetness and dignity, and to do what
was set before me without complaining. I observed that everybody believed
that he thought as he spoke, and that in all that he did he never had any bad
intention; and he never showed amazement and surprise, and was never in a
hurry, and never put off doing a thing, nor was perplexed nor dejected, nor did
he ever laugh to disguise his vexation, nor, on the other hand, was he ever
passionate or suspicious. He was accustomed to do acts of beneficence, and
was ready to forgive, and was free from all falsehood; and he presented the

appearance of a man who could not be diverted from right, rather than of a
man who had been improved. I observed, too, that no man could ever think
that he was despised by Maximus, or ever venture to think himself a better
man. He had also the art of being humorous in an agreeable way.+
[A] Claudius Maximus was a Stoic philosopher, who was highly esteemed also by
Antoninus Pius, Marcus' predecessor. The character of Maximus is that of a perfect man.
(See viii. 25.)

16. In my father[A] I observed mildness of temper, and unchangeable
resolution in the things which he had determined after due deliberation; and
no vain-glory in those things which men call honors; and a love of labor and
perseverance; and a readiness to listen to those who had anything to propose
for the common weal; and undeviating firmness in giving to every man
according to his deserts; and a knowledge derived from experience of the
occasions for vigorous action and for remission. And I observed that he had
overcome all passion for boys; and he considered himself no more than any
other citizen;[B] and he released his friends from all obligation to sup with him
or to attend him of necessity when he went abroad, and those who had failed
to accompany him, by reason of any urgent circumstances, always found him
the same. I observed too his habit of careful inquiry in all matters of
deliberation, and his persistency, and that he never stopped his investigation
through being satisfied with appearances which first present themselves; and
that his disposition was to keep his friends, and not to be soon tired of them,
nor yet to be extravagant in his affection; and to be satisfied on all occasions,
and cheerful; and to foresee things a long way off, and to provide for the
smallest without display; and to check immediately popular applause and all
flattery; and to be ever watchful over the things which were necessary for the
administration of the empire, and to be a good manager of the expenditure,
and patiently to endure the blame which he got for such conduct; and he was
neither superstitious with respect to the gods, nor did he court men by gifts or
by trying to please them, or by flattering the populace; but he showed sobriety
in all things, and firmness, and never any mean thoughts or action, nor love of
novelty. And the things which conduce in any way to the commodity of life,
and of which fortune gives an abundant supply, he used without arrogance and
without excusing himself; so that when he had them, he enjoyed them without
affectation, and when he had them not, he did not want them. No one could
ever say of him that he was either a sophist or a [home-bred] flippant slave or
a pedant; but every one acknowledged him to be a man ripe, perfect, above

flattery, able to manage his own and other men's affairs. Besides this, he
honored those who were true philosophers, and he did not reproach those who
pretended to be philosophers, nor yet was he easily led by them. He was also
easy in conversation, and he made himself agreeable without any offensive
affectation. He took a reasonable care of his body's health, not as one who was
greatly attached to life, nor out of regard to personal appearance, nor yet in a
careless way, but so that through his own attention he very seldom stood in
need of the physician's art or of medicine or external applications. He was
most ready to give without envy to those who possessed any particular faculty,
such as that of eloquence or knowledge of the law or of morals, or of anything
else; and he gave them his help, that each might enjoy reputation according to
his deserts; and he always acted conformably to the institutions of his country,
without showing any affectation of doing so. Further, he was not fond of
change nor unsteady, but he loved to stay in the same places, and to employ
himself about the same things; and after his paroxysms of headache he came
immediately fresh and vigorous to his usual occupations. His secrets were not
many, but very few and very rare, and these only about public matters; and he
showed prudence and economy in the exhibition of the public spectacles and
the construction of public buildings, his donations to the people, and in such
things, for he was a man who looked to what ought to be done, not to the
reputation which is got by a man's acts. He did not take the bath at
unseasonable hours; he was not fond of building houses, nor curious about
what he ate, nor about the texture and color of his clothes, nor about the
beauty of his slaves.[C] His dress came from Lorium, his villa on the coast,
and from Lanuvium generally.[D] We know how he behaved to the toll-
collector at Tusculum who asked his pardon; and such was all his behavior.
There was in him nothing harsh, nor implacable, nor violent, nor, as one may
say, anything carried to the sweating point; but he examined all things
severally, as if he had abundance of time, and without confusion, in an orderly
way, vigorously and consistently. And that might be applied to him which is
recorded of Socrates,[E] that he was able both to abstain from, and to enjoy,
those things which many are too weak to abstain from, and cannot enjoy
without excess. But to be strong enough both to bear the one and to be sober
in the other is the mark of a man who has a perfect and invincible soul, such
as he showed in the illness of Maximus.
[A] He means his adoptive father, his predecessor, the Emperor Antoninus Pius. Compare
vi. 30.

[B] He uses the word κοίνονοημοσύνη. See Gataker's note.

[C] This passage is corrupt, and the exact meaning is uncertain.

[D] Lorium was a villa on the coast north of Rome, and there Antoninus was brought up,
and he died there. This also is corrupt.

[E] Xenophon, Memorab. i. 3, 15.

17. To the gods I am indebted for having good grandfathers, good parents, a
good sister, good teachers, good associates, good kinsmen and friends, nearly
everything good. Further, I owe it to the gods that I was not hurried into any
offence against any of them, though I had a disposition which, if opportunity
had offered, might have led me to do something of this kind; but, through their
favor, there never was such a concurrence of circumstances as put me to the
trial. Further, I am thankful to the gods that I was not longer brought up with
my grandfather's concubine, and that I preserved the flower of my youth, and
that I did not make proof of my virility before the proper season, but even
deferred the time; that I was subjected to a ruler and father who was able to
take away all pride from me, and to bring me to the knowledge that it is
possible for a man to live in a palace without wanting either guards or
embroidered dresses, or torches and statues, and such-like show; but that it is
in such a man's power to bring himself very near to the fashion of a private
person, without being for this reason either meaner in thought, or more remiss
in action, with respect to the things which must be done for the public interest
in a manner that befits a ruler. I thank the gods for giving me such a brother,
[A]
who was able by his moral character to rouse me to vigilance over myself,
and who at the same time pleased me by his respect and affection; that my
children have not been stupid nor deformed in body; that I did not make more
proficiency in rhetoric, poetry, and the other studies, in which I should
perhaps have been completely engaged, if I had seen that I was making
progress in them; that I made haste to place those who brought me up in the
station of honor, which they seemed to desire, without putting them off with
hope of my doing it some other time after, because they were then still young;
that I knew Apollonius, Rusticus, Maximus; that I received clear and frequent
impressions about living according to nature, and what kind of a life that is, so
that, so far as depended on the gods, and their gifts, and help, and inspirations,
nothing hindered me from forthwith living according to nature, though I still
fall short of it through my own fault, and through not observing the
admonitions of the gods, and, I may almost say, their direct instructions; that
my body has held out so long in such a kind of life; that I never touched either

Benedicta or Theodotus, and that, after having fallen into amatory passions, I
was cured, and, though I was often out of humor with Rusticus, I never did
anything of which I had occasion to repent; that, though it was my mother's
fate to die young, she spent the last years of her life with me; that, whenever I
wished to help any man in his need, or on any other occasion, I was never told
that I had not the means of doing it; and that to myself the same necessity
never happened, to receive anything from another; that I have such a wife,[B]
so obedient, and so affectionate, and so simple; that I had abundance of good
masters for my children; and that remedies have been shown to me by dreams,
both others, and against bloodspitting and giddiness[C]...; and that, when I had
an inclination to philosophy, I did not fall into the hands of any sophist, and
that I did not waste my time on writers [of histories], or in the resolution of
syllogisms, or occupy myself about the investigation of appearances in the
heavens; for all these things require the help of the gods and fortune.

Among the Quadi at the Granua.[D]
[A] The emperor had no brother except L. Verus, his brother by adoption.

[B] See the Life of Antoninus.

[C] This is corrupt.

[D] The Quadi lived in the southern part of Bohemia and Moravia; and Antoninus made a
campaign against them. (See the Life.) Granua is probably the river Graan, which flows
into the Danube.
If these words are genuine, Antoninus may have written this first book during the war
with the Quadi. In the first edition of Antoninus, and in the older editions, the first three
sections of the second book make the conclusion of the first book. Gataker placed them at
the beginning of the second book.

II.
Begin the morning by saying to thyself, I shall meet with the busybody, the
ungrateful, arrogant, deceitful, envious, unsocial. All these things happen to
them by reason of their ignorance of what is good and evil. But I who have
seen the nature of the good that it is beautiful, and of the bad that it is ugly,
and the nature of him who does wrong, that it is akin to me; not [only] of the
same blood or seed, but that it participates in [the same] intelligence and [the
same] portion of the divinity, I can neither be injured by any of them, for no
one can fix on me what is ugly, nor can I be angry with my kinsman, nor hate
him. For we are made for co-operation, like feet, like hands, like eyelids, like
the rows of the upper and lower teeth.[A] To act against one another, then, is
contrary to nature; and it is acting against one another to be vexed and to turn
away.
[A] Xenophon, Mem. ii. 3. 18.

2. Whatever this is that I am, it is a little flesh and breath, and the ruling part.
Throw away thy books; no longer distract thyself: it is not allowed; but as if
thou wast now dying, despise the flesh; it is blood and bones and network, a
contexture of nerves, veins, and arteries. See the breath also, what kind of a
thing it is; air, and not always the same, but every moment sent out and again
sucked in. The third, then, is the ruling part; consider thus: Thou art an old
man; no longer let this be a slave, no longer be pulled by the strings like a
puppet to unsocial movements, no longer be either dissatisfied with thy
present lot, or shrink from the future.
3. All that is from the gods is full of providence. That which is from fortune is
not separated from nature or without an interweaving and involution with the
things which are ordered by providence. From thence all things flow; and
there is besides necessity, and that which is for the advantage of the whole
universe, of which thou art a part. But that is good for every part of nature
which the nature of the whole brings, and what serves to maintain this nature.
Now the universe is preserved, as by the changes of the elements so by the
changes of things compounded of the elements. Let these principles be
enough for thee; let them always be fixed opinions. But cast away the thirst

after books, that thou mayest not die murmuring, but cheerfully, truly, and
from thy heart thankful to the gods.
4. Remember how long thou hast been putting off these things, and how often
thou hast received an opportunity from the gods, and yet dost not use it. Thou
must now at last perceive of what universe thou art a part, and of what
administrator of the universe thy existence is an efflux, and that a limit of time
is fixed for thee, which if thou dost not use for clearing away the clouds from
thy mind, it will go and thou wilt go, and it will never return.
5. Every moment think steadily as a Roman and a man to do what thou hast in
hand with perfect and simple dignity, and feeling of affection, and freedom,
and justice, and to give thyself relief from all other thoughts. And thou wilt
give thyself relief if thou doest every act of thy life as if it were the last, laying
aside all carelessness and passionate aversion from the commands of reason,
and all hypocrisy, and self-love, and discontent with the portion which has
been given to thee. Thou seest how few the things are, the which if a man lays
hold of, he is able to live a life which flows in quiet, and is like the existence
of the gods; for the gods on their part will require nothing more from him who
observes these things.

6. Do wrong[A] to thyself, do wrong to thyself, my soul; but thou wilt no
longer have the opportunity of honoring thyself. Every man's life is
sufficient.+ But thine is nearly finished, though thy soul reverences not itself,
but places thy felicity in the souls of others.
[A] Perhaps it should be, "thou art doing violence to thyself." ὑβρίζείς, not ὕβρίζε.

7. Do the things external which fall upon thee distract thee? Give thyself time
to learn something new and good, and cease to be whirled around. But then
thou must also avoid being carried about the other way; for those too are
triflers who have wearied themselves in life by their activity, and yet have no
object to which to direct every movement, and, in a word, all their thoughts.
8. Through not observing what is in the mind of another a man has seldom
been seen to be unhappy; but those who do not observe the movements of
their own minds must of necessity be unhappy.
9. This thou must always bear in mind, what is the nature of the whole, and
what is my nature, and how this is related to that, and what kind of a part it is
of what kind of a whole, and that there is no one who hinders thee from

always doing and saying the things which are according to the nature of which
thou art a part.
10. Theophrastus, in his comparison of bad acts—such a comparison as one
would make in accordance with the common notions of mankind—says, like a
true philosopher, that the offenses which are committed through desire are
more blamable than those which are committed through anger. For he who is
excited by anger seems to turn away from reason with a certain pain and
unconscious contraction; but he who offends through desire, being
overpowered by pleasure, seems to be in a manner more intemperate and more
womanish in his offences. Rightly, then, and in a way worthy of philosophy,
he said that the offence which is committed with pleasure is more blamable
than that which is committed with pain; and on the whole the one is more like
a person who has been first wronged and through pain is compelled to be
angry, but the other is moved by his own impulse to do wrong, being carried
towards doing something by desire.

11. Since it is possible[A] that thou mayest depart from life this very moment,
regulate every act and thought accordingly.[B] But to go away from among
men, if there are gods, is not a thing to be afraid of, for the gods will not
involve thee in evil; but if indeed they do not exist, or if they have no concern
about human affairs, what is it to me to live in a universe devoid of gods or
devoid of providence? But in truth they do exist, and they do care for human
things, and they have put all the means in man's power to enable him not to
fall into real evils. And as to the rest, if there was anything evil, they would
have provided for this also, that it should be altogether in a man's power not to
fall into it. Now that which does not make a man worse, how can it make a
man's life worse? But neither through ignorance, nor— having the knowledge
but not the power to guard against or correct these things, is it possible that
the nature of the universe has overlooked them; nor is it possible that it has
made so great a mistake, either through want of power or want of skill, that
good and evil should happen indiscriminately to the good and the bad. But
death certainly, and life, honor and dishonor, pain and pleasure,—all these
things equally happen to good men and bad, being things which make us
neither better nor worse. Therefore they are neither good nor evil.
[A] Or it may mean, "since it is in thy power to depart;" which gives a meaning
somewhat different.

[B] See Cicero, Tuscul., i. 49.

12. How quickly all things disappear,—in the universe the bodies themselves,
but in time the remembrance of them. What is the nature of all sensible things,
and particularly those which attract with the bait of pleasure or terrify by pain,
or are noised abroad by vapory fame; how worthless, and contemptible, and
sordid, and perishable, and dead they are,—all this it is the part of the
intellectual faculty to observe. To observe too who these are whose opinions
and voices give reputation; what death is, and the fact that, if a man looks at it
in itself, and by the abstractive power of reflection resolves into their parts all
the things which present themselves to the imagination in it, he will then
consider it to be nothing else than an operation of nature; and if any one is
afraid of an operation of nature, he is a child. This, however, is not only an
operation of nature, but it is also a thing which conduces to the purposes of
nature. To observe too how man comes near to the Deity, and by what part of
him, and when this part of man is so disposed+ (vi. 28).
13. Nothing is more wretched than a man who traverses everything in a round,
and pries into the things beneath the earth, as the poet[A] says, and seeks by
conjecture what is in the minds of his neighbors, without perceiving that it is
sufficient to attend to the daemon within him, and to reverence it sincerely.
And reverence of the daemon consists in keeping it pure from passion and
thoughtlessness, and dissatisfaction with what comes from gods and men. For
the things from the gods merit veneration for their excellence; and the things
from men should be dear to us by reason of kinship; and sometimes even, in a
manner, they move our pity by reason of men's ignorance of good and bad;
this defect being not less than that which deprives us of the power of
distinguishing things that are white and black.
[A] Pindar, in the Theaetetus of Plato. See xi. 1.

14. Though thou shouldest be going to live three thousand years and as many
times ten thousand years, still remember that no man loses any other life than
this which he now lives, nor lives any other than this which he now loses. The
longest and shortest are thus brought to the same. For the present is the same
to all, though that which perish is not the same;+[A] and so that which is lost
appears to be a mere moment. For a man cannot lose either the past or the
future: for what a man has not, how can any one take this from him? These
two things then thou must bear in mind; the one, that all things from eternity
are of like forms and come round in a circle, and that it makes no difference
whether a man shall see the same things during a hundred years, or two

hundred, or an infinite time; and the second, that the longest liver and he who
will die soonest lose just the same. For the present is the only thing of which a
man can be deprived, if it is true that this is the only thing which he has, and
that a man cannot lose a thing if he has it not.
[A] See Gataker's note.

15. Remember that all is opinion. For what was said by the Cynic Monimus is
manifest: and manifest too is the use of what was said, if a man receives what
may be got out of it as far as it is true.
16. The soul of man does violence to itself, first of all, when it becomes an
abscess, and, as it were, a tumor on the universe, so far as it can. For to be
vexed at anything which happens is a separation of ourselves from nature, in
some part of which the natures of all other things are contained. In the next
place, the soul does violence to itself when it turns away from any man, or
even moves towards him with the intention of injuring, such as are the souls
of those who are angry. In the third place, the soul does violence to itself when
it is overpowered by pleasure or by pain. Fourthly, when it plays a part, and
does or says anything insincerely and untruly. Fifthly, when it allows any act
of its own and any movement to be without an aim, and does anything
thoughtlessly and without considering what it is, it being right that even the
smallest things be done with reference to an end; and the end of rational
animals is to follow the reason and the law of the most ancient city and polity.
17. Of human life the time is a point, and the substance is in a flux, and the
perception dull, and the composition of the whole body subject to
putrefaction, and the soul a whirl, and fortune hard to divine, and fame a thing
devoid of judgment. And, to say all in a word, everything which belongs to the
body is a stream, and what belongs to the soul is a dream and vapor, and life is
a warfare and a stranger's sojourn, and after fame is oblivion. What then is that
which is able to conduct a man? One thing, and only one, philosophy. But this
consists in keeping the daemon within a man free from violence and
unharmed, superior to pains and pleasures, doing nothing without a purpose,
nor yet falsely and with hypocrisy, not feeling the need of another man's doing
or not doing anything; and besides, accepting all that happens, and all that is
allotted, as coming from thence, wherever it is, from whence he himself came;
and, finally, waiting for death with a cheerful mind, as being nothing else than
a dissolution of the elements of which every living being is compounded. But
if there is no harm to the elements themselves in each continually changing

into another, why should a man have any apprehension about the change and
dissolution of all the elements? For it is according to nature, and nothing is
evil which is according to nature.

This in Carnuntum.[A]
[A] Carnuntum was a town of Pannonia, on the south side of the Danube, about thirty
miles east of Vindobona (Vienna). Orosius (vii. 15) and Eutropius (viii. 13) say that
Antoninus remained three years at Carmuntum during his war with the Marcomanni.

III.
We ought to consider not only that our life is daily wasting away and a smaller
part of it is left, but another thing also must be taken into the account, that if a
man should live longer, it is quite uncertain whether the understanding will
still continue sufficient for the comprehension of things, and retain the power
of contemplation which strives to acquire the knowledge of the divine and the
human. For if he shall begin to fall into dotage, perspiration and nutrition and
imagination and appetite, and whatever else there is of the kind, will not fail;
but the power of making use of ourselves, and filling up the measure of our
duty, and clearly separating all appearances, and considering whether a man
should now depart from life, and whatever else of the kind absolutely requires
a disciplined reason,—all this is already extinguished. We must make haste,
then, not only because we are daily nearer to death, but also because the
conception of things and the understanding of them cease first.
2. We ought to observe also that even the things which follow after the things
which are produced according to nature contain something pleasing and
attractive. For instance, when bread is baked some parts are split at the
surface, and these parts which thus open, and have a certain fashion contrary
to the purpose of the baker's art, are beautiful in a manner, and in a peculiar
way excite a desire for eating. And again, figs, when they are quite ripe, gape
open; and in the ripe olives the very circumstance of their being near to
rottenness adds a peculiar beauty to the fruit. And the ears of corn bending
down, and the lion's eyebrows, and the foam which flows from the mouth of
wild boars, and many other things,—though they are far from being beautiful
if a man should examine them severally,—still, because they are consequent
upon the things which are formed by nature, help to adorn them, and they
please the mind; so that if a man should have a feeling and deeper insight with
respect to the things which are produced in the universe, there is hardly one of
those which follow by way of consequence which will not seem to him to be
in a manner disposed so as to give pleasure. And so he will see even the real
gaping jaws of wild beasts with no less pleasure than those which painters and
sculptors show by imitation; and in an old woman and an old man he will be
able to see a certain maturity and comeliness; and the attractive loveliness of
young persons he will be able to look on with chaste eyes; and many such

things will present themselves, not pleasing to every man, but to him only
who has become truly familiar with Nature and her works.
3. Hippocrates, after curing many diseases, himself fell sick and died. The
Chaldaei foretold the deaths of many, and then fate caught them too.
Alexander and Pompeius, and Caius Caesar, after so often completely
destroying whole cities, and in battle cutting to pieces many ten thousands of
cavalry and infantry, themselves too at last departed from life. Heraclitus, after
so many speculations on the conflagration of the universe, was filled with
water internally and died smeared all over with mud. And lice destroyed
Democritus; and other lice killed Socrates. What means all this? Thou hast
embarked, thou hast made the voyage, thou art come to shore; get out. If
indeed to another life, there is no want of gods, not even there; but if to a state
without sensation, thou wilt cease to be held by pains and pleasures, and to be
a slave to the vessel, which is as much inferior as that which serves it is
superior:+ for the one is intelligence and deity; the other is earth and
corruption.
4. Do not waste the remainder of thy life in thoughts about others, when thou
dost not refer thy thoughts to some object of common utility. For thou losest
the opportunity of doing something else when thou hast such thoughts as
these,—What is such a person doing, and why, and what is he saying, and
what is he thinking of, and what is he contriving, and whatever else of the
kind makes us wander away from the observation of our own ruling power.
We ought then to check in the series of our thoughts everything that is without
a purpose and useless, but most of all the over-curious feeling and the
malignant; and a man should use himself to think of those things only about
which if one should suddenly ask, What hast thou now in thy thoughts? with
perfect openness thou mightest immediately answer, This or That; so that from
thy words it should be plain that everything in thee is simple and benevolent,
and such as befits a social animal, and one that cares not for thoughts about
pleasure or sensual enjoyments at all, nor has any rivalry or envy and
suspicion, or anything else for which thou wouldst blush if thou shouldst say
that thou hadst it in thy mind. For the man who is such, and no longer delays
being among the number of the best, is like a priest and minister of the gods,
using too the [deity] which is planted within him, which makes the man
uncontaminated by pleasure, unharmed by any pain, untouched by any insult,
feeling no wrong, a fighter in the noblest fight, one who cannot be
overpowered by any passion, dyed deep with justice, accepting with all his

soul everything which happens and is assigned to him as his portion; and not
often, nor yet without great necessity and for the general interest, imagining
what another says, or does, or thinks. For it is only what belongs to himself
that he makes the matter for his activity; and he constantly thinks of that
which is allotted to himself out of the sum total of things, and he makes his
own acts fair, and he is persuaded that his own portion is good. For the lot
which is assigned to each man is carried along with him and carries him along
with it.+ And he remembers also that every rational animal is his kinsman, and
that to care for all men is according to man's nature; and a man should hold on
to the opinion not of all, but of those only who confessedly live according to
nature. But as to those who live not so, he always bears in mind what kind of
men they are both at home and from home, both by night and by day, and
what they are, and with what men they live an impure life. Accordingly, he
does not value at all the praise which comes from such men, since they are not
even satisfied with themselves.
5. Labor not unwillingly, nor without regard to the common interest, nor
without due consideration, nor with distraction; nor let studied ornament set
off thy thoughts, and be not either a man of many words, or busy about too
many things. And further, let the deity which is in thee be the guardian of a
living being, manly and of ripe age, and engaged in matter political, and a
Roman, and a ruler, who has taken his post like a man waiting for the signal
which summons him from life, and ready to go, having need neither of oath
nor of any man's testimony. Be cheerful also, and seek not external help nor
the tranquillity which others give. A man then must stand erect, not be kept
erect by others.
6. If thou findest in human life anything better than justice, truth, temperance,
fortitude, and, in a word, anything better than thy own mind's self-satisfaction
in the things which it enables thee to do according to right reason, and in the
condition that is assigned to thee without thy own choice; if, I say, thou seest
anything better than this, turn to it with all thy soul, and enjoy that which thou
hast found to be the best. But if nothing appears to be better than the Deity
which is planted in thee, which has subjected to itself all thy appetites, and
carefully examines all the impressions, and, as Socrates said, has detached
itself from the persuasions of sense, and has submitted itself to the gods, and
cares for mankind; if thou findest everything else smaller and of less value
than this, give place to nothing else, for if thou dost once diverge and incline
to it, thou wilt no longer without distraction be able to give the preference to

that good thing which is thy proper possession and thy own; for it is not right
that anything of any other kind, such as praise from the many, or power, or
enioyment of pleasure, should come into competition with that which is
rationally and politically [or, practically] good. All these things, even though
they may seem to adapt themselves [to the better things] in a small degree,
obtain the superiority all at once, and carry us away. But do thou, I say, simply
and freely choose the better, and hold to it.—But that which is useful is the
better.—Well, then, if it is useful to thee as a rational being, keep to it; but if it
is only useful to thee as an animal, say so, and maintain thy judgment without
arrogance: only take care that thou makest the inquiry by a sure method.
7. Never value anything as profitable to thyself which shall compel thee to
break thy promise, to lose thy self-respect, to hate any man, to suspect, to
curse, to act the hypocrite, to desire anything which needs walls and curtains:
for he who has preferred to everything else his own intelligence and daemon
and the worship of its excellence, acts no tragic part, does not groan, will not
need either solitude or much company; and, what is chief of all, he will live
without either pursuing or flying from [death];[A] but whether for a longer or a
shorter time he shall have the soul enclosed in the body, he cares not at all: for
even if he must depart immediately, he will go as readily as if he were going
to do anything else which can be done with decency and order; taking care of
this only all through life, that his thoughts turn not away from anything which
belongs to an intelligent animal and a member of a civil community.
[A] Comp. ix. 3.

8. In the mind of one who is chastened and purified thou wilt find no corrupt
matter, nor impurity, nor any sore skinned over. Nor is his life incomplete
when fate overtakes him, as one may say of an actor who leaves the stage
before ending and finishing the play. Besides, there is in him nothing servile,
nor affected, nor too closely bound [to other things], nor yet detached[A] [from
other things], nothing worthy of blame, nothing which seeks a hiding-place.
[A] viii. 34.

9. Reverence the faculty which produces opinion. On this faculty it entirely
depends whether there shall exist in thy ruling part any opinion inconsistent
with nature and the constitution of the rational animal. And this faculty
promises freedom from hasty judgment, and friendship towards men, and
obedience to the gods.

10. Throwing away then all things, hold to these only which are few; and
besides, bear in mind that every man lives only this present time, which is an
indivisible point, and that all the rest of his life is either past or it is uncertain.
Short then is the time which every man lives; and small the nook of the earth
where he lives; and short too the longest posthumous fame, and even this only
continued by a succession of poor human beings, who will very soon die, and
who know not even themselves, much less him who died long ago.
11. To the aids which have been mentioned let this one still be added: Make
for thyself a definition or description of the thing which is presented to thee,
so as to see distinctly what kind of a thing it is in its substance, in its nudity, in
its complete entirety, and tell thyself its proper name, and the names of the
things of which it has been compounded, and into which it will be resolved.
For nothing is so productive of elevation of mind as to be able to examine
methodically and truly every object which is presented to thee in life, and
always to look at things so as to see at the same time what kind of universe
this is, and what kind of use everything performs in it, and what value
everything has with reference to the whole, and what with reference to man,
who is a citizen of the highest city, of which all other cities are like families;
what each thing is, and of what it is composed, and how long it is the nature of
this thing to endure which now makes an impression on me, and what virtue I
have need of with respect to it, such as gentleness, manliness, truth, fidelity,
simplicity, contentment, and the rest. Wherefore, on every occasion a man
should say: This comes from god; and this is according to the apportionment +
and spinning of the thread of destiny, and such-like coincidence and chance;
and this is from one of the same stock, and a kinsman and partner, one who
knows not, however, what is according to his nature. But I know; for this
reason I behave towards him according to the natural law of fellowship with
benevolence and justice. At the same time, however, in things indifferent[A] I
attempt to ascertain the value of each.
[A] Est et horum quae media appellamus grande discrimen.—Seneca, Ep. 82.

12. If thou workest at that which is before thee, following right reason
seriously, vigorously, calmly, without allowing anything else to distract thee,
but keeping thy divine part pure, as if thou shouldst be bound to give it back
immediately; if thou holdest to this, expecting nothing, fearing nothing, but
satisfied with thy present activity according to nature, and with heroic truth in

every word and sound which thou utterest, thou wilt live happy. And there is
no man who is able to prevent this.
13. As physicians have always their instruments and knives ready for cases
which suddenly require their skill, so do thou have principles ready for the
understanding of things divine and human, and for doing everything, even the
smallest, with a recollection of the bond which unites the divine and human to
one another. For neither wilt thou do anything well which pertains to man
without at the same time having a reference to things divine; nor the contrary.
14. No longer wander at hazard; for neither wilt thou read thy own memoirs,
[A]
nor the acts of the ancient Romans and Hellenes, and the selections from
books which thou wast reserving for thy old age.[B] Hasten then to the end
which thou hast before thee, and, throwing away idle hopes, come to thy own
aid, if thou carest at all for thyself, while it is in thy power.
[A] ὑπομνῄματα: or memoranda, notes, and the like. See i. 17.

[B] Compare Fronto, ii. 9; a letter of Marcus to Fronto, who was then consul: " Feci
tamen mihi per hos dies excerpta ex libris sexaginta in quinque tomis." But he says some
of them were small books.

15. They know not how many things are signified by the words stealing,
sowing, buying, keeping quiet, seeing what ought to be done; for this is not
effected by the eyes, but by another kind of vision.
16. Body, soul, intelligence: to the body belong sensation, to the soul
appetites, to the intelligence principles. To receive the impressions of forms
by means of appearances belongs even to animals; to be pulled by the
strings[A] of desire belongs both to wild beasts and to men who have made
themselves into women, and to a Phalaris and a Nero: and to have the
intelligence that guides to the things which appear suitable belongs also to
those who do not believe in the gods, and who betray their country, and do
their impure deeds when they have shut the doors. If then everything else is
common to all that I have mentioned, there remains that which is peculiar to
the good man, to be pleased and content with what happens, and with the
thread which is spun for him; and not to defile the divinity which is planted in
his breast, nor disturb it by a crowd of images, but to preserve it tranquil,
following it obediently as a god, neither saying anything contrary to the truth,
nor doing anything contrary to justice. And if all men refuse to believe that he
lives a simple, modest, and contented life, he is neither angry with any of

them, nor does he deviate from the way which leads to the end of life, to
which a man ought to come pure, tranquil, ready to depart, and without any
compulsion perfectly reconciled to his lot.
[A] Compare Plato, De Legibus, i. p. 644, ὄτι ταῦτα τὰ πάθη etc.; and Antoninus, ii. 2;
vii. 3; xii. 19.

IV.
That which rules within, when it is according to nature, is so affected with
respect to the events which happened, that it always easily adapts itself to that
which is possible and is presented to it. For it requires no definite material, but
it moves towards its purpose,[A] under certain conditions, however; and it
makes a material for itself out of that which opposes it, as fire lays hold of
what falls into it, by which a small light would have been extinguished; but
when the fire is strong, it soon appropriates to itself the matter which is
heaped on it, and consumes it, and rises higher by means of this very material.
[A] πρὸς τἁ ἡγούμενα, literally "towards that which leads." The exact translation is
doubtful. See Gataker's note.

2. Let no act be done without a purpose, nor otherwise than according to the
perfect principles of art.
3. Men seek retreats for themselves, houses in the country, sea-shores, and
mountains; and thou too art wont to desire such things very much. But this is
altogether a mark of the most common sort of men, for it is in thy power
whenever thou shalt choose to retire into thyself. For nowhere either with
more quiet or more freedom from trouble does a man retire than into his own
soul, particularly when he has within him such thoughts that by looking into
them he is immediately in perfect tranquillity; and I affirm that tranquillity is
nothing else than the good ordering of the mind. Constantly then give to
thyself this retreat, and renew thyself; and let thy principles be brief and
fundamental, which, as soon as thou shalt recur to them, will be sufficient to
cleanse the soul completely, and to send thee back free from all discontent
with the things to which thou returnest. For with what art thou discontented?
With the badness of men? Recall to thy mind this conclusion, that rational
animals exist for one another, and that to endure is a part of justice, and that
men do wrong involuntarily; and consider how many already, after mutual
enmity, suspicion, hatred, and fighting, have been stretched dead, reduced to
ashes; and be quiet at last.—But perhaps thou art dissatisfied with that which
is assigned to thee out of the universe.—Recall to thy recollection this
alternative; either there is providence or atoms [fortuitous concurrence of
things]; or remember the arguments by which it has been proved that the

world is a kind of political community [and be quiet at last].—But perhaps
corporeal things will still fasten upon thee.—Consider then further that the
mind mingles not with the breath, whether moving gently or violently, when it
has once drawn itself apart and discovered its own power, and think also of all
that thou hast heard and assented to about pain and pleasure [and be quiet at
last].—But perhaps the desire of the thing called fame will torment thee.—See
how soon everything is forgotten, and look at the chaos of infinite time on
each side of [the present], and the emptiness of applause, and the
changeableness and want of judgment in those who pretend to give praise, and
the narrowness of the space within which it is circumscribed [and be quiet at
last]. For the whole earth is a point, and how small a nook in it is this thy
dwelling, and how few are there in it, and what kind of people are they who
will praise thee.

This then remains: Remember to retire into this little territory of thy own,[A]
and above all do not distract or strain thyself, but be free, and look at things as
a man, as a human being, as a citizen, as a mortal. But among the things
readiest to thy hand to which thou shalt turn, let there be these, which are two.
One is that things do not touch the soul, for they are external and remain
immovable; but our perturbations come only from the opinion which is
within. The other is that all these things, which thou seest, change
immediately and will no longer be; and constantly bear in mind how many of
these changes thou hast already witnessed. The universe is transformation: life
is opinion.
[A] Tecum habita, noris quam sit tibi curta supellex.—Perseus, iv. 52.

4. If our intellectual part is common, the reason also, in respect of which we
are rational beings, is common: if this is so, common also is the reason which
commands us what to do, and what not to do; if this is so, there is a common
law also; if this is so, we are fellow-citizens; if this is so, we are members of
some political community; if this is so, the world is in a manner a state.[A] For
of what other common political community will any one say that the whole
human race are members? And from thence, from this common political
community, comes also our very intellectual faculty and reasoning faculty and
our capacity for law; or whence do they come? For as my earthly part is a
portion given to me from certain earth, and that which is watery from another
element, and that which is hot and fiery from some peculiar source (for

nothing comes out of that which is nothing, as nothing also returns to non-
existence), so also the intellectual part comes from some source.
[A] Compare Cicero De Legibus, i. 7.

5. Death is such as generation is, a mystery of nature; composition out of the
same elements, and a decomposition into the same; and altogether not a thing
of which any man should be ashamed, for it is not contrary to [the nature of] a
reasonable animal, and not contrary to the reason of our constitution.
6. It is natural that these things should be done by such persons, it is a matter
of necessity; and if a man will not have it so, he will not allow the fig-tree to
have juice. But by all means bear this in mind, that within a very short time
both thou and he will be dead; and soon not even your names will be left
behind.
7. Take away thy opinion, and then there is taken away the complaint, "I have
been harmed." Take away the complaint, "I have been harmed," and the harm
is taken away.
8. That which does not make a man worse than he was, also does not make his
life worse, nor does it harm him either from without or from within.
9. The nature of that which is [universally] useful has been compelled to do
this.
10. Consider that everything which happens, happens justly, and if thou
observest carefully, thou wilt find it to be so. I do not say only with respect to
the continuity of the series of things, but with respect to what is just, and as if
it were done by one who assigns to each thing its value. Observe then as thou
hast begun; and whatever thou doest, do it in conjunction with this, the being
good, and in the sense in which a man is properly understood to be good.
Keep to this in every action.
11. Do not have such an opinion of things as he has who does thee wrong, or
such as he wishes thee to have, but look at them as they are in truth.
12. A man should always have these two rules in readiness; the one to do only
whatever the reason of the ruling and legislating faculty may suggest for the
use of men; the other, to change thy opinion, if there is any one at hand who
sets thee right and moves thee from any opinion. But this change of opinion

must proceed only from a certain persuasion, as of what is just or of common
advantage, and the like, not because it appears pleasant or brings reputation.
13. Hast thou reason? I have.—Why then dost not thou use it? For if this does
its own work, what else dost thou wish?
14. Thou hast existed as a part. Thou shalt disappear in that which produced
thee; but rather thou shalt be received back into its seminal principle by
transmutation.
15. Many grains of frankincense on the same altar: one falls before, another
falls after; but it makes no difference.
16. Within ten days thou wilt seem a god to those to whom thou art now a
beast and an ape, if thou wilt return to thy principles and the worship of
reason.
17. Do not act as if thou wert going to live ten thousand years. Death hangs
over thee. While thou livest, while it is in thy power, be good.
18. How much trouble he avoids who does not look to see what his neighbor
says or does or thinks, but only to what he does himself, that it may be just
and pure; or, as Agathon+ says, look not round at the depraved morals of
others, but run straight along the line without deviating from it.
19. He who has a vehement desire for posthumous fame does not consider that
every one of those who remember him will himself also die very soon; then
again also they who have succeeded them, until the whole remembrance shall
have been extinguished as it is transmitted through men who foolishly admire
and perish. But suppose that those who will remember are even immortal, and
that the remembrance will be immortal, what then is this to thee? And I say
not what is it to the dead, but what is it to the living? What is praise, except +
indeed so far as it has + a certain utility? For thou now rejectest unseasonably
the gift of nature, clinging to something else ...+
20. Everything which is in any way beautiful is beautiful in itself, and
terminates in itself, not having praise as part of itself. Neither worse then nor
better is a thing made by being praised. I affirm this also of the things which
are called beautiful by the vulgar, for example, material things and works of
art. That which is really beautiful has no need of anything; not more than law,
not more than truth, not more than benevolence or modesty. Which of these

things is beautiful because it is praised, or spoiled by being blamed? Is such a
thing as an emerald made worse than it was, if it is not praised? or gold, ivory,
purple, a lyre, a little knife, a flower, a shrub?

INTERIOR OF THE PARTHENON

21. If souls continue to exist, how does the air contain them from eternity?—
But how does the earth contain the bodies of those who have been buried from
time so remote? For as here the mutation of these bodies after a certain
continuance, whatever it may be, and their dissolution, make room for other
dead bodies, so the souls which are removed into the air after subsisting for
some time are transmuted and diffused, and assume a fiery nature by being
received into the seminal intelligence of the universe, and in this way make
room for the fresh souls which come to dwell there. And this is the answer
which a man might give on the hypothesis of souls continuing to exist. But we
must not only think of the number of bodies which are thus buried, but also of
the number of animals which are daily eaten by us and the other animals. For

what a number is consumed, and thus in a manner buried in the bodies of
those who feed on them! And nevertheless this earth receives them by reason
of the changes [of these bodies] into blood, and the transformations into the
aerial or the fiery element.
What is the investigation into the truth in this matter? The division into that
which is material and that which is the cause of form [the formal], (vii. 29.)
22. Do not be whirled about, but in every movement have respect to justice,
and on the occasion of every impression maintain the faculty of
comprehension [or understanding].
23. Everything harmonizes with me, which is harmonious to thee, O Universe.
Nothing for me is too early nor too late, which is in due time for thee.
Everything is fruit to me which thy seasons bring, O Nature: from thee are all
things, in thee are all things, to thee all things return. The poet says, Dear city
of Cecrops; and wilt not thou say, Dear city of Zeus?
24. Occupy thyself with few things, says the philosopher, if thou wouldst be
tranquil.—But consider if it would not be better to say, Do what is necessary,
and whatever the reason of the animal which is naturally social requires, and
as it requires. For this brings not only the tranquillity which comes from doing
well, but also that which comes from doing few things. For the greatest part of
what we say and do being unnecessary, if a man takes this away, he will have
more leisure and less uneasiness. Accordingly, on every occasion a man
should ask himself, Is this one of the unnecessary things? Now a man should
take away not only unnecessary acts, but also unnecessary thoughts, for thus
superfluous acts will not follow after.
25. Try how the life of the good man suits thee, the life of him who is satisfied
with his portion out of the whole, and satisfied with his own just acts and
benevolent disposition.
26. Hast thou seen those things? Look also at these. Do not disturb thyself.
Make thyself all simplicity. Does any one do wrong? It is to himself that he
does the wrong. Has anything happened to thee? Well; out of the universe
from the beginning everything which happens has been apportioned and spun
out to thee. In a word, thy life is short. Thou must turn to profit the present by
the aid of reason and justice. Be sober in thy relaxation.

27. Either it is a well-arranged universe[A] or a chaos huddled together, but
still a universe. But can a certain order subsist in thee, and disorder in the All?
And this too when all things are so separated and diffused and sympathetic.
[A] Antoninus here uses the word κόσμος both in the sense of the Universe and of Order;
and it is difficult to express his meaning.

28. A black character, a womanish character, a stubborn character, bestial,
childish, animal, stupid, counterfeit, scurrilous, fraudulent, tyrannical.
29. If he is a stranger to the universe who does not know what is in it, no less
is he a stranger who does not know what is going on in it. He is a runaway,
who flies from social reason; he is blind, who shuts the eyes of understanding;
he is poor, who has need of another, and has not from himself all things which
are useful for life. He is an abscess on the universe who withdraws and
separates himself from the reason of our common nature through being
displeased with the things which happen, for the same nature produces this,
and has produced thee too: he is a piece rent asunder from the state, who tears,
his own soul from that of reasonable animals, which is one.
30. The one is a philosopher without a tunic, and the other without a book:
here is another half naked: Bread I have not, he says, and I abide by reason—
and I do not get the means of living out of my learning, + and I abide [by my
reason].
31. Love the art, poor as it may be, which thou hast learned, and be content
with it; and pass through the rest of life like one who has intrusted to the gods
with his whole soul all that he has, making thyself neither the tyrant nor the
slave of any man.
32. Consider, for example, the times of Vespasian. Thou wilt see all these
things, people marrying, bringing up children, sick, dying, warring, feasting,
trafficking, cultivating the ground, flattering, obstinately arrogant, suspecting,
plotting, wishing for some to die, grumbling about the present, loving,
heaping up treasure, desiring consulship, kingly power. Well, then, that life of
these people no longer exists at all. Again, remove to the times of Trajan.
Again, all is the same. Their life too is gone. In like manner view also the
other epochs of time and of whole nations, and see how many after great
efforts soon fell and were resolved into the elements. But chiefly thou
shouldst think of those whom thou hast thyself known distracting themselves
about idle things, neglecting to do what was in accordance with their proper

constitution, and to hold firmly to this and to be content with it. And herein it
is necessary to remember that the attention given to everything has its proper
value and proportion. For thus thou wilt not be dissatisfied, if thou appliest
thyself to smaller matters no further than is fit.
33. The words which were formerly familiar are now antiquated: so also the
names of those who were famed of old, are now in a manner antiquated,
Camillus, Caeso, Volesus, Leonnatus, and a little after also Scipio and Cato,
then Augustus, then also Hadrianus and Antoninus. For all things soon pass
away and become a mere tale, and complete oblivion soon buries them. And I
say this of those who have shone in a wondrous way. For the rest, as soon as
they have breathed out their breath they are gone, and no man speaks of them.
And, to conclude the matter, what is even an eternal remembrance? A mere
nothing. What then is that about which we ought to employ our serious pains?
This one thing, thoughts just, and acts social, and words which never lie, and a
disposition which gladly accepts all that happens, as necessary, as usual, as
flowing from a principle and source of the same kind.
34. Willingly give thyself up to Clotho [one of the fates], allowing her to spin
thy thread + into whatever things she pleases.
35. Everything is only for a day, both that which remembers and that which is
remembered.
36. Observe constantly that all things take place by change, and accustom
thyself to consider that the nature of the universe loves nothing so much as to
change the things which are and to make new things like them. For everything
that exists is in a manner the seed of that which will be. But thou art thinking
only of seeds which are cast into the earth or into a womb: but this is a very
vulgar notion.
37. Thou wilt soon die, and thou art not yet simple, nor free from
perturbations, nor without suspicion of being hurt by external things, nor
kindly disposed towards all; nor dost thou yet place wisdom only in acting
justly.
38. Examine men's ruling principles, even those of the wise, what kind of
things they avoid, and what kind they pursue.
39. What is evil to thee does not subsist in the ruling principle of another; nor
yet in any turning and mutation of thy corporeal covering. Where is it then? It

is in that part of thee in which subsists the power of forming opinions about
evils. Let this power then not form [such] opinions, and all is well. And if that
which is nearest to it, the poor body, is cut, burnt, filled with matter and
rottenness, nevertheless let the part which forms opinions about these things
be quiet; that is, let it judge that nothing is either bad or good which can
happen equally to the bad man and the good. For that which happens equally
to him who lives contrary to nature and to him who lives according to nature,
is neither according to nature nor contrary to nature.
40. Constantly regard the universe as one living being, having one substance
and one soul; and observe how all things have reference to one perception, the
perception of this one living being; and how all things act with one
movement; and how all things are the co-operating causes of all things which
exist; observe too the continuous spinning of the thread and the contexture of
the web.
41. Thou art a little soul bearing about a corpse, as Epictetus used to say (i. c.
19).
42. It is no evil for things to undergo change, and no good for things to subsist
in consequence of change.
43. Time is like a river made up of the events which happen, and a violent
stream; for as soon as a thing has been seen, it is carried away, and another
comes in its place, and this will be carried away too.
44. Everything which happens is as familiar and well known as the rose in
spring and the fruit in summer; for such is disease, and death, and calumny,
and treachery, and whatever else delights fools or vexes them.
45. In the series of things, those which follow are always aptly fitted to those
which have gone before: for this series is not like a mere enumeration of
disjointed things, which has only a necessary sequence, but it is a rational
connection: and as all existing things are arranged together harmoniously, so
the things which come into existence exhibit no mere succession, but a certain
wonderful relationship (vi. 38; vii. 9; vii. 75, note).
46. Always remember the saying of Heraclitus, that the death of earth is to
become water, and the death of water is to become air, and the death of air is
to become fire, and reversely. And think too of him who forgets whither the
way leads, and that men quarrel with that with which they are most constantly

in communion, the reason which governs the universe; and the things which
they daily meet with seem to them strange: and consider that we ought not to
act and speak as if we were asleep, for even in sleep we seem to act and
speak; and that + we ought not, like children who learn from their parents,
simply to act and speak as we have been taught. +
47. If any god told thee that thou shalt die to-morrow, or certainly on the day
after to-morrow, thou wouldst not care much whether it was on the third day
or on the morrow, unless thou wast in the highest degree mean-spirited; for
how small is the difference! So think it no great thing to die after as many
years as thou canst name rather than to-morrow.
48. Think continually how many physicians are dead after often contracting
their eyebrows over the sick; and how many astrologers after predicting with
great pretensions the deaths of others; and how many philosophers after
endless discourses on death or immortality; how many heroes after killing
thousands; and how many tyrants who have used their power over men's lives
with terrible insolence, as if they were immortal; and how many cities are
entirely dead, so to speak, Helice[A] and Pompeii and Herculaneum, and
others innumerable. Add to the reckoning all whom thou hast known, one
after another. One man after burying another has been laid out dead, and
another buries him; and all this in a short time. To conclude, always observe
how ephemeral and worthless human things are, and what was yesterday a
little mucus, to-morrow will be a mummy or ashes. Pass then through this
little space of time conformably to nature, and end thy journey in content, as
an olive falls off when it is ripe, blessing nature who produced it, and thanking
the tree on which it grew.
[A] Ovid, Met. xv. 293:—
"Si quaeras Helicen et Burin Achaidas urbes,
Invenies sub aquis.

49. Be like the promontory against which the waves continually break, but it
stands firm and tames the fury of the water around it.
Unhappy am I because this has happened to me? Not so, but happy am I,
though this has happened to me, because I continue free from pain, neither
crushed by the present nor fearing the future. For such a thing as this might
have happened to every man; but every man would not have continued free
from pain on such an occasion. Why then is that rather a misfortune than this a

good fortune? And dost thou in all cases call that a man's misfortune which is
not a deviation from man's nature? And does a thing seem to thee to be a
deviation from man's nature, when it is not contrary to the will of man's
nature? Well, thou knowest the will of nature. Will then this which has
happened prevent thee from being just, magnanimous, temperate, prudent,
secure against inconsiderate opinions and falsehood; will it prevent thee from
having modesty, freedom, and everything else, by the presence of which man's
nature obtains all that is its own? Remember too on every occasion which
leads thee to vexation to apply this principle; not that this is a misfortune, but
that to bear it nobly is good fortune.
50. It is a vulgar, but still a useful help towards contempt of death, to pass in
review those who have tenaciously stuck to life. What more then have they
gained than those who have died early? Certainly they lie in their tombs
somewhere at last, Cadicianus, Fabius, Julianus, Lepidus, or any one else like
them, who have carried out many to be buried, and then were carried out
themselves. Altogether the interval is small [between birth and death]; and
consider with how much trouble, and in company with what sort of people,
and in what a feeble body, this interval is laboriously passed. Do not then
consider life a thing of any value. + For look to the immensity of time behind
thee, and to the time which is before thee, another boundless space. In this
infinity then what is the difference between him who lives three days and him
who lives three generations?[A]
[A] An allusion to Homer's Nestor, who was living at the war of Troy among the third
generation, like old Parr with his hundred and fifty-two years, and some others in modern
times who have beaten Parr by twenty or thirty years if it is true; and yet they died at last.
The word is τριγερηνίου in Antoninus. Nestor is named τριγέρων by some writers; but
here perhaps there is an allusion to Homer's Γερῄνος ἱππότα Νεστωα.

51. Always run to the short way; and the short way is the natural: accordingly
say and do everything in conformity with the soundest reason. For such a
purpose frees a man from trouble,+ and warfare, and all artifice and
ostentatious display.

V.
In the morning when thou risest unwillingly, let this thought be present,—I am
rising to the work of a human being. Why then am I dissatisfied if I am going
to do the things for which I exist and for which I was brought into the world?
Or have I been made for this, to lie in the bed-clothes and keep myself warm?
—But this is more pleasant.—Dost thou exist then to take thy pleasure, and
not at all for action or exertion? Dost thou not see the little plants, the little
birds, the ants, the spiders, the bees working together to put in order their
several parts of the universe? And art thou unwilling to do the work of a
human being, and dost thou not make haste to do that which, is according to
thy nature? But it is necessary to take rest also.—It is necessary. However,
Nature has fixed bounds to this too: she has fixed bounds to eating and
drinking, and yet thou goest beyond these bounds, beyond what is sufficient;
yet in thy acts it is not so, but thou stoppest short of what thou canst do. So
thou lovest not thyself, for if thou didst, thou wouldst love thy nature and her
will. But those who love their several arts exhaust themselves in working at
them unwashed and without food; but thou valuest thy own nature less than
the turner values the turning art, or the dancer the dancing art, or the lover of
money values his money, or the vain-glorious man his little glory. And such
men, when they have a violent affection to a thing, choose neither to eat nor to
sleep rather than to perfect the things which they care for. But are the acts
which concern society more vile in thy eyes and less worthy of thy labor?
2. How easy it is to repel and to wipe away every impression which is
troublesome or unsuitable, and immediately to be in all tranquillity.
3. Judge every word and deed which are according to nature to be fit for thee;
and be not diverted by the blame which follows from any people, nor by their
words, but if a thing is good to be done or said, do not consider it unworthy of
thee. For those persons have their peculiar leading principle and follow their
peculiar movement; which things do not thou regard, but go straight on,
following thy own nature and the common nature; and the way of both is one.
4. I go through the things which happen according to nature until I shall fall
and rest, breathing out my breath into that element out of which I daily draw it

in, and falling upon that earth out of which my father collected the seed, and
my mother the blood, and my nurse the milk; out of which during so many
years I have been supplied with food and drink; which bears me when I tread
on it and abuse it for so many purposes.
5. Thou sayest, Men cannot admire the sharpness of thy wits.—Be it so: but
there are many other things of which thou canst not say, I am not formed from
them by nature. Show those qualities then which are altogether in thy power,
sincerity, gravity, endurance of labor, aversion to pleasure, contentment with
thy portion and with few things, benevolence, frankness, no love of
superfluity, freedom from trifling, magnanimity. Dost thou not see how many
qualities thou art immediately able to exhibit, in which there is no excuse of
natural incapacity and unfitness, and yet thou still remainest voluntarily below
the mark? or art thou compelled through being defectively furnished by nature
to murmur, and to be stingy, and to flatter, and to find fault with thy poor
body, and to try to please men, and to make great display, and to be so restless
in thy mind? No, by the gods; but thou mightest have been delivered from
these things long ago. Only if in truth thou canst be charged with being rather
slow and dull of comprehension, thou must exert thyself about this also, not
neglecting it nor yet taking pleasure in thy dullness.
6. One man, when he has done a service to another, is ready to set it down to
his account as a favor conferred. Another is not ready to do this, but still in his
own mind he thinks of the man as his debtor, and he knows what he has done.
A third in a manner does not even know what he has done, but he is like a vine
which has produced grapes, and seeks for nothing more after it has once
produced its proper fruit. As a horse when he has run, a dog when he has
tackled the game, a bee when it has made the honey, so a man when he has
done a good act does not call out for others to come and see, but he goes on to
another act, as a vine goes on to produce again the grapes in season.—Must a
man then be one of these, who in a manner act thus without observing it?—
Yes.—But this very thing is necessary, the observation of what a man is doing:
for, it may be said, it is characteristic of the social animal to perceive that he is
working in a social manner, and indeed to wish that his social partner also
should perceive it.—It is true that thou sayest, but thou dost not rightly
understand what is now said: and for this reason thou wilt become one of
those of whom I spoke before, for even they are misled by a certain show of
reason. But if thou wilt choose to understand the meaning of what is said, do
not fear that for this reason thou wilt omit any social act.

7. A prayer of the Athenians: Rain, rain, O dear Zeus, down on the ploughed
fields of the Athenians and on the plains.—In truth we ought not to pray at all,
or we ought to pray in this simple and noble fashion.
8. Just as we must understand when it is said, That Aesculapius prescribed to
this man horse-exercise, or bathing in cold water, or going without shoes, so
we must understand it when it is said, That the nature of the universe
prescribed to this man disease, or mutilation, or loss, or anything else of the
kind. For in the first case Prescribed means something like this: he prescribed
this for this man as a thing adapted to procure health; and in the second case it
means, That which happens[A] to [or suits] every man is fixed in a manner for
him suitably to his destiny. For this is what we mean when we say that things
are suitable to us, as the workmen say of squared stones in walls or the
pyramids, that they are suitable, when they fit them to one another in some
kind of connection. For there is altogether one fitness [harmony]. And as the
universe is made up out of all bodies to be such a body as it is, so out of all
existing causes necessity [destiny] is made up to be such a cause as it is. And
even those who are completely ignorant understand what I mean; for they say,
It [necessity, destiny] brought this to such a person.—This then was brought
and this was prescribed to him. Let us then receive these things, as well as
those which Aesculapius prescribes. Many as a matter of course even among
his prescriptions are disagreeable, but we accept them in the hope of health.
Let the perfecting and accomplishment of the things which the common
nature judges to be good, be judged by thee to be of the same kind as thy
health. And so accept everything which happens, even if it seem disagreeable,
because it leads to this, to the health of the universe and to the prosperity and
felicity of Zeus [the universe]. For he would not have brought on any man
what he has brought, if it were not useful for the whole. Neither does the
nature of anything, whatever it may be, cause anything which is not suitable to
that which is directed by it. For two reasons then it is right to be content with
that which happens to thee; the one, because it was done for thee and
prescribed for thee, and in a manner had reference to thee, originally from the
most ancient causes spun with thy destiny; and the other, because even that
which comes severally to every man is to the power which administers the
universe a cause of felicity and perfection, nay even of its very continuance.
For the integrity of the whole is mutilated, if thou cuttest off anything
whatever from the conjunction and the continuity either of the parts or of the

causes. And thou dost cut off, as far as it is in thy power, when thou art
dissatisfied, and in a manner triest to put anything out of the way.
[A] In this section there is a play on the meaning of συμβα῟νείν.

THE CAPITOL AND TEMPLE OF JUPITER

9. Be not disgusted, nor discouraged, nor dissatisfied, if thou dost not succeed
in doing everything according to right principles, but when thou hast failed,
return back again, and be content if the greater part of what thou doest is
consistent with man's nature, and love this to which thou returnest; and do not
return to philosophy as if she were a master, but act like those who have sore
eyes and apply a bit of sponge and egg, or as another applies a plaster, or
drenching with water. For thus thou wilt not fail to + obey reason, and thou
wilt repose in it. And remember that philosophy requires only things which
thy nature requires; but thou wouldst have something else which is not
according to nature.—It may be objected, Why, what is more agreeable than
this [which I am doing]? But is not this the very reason why pleasure deceives
us? And consider if magnanimity, freedom, simplicity, equanimity, piety, are
not more agreeable. For what is more agreeable than wisdom itself, when thou
thinkest of the security and the happy course of all things which depend on the
faculty of understanding and knowledge?

10. Things are in such a kind of envelopment that they have seemed to
philosophers, not a few nor those common philosophers, altogether
unintelligible; nay even to the Stoics themselves they seem difficult to
understand. And all our assent is changeable; for where is the man who never
changes? Carry thy thoughts then to the objects themselves, and consider how
short-lived they are and worthless, and that they may be in the possession of a
filthy wretch or a whore or a robber. Then turn to the morals of those who live
with thee, and it is hardly possible to endure even the most agreeable of them,
to say nothing of a man being hardly able to endure himself. In such darkness
then and dirt, and in so constant a flux both of substance and of time, and of
motion and of things moved, what there is worth being highly prized, or even
an object of serious pursuit, I cannot imagine. But on the contrary it is a man's
duty to comfort himself, and to wait for the natural dissolution, and not to be
vexed at the delay, but to rest in these principles only: the one, that nothing
will happen to me which is not conformable to the nature of the universe; and
the other, that it is in my power never to act contrary to my god and daemon:
for there is no man who will compel me to this.
11. About what am I now employing my own soul? On every occasion I must
ask myself this question, and inquire, What have I now in this part of me
which they call the ruling principle? and whose soul have I now,—that of a
child, or of a young man, or of a feeble woman, or of a tyrant, or of a
domestic animal, or of a wild beast?
12. What kind of things those are which appear good to the many, we may
learn even from this. For if any man should conceive certain things as being
really good, such as prudence, temperance, justice, fortitude, he would not
after having first conceived these endure to listen to anything+ which should
not be in harmony with what is really good.+ But if a man has first conceived
as good the things which appear to the many to be good, he will listen and
readily receive as very applicable that which was said by the comic writer.
+Thus even the many perceive the difference.+ For were it not so, this saying
would not offend and would not be rejected [in the first case], while we
receive it when it is said of wealth, and of the means which further luxury and
fame, as said fitly and wittily. Go on then and ask if we should value and think
those things to be good, to which after their first conception in the mind the
words of the comic writer might be aptly applied,—that he who has them,
through pure abundance has not a place to ease himself in.

13. I am composed of the formal and the material; and neither of them will
perish into non-existence, as neither of them came into existence out of non-
existence. Every part of me then will be reduced by change into some part of
the universe, and that again will change into another part of the universe, and
so on forever. And by consequence of such a change I too exist, and those who
begot me, and so on forever in the other direction. For nothing hinders us
from saying so, even if the universe is administered according to definite
periods [of revolution].
14. Reason and the reasoning art [philosophy] are powers which are sufficient
for themselves and for their own works. They move then from a first principle
which is their own, and they make their way to the end which is proposed to
them; and this is the reason why such acts are named Catorthoseis or right
acts, which word signifies that they proceed by the right road.
15. None of these things ought to be called a man's, which do not belong to a
man, as man. They are not required of a man, nor does man's nature promise
them, nor are they the means of man's nature attaining its end. Neither then
does the end of man lie in these things, nor yet that which aids to the
accomplishment of this end, and that which aids toward this end is that which
is good. Besides, if any of these things did belong to man, it would not be
right for a man to despise them and to set himself against them; nor would a
man be worthy of praise who snowed that he did not want these things, nor
would he who stinted himself in any of them be good, if indeed these things
were good. But now the more of these things a man deprives himself of, or of
other things like them, or even when he is deprived of any of them, the more
patiently he endures the loss, just in the same degree he is a better man.
16. Such as are thy habitual thoughts, such also will be the character of thy
mind; for the soul is dyed by the thoughts. Dye it then with a continuous
series of such thoughts as these: for instance, that where a man can live, there
he can also live well. But he must live in a palace; well then, he can also live
well in a palace. And again, consider that for whatever purpose each thing has
been constituted, for this it has been constituted, and towards this it is carried;
and its end is in that towards which it is carried; and where the end is, there
also is the advantage and the good of each thing. Now the good for the
reasonable animal is society; for that we are made for society has been shown
above.[A] Is it not plain that the inferior exists for the sake of the superior? But

the things which have life are superior to those which have not life, and of
those which have life the superior are those which have reason.
[A] ii. 1.

17. To seek what is impossible is madness: and it is impossible that the bad
should not do something of this kind.
18. Nothing happens to any man which he is not formed by nature to bear. The
same things happen to another, and either because he does not see that they
have happened, or because he would show a great spirit, he is firm and
remains unharmed. It is a shame then that ignorance and conceit should be
stronger than wisdom.
19. Things themselves touch not the soul, not in the least degree; nor have
they admission to the soul, nor can they turn or move the soul: but the soul
turns and moves itself alone, and whatever judgments it may think proper to
make, such it makes for itself the things which present themselves to it.
20. In one respect man is the nearest thing to me, so far as I must do good to
men and endure them. But so far as some men make themselves obstacles to
my proper acts, man becomes to me one of the things which are indifferent, no
less than the sun or wind or a wild beast. Now it is true that these may impede
my action, but they are no impediments to my affects and disposition, which
have the power of acting conditionally and changing: for the mind converts
and changes every hindrance to its activity into an aid; and so that which is a
hindrance is made a furtherance to an act; and that which is an obstacle on the
road helps us on this road.
21. Reverence that which is best in the universe; and this is that which makes
use of all things and directs all things. And in like manner also reverence that
which is best in thyself; and this is of the same kind as that. For in thyself
also, that which makes use of everything else is this, and thy life is directed by
this.
22. That which does no harm to the state, does no harm to the citizen. In the
case of every appearance of harm apply this rule: if the state is not harmed by
this, neither am I harmed. But if the state is harmed, thou must not be angry
with him who does harm to the state. Show him where his error is.

23. Often think of the rapidity with which things pass by and disappear, both
the things which are and the things which are produced. For substance is like a
river in a continual flow, and the activities of things are in constant change,
and the causes work in infinite varieties; and there is hardly anything which
stands still. And consider this which is near to thee, this boundless abyss of
the past and of the future in which all things disappear. How then is he not a
fool who is puffed up with such things or plagued about them and makes
himself miserable? for they vex him only for a time, and a short time.
24. Think of the universal substance, of which thou hast a very small portion;
and of universal time, of which a short and indivisible interval has been
assigned to thee; and of that which is fixed by destiny, and how small a part of
it thou art.
25. Does another do me wrong? Let him look to it. He has his own
disposition, his own activity. I now have what the universal nature now wills
me to have; and I do what my nature now wills me to do.
26. Let the part of thy soul which leads and governs be undisturbed by the
movements in the flesh, whether of pleasure or of pain; and let it not unite
with them, but let it circumscribe itself and limit those affects to their parts.
But when these affects rise up to the mind by virtue of that other sympathy
that naturally exists in a body which is all one, then thou must not strive to
resist the sensation, for it is natural: but let not the ruling part of itself add to
the sensation the opinion that it is either good or bad.
27. Live with the gods. And he does live with the gods who constantly shows
to them that his own soul is satisfied with that which is assigned to him, and
that it does all that the daemon wishes, which Zeus hath given to every man
for his guardian and guide, a portion of himself. And this is every man's
understanding and reason.
28. Art thou angry with him whose armpits stink? art thou angry with him
whose mouth smells foul? What good will this anger do thee? He has such a
mouth, he has such armpits: it is necessary that such an emanation must come
from such things: but the man has reason, it will be said, and he is able, if he
takes pains, to discover wherein he offends; I wish thee well of thy discovery.
Well then, and thou hast reason: by thy rational faculty stir up his rational
faculty; show him his error, admonish him. For if he listens, thou wilt cure
him, and there is no need of anger. [+ Neither tragic actor nor whore. +][A]

[A] This is imperfect or corrupt, or both. There is also something wrong or incomplete in
the beginning of S. 29, where he says ὠς ἐξελθὼν ζῇν διανοῇ, which Gataker translates "
as if thou wast about to quit life;" but we cannot translate ἐξελθών in that way. Other
translations are not much more satisfactory. I have translated it literally and left it
imperfect.

29. As thou intendest to live when them art gone out, ... so it is in thy power to
live here. But if men do not permit thee, then get away out of life, yet so as if
thou wert suffering no harm. The house is smoky, and I quit it.[A] Why dost
thou think that this is any trouble? But so long as nothing of the kind drives
me out, I remain, am free, and no man shall hinder me from doing what I
choose; and I choose to do what is according to the nature of the rational and
social animal.
[A] Epictetus, i. 25, 18.

30. The intelligence of the universe is social. Accordingly it has made the
inferior things for the sake of the superior, and it has fitted the superior to one
another. Thou seest how it has subordinated, co-ordinated, and assigned to
everything its proper portion, and has brought together into concord with one
another the things which are the best.
31. How hast thou behaved hitherto to the gods, thy parents, brethren,
children, teachers, to those who looked after thy infancy, to thy friends,
kinsfolk, to thy slaves? Consider if thou hast hitherto behaved to all in such a
way that this may be said of thee,—
"Never has wronged a man in deed or word."

And call to recollection both how many things thou hast passed through, and
how many things thou hast been able to endure, and that the history of thy life
is now complete and thy service is ended; and how many beautiful things thou
hast seen; and how many pleasures and pains thou hast despised; and how
many things called honorable thou hast spurned; and to how many ill-minded
folks thou hast shown a kind disposition.
32. Why do unskilled and ignorant souls disturb him who has skill and
knowledge? What soul then has skill and knowledge? That which knows
beginning and end, and knows the reason which pervades all substance, and
though all time by fixed periods [revolutions] administers the universe.

33. Soon, very soon, thou wilt be ashes, or a skeleton, and either a name or not
even a name; but name is sound and echo. And the things which are much
valued in life are empty and rotten and trifling, and [like] little dogs biting one
another, and little children quarreling, laughing, and then straightway
weeping. But fidelity and modesty and justice and truth are fled
Up to Olympus from the wide-spread earth.
HESIOD, Works, etc. v. 197.

What then is there which still detains thee here, if the objects of sense are
easily changed and never stand still, and the organs of perception are dull and
easily receive false impressions, and the poor soul itself is an exhalation from
blood? But to have good repute amid such a world as this is an empty thing.
Why then dost thou not wait in tranquillity for thy end, whether it is extinction
or removal to another state? And until that time comes, what is sufficient?
Why, what else than to venerate the gods and bless them, and to do good to
men, and to practise tolerance and self-restraint;[A] but as to everything which
is beyond the limits of the poor flesh and breath, to remember that this is
neither thine nor in thy power.
[A] This is the Stoic precept άνέχον καί άπέχον. The first part teaches us to be content
with men and things as they are. The second part teaches us the virtue of self-restraint, or
the government of our passions.

34. Thou canst pass thy life in an equable flow of happiness, if thou canst go
by the right way, and think and act in the right way. These two things are
common both to the soul of God and to the soul of man, and to the soul of
every rational being: not to be hindered by another; and to hold good to
consist in the disposition to justice and the practice of it, and in this to let thy
desire find its termination.
35. If this is neither my own badness, nor an effect of my own badness, and
the common weal is not injured, why am I troubled about it, and what is the
harm to the common weal?
36. Do not be carried along inconsiderately by the appearance of things, but
give help [to all] according to thy ability and their fitness; and if they should
have sustained loss in matters which are indifferent, do not imagine this to be
a damage; for it is a bad habit. But as the old man, when he went away, asked
back his foster-child's top, remembering that it was a top, so do thou in this
case also.

When thou art calling out on the Rostra, hast thou forgotten, man, what these
things are?—Yes; but they are objects of great concern to these people—wilt
thou too then be made a fool for these things? I was once a fortunate man, but
I lost it, I know not how.—But fortunate means that a man has assigned to
himself a good fortune: and a good fortune is good disposition of the soul,
good emotions, good actions.[A]
[A] This section is unintelligible. Many of the words may be corrupt, and the general
purport of the section cannot be discovered. Perhaps several things have been improperly
joined in one section. I have translated it nearly literally. Different translators give the
section a different turn, and the critics have tried to mend what they cannot understand.

VI.
The substance of the universe is obedient and compliant; and the reason which
governs it has in itself no cause for doing evil, for it has no malice, nor does it
do evil to anything, nor is anything harmed by it. But all things are made and
perfected according to this reason.
2. Let it make no difference to thee whether thou art cold or warm, if thou art
doing thy duty; and whether thou art drowsy or satisfied with sleep; and
whether ill-spoken of or praised; and whether dying or doing something else.
For it is one of the acts of life, this act by which we die; it is sufficient then in
this act also to do well what we have in hand (vi. 22, 28).
3. Look within. Let neither the peculiar quality of anything nor its value
escape thee.
4. All existing things soon change, and they will either be reduced to vapor, if
indeed all substance is one, or they will be dispersed.
5. The reason which governs knows what its own disposition is, and what it
does, and on what material it works.
6. The best way of avenging thyself is not to become like [the wrong-doer].
7. Take pleasure in one thing and rest in it, in passing from one social act to
another social act, thinking of God.
8. The ruling principle is that which rouses and turns itself, and while it makes
itself such as it is and such as it wills to be, it also makes everything which
happens appear to itself to be such as it wills.
9. In conformity to the nature of the universe every single thing is
accomplished; for certainly it is not in conformity to any other nature that
each thing is accomplished, either a nature which externally comprehends
this, or a nature which is comprehended within this nature, or a nature external
and independent of this (xi. 1; vi. 40; viii. 50).
10. The universe is either a confusion, and a mutual involution of things, and a
dispersion, or it is unity and order and providence. If then it is the former, why

do I desire to tarry in a fortuitous combination of things and such a disorder?
and why do I care about anything else than how I shall at last become earth?
and why am I disturbed, for the dispersion of my elements will happen
whatever I do? But if the other supposition is true, I venerate, and I am firm,
and I trust in him who governs (iv. 27).
11. When thou hast been compelled by circumstances to be disturbed in a
manner, quickly return to thyself, and do not continue out of tune longer than
the compulsion lasts; for thou wilt have more mastery over the harmony by
continually recurring to it.
12. If thou hadst a step-mother and a mother at the same time, thou wouldst be
dutiful to thy step-mother, but still thou wouldst constantly return to thy
mother. Let the court and philosophy now be to thee step-mother and mother:
return to philosophy frequently and repose in her, through whom what thou
meetest with in the court appears to thee tolerable, and thou appearest
tolerable in the court.
13. When we have meat before us and such eatables, we receive the
impression that this is the dead body of a fish, and this the dead body of a bird
or of a pig; and again, that this Falernian is only a little grape-juice, and this
purple robe some sheep's wool dyed with the blood of a shell-fish: such then
are these impressions, and they reach the things themselves and penetrate
them, and so we see what kind of things they are. Just in the same way ought
we to act all through life, and where there are things which appear most
worthy of our approbation, we ought to lay them bare and look at their
worthlessness and strip them of all the words by which they are exalted. For
outward show is a wonderful perverter of the reason, and when thou art most
sure that thou art employed about things worth thy pains, it is then that it
cheats thee most. Consider then what Crates says of Xenocrates himself.
14. Most of the things which the multitude admire are referred to objects of
the most general kind, those which are held together by cohesion or natural
organization, such as stones, wood, fig-trees, vines, olives. But those which
are admired by men, who are a little more reasonable, are referred to the
things which are held together by a living principle, as flocks, herds. Those
which are admired by men who are still more instructed are the things which
are held together by a rational soul, not however a universal soul, but rational
so far as it is a soul skilled in some art, or expert in some other way, or simply
rational so far as it possesses a number of slaves. But he who values a rational

soul, a soul universal and fitted for political life, regards nothing else except
this; and above all things he keeps his soul in a condition and in an activity
conformable to reason and social life, and he co-operates to this end with
those who are of the same kind as himself.
15. Some things are hurrying into existence, and others are hurrying out of it;
and of that which is coming into existence part is already extinguished.
Motions and changes are continually renewing the world, just as the
uninterrupted course of time is always renewing the infinite duration of ages.
In this flowing stream then, on which there is no abiding, what is there of the
things which hurry by on which a man would set a high price? It would be just
as if a man should fall in love with one of the sparrows which fly by, but it has
already passed out of sight. Something of this kind is the very life of every
man, like the exhalation of the blood and the respiration of the air. For such as
it is to have once drawn in the air and to have given it back, which we do
every moment, just the same is it with the whole respiratory power, which
thou didst receive at thy birth yesterday and the day before, to give it back to
the element from which thou didst first draw it.
16. Neither is transpiration, as in plants, a thing to be valued, nor respiration,
as in domesticated animals and wild beasts, nor the receiving of impressions
by the appearances of things, nor being moved by desires as puppets by
strings, nor assembling in herds, nor being nourished by food; for this is just
like the act of separating and parting with the useless part of our food. What
then is worth being valued? To be received with clapping of hands? No.
Neither must we value the clapping of tongues; for the praise which comes
from the many is a clapping of tongues. Suppose then that thou hast given up
this worthless thing called fame, what remains that is worth valuing? This, in
my opinion: to move thyself and to restrain thyself in conformity to thy proper
constitution, to which end both all employments and arts lead. For every art
aims at this, that the thing which has been made should be adapted to the work
for which it has been made; and both the vine-planter who looks after the
vine, and the horse-breaker, and he who trains the dog, seek this end. But the
education and the teaching of youth aim at something. In this then is the value
of the education and the teaching. And if this is well, thou wilt not seek
anything else. Wilt thou not cease to value many other things too? Then thou
wilt be neither free, nor sufficient for thy own happiness, nor without passion.
For of necessity thou must be envious, jealous, and suspicious of those who
can take away those things, and plot against those who have that which is

valued by thee. Of necessity a man must be altogether in a state of
perturbation who wants any of these things; and besides, he must often find
fault with the gods. But to reverence and honor thy own mind will make thee
content with thyself, and in harmony with society, and in agreement with the
gods, that is, praising all that they give and have ordered.
17. Above, below, all around are the movements of the elements. But the
motion of virtue is in none of these: it is something more divine, and
advancing by a way hardly observed, it goes happily on its road.
18. How strangely men act! They will not praise those who are living at the
same time and living with themselves; but to be themselves praised by
posterity, by those whom they have never seen nor ever will see, this they set
much value on. But this is very much the same as if thou shouldst be grieved
because those who have lived before thee did not praise thee.
19. If a thing is difficult to be accomplished by thyself, do not think that it is
impossible for man: but if anything is possible for man and conformable to his
nature, think that this can be attained by thyself too.
20. In the gymnastic exercises suppose that a man has torn thee with his nails,
and by dashing against thy head has inflicted a wound. Well, we neither show
any signs of vexation, nor are we offended, nor do we suspect him afterwards
as a treacherous fellow; and yet we are on our guard against him, not however
as an enemy, nor yet with suspicion, but we quietly get out of his way.
Something like this let thy behavior be in all the other parts of life; let us
overlook many things in those who are like antagonists in the gymnasium. For
it is in our power, as I said, to get out of the way, and to have no suspicion nor
hatred.
21. If any man is able to convince me and show me that I do not think or act
right, I will gladly change; for I seek the truth, by which no man was ever
injured. But he is injured who abides in his error and ignorance.
22. I do my duty: other things trouble me not; for they are either things
without life, or things without reason, or things that have rambled and know
not the way.
23. As to the animals which have no reason, and generally all things and
objects, do thou, since thou hast reason and they have none, make use of them
with a generous and liberal spirit. But towards human beings, as they have

reason, behave in a social spirit. And on all occasions call on the gods, and do
not perplex thyself about the length of time in which thou shalt do this; for
even three hours so spent are sufficient.
24. Alexander the Macedonian and his groom by death were brought to the
same state; for either they were received among the same seminal principles
of the universe, or they were alike dispersed among the atoms.
25. Consider how many things in the same indivisible time take place in each
of us,—things which concern the body and things which concern the soul: and
so thou wilt not wonder if many more things, or rather all things which come
into existence in that which is the one and all, which we call Cosmos, exist in
it at the same time.
26. If any man should propose to thee the question, how the name Antoninus
is written, wouldst thou with a straining of the voice utter each letter? What
then if they grow angry, wilt thou be angry too? Wilt thou not go on with
composure and number every letter? Just so then in this life also remember
that every duty is made up of certain parts. These it is thy duty to observe, and
without being disturbed or showing anger towards those who are angry with
thee, to go on thy way and finish that which is set before thee.
27. How cruel it is not to allow men to strive After the things which appear to
them to be suitable to their nature and profitable! And yet in a manner thou
dost not allow them to do this, when thou art vexed because they do wrong.
For they are certainly moved towards things because they suppose them to be
suitable to their nature and profitable to them. But it is not so. Teach them
then, and show them without being angry.
28. Death is a cessation of the impressions through the senses, and of the
pulling of the strings which move the appetites, and of the discursive
movements of the thoughts, and of the service to the flesh (ii. 12).
29. It is a shame for the soul to be first to give way in this life, when thy body
does not give way.
30. Take care that thou art not made into a Caesar, that thou art not dyed with
this dye; for such things happen. Keep thyself then simple, good, pure,
serious, free from affectation, a friend of justice, a worshipper of the gods,
kind, affectionate, strenuous in all proper acts. Strive to continue to be such as
philosophy wished to make thee. Reverence the gods, and help men. Short is

life. There is only one fruit of this terrene life—a pious disposition and social
acts. Do everything as a disciple of Antoninus. Remember his constancy in
every act which was conformable to reason, and his evenness in all things, and
his piety, and the serenity of his countenance, and his sweetness, and his
disregard of empty fame, and his efforts to understand things; and how he
would never let anything pass without having first most carefully examined it
and clearly understood it; and how he bore with those who blamed him
unjustly without blaming them in return; how he did nothing in a hurry; and
how he listened not to calumnies, and how exact an examiner of manners and
actions he was; and not given to reproach people, nor timid, nor suspicious,
nor a sophist; and with how little he was satisfied, such as lodging, bed, dress,
food, servants; and how laborious and patient; and how he was able on
account of his sparing diet to hold out to the evening, not even requiring to
relieve himself by any evacuations except at the usual hour; and his firmness
and uniformity in his friendships; and how he tolerated freedom of speech in
those who opposed his opinions; and the pleasure that he had when any man
showed him anything better; and how religious he was without superstition.
Imitate all this, that thou mayest have as good a conscience, when thy last
hour comes, as he had (i. 16).
31. Return to thy sober senses and call thyself back; and when thou hast
roused thyself from sleep and hast perceived that they were only dreams
which troubled thee, now in thy waking hours look at these [the things about
thee] as thou didst look at those [the dreams].
32. I consist of a little body and a soul. Now to this little body all things are
indifferent, for it is not able to perceive differences. But to the understanding
those things only are indifferent which are not the works of its own activity.
But whatever things are the works of its own activity, all these are in its
power. And of these however only those which are done with reference to the
present; for as to the future and the past activities of the mind, even these are
for the present indifferent.
33. Neither the labor which the hand does nor that of the foot is contrary to
nature, so long as the foot does the foot's work and the hand the hand's. So
then neither to a man as a man is his labor contrary to nature, so long as it
does the things of a man. But if the labor is not contrary to his nature, neither
is it an evil to him.
34. How many pleasures have been enjoyed by robbers, patricides, tyrants.

35. Dost thou not see how the handicrafts-men accommodate themselves up to
a certain point to those who are not skilled in their craft—nevertheless they
cling to the reason [the principles] of their art, and do not endure to depart
from it? Is it not strange if the architect and the physician shall have more
respect to the reason [the principles] of their own arts than man to his own
reason, which is common to him and the gods?
36. Asia, Europe, are corners of the universe; all the sea a drop in the
universe; Athos a little clod of the universe: all the present time is a point in
eternity. All things are little, changeable, perishable. All things come from
thence, from that universal ruling power, either directly proceeding or by way
of sequence. And accordingly the lion's gaping jaws, and that which is
poisonous, and every harmful thing, as a thorn, as mud, are after-products of
the grand and beautiful. Do not then imagine that they are of another kind
from that which thou dost venerate, but form a just opinion of the source of all
(vii. 75).
37. He who has seen present things has seen all, both everything which has
taken place from all eternity and everything which will be for time without
end; for all things are of one kin and of one form.
38. Frequently consider the connection of all things in the universe and their
relation to one another. For in a manner all things are implicated with one
another, and all in this way are friendly to one another; for one thing comes in
order after another, and this is by virtue of the + active movement and mutual
conspiration and the unity of the substance (ix. 1).
39. Adapt thyself to the things with which thy lot has been cast: and the men
among whom thou hast received thy portion, love them, but do it truly
[sincerely].
40. Every instrument, tool, vessel, if it does that for which it has been made, is
well, and yet he who made it is not there. But in the things which are held
together by nature there is within, and there abides in them the power which
made them; wherefore the more is it fit to reverence this power, and to think,
that, if thou dost live and act according to its will, everything in thee is in
conformity to intelligence. And thus also in the universe the things which
belong to it are in conformity to intelligence.

41. Whatever of the things which are not within thy power thou shalt suppose
to be good for thee or evil, it must of necessity be that, if such a bad thing
befall thee, or the loss of such a good thing, thou wilt not blame the gods, and
hate men too, those who are the cause of the misfortune or the loss, or those
who are suspected of being likely to be the cause; and indeed we do much
injustice because we make a difference between these things [because we do
not regard these things as indifferent+].[A] But if we judge only those things
which are in our power to be good or bad, there remains no reason either for
finding fault with God or standing in a hostile attitude to man.[B]

[A] Gataker translates this "because we strive to get these things," comparing the use of
διαφέρεσθαι in v. I, and x. 27, and ix. 38, where it appears that his reference should be xi.
10. He may be right in his interpretation, but I doubt.

[B] Cicero, De Natura Deorum. iii. 32.

42. We are all working together to one end, some with knowledge and design,
and others without knowing what they do; as men also when they are asleep,
of whom it is Heraclitus, I think, who says that they are laborers and co-
operators in the things which take place in the universe. But men co-operate
after different fashions: and even those co-operate abundantly, who find fault
with what happens and those who try to oppose it and to hinder it; for the
universe had need even of such men as these. It remains then for thee to
understand among what kind of workmen thou placest thyself; for he who
rules all things will certainly make a right use of thee, and he will receive thee
among some part of the co-operators and of those whose labors conduce to
one end. But be not thou such a part as the mean and ridiculous verse in the
play, which Chrysippus speaks of.[A]
[A] Plutarch, adversus Stoicos, c. 14.

43. Does the sun undertake to do the work of the rain, or Aesculapius the work
of the Fruit-bearer [the earth]? And how is it with respect to each of the stars
—are they not different and yet they work together to the same end?
44. If the gods have determined about me and about the things which must
happen to me, they have determined well, for it is not easy even to imagine a
deity without forethought; and as to doing me harm, why should they have
any desire towards that? for what advantage would result to them from this or
to the whole, which is the special object of their providence? But if they have
not determined about me individually, they have certainly determined about
the whole at least, and the things which happen by way of sequence in this
general arrangement I ought to accept with pleasure and to be content with
them. But if they determine about nothing,—which it is wicked to believe, or
if we do believe it, let us neither sacrifice nor pray nor swear by them, nor do
anything else which we do as if the gods were present and lived with us,—but
if however the gods determine about none of the things which concern us, I
am able to determine about myself, and I can inquire about that which is
useful; and that is useful to every man which is conformable to his own
constitution and nature. But my nature is rational and social; and my city and

country, so far as I am Antoninus, is Rome, but so far as I am a man, it is the
world. The things then which are useful to these cities are alone useful to me.
45. Whatever happens to every man, this is for the interest of the universal:
this might be sufficient. But further thou wilt observe this also as a general
truth, if thou dost observe, that whatever is profitable to any man is profitable
also to other men. But let the word profitable be taken here in the common
sense as said of things of the middle kind [neither good nor bad].
46. As it happens to thee in the amphitheatre and such places, that the
continual sight of the same things, and the uniformity, make the spectacle
wearisome, so it is in the whole of life; for all things above, below, are the
same and from the same. How long then?
47. Think continually that all kinds of men and all kinds of pursuits and of all
nations are dead, so that thy thoughts come down even to Philistion and
Phoebus and Origanion. Now turn thy thoughts to the other kinds [of men]. To
that place then we must remove, where there are so many great orators, and so
many noble philosophers, Heraclitus, Pythagoras, Socrates; so many heroes of
former days, and so many generals after them, and tyrants; besides these,
Eudoxus, Hipparchus, Archimedes, and other men of acute natural talents,
great minds, lovers of labor, versatile, confident, mockers even of the
perishable and ephemeral life of man, as Menippus and such as are like him.
As to all these consider that they have long been in the dust. What harm then
is this to them; and what to those whose names are altogether unknown? One
thing here is worth a great deal, to pass thy life in truth and justice, with a
benevolent disposition even to liars and unjust men.
48. When thou wishest to delight thyself, think of the virtues of those who live
with thee; for instance, the activity of one, and the modesty of another, and the
liberality of a third, and some other good quality of a fourth. For nothing
delights so much as the examples of the virtues, when they are exhibited in the
morals of those who live with us and present themselves in abundance, as far
as is possible. Wherefore we must keep them before us.
49. Thou art not dissatisfied. I suppose, because thou weighest only so many
litrae and not three hundred. Be not dissatisfied then that thou must live only
so many years and not more; for as thou art satisfied with the amount of
substance which has been assigned to thee, so be content with the time.

50. Let us try to persuade them [men]. But act even against their will, when
the principles of justice lead that way. If however any man by using force
stands in thy way, betake thyself to contentment and tranquillity, and at the
same time employ the hindrance towards the exercise of some other virtue;
and remember that thy attempt was with a reservation [conditionally], that
thou didst not desire to do impossibilities. What then didst thou desire?—
Some such effort as this.—But thou attainest thy object, if the things to which
thou wast moved are [not] accomplished. +
51. He who loves fame considers another man's activity to be his own good;
and he who loves pleasure, his own sensations; but he who has understanding
considers his own acts to be his own good.
52. It is in our power to have no opinion about a thing, and not to be disturbed
in our soul; for things themselves have no natural power to form our
judgments.
53. Accustom thyself to attend carefully to what is said by another, and as
much as it is possible, be in the speaker's mind.
54. That which is not good for the swarm, neither is it good for the bee.
55. If sailors abused the helmsman, or the sick the doctor, would they listen to
anybody else? or how could the helmsman secure the safety of those in the
ship, or the doctor the health of those whom he attends?
56. How many together with whom I came into the world are already gone out
of it.
57. To the jaundiced honey tastes bitter, and to those bitten by mad dogs water
causes fear; and to little children the ball is a fine thing. Why then am I angry?
Dost thou think that a false opinion has less power than the bile in the
jaundiced or the poison in him who is bitten by a mad dog?
58. No man will hinder thee from living according to the reason of thy own
nature: nothing will happen to thee contrary to the reason of the universal
nature.
59. What kind of people are those whom men wish to please, and for what
objects, and by what kind of acts? How soon will time cover all things, and
how many it has covered already.

VII.
What is badness? It is that which thou hast often seen. And on the occasion of
everything which happens keep this in mind, that it is that which thou hast
often seen. Everywhere up and down thou wilt find the same things, with
which the old histories are filled, those of the middle ages and those of our
own day; with which cities and houses are filled now. There is nothing new:
all things are both familiar and short-lived.
2. How can our principles become dead, unless the impressions [thoughts]
which correspond to them are extinguished? But it is in thy power
continuously to fan these thoughts into a flame. I can have that opinion about
anything which I ought to have. If I can, why am I disturbed? The things
which are external to my mind have no relation at all to my mind.—Let this
be the state of thy affects, and thou standest erect. To recover thy life is in thy
power. Look at things again as thou didst use to look at them; for in this
consists the recovery of thy life.
3. The idle business of show, plays on the stage, flocks of sheep, herds,
exercises with spears, a bone cast to little dogs, a bit of bread into fishponds,
laborings of ants and burden-carrying, runnings about of frightened little
mice, puppets pulled by strings—[all alike]. It is thy duty then in the midst of
such things to show good humor and not a proud air; to understand however
that every man is worth just so much as the things are worth about which he
busies himself.
4. In discourse thou must attend to what is said, and in every movement thou
must observe what is doing. And in the one thou shouldst see immediately to
what end it refers, but in the other watch carefully what is the thing signified.
5. Is my understanding sufficient for this or not? If it is sufficient, I use it for
the work as an instrument given by the universal nature. But if it is not
sufficient, then either I retire from the work and give way to him who is able
to do it better, unless there be some reason why I ought not to do so; or I do it
as well as I can, taking to help me the man who with the aid of my ruling
principle can do what is now fit and useful for the general good. For what-

soever either by myself or with another I can do, ought to be directed to this
only, to that which is useful and well suited to society.
6. How many after being celebrated by fame have been given up to oblivion;
and how many who have celebrated the fame of others have long been dead.
7. Be not ashamed to be helped; for it is thy business to do thy duty like a
soldier in the assault on a town. How then, if being lame thou canst not mount
up on the battlements alone, but with the help of another it is possible?
8. Let not future things disturb thee, for thou wilt come to them, if it shall be
necessary, having with thee the same reason which now thou usest for present
things.
9. All things are implicated with one another, and the bond is holy; and there
is hardly anything unconnected with any other thing. For things have been co-
ordinated, and they combine to form the same universe [order]. For there is
one universe made up of all things, and one god who pervades all things, and
one substance,[A] and one law, [one] common reason in all intelligent animals,
and one truth; if indeed there is also one perfection for all animals which are
of the same stock and participate in the reason.
[A] "One substance," p. 42, note 1.

10. Everything material soon disappears in the substance of the whole; and
everything formal [causal] is very soon taken back into the universal reason;
and the memory of everything is very soon overwhelmed in time.
11. To the rational animal the same act is according to nature and according to
reason.
12. Be thou erect, or be made erect (iii. 5).
13. Just as it is with the members in those bodies which are united in one, so it
is with rational beings which exist separate, for they have been constituted for
one co-operation. And the perception of this will be more apparent to thee if
thou often sayest to thyself that I am a member μέλος f the system of rational
beings. But if [using the letter r] thou sayest that thou art a part μέρος, thou
dost not yet love men from thy heart; beneficence does not yet delight thee for
its own sake;[A] thou still doest it barely as a thing of propriety, and not yet as
doing good to thyself.

[A] I have used Gataker's conjecture καταληκτικῶς instead of the common reading
καταληπτικῶς: compare iv. 20; ix. 42.

14. Let there fall externally what will on the parts which can feel the effects of
this fall. For those parts which have felt will complain, if they choose. But I,
unless I think that what has happened is an evil, am not injured. And it is in
my power not to think so.
15. Whatever any one does or says, I must be good; just as if the gold, or the
emerald, or the purple, were always saying this. Whatever any one does or
says, I must be emerald and keep my color.
16. The ruling faculty does not disturb itself; I mean, does not frighten itself or
cause itself pain.+ But if any one else can frighten or pain it, let him do so.
For the faculty itself will not by its own opinion turn itself into such ways. Let
the body itself take care, if it can, that it suffer nothing, and let it speak, if it
suffers. But the soul itself, that which is subject to fear, to pain, which has
completely the power of forming an opinion about these things, will suffer
nothing, for it will never deviate+ into such a judgment. The leading principle
in itself wants nothing, unless it makes a want for itself; and therefore it is
both free from perturbation and unimpeded, if it does not disturb and impede
itself.
17. Eudaemonia [happiness] is a good daemon, or a good thing. What then art
thou doing here, O imagination? Go away, I entreat thee by the gods, as thou
didst come, for I want thee not. But thou art come according to thy old
fashion. I am not angry with thee: only go away.
18. Is any man afraid of change? Why, what can take place without change?
What then is more pleasing or more suitable to the universal nature? And
canst thou take a bath unless the wood undergoes a change? and canst thou be
nourished, unless the food undergoes a change? And can anything else that is
useful be accomplished without change? Dost thou not see then that for
thyself also to change is just the same, and equally necessary for the universal
nature?
19. Through the universal substance as through a furious torrent all bodies are
carried, being by their nature united with and co-operating with the whole, as
the parts of our body with one another. How many a Chrysippus, how many a
Socrates, how many an Epictetus has time already swallowed up! And let the

same thought occur to thee with reference to every man and thing (v. 23; vi.
15).
20. One thing only troubles me, lest I should do something which the
constitution of man does not allow, or in the way which it does not allow, or
what it does not allow now.
21. Near is thy forgetfulness of all things; and near the forgetfulness of thee by
all.
22. It is peculiar to man to love even those who do wrong. And this happens,
if when they do wrong it occurs to thee that they are kinsmen, and that they do
wrong through ignorance and unintentionally, and that soon both of you will
die; and above all, that the wrong-doer has done thee no harm, for he has not
made thy ruling faculty worse than it was before.
23. The universal nature out of the universal substance, as if it were wax, now
moulds a horse, and when it has broken this up, it uses the material for a tree,
then for a man, then for something else; and each of these things subsists for a
very short time. But it is no hardship for the vessel to be broken up, just as
there was none in its being fastened together (viii. 50).

24. A scowling look is altogether unnatural; when it is often assumed,[A] the
result is that all comeliness dies away, and at last is so completely
extinguished that it cannot be again lighted up at all. Try to conclude from this
very fact that it is contrary to reason. For if even the perception of doing
wrong shall depart, what reason is there for living any longer?
[A] This is corrupt.

25. Nature which governs the whole will soon change all things thou seest,
and out of their substance will make other things, and again other things from
the substance of them, in order that the world may be ever new (xii. 23).
26. When a man has done thee any wrong, immediately consider with what
opinion about good or evil he has done wrong. For when thou hast seen this,
thou wilt pity him, and wilt neither wonder nor be angry. For either thou
thyself thinkest the same thing to be good that he does, or another thing of the
same kind. It is thy duty then to pardon him. But if thou dost not think such
things to be good or evil, thou wilt more readily be well disposed to him who
is in error.

27. Think not so much of what thou hast not as of what thou hast: but of the
things which thou hast select the best, and then reflect how eagerly they
would have been sought, if thou hadst them not. At the same time, however,
take care that thou dost not through being so pleased with them accustom
thyself to overvalue them, so as to be disturbed if ever thou shouldst not have
them.
28. Retire into thyself. The rational principle which rules has this nature, that
it is content with itself when it does what is just, and so secures tranquillity.
29. Wipe out the imagination. Stop the pulling of the strings. Confine thyself
to the present. Understand well what happens either to thee or to another.
Divide and distribute every object into the causal [formal] and the material.
Think of thy last hour. Let the wrong which is done by a man stay there where
the wrong was done (viii. 29).
30. Direct thy attention to what is said. Let thy understanding enter into the
things that are doing and the things which do them (vii. 4).
31. Adorn thyself with simplicity and modesty, and with indifference towards
the things which lie between virtue and vice. Love mankind. Follow God. The
poet says that law rules all—+ And it is enough to remember that law rules
all.+[A]
[A] The end of this section is unintelligible.

32. About death: whether it is a dispersion, or a resolution into atoms, or
annihilation, it is either extinction or change.
33. About pain: the pain which is intolerable carries us off; but that which
lasts a long time is tolerable; and the mind maintains its own tranquillity by
retiring into itself, and the ruling faculty is not made worse. But the parts
which are harmed by pain, let them, if they can, give their opinion about it.
34. About fame: look at the minds [of those who seek fame], observe what
they are, and what kind of things they avoid, and what kind of things they
pursue. And consider that as the heaps of sand piled on one another hide the
former sands; so in life the events which go before are soon covered by those
which come after.

35. From Plato:[A] The man who has an elevated mind and takes a view of all
time and of all substance, dost thou suppose it possible for him to think that
human life is anything great? It is not possible, he said.—Such a man then
will think that death also is no evil.—Certainly not.
36. From Antisthenes: It is royal to do good and to be abused.
37. It is a base thing for the countenance to be obedient and to regulate and
compose itself as the mind commands, and for the mind not to be regulated
and composed by itself.

38. It is not right to vex ourselves at things, For they care nought about it.[B]
39. To the immortal gods and us give joy.
40. Life must be reaped like the ripe ears of corn.
One man is born; another dies.[C]
[A] Plato, Pol. vi. 486.

[B] From the Bellerophon of Euripides.

[C] From the Hypsipyle of Euripides. Cicero (Tuscul. iii. 25) has translated six lines from
Euripides, and among them are these two lines,—
"Reddenda terrae est terra: tum vita omnibus
Metenda ut fruges: Sic jubet necessitas."

41. If gods care not for me and my children, There is a reason for it.

42. For the good is with me, and the just.[A]
43. No joining others in their wailing, no violent emotion.

44. From Plato:[B] But I would make this man a sufficient answer, which is
this: Thou sayest not well, if thou thinkest that a man who is good for
anything at all ought to compute the hazard of life or death, and should not
rather look to this only in all that he does, whether he is doing what is just or
unjust, and the works of a good or bad man.

45. [C]For thus it is, men of Athens, in truth: wherever a man has placed
himself thinking it the best place for him, or has been placed by a commander,
there in my opinion he ought to stay and to abide the hazard, taking nothing

into the reckoning, either death or anything else, before the baseness [of
deserting his post].
[A] See Aristophanes, Acharnenses, v. 661.

[B] From the Apologia, c. 16.

[C] From the Apologia, c. 16.

46. But, my good friend, reflect whether that which is noble and good is not
something different from saving and being saved; for+ as to a man living such
or such a time, at least one who is really a man, consider if this is not a thing
to be dismissed from the thoughts:+ and there must be no love of life: but as
to these matters a man must intrust them to the Deity and believe what the
women say, that no man can escape his destiny, the next inquiry being how he
may best live the time that he has to live.[A]
47. Look round at the courses of the stars, as if thou wert going along with
them; and constantly consider the changes of the elements into one another,
for such thoughts purge away the filth of the terrene life.

48. This is a fine saying of Plato:[B] That he who is discoursing about men
should look also at earthly things as if he viewed them from some higher
place; should look at them in their assemblies, armies, agricultural labors,
marriages, treaties, births, deaths, noise of the courts of justice, desert places,
various nations of barbarians, feasts, lamentations, markets, a mixture of all
things and an orderly combination of contraries.
[A] Plato, Gorgias, c. 68 (512). In this passage the text of Antoninus has ἐατέον, which is
perhaps right; but there is a difficulty in the words μὴ γὰρ τοῠτο μέν, τὸ ζῆν ὁποσονδὴ
χρόνον τόνγε ὡς ἀληθῶς ἄνδρα ἐατέον ἐστί καὶ οὐ , &c. The conjecture εὐκτέον for
ἐατέον does not mend the matter.

[B] It is said that this is not in the extant writings of Plato.

49. Consider the past,—such great changes of political supremacies; thou
mayest foresee also the things which will be. For they will certainly be of like
form, and it is not possible that they should deviate from the order of the
things which take place now; accordingly to have contemplated human life for
forty years is the same as to have contemplated it for ten thousand years. For
what more wilt thou see?
50. That which has grown from the earth to the earth,
But that which has sprung from heavenly seed,

Back to the heavenly realms returns.[A]
This is either a dissolution of the mutual involution of the atoms, or a similar
dispersion of the unsentient elements.
51. With food and drinks and cunning magic arts
Turning the channel's course to 'scape from death.[B]
The breeze which heaven has sent
We must endure, and toil without complaining.
[A] From the Chrysippus of Euripides.

[B] The first two lines are from the Supplices of Euripides, v. 1110.

52. Another may be more expert in casting his opponent; but he is not more
social, nor more modest, nor better disciplined to meet all that happens, nor
more considerate with respect to the faults of his neighbors.
53. Where any work can be done conformably to the reason which is common
to gods and men, there we have nothing to fear; for where we are able to get
profit by means of the activity which is successful and proceeds according to
our constitution, there no harm is to be suspected.
54. Everywhere and at all times it is in thy power piously to acquiesce in thy
present condition, and to behave, justly to those who are about thee, and to
exert thy skill upon thy present thoughts, that nothing shall steal into them
without being well examined.
55. Do not look around thee to discover other men's ruling principles, but look
straight to this, to what nature leads thee, both the universal nature through the
things which happen to thee, and thy own nature through the acts which must
be done by thee. But every being ought to do that which is according to its
constitution; and all other things have been constituted for the sake of rational
beings, just as among irrational things the inferior for the sake of the superior,
but the rational for the sake of one another.
The prime principle then in man's constitution is the social. And the second is
not to yield to the persuasions of the body,—for it is the peculiar office of the
rational and intelligent motion to circumscribe itself, and never to be
overpowered either by the motion of the senses or of the appetites, for both
are animal: but the intelligent motion claims superiority, and does not permit
itself to be overpowered by the others. And with good reason, for it is formed

by nature to use all of them. The third thing in the rational constitution is
freedom from error and from deception. Let then the ruling principle holding
fast to these things go straight on, and it has what is its own.
56. Consider thyself to be dead, and to have completed thy life up to the
present time; and live according to nature the remainder which is allowed
thee.
57. Love that only which happens to thee and is spun with the thread of thy
destiny. For what is more suitable?
58. In everything which happens keep before thy eyes those to whom the
same things happened, and how they were vexed, and treated them as strange
things, and found fault with them: and now where are they? Nowhere. Why
then dost thou too choose to act in the same way? and why dost thou not leave
these agitations which are foreign to nature to those who cause them and those
who are moved by them; and why art thou not altogether intent upon the right
way of making use of the things which happen to thee? For then thou wilt use
them well, and they will be a material for thee [to work on]. Only attend to
thyself, and resolve to be a good man in every act which thou doest: and
remember ...[A]
[A] This section is obscure, and the conclusion is so corrupt that it is impossible to give
any probable meaning to it. It is better to leave it as it is than to patch it up, as some
critics and translators have done.

59. Look within. Within is the fountain of good, and it will ever bubble up, if
thou wilt ever dig.
60. The body ought to be compact, and to show no irregularity either in
motion or attitude. For what the mind shows in the face by maintaining in it
the expression of intelligence and propriety, that ought to be required also in
the whole body. But all these things should be observed without affectation.
61. The art of life is more like the wrestler's art than the dancer's, in respect of
this, that it should stand ready and firm to meet onsets which are sudden and
unexpected.
62. Constantly observe who those are whose approbation thou wishest to
have, and what ruling principles they possess. For then thou wilt neither
blame those who offend involuntarily, nor wilt thou want their approbation, if
thou lookest to the sources of their opinions and appetites.

63. Every soul, the philosopher says, is involuntarily deprived of truth;
consequently in the same way it is deprived of justice and temperance and
benevolence and everything of the kind. It is most necessary to bear this
constantly in mind, for thus thou wilt be more gentle towards all.
64. In every pain let this thought be present, that there is no dishonor in it, nor
does it make the governing intelligence worse, for it does not damage the
intelligence either so far as the intelligence is rational[A] or so far as it is
social. Indeed in the case of most pains let this remark of Epicurus aid thee,
that pain is neither intolerable nor everlasting, if thou bearest in mind that it
has its limits, and if thou addest nothing to it in imagination: and remember
this too, that we do not perceive that many things which are disagreeable to us
are the same as pain, such as excessive drowsiness, and the being scorched by
heat, and the having no appetite. When then thou art discontented about any of
these things, say to thyself that thou art yielding to pain.

65. Take care not to feel towards the inhuman as they feel towards men.[B]
66. How do we know if Telauges was not superior in character to Socrates?
For it is not enough that Socrates died a more noble death, and disputed more
skilfully with the sophists, and passed the night in the cold with more
endurance, and that when he was bid to arrest Leon[C] of Salamis, he
considered it more noble to refuse, and that he walked in a swaggering way in
the streets[D]—though as to this fact one may have great doubts if it was true.
But we ought to inquire what kind of a soul it was that Socrates possessed,
and if he was able to be content with being just towards men and pious
towards the gods, neither idly vexed on account of men's villainy, nor yet
making himself a slave to any man's ignorance, nor receiving as strange
anything that fell to his share out of the universal, nor enduring it as
intolerable, nor allowing his understanding to sympathize with the affects of
the miserable flesh.
[A] The text has ὑλίκῄ, which it has been proposed to alter to λογίκῄ, and this change is
necessary. We shall then have in this section λογίκῄ and κοίνωνίκῄ associated, as we have
in s. 68 λογίκῄ; and πολίτίκῄ, and in s. 72.

[B] I have followed Gataker's conjecture οἱ ἀπάνθρωποι instead of the MSS. reading οἱ
ἄνθρωποι.

[C] Leon of Salamis. See Plato, Epist. 7; Apolog. c, 20; Epictetus, iv. I, 160; iv. 7, 30.

[D] Aristophan. Nub. 362. ὅτι βρενθύεί τ᾽ ἐν ταὶσίν ὁδοῑς καὶ τὼ ὀφθαλμὼ παραβάλλεί.

67. Nature has not so mingled+ [the intelligence] with the composition of the
body, as not to have allowed thee the power of circumscribing thyself and of
bringing under subjection to thyself all that is thy own; for it is very possible
to be a divine man and to be recognized as such by no one. Always bear this
in mind; and another thing too, that very little indeed is necessary for living a
happy life. And because thou hast despaired of becoming a dialectician and
skilled in the knowledge of nature, do not for this reason renounce the hope of
being both free and modest, and social and obedient to God.
68. It is in thy power to live free from all compulsion in the greatest
tranquillity of mind, even if all the world cry out against thee as much as they
choose, and even if wild beasts tear in pieces the members of this kneaded
matter which has grown around thee. For what hinders the mind in the midst
of all this from maintaining itself in tranquillity and in a just judgment of all
surrounding things and in a ready use of the objects which are presented to it,
so that the judgment may say to the thing which falls under its observation:
This thou art in substance [reality], though in men's opinion thou mayest
appear to be of a different kind; and the use shall say to that which falls under
the hand: Thou art the thing that I was seeking; for to me that which presents
itself is always a material for virtue both rational and political, and in a word,
for the exercise of art, which belongs to man or God. For everything which
happens has a relationship either to God or man, and is neither new nor
difficult to handle, but usual and apt matter to work on.
69. The perfection of moral character consists in this, in passing every day as
the last, and in being neither violently excited nor torpid nor playing the
hypocrite.
70. The gods who are immortal are not vexed because during so long a time
they must tolerate continually men such as they are and so many of them bad;
and besides this, they also take care of them in all ways. But thou, who art
destined to end so soon, art thou wearied of enduring the bad, and this too
when thou art one of them?
71. It is a ridiculous thing for a man not to fly from his own badness, which is
indeed possible, but to fly from other men's badness, which is impossible.
72. Whatever the rational and political [social] faculty finds to be neither
intelligent nor social, it properly judges to be inferior to itself.

73. When thou hast done a good act and another has received it, why dost thou
still look for a third thing besides these, as fools do, either to have the
reputation of having done a good act or to obtain a return?
74. No man is tired of receiving what is useful. But it is useful to act
according to nature. Do not then be tired of receiving what is useful by doing
it to others.
75. The nature of the All moved to make the universe. But now either
everything that takes place comes by way of consequence or [continuity]; or
even the chief things towards which the ruling power of the universe directs
its own movement are governed by no rational principle. If this is
remembered, it will make thee more tranquil in many things (vi. 44; ix. 28).[A]
[A] It is not easy to understand this section. It has been suggested that there is some error
in ἢ ἀλόγιστα , &c. Some of the translators have made nothing of the passage, and they
have somewhat perverted the words. The first proposition is, that the universe was made
by some sufficient power. A beginning of the universe is assumed, and a power which
framed an order. The next question is, How are things produced now? Or, in other words,
by what power do forms appear in continuous succession? The answer, according to
Antoninus, may be this: It is by virtue of the original constitution of things that all change
and succession have been effected and are effected. And this is intelligible in a sense, if
we admit that the universe is always one and the same, a continuity of identity; as much
one and the same as man is one and the same—which he believes himself to be, though
he also believes, and cannot help believing, that both in his body and in his thoughts there
is change and succession. There is no real discontinuity then in the universe; and if we
say that there was an order framed in the beginning, and that the things which are now
produced are a consequence of a previous arrangement, we speak of things as we are
compelled to view them, as forming a series of succession, just as we speak of the
changes in our own bodies and the sequence of our own thoughts. But as there are no
.intervals, not even intervals infinitely small, between any two supposed states of any one
thing, so there are no intervals, not even infinitely small, between what we call one thing
and any other thing which we speak of as immediately preceding or following it. What
we call time is an idea derived from our notion of a succession of things or events, an
idea which is a part of our constitution, but not an idea which we can suppose to belong
to an infinite intelligence and power. The conclusion then is certain that the present and
the past, the production of present things and the supposed original order, out of which
we say that present things now come, are one, and the present productive power and the
so-called past arrangement are only different names for one thing. I suppose then that
Antoninus wrote here as people sometimes talk now, and that his real meaning is not
exactly expressed by his words. There are certainly other passages from which I think
that we may collect that he had notions of production something like what I have
expressed.
We now come to the alternate: "or even the chief things ... principle." I do not exactly
know what he means by τὰ κυριώτατα "the chief," or "the most excellent," or whatever it
is. But as he speaks elsewhere of inferior and superior things, and of the inferior being for
the use of the superior, and of rational beings being the highest, he may here mean
rational beings. He also in this alternative assumes a governing power of the universe,

and that it acts by directing its power towards these chief objects, or making its special,
proper motion towards them. And here he uses the noun (ὁρμῄ) "movement," which
contains the same notion as the verb (ὡρμησε) "moved," which he used at the beginning
of the paragraph, when he was speaking of the making of the universe. If we do not
accept the first hypothesis, he says, we must take the conclusion of the second, that the
"chief things towards which the ruling power of the universe directs its own movement
are governed by no rational principle." The meaning then is, if there is a meaning in it,
that though there is a governing power which strives to give effect to its efforts, we must
conclude that there is no rational direction of anything, if the power which first made the
universe does not in some way govern it still. Besides, if we assume that anything is now
produced or now exists without the action of the supreme intelligence, and yet that this
intelligence makes an effort to act, we obtain a conclusion which cannot be reconciled
with the nature of a supreme power, whose existence Antoninus always assumes. The
tranquillity that a man may gain from these reflections must result from his rejecting the
second hypothesis and accepting the first—whatever may be the exact sense in which the
emperor understood the first. Or, as he says elsewhere, if there is no Providence which
governs the world, man has at least the power of governing himself according to the
constitution of his nature; and so he may be tranquil if he does the best that he can.
If there is no error in the passage, it is worth the labor to discover the writer's exact
meaning—for I think that he had a meaning, though people may not agree what it was.
(Compare ix. 28.) If I have rightly explained the emperor's meaning in this and other
passages, he has touched the solution of a great question.

VIII.
This reflection also tends to the removal of the desire of empty fame, that it is
no longer in thy power to have lived the whole of thy life, or at least thy life
from thy youth upwards, like a philosopher; but both to many others and to
thyself it is plain that thou art far from philosophy. Thou hast fallen into
disorder then, so that it is no longer easy for thee to get the reputation of a
philosopher; and thy plan of life also opposes it. If then thou hast truly seen
where the matter lies, throw away the thought, How thou shall seem [to
others], and be content if thou shalt live the rest of thy life in such wise as thy
nature wills. Observe then what it wills, and let nothing else distract thee; for
thou hast had experience of many wanderings without having found happiness
anywhere,—not in syllogisms, nor in wealth, nor in reputation, nor in
enjoyment, nor anywhere. Where is it then? In doing what man's nature
requires. How then shall a man do this? If he has principles from which come
his affects and his acts. What principles? Those which relate to good and bad:
the belief that there is nothing good for man which does not make him just,
temperate, manly, free; and that there is nothing bad which does not do the
contrary to what has been mentioned.
2. On the occasion of every act ask thyself, How is this with respect to me?
Shall I repent of it? A little time and I am dead, and all is gone. What more do
I seek, if what I am now doing is the work of an intelligent living being, and a
social being, and one who is under the same law with God?

3. Alexander and Caius[A] and Pompeius, what are they in comparison with
Diogenes and Heraclitus and Socrates? For they were acquainted with things,
and their causes [forms], and their matter, and the ruling principles of these
men were the same [or conformable to their pursuits]. But as to the others,
how many things had they to care for, and to how many things were they
slaves!
[A] Caius is C. Julius Caesar, the dictator; and Pompeius is Cn. Pompeius, named
Magnus.

4. [Consider] that men will do the same things nevertheless, even though thou
shouldst burst.

5. This is the chief thing: Be not perturbed, for all things are according to the
nature of the universal; and in a little time thou wilt be nobody and nowhere,
like Hadrianus and Augustus. In the next place, having fixed thy eyes steadily
on thy business, look at it, and at the same time remembering that it is thy
duty to be a good man, and what man's nature demands, do that without
turning aside; and speak as it seems to thee most just, only let it be with a
good disposition and with modesty and without hypocrisy.
6. The nature of the universal has this work to do,—to remove to that place
the things which are in this, to change them, to take, them away hence, and to
carry them there. All things are change, yet we need not fear anything new. All
things are familiar [to us]; but the distribution of them still remains the same.
7. Every nature is contented with itself when it goes on its way well; and a
rational nature goes on its way well when in its thoughts it assents to nothing
false or uncertain, and when it directs its movements to social acts only, and
when it confines its desires and aversions to the things which are in its power,
and when it is satisfied with everything that is assigned to it by the common
nature. For of this common nature every particular nature is a part, as the
nature of the leaf is a part of the nature of the plant; except that in the plant the
nature of the leaf is part of a nature which has not perception or reason, and is
subject to be impeded; but the nature of man is part of a nature which is not
subject to impediments, and is intelligent and just, since it gives to everything
in equal portions and according to its worth, times, substance, cause [form],
activity, and incident. But examine, not to discover that any one thing
compared with any other single thing is equal in all respects, but by taking all
the parts together of one thing and comparing them with all the parts together
of another.
8. Thou hast not leisure [or ability] to read. But thou hast leisure [or ability] to
check arrogance: thou hast leisure to be superior to pleasure and pain: thou
hast leisure to be superior to love of fame, and not to be vexed at stupid. and
ungrateful people, nay even to care for them.
9. Let no man any longer hear thee finding fault with the court life or with thy
own (v. 16).
10. Repentance is a kind of self-reproof for having neglected something
useful; but that which is good must be something useful, and the perfect good

man should look after it. But no such man would ever repent of having
refused any sensual pleasure. Pleasure then is neither good nor useful.
11. This thing, what is it in itself, in its own constitution? What is its substance
and material? And what its causal nature [or form]? And what is it doing in the
world? And how long does it subsist?
12. When thou risest from sleep with reluctance, remember that it is according
to thy constitution and according to human nature to perform social acts, but
sleeping is common also to irrational animals. But that which is according to
each individual's nature is also more peculiarly its own, and more suitable to
its nature, and indeed also more agreeable (v. 1).
13. Constantly, and, if it be possible, on the occasion of every impression on
the soul, apply to it the principles of Physic, of Ethic, and of Dialectic.
14. Whatever man thou meetest with, immediately say to thyself: What
opinions has this man about good and bad? For if with respect to pleasure and
pain and the causes of each, and with respect to fame and ignominy, death and
life, he has such and such opinions, it will seem nothing wonderful or strange
to me if he does such and such things; and I shall bear in mind that he is
compelled to do so.[A]
[A] Antoninus v. 16. Thucydides, iii 10: ἐν γὰρ τᾤ διαλλάσσοντι τῆς γνώμης καὶ αἱ
διαφοραὶ τῶν ἐργων καθίστανται.

15. Remember that as it is a shame to be surprised if the fig-tree produces figs,
so it is to be surprised if the world produces such and such things of which it
is productive; and for the physician and the helmsman it is a shame to be
surprised if a man has a fever, or if the wind is unfavorable.
16. Remember that to change thy opinion and to follow him who corrects thy
error is as consistent with freedom as it is to persist in thy error. For it is thy
own, the activity which is exerted according to thy own movement and
judgment, and indeed according to thy own understanding too.
17. If a thing is in thy own power, why dost thou do it? but if it is in the power
of another, whom dost thou blame,—the atoms [chance] or the gods? Both are
foolish. Thou must blame nobody. For if thou canst, correct [that which is the
cause]; but if thou canst not do this, correct at least the thing itself; but if thou

canst not do even this, of what use is it to thee to find fault? for nothing
should be done without a purpose.
18. That which has died falls not out of the universe. If it stays here, it also
changes here, and is dissolved into its proper parts, which are elements of the
universe and of thyself. And these too change, and they murmur not.
19. Everything exists for some end,—a horse, a vine. Why dost thou wonder?
Even the sun will say, I am for some purpose, and the rest of the gods will say
the same. For what purpose then art thou,—to enjoy pleasure? See if common
sense allows this.
20. Nature has had regard in everything no less to the end than to the
beginning and the continuance, just like the man who throws up a ball. What
good is it then for the ball to be thrown up, or harm for it to come down, or
even to have fallen? and what good is it to the bubble while it holds together,
or what harm when it is burst? The same may be said of a light also.
21. Turn it [the body] inside out, and see what kind of thing it is; and when it
has grown old, what kind of thing it becomes, and when it is diseased.
Short lived are both the praiser and the praised, and the rememberer and the
remembered: and all this in a nook of this part of the world; and not even here
do all agree, no, not any one with himself: and the whole earth too is a point.
22. Attend to the matter which is before thee, whether it is an opinion or an act
or a word.
Thou sufferest this justly: for thou choosest rather to become good to-morrow
than to be good to-day.
23. Am I doing anything? I do it with reference to the good of mankind. Does
anything happen to me? I receive it and refer it to the gods, and the source of
all things, from which all that happens is derived.
24. Such as bathing appears to thee,—oil, sweat, dirt, filthy water, all things
disgusting,—so is every part of life and everything.
25. Lucilla saw Verus die, and then Lucilla died. Secunda saw Maximus die,
and then Secunda died. Epitynchanus saw Diotimus die, and then
Epitynchanus died. Antoninus saw Faustina die, and then Antoninus died.
Such is everything. Celer saw Hadrianus die, and then Celer died. And those

sharp-witted men, either seers or men inflated with pride, where are they,—for
instance the sharp-witted men, Charax and Demetrius the Platonist, and
Eudaemon, and any one else like them? All ephemeral, dead long ago. Some
indeed have not been remembered even for a short time, and others have
become the heroes of fables, and again others have disappeared even from
fables. Remember this then, that this little compound, thyself, must either be
dissolved, or thy poor breath must be extinguished, or be removed and placed
elsewhere.
26. It is satisfaction to a man to do the proper works of a man. Now it is a
proper work of a man to be benevolent to his own kind, to despise the
movements of the senses, to form a just judgment of plausible appearances,
and to take a survey of the nature of the universe and of the things which
happen in it.
27. There are three relations [between thee and other things]: the one to the
body[A] which surrounds thee; the second to the divine cause from which all
things come to all; and the third to those who live with thee.
[A] The text has αἴτιον, which in Antoninus means "form," "formal." Accordingly
Schultz recommends either Valkenaer's emendation ἀγγεῖον, "body," or Coraïs' σωμάτιον.
Compare xii. 13; x. 38.

28. Pain is either an evil to the body—then let the body say what it thinks of it
—or to the soul; but it is in the power of the soul to maintain its own serenity
and tranquillity, and not to think that pain is an evil. For every judgment and
movement and desire and aversion is within, and no evil ascends so high.
29. Wipe out thy imaginations by often saying to thyself: Now it is in my
power to let no badness be in this soul, nor desire, nor any perturbation at all;
but looking at all things I see what is their nature, and I use each according to
its value.—Remember this power which thou hast from nature.
30. Speak both in the senate and to every man, whoever he may be,
appropriately, not with any affectation: use plain discourse.
31. Augustus' court, wife, daughter, descendants, ancestors, sister, Agrippa,
kinsmen, intimates, friends; Areius,[A] Maecenas, physicians, and sacrificing
priests,—the whole court is dead. Then turn to the rest, not considering the
death of a single man [but of a whole race], as of the Pompeii; and that which
is inscribed on the tombs,—The last of his race. Then consider what trouble

those before them have had that they might leave a successor; and then, that of
necessity some one must be the last. Again, here consider the death of a whole
race.
[A] Areius (῎ Αρειος) was a philosopher, who was intimate with Augustus; Sueton.
Augustus, c. 89; Plutarch, Antoninus, 80; Dion Cassius, 51, c. 16.

32. It is thy duty to order thy life well in every single act; and if every act does
its duty as far as is possible, be content; and no one is able to hinder thee so
that each act shall not do its duty.—But something external will stand in the
way. Nothing will stand in the way of thy acting justly and soberly and
considerately.—But perhaps some other active power will be hindered. Well,
but by acquiescing in the hindrance and by being content to transfer thy
efforts to that which is allowed, another opportunity of action is immediately
put before thee in place of that which was hindered, and one which will adapt
itself to this ordering of which we are speaking.
33. Receive [wealth or prosperity] without arrogance; and be ready to let it go.
34. If thou didst ever see a hand cut off, or a foot, or a head, lying anywhere
apart from the rest of the body, such does a man make himself, as far as he
can, who is not content with what happens, and separates himself from others,
or does anything unsocial. Suppose that thou hast detached thyself from the
natural unity,—for thou wast made by nature a part, but now thou hast cut
thyself off,—yet here there is this beautiful provision, that it is in thy power
again to unite thyself. God has allowed this to no other part, after it has been
separated and cut asunder, to come together again. But consider the kindness
by which he has distinguished man, for he has put it in his power not to be
separated at all from the universal; and when he has been separated, he has
allowed him to return and to be united and to resume his place as a part.
35. As the nature of the universal has given to every rational being all the
other powers that it has, + so we have received from it this power also. For as
the universal nature converts and fixes in its predestined place everything
which stands in the way and opposes it, and makes such things a part of itself,
so also the rational animal is able to make every hindrance its own material,
and to use it for such purposes as it may have designed.[A]
36. Do not disturb thyself by thinking of the whole of thy life. Let not thy
thoughts at once embrace all the various troubles which thou mayest expect to
befall thee: but on every occasion ask thyself, What is there in this which is

intolerable and past bearing? for thou wilt be ashamed to confess. In the next
place remember that neither the future nor the past pains thee, but only the
present. But this is reduced to a very little, if thou only circumscribest it, and
chidest thy mind if it is unable to hold out against even this.

37. Does Panthea or Fergamus now sit by the tomb of Verus?[B] Does
Chaurias or Diotimus sit by the tomb of Hadrianus? That would be ridiculous.
Well, suppose they did sit there, would the dead be conscious of it? and if the
dead were conscious, would they be pleased? and if they were pleased, would
that make them immortal? Was it not in the order of destiny that these persons
too should first become old women and old men and then die? What then
would those do after these were dead? All this is foul smell and blood in a
bag.
[A] The text is corrupt at the beginning of the paragraph, but the meaning will appear if
the second λογικῶν is changed into ὅλων: though this change alone will not establish the
grammatical completeness of the text.

[B] "Verus" is a conjecture of Saumaise, and perhaps the true reading.

38. If thou canst see sharp, look and judge wisely, + says the philosopher.
39. In the constitution of the rational animal I see no virtue which is opposed
to justice; but I see a virtue which is opposed to love of pleasure, and that is
temperance.
40. If thou takest away thy opinion about that which appears to give thee pain,
thou thyself standest in perfect security.—Who is this self?—The reason.—
But I am not reason.—Be it so. Let then the reason itself not trouble itself. But
if any other part of thee suffers, let it have its own opinion about itself (vii.
16).
41. Hindrance to the perceptions of sense is an evil to the animal nature.
Hindrance to the movements [desires] is equally an evil to the animal nature.
And something else also is equally an impediment and an evil to the
constitution of plants. So then that which is a hindrance to the intelligence is
an evil to the intelligent nature. Apply all these things then to thyself. Does
pain or sensuous pleasure affect thee? The senses will look to that. Has any
obstacle opposed thee in thy efforts towards an object? If indeed thou wast
making this effort absolutely [unconditionally, or without any reservation],
certainly this obstacle is an evil to thee considered as a rational animal. But if
thou takest [into consideration] the usual course of things, thou hast not yet

been injured nor even impeded. The things however which are proper to the
understanding no other man is used to impede, for neither fire, nor iron, nor
tyrant, nor abuse, touches it in any way. When it has been made a sphere, it
continues a sphere (xi. 12).
42. It is not fit that I should give myself pain, for I have never intentionally
given pain even to another.
43. Different things delight different people; but it is my delight to keep the
ruling faculty sound without turning away either from any man or from any of
the things which happen to men, but looking at and receiving all with
welcome eyes and using everything according to its value.
44. See that thou secure this present time to thyself: for those who rather
pursue posthumous fame do not consider that the men of after time will be
exactly such as these whom they cannot bear now; and both are mortal. And
what is it in any way to thee if these men of after time utter this or that sound,
or have this or that opinion about thee?
45. Take me and cast me where thou wilt; for there I shall keep my divine part
tranquil, that is, content, if it can feel and act comformably to its proper
constitution. Is this [change of place] sufficient reason why my soul should be
unhappy and worse than it was, depressed, expanded, shrinking, affrighted?
and what wilt thou find which is sufficient reason for this?[A]
[A] ὀρεγομένη in this passage seems to have a passive sense. It is difficult to find an apt
expression for it and some of the other words. A comparison with xi. 12, will help to
explain the meaning.

46. Nothing can happen to any man which is not a human accident, nor to an
ox which is not according to the nature of an ox, nor to a vine which is not
according to the nature of a vine, nor to a stone which is not proper to a stone.
If then there happens to each thing both what is usual and natural, why
shouldst thou complain? For the common nature brings nothing which may
not be borne by thee.
47. If thou art pained by any external thing, it is not this thing that disturbs
thee, but thy own judgment about it. And it is in thy power to wipe out this
judgment now. But if anything in thy own disposition gives thee pain, who
hinders thee from correcting thy opinion? And even if thou art pained because
thou art not doing some particular thing which seems to thee to be right, why

dost thou not rather act than complain?—But some insuperable obstacle is in
the way?—Do not be grieved then, for the cause of its not being done depends
not on thee.—But it is not worth while to live, if this cannot be done.—Take
thy departure then from life contentedly, just as he dies who is in full activity,
and well pleased too with the things which are obstacles.
48. Remember that the ruling faculty is invincible, when self-collected it is
satisfied with itself, if it does nothing which it does not choose to do, even if it
resist from mere obstinacy. What then will it be when it forms a judgment
about anything aided by reason and deliberately? Therefore the mind which is
free from passions is a citadel, for man has nothing more secure to which he
can fly for refuge and for the future be inexpugnable. He then who has not
seen this is an ignorant man; but he who has seen it and does not fly to this
refuge is unhappy.
49. Say nothing more to thyself than what the first appearances report.
Suppose that it has been reported to thee that a certain person speaks ill of
thee. This has been reported; but that thou hast been injured, that has not been
reported. I see that my child is sick. I do see; but that he is in danger, I do not
see. Thus then always abide by the first appearances, and add nothing thyself
from within, and then nothing happens to thee. Or rather add something like a
man who knows everything that happens in the world.
50. A cucumber is bitter—Throw it away.—There are briers in the road—Turn
aside from them.—This is enough. Do not add, And why were such things
made in the world? For thou wilt be ridiculed by a man who is acquainted
with nature, as thou wouldst be ridiculed by a carpenter and shoemaker if thou
didst find fault because thou seest in their workshop shavings and cuttings
from the things which they make. And yet they have places into which they
can throw these shavings and cuttings, and the universal nature has no
external space; but the wondrous part of her art is that though she has
circumscribed herself, everything within her which appears to decay and to
grow old and to be useless she changes into herself, and again makes other
new things from these very same, so that she requires neither substance from
without nor wants a place into which she may cast that which decays. She is
content then with her own space, and her own matter, and her own art.
51. Neither in thy actions be sluggish nor in thy conversation without method,
nor wandering in thy thoughts, nor let there be in thy soul inward contention
nor external effusion, nor in life be so busy as to have no leisure.

Suppose that men kill thee, cut thee in pieces, curse thee. What then can these
things do to prevent thy mind from remaining pure, wise, sober, just? For
instance, if a man should stand by a limpid pure spring, and curse it, the
spring never ceases sending up potable water; and if he should cast clay into it
or filth, it will speedily disperse them and wash them out, and will not be at all
polluted. How then shalt thou possess a perpetual fountain [and not a mere
well]? By forming + thyself hourly to freedom conjoined with contentment,
simplicity, and modesty.
52. He who does not know what the world is, does not know where he is. And
he who does not know for what purpose the world exists, does not know who
he is, nor what the world is. But he who has failed in any one of these things
could not even say for what purpose he exists himself. What then dost thou
think of him who [avoids or] seeks the praise of those who applaud, of men
who know not either where they are or who they are?
53. Dost thou wish to be praised by a man who curses himself thrice every
hour? wouldst thou wish to please a man who does not please himself? Does a
man please himself who repents of nearly everything that he does?
54. No longer let thy breathing only act in concert with the air which
surrounds thee, but let thy intelligence also now be in harmony with the
intelligence which embraces all things. For the intelligent power is no less
diffused in all parts and pervades all things for him who is willing to draw it to
him than the aerial power for him who is able to respire it.
55. Generally, wickedness does no harm at all to the universe; and particularly
the wickedness [of one man] does no harm to another. It is only harmful to
him who has it in his power to be released from it as soon as he shall choose.
56. To my own free will the free will of my neighbor is just as indifferent as
his poor breath and flesh. For though we are made especially for the sake of
one another, still the ruling power of each of us has its own office, for
otherwise my neighbor's wickedness would be my harm, which God has not
willed, in order that my unhappiness may not depend on another.
57. The sun appears to be poured down, and in all directions indeed it is
diffused, yet it is not effused. For this diffusion is extension: Accordingly its
rays are called Extensions [ἀκτῖνες] because they are extended [ἀπὸ τοῦ
ἐκτείνεσθαι] .[A] But one may judge what kind of a thing a ray is, if he looks

at the sun's light passing through a narrow opening into a darkened room, for
it is extended in a right line, and as it were is divided when it meets with any
solid body which stands in the way and intercepts the air beyond; but there the
light remains fixed and does not glide or fall off. Such then ought to be the
outpouring and diffusion of the understanding, and it should in no way be an
effusion, but an extension, and it should make no violent or impetuous
collision with the obstacles which are in its way; nor yet fall down, but be
fixed, and enlighten that which receives it. For a body will deprive itself of the
illumination, if it does not admit it.
[A] A piece of bad etymology.

58. He who fears death either fears the loss of sensation or a different kind of
sensation. But if thou shalt have no sensation, neither wilt thou feel any harm;
and if thou shalt acquire another kind of sensation, thou wilt be a different
kind of living being and thou wilt not cease to live.
59. Men exist for the sake of one another. Teach them then, or bear with them.
60. In one way an arrow moves, in another way the mind. The mind indeed,
both when it exercises caution and when it is employed about inquiry, moves
straight onward not the less, and to its object.
61. Enter into every man's ruling faculty; and also let every other man enter
into thine.[A]
[A] Compare Epictetus, iii. 9, 12.

IX.
He who acts unjustly acts impiously. For since the universal nature has made
rational animals for the sake of one another, to help one another according to
their deserts, but in no way to injure one another, he who transgresses her will
is clearly guilty of impiety towards the highest divinity. And he too who lies is
guilty of impiety to the same divinity; for the universal nature is the nature of
things that are; and things that are have a relation to all things that come into
existence.[A] And further, this universal nature is named truth, and is the prime
cause of all things that are true. He then who lies intentionally is guilty of
impiety, inasmuch as he acts unjustly by deceiving; and he also who lies
unintentionally, inasmuch as he is at variance with the universal nature, and
inasmuch as he disturbs the order by fighting against the nature of the world;
for he fights against it, who is moved of himself to that which is contrary to
truth, for he had received powers from nature through the neglect of which he
is not able now to distinguish falsehood from truth. And indeed he who
pursues pleasure as good, and avoids pain as evil, is guilty of impiety. For of
necessity such a man must often find fault with the universal nature, alleging
that it assigns things to the bad and the good contrary to their deserts, because
frequently the bad are in the enjoyment of pleasure and possess the things
which procure pleasure, but the good have pain for their share and the things
which cause pain. And further, he who is afraid of pain will sometimes also be
afraid of some of the things which will happen in the world, and even this is
impiety. And he who pursues pleasure will not abstain from injustice, and this
is plainly impiety. Now with respect to the things towards which the universal
nature is equally affected—for it would not have made both, unless it was
equally affected towards both—towards these they who wish to follow nature
should be of the same mind with it, and equally affected. With respect to pain,
then, and pleasure, or death and life, or honor and dishonor, which the
universal nature employs equally, whoever is not equally affected is
manifestly acting impiously. And I say that the universal nature employs them
equally, instead of saying that they happen alike to those who are produced in
continuous series and to those who come after them by virtue of a certain
original movement of Providence, according to which it moved from a certain
beginning to this ordering of things, having conceived certain principles of the

things which were to be, and having determined powers productive of beings
and of changes and of such like successions (vii. 75).
[A] "As there is not any action or natural event, which we are acquainted with, so single
and unconnected as not to have a respect to some other actions and events, so possibly
each of them, when it has not an immediate, may yet have a remote, natural relation to
other actions and events, much beyond the compass of this present world." Again:
"Things seemingly the most insignificant imaginable are perpetually observed to be
necessary conditions to other things of the greatest importance, so that any one thing
whatever may, for aught we know to the contrary, be a necessary condition to any
other."—Butler's Analogy, Chap. 7. See all the chapter. Some critics take τὰ ὑπάρχοντα in
this passage of Antoninus to be the same as τὰ ὄντα: but if that were so he might have
said πρὸς ἄλληλα instead of πρὸς τὰ ὑπάρχοντα. Perhaps the meaning of πρὸς τὰ
ὑπάρχοντα may be "to all prior things." If so, the translation is still correct. See vi. 38.

2. It would be a man's happiest lot to depart from mankind without having had
any taste of lying and hypocrisy and luxury and pride. However, to breathe out
one's life when a man has had enough of these things is the next best voyage,
as the saying is. Hast thou determined to abide with vice, and hast not
experience yet induced thee to fly from this pestilence? For the destruction of
the understanding is a pestilence, much more, indeed, than any such
corruption and change of this atmosphere which surrounds us. For this
corruption is a pestilence of animals so far as they are animals; but the other is
a pestilence of men so far as they are men.
3. Do not despise death, but be well content with it, since this too is one of
those things which nature wills. For such as it is to be young and to grow old,
and to increase and to reach maturity, and to have teeth and beard and gray
hairs, and to beget and to be pregnant and to bring forth, and all the other
natural operations which the seasons of thy life bring, such also is dissolution.
This, then, is consistent with the character of a reflecting man—to be neither
careless nor impatient nor contemptuous with respect to death, but to wait for
it as one of the operations of nature. As thou now waitest for the time when
the child shall come out of thy wife's womb, so be ready for the time when thy
soul shall fall out of this envelope.[A] But if thou requirest also a vulgar kind
of comfort which shall reach thy heart, thou wilt be made best reconciled to
death by observing the objects from which thou art going to be removed, and
the morals of those with whom thy soul will no longer be mingled. For it is no
way right to be offended with men, but it is thy duty to care for them and to
bear with them gently; and yet to remember that thy departure will not be
from men who have the same principles as thyself. For this is the only thing, if
there be any, which could draw us the contrary way and attach us to life,—to

be permitted to live with those who have the same principles as ourselves. But
now thou seest how great is the trouble arising from the discordance of those
who live together, so that thou mayst say, Come quick, O death, lest perchance
I, too, should forget myself.
[A] Note 1 of the Philosophy, p. 76.

4. He who does wrong does wrong against himself. He who acts unjustly acts
unjustly to himself, because he makes himself bad.
5. He often acts unjustly who does not do a certain thing; not only he who
does a certain thing.
6. Thy present opinion founded on understanding, and thy present conduct
directed to social good, and thy present disposition of contentment with
everything which happens+—that is enough.
7. Wipe out imagination; check desire: extinguish appetite: keep the ruling
faculty in its own power.
8. Among the animals which have not reason one life is distributed; but
among reasonable animals one intelligent soul is distributed: just as there is
one earth of all things which are of an earthly nature, and we see by one light,
and breathe one air, all of us that have the faculty of vision and all that have
life.
9. All things which participate in anything which is common to them all, move
towards that which is of the same kind with themselves. Everything which is
earthy turns towards the earth, everything which is liquid flows together, and
everything which is of an aerial kind does the same, so that they require
something to keep them asunder, and the application of force. Fire indeed
moves upwards on account of the elemental fire, but it is so ready to be
kindled together with all the fire which is here, that even every substance
which is somewhat dry is easily ignited, because there is less mingled with it
of that which is a hindrance to ignition. Accordingly, then, everything also
which participates in the common intelligent nature moves in like manner
towards that which is of the same kind with itself, or moves even more. For so
much as it is superior in comparison with all other things, in the same degree
also is it more ready to mingle with and to be fused with that which is akin to
it. Accordingly among animals devoid of reason we find swarms of bees, and
herds of cattle, and the nurture of young birds, and in a manner, loves; for

even in animals there are souls, and that power which brings them together is
seen to exert itself in a superior degree, and in such a way as never has been
observed in plants nor in stones nor in trees. But in rational animals there are
political communities and friendships, and families and meetings of people;
and in wars, treaties, and armistices. But in the things which are still superior,
even though they are separated from one another, unity in a manner exists, as
in the stars. Thus the ascent to the higher degree is able to produce a sympathy
even in things which are separated. See, then, what now takes place; for only
intelligent animals have now forgotten this mutual desire and inclination, and
in them alone the property of flowing together is not seen. But still, though
men strive to avoid [this union], they are caught and held by it, for their nature
is too strong for them; and thou wilt see what I say, if thou only observest.
Sooner, then, will one find anything earthy which comes in contact with no
earthy thing, than a man altogether separated from other men.
10. Both man and God and the universe produce fruit; at the proper seasons
each produces it. But and if usage has especially fixed these terms to the vine
and like things, this is nothing. Reason produces fruit both for all and for
itself, and there are produced from it other things of the same kind as reason
itself.
11. If thou art able, correct by teaching those who do wrong; but if thou canst
not, remember that indulgence is given to thee for this purpose. And the gods,
too, are indulgent to such persons; and for some purposes they even help them
to get health, wealth, reputation; so kind they are. And it is in thy power also;
or say, who hinders thee?
12. Labor not as one who is wretched, nor yet as one who would be pitied or
admired; but direct thy will to one thing only—to put thyself in motion and to
check thyself, as the social reason requires.
13. To-day I have got out of all trouble, or rather I have cast out all trouble, for
it was not outside, but within and in my opinions.
14. All things are the same, familiar in experience, and ephemeral in time, and
worthless in the matter. Everything now is just as it was in the time of those
whom we have buried.
15. Things stand outside of us, themselves by themselves, neither knowing
aught of themselves, nor expressing any judgment. What is it, then, which

does judge about them? The ruling faculty.
16. Not in passivity but in activity lie the evil and the good of the rational
social animal, just as his virtue and his vice lie not in passivity but in activity.
[A]

[A] Virtutis omnis laus in actione consistit.—Cicero, De Off., 1. 6.

17. For the stone which has been thrown up it is no evil to come down, nor
indeed any good to have been carried up (viii. 20).
18. Penetrate inwards into men's leading principles, and thou wilt see what
judges thou art afraid of, and what kind of judges they are of themselves.
19. All things are changing: and thou thyself art in continuous mutation and in
a manner in continuous destruction, and the whole universe too.
20. It is thy duty to leave another man's wrongful act there where it is (vii. 29;
ix. 38).

THE FORUM

21. Termination of activity, cessation from movement and opinion, and in a
sense their death, is no evil. Turn thy thoughts now to the consideration of thy
life, thy life as a child, as a youth, thy manhood, thy old age, for in these also
every change was a death. Is this anything to fear? Turn thy thoughts now to
thy life under thy grandfather, then to thy life under thy mother, then to thy
life under thy father; and as thou findest many other differences and changes
and terminations, ask thyself, Is this anything to fear? In like manner, then,
neither are the termination and cessation and change of thy whole life a thing
to be afraid of.
22. Hasten [to examine] thy own ruling faculty and that of the universe and
that of thy neighbor: thy own, that thou mayst make it just: and that of the
universe, that thou mayst remember of what thou art a part; and that of thy
neighbor, that thou mayst know whether he has acted ignorantly or with
knowledge, and thou mayst also consider that his ruling faculty is akin to
thine.
23. As thou thyself art a component part of a social system, so let every act of
thine be a component part of social life. Whatever act of thine then has no
reference either immediately or remotely to a social end, this tears asunder thy
life, and does not allow it to be one, and it is of the nature of a mutiny, just as
when in a popular assembly a man acting by himself stands apart from the
general agreement.
24. Quarrels of little children and their sports, and poor spirits carrying about
dead bodies [such is everything]; and so what is exhibited in the
representation of the mansions of the dead[A] strikes our eyes more clearly.
[A] τὸ τῆς Νεκυίας may be, as Gataker conjectures, a dramatic representation of the state
of the dead. Schultz supposes that it may be also a reference to the Νεκυία of the
Odyssey (lib. xi.).

25. Examine into the quality of the form of an object, and detach it altogether
from its material part, and then contemplate it; then determine the time, the
longest which a thing of this peculiar form is naturally made to endure.
26. Thou hast endured infinite troubles through not being contented with thy
ruling faculty when it does the things which it is constituted by nature to do.
But enough + [of this].

27. When another blames thee or hates thee, or when men say about thee
anything injurious, approach their poor souls, penetrate within, and see what
kind of men they are. Thou wilt discover that there is no reason to take any
trouble that these men may have this or that opinion about thee. However,
thou must be well disposed towards them, for by nature they are friends. And
the gods too aid them in all ways, by dreams, by signs, towards the attainment
of those things on which they set a value. +
28. The periodic movements of the universe are the same, up and down from
age to age. And either the universal intelligence puts itself in motion for every
separate effect, and if this is so, be thou content with that which is the result of
its activity; or it puts itself in motion once, and everything else comes by way
of sequence[A] in a manner; or indivisible elements are the origin of all things.
—In a word, if there is a god, all is well; and if chance rules, do not thou also
be governed by it (vi. 44; vii. 75).
[A] The words which immediately follow κατ᾽ ἐπακολούθησιν are corrupt. But the
meaning is hardly doubtful. (Compare vii. 75.)

Soon will the earth cover us all: then the earth, too, will change, and the things
also which result from change will continue to change forever, and these again
forever. For if a man reflects on the changes and transformations which follow
one another like wave after wave and their rapidity, he will despise everything
which is perishable (xii. 21).
29. The universal cause is like a winter torrent: it carries everything along
with it. But how worthless are all these poor people who are engaged in
matters political, and, as they suppose, are playing the philosopher! All
drivellers. Well then, man: do what nature now requires. Set thyself in motion,
if it is in thy power, and do not look about thee to see if any one will observe
it; nor yet expect Plato's Republic:[A] but be content if the smallest thing goes
on well, and consider such an event to be no small matter. For who can change
men's opinions? and without a change of opinions what else is there than the
slavery of men who groan while they pretend to obey? Come now and tell me
of Alexander and Philippus and Demetrius of Phalerum. They themselves
shall judge whether they discovered what the common nature required, and
trained themselves accordingly. But if they acted like tragedy heroes, no one
has condemned me to imitate them. Simple and modest is the work of
philosophy. Draw me not aside to insolence and pride.

[A] Those who wish to know what Plato's Republic is may now study it in the accurate
translation of Davies and Vaughan.

30. Look down from above on the countless herds of men and their countless
solemnities, and the infinitely varied voyagings in storms and calms, and the
differences among those who are born, who live together, and die. And
consider, too, the life lived by others in olden time, and the life of those who
will live after thee, and the life now lived among barbarous nations, and how
many know not even thy name, and how many will soon forget it, and how
they who perhaps now are praising thee will very soon blame thee, and that
neither a posthumous name is of any value, nor reputation, nor anything else.
31. Let there be freedom from perturbations with respect to the things which
come from the external cause; and let there be justice in the things done by
virtue of the internal cause, that is, let there be movement and action
terminating in this, in social acts, for this is according to thy nature.
32. Thou canst remove out of the way many useless things among those which
disturb thee, for they lie entirely in thy opinion; and thou wilt then gain for
thyself ample space by comprehending the whole universe in thy mind, and by
contemplating the eternity of time, and observing the rapid change of every
several thing, how short is the time from birth to dissolution, and the
illimitable time before birth as well as the equally boundless time after
dissolution!
33. All that thou seest will quickly perish, and those who have been spectators
of its dissolution will very soon perish too. And he who dies at the extremest
old age will be brought into the same condition with him who died
prematurely.
34. What are these men's leading principles, and about what kind of things are
they busy, and for what kind of reasons do they love and honor? Imagine that
thou seest their pool souls laid bare. When they think that they do harm by
their blame or good by their praise, what an idea!
35. Loss is nothing else than change. But the universal nature delights in
change, and in obedience to her all things are now done well, and from
eternity have been in like form, and will be such to time without end. What,
then, dost thou say,—that all things have been and all things always will be
bad, and that no power has ever been found in so many gods to rectify these

things, but the world has been condemned to be bound in never ceasing evil
(iv. 45, vii. 18)?
36. The rottenness of the matter which is the foundation of everything! water,
dust, bones, filth: or again, marble rocks, the callosities of the earth; and gold
and silver, the sediments; and garments, only bits of hair; and purple dye,
blood; and everything else is of the same kind. And that which is of the nature
of breath is also another thing of the same kind, changing from this to that.
37. Enough of this wretched life and murmuring and apish tricks. Why art
thou disturbed? What is there new in this? What unsettles thee? Is it the form
of the thing? Look at it. Or is it the matter? Look at it. But besides these there
is nothing. Towards the gods then, now become at last more simple and better.
It is the same whether we examine these things for a hundred years or three.
38. If a man has done wrong the harm is his own. But perhaps he has not done
wrong.
39. Either all things proceed from one intelligent source and come together as
in one body, and the part ought not to find fault with what is done for the
benefit of the whole; or there are only atoms, and nothing else than mixture
and dispersion. Why, then, art thou disturbed? Say to the ruling faculty, Art
thou dead, art thou corrupted, art thou playing the hypocrite, art thou become
a beast, dost thou herd and feed with the rest?[A]
[A] There is some corruption at the end of this section, but I think that the translation
expresses the emperor's meaning. Whether intelligence rules all things or chance rules, a
man must not be disturbed. He must use the power that he has and be tranquil.

40. Either the gods have no power or they have power. If, then, they have no
power, why dost thou pray to them? But if they have power, why dost thou not
pray for them to give thee the faculty of not fearing any of the things which
thou fearest, or of not desiring any of the things which thou desirest, or not
being pained at anything, rather than pray that any of these things should not
happen or happen? for certainly if they can co-operate with men, they can co-
operate for these purposes. But perhaps thou wilt say the gods have placed
them in thy power. Well, then, is it not better to use what is in thy power like a
free man than to desire in a slavish and abject way what is not in thy power?
And who has told thee that the gods do not aid us, even in the things which
are in our power? Begin, then, to pray for such things, and thou wilt see. One
man prays thus: How shall I be able to lie with that woman? Do thou pray

thus: How shall I not desire to lie with her? Another prays thus: How shall I
be released from this? Pray thou: How shall I not desire to be released?
Another thus: How shall I not lose my little son? Thou thus: How shall I not
be afraid to lose him? In fine, turn thy prayers this way, and see what comes.
41. Epicurus says, In my sickness my conversation was not about my bodily
sufferings, nor, says he, did I talk on such subjects to those who visited me;
but I continued to discourse on the nature of things as before, keeping to this
main point, how the mind, while participating in such movements as go on in
the poor flesh, shall be free from perturbations and maintain its proper good.
Nor did I, he says, give the physicians an opportunity of putting on solemn
looks, as if they were doing something great, but my life went on well and
happily. Do, then, the same that he did both in sickness, if thou art sick, and in
any other circumstances; for never to desert philosophy in any events that may
befall us, nor to hold trifling talks either with an ignorant man or with one
unacquainted with nature, is a principle of all schools of philosophy; but to be
intent only on that which thou art now doing and on the instrument by which
thou doest it.
42. When thou art offended with any man's shameless conduct, immediately
ask thyself, Is it possible, then, that shameless men should not be in the
world? It is not possible. Do not, then, require what is impossible. For this
man also is one of those shameless men who must of necessity be in the
world. Let the same considerations be present to thy mind in the case of the
knave, and the faithless man, and of every man who does wrong in any way.
For at the same time that thou dost remind thyself that it is impossible that
such kind of men should not exist, thou wilt become more kindly disposed
towards every one individually. It is useful to perceive this, too, immediately
when the occasion arises, what virtue nature has given to man to oppose to
every wrongful act. For she has given to man, as an antidote against the stupid
man, mildness, and against another kind of man some other power. And in all
cases it is possible for thee to correct by teaching the man who is gone astray;
for every man who errs misses his object and is gone astray. Besides, wherein
hast thou been injured? For thou wilt find that no one among those against
whom thou art irritated has done anything by which thy mind could be made
worse; but that which is evil to thee and harmful has its foundation only in the
mind. And what harm is done or what is there strange, if the man who has not
been instructed does the acts of an uninstructed man? Consider whether thou
shouldst not rather blame thyself, because thou didst not expect such a man to

err in such a way. For thou hadst means given thee by thy reason to suppose
that it was likely that he would commit this error, and yet thou hast forgotten
and art amazed that he has erred. But most of all when thou blamest a man as
faithless or ungrateful, turn to thyself. For the fault is manifestly thy own,
whether thou didst trust that a man who had such a disposition would keep his
promise, or when conferring thy kindness thou didst not confer it absolutely,
nor yet in such way as to have received from thy very act all the profit. For
what more dost thou want when thou hast done a man a service? art thou not
content that thou hast done something conformable to thy nature, and dost
thou seek to be paid for it? just as if the eye demanded a recompense for
seeing, or the feet for walking. For as these members are formed for a
particular purpose, and by working according to their several constitutions
obtain what is their own;[A] so also as man is formed by nature to acts of
benevolence, when he has done anything benevolent or in any other way
conducive to the common interest, he has acted conformably to his
constitution, and he gets what is his own.
[A] Ἀπέχει τὸ ἴδιον. This sense of ὰπέχειν occurs in xi. 1, and iv. 49; also in St. Matthew,
vi. 2, ἀπέχουσίτὸν μισθον, and in Epictetus.

X.
Wilt thou, then, my soul, never be good and simple and one and naked, more
manifest than the body which surrounds thee? Wilt thou never enjoy an
affectionate and contented disposition? Wilt thou never be full and without a
want of any kind, longing for nothing more, nor desiring anything, either
animate or inanimate, for the enjoyment of pleasures? nor yet desiring time
wherein thou shalt have longer enjoyment, or place, or pleasant climate, or
society of men with whom thou mayst live in harmony? but wilt thou be
satisfied with thy present condition, and pleased with all that is about thee,
and wilt thou convince thyself that thou hast everything, and that it comes
from the gods, that everything is well for thee, and will be well whatever shall
please them, and whatever they shall give for the conservation of the perfect
living being,[A] the good and just and beautiful, which generates and holds
together all things, and contains and embraces all things which are dissolved
for the production of other like things? Wilt thou never be such that thou shalt
so dwell in community with gods and men as neither to find fault with them at
all, nor to be condemned by them?
[A] That is, God (iv. 40), as he is defined by Zeno. But the confusion between gods and
God is strange.

2. Observe what thy nature requires, so far as thou art governed by nature
only: then do it and accept it, if thy nature, so far as thou art a living being,
shall not be made worse by it. And next thou must observe what thy nature
requires so far as thou art a living being. And all this thou mayst allow thyself,
if thy nature, so far as thou art a rational animal, shall not be made worse by
it. But the rational animal is consequently also a political [social] animal. Use
these rules, then, and trouble thyself about nothing else.
3. Everything which happens either happens in such wise as thou art formed
by nature to bear it, or as thou art not formed by nature to bear it. If, then, it
happens to thee in such way as thou art formed by nature to bear it, do not
complain, but bear it as thou art formed by nature to bear it. But if it happens
in such wise as thou art not formed by nature to bear it, do not complain, for it
will perish after it has consumed thee. Remember, however, that thou art
formed by nature to bear everything, with respect to which it depends on thy

own opinion to make it endurable and tolerable, by thinking that it is either
thy interest or thy duty to do this.
4. If a man is mistaken, instruct him kindly and show him his error. But if thou
art not able, blame thyself, or blame not even thyself.
5. Whatever may happen to thee, it was prepared for thee from all eternity;
and the implication of causes was from eternity spinning the thread of thy
being, and of that which is incident to it (iii. 11; iv. 26).
6. Whether the universe is [a concourse of] atoms, or nature [is a system], let
this first be established, that I am a part of the whole which is governed by
nature; next, I am in a manner intimately related to the parts which are of the
same kind with myself. For remembering this, inasmuch as I am a part, I shall
be discontented with none of the things which are assigned to me out of the
whole; for nothing is injurious to the part if it is for the advantage of the
whole. For the whole contains nothing which is not for its advantage; and all
natures indeed have this common principle, but the nature of the universe has
this principle besides, that it cannot be compelled even by any external cause
to generate anything harmful to itself. By remembering, then, that I am a part
of such a whole, I shall be content with everything that happens. And
inasmuch as I am in a manner intimately related to the parts which are of the
same kind with myself, I shall do nothing unsocial, but I shall rather direct
myself to the things which are of the same kind with myself, and I shall turn
all my efforts to the common interest, and divert them from the contrary. Now,
if these things are done so, life must flow on happily, just as thou mayst
observe that the life of a citizen is happy, who continues a course of action
which is advantageous to his fellow-citizens, and is content with whatever the
state may assign to him.
7. The parts of the whole, everything, I mean, which is naturally
comprehended in the universe, must of necessity perish; but let this be
understood in this sense, that they must undergo change. But if this is
naturally both an evil and a necessity for the parts, the whole would not
continue to exist in a good condition, the parts being subject to change and
constituted so as to perish in various ways. For whether did Nature herself
design to do evil to the things which are parts of herself, and to make them
subject to evil and of necessity fall into evil, or have such results happened
without her knowing it? Both these suppositions, indeed, are incredible. But if
a man should even drop the term Nature [as an efficient power], and should

speak of these things as natural, even then it would be ridiculous to affirm at
the same time that the parts of the whole are in their nature subject to change,
and at the same time to be surprised or vexed as if something were happening
contrary to nature, particularly as the dissolution of things is into those things
of which each thing is composed. For there is either a dispersion of the
elements out of which everything has been compounded, or a change from the
solid to the earthy and from the airy to the aerial, so that these parts are taken
back into the universal reason, whether this at certain periods is consumed by
fire or renewed by eternal changes. And do not imagine that the solid and the
airy part belong to thee from the time of generation. For all this received its
accretion only yesterday and the day before, as one may say, from the food
and the air which is inspired. This, then, which has received [the accretion],
changes, not that which thy mother brought forth. But suppose that this
[which thy mother brought forth] implicates thee very much with that other
part, which has the peculiar quality [of change], this is nothing in fact in the
way of objection to what is said.[A]
[A] The end of this section is perhaps corrupt. The meaning is very obscure. I have given
that meaning which appears to be consistent with the whole argument. The emperor here
maintains that the essential part of man is unchangeable, and that the other parts, if they
change or perish, do not affect that which really constitutes the man. See the Philosophy
of Antoninus, p. 56, note 2. Schultz supposed "thy mother" to mean nature, ἡ φύσις. But I
doubt about that.

8. When thou hast assumed these names, good, modest, true, rational, a man
of equanimity, and magnanimous, take care that thou dost not change these
names; and if thou shouldst lose them, quickly return to them. And remember
that the term Rational was intended to signify a discriminating attention to
every several thing, and freedom from negligence; and that Equanimity is the
voluntary acceptance of the things which are assigned to thee by the common
nature; and that Magnanimity is the elevation of the intelligent part above the
pleasurable or painful sensations of the flesh, and above that poor thing called
fame, and death, and all such things. If, then, thou maintainest thyself in the
possession of these names, without desiring to be called by these names by
others, thou wilt be another person and wilt enter on another life. For to
continue to be such as thou hast hitherto been, and to be torn in pieces and
defiled in such a life, is the character of a very stupid man and one over-fond
of his life, and like those half-devoured fighters with wild beasts, who though
covered with wounds and gore, still intreat to be kept to the following day,
though they will be exposed in the same state to the same claws and bites.[A]

Therefore fix thyself in the possession of these few names: and if thou art able
to abide in them, abide as if thou wast removed to certain islands of the
Happy.[B] But if thou shalt perceive that thou fallest out of them and dost not
maintain thy hold, go courageously into some nook where thou shalt maintain
them, or even depart at once from life, not in passion, but with simplicity and
freedom and modesty, after doing this one [laudable] thing at least in thy life,
to have gone out of it thus. In order, however to the remembrance of these
names, it will greatly help thee if thou rememberest the gods, and that they
wish not to be flattered, but wish all reasonable beings to be made like
themselves; and if thou rememberest that what does the work of a fig-tree is a
fig-tree, and that what does the work of a dog is a dog, and that what does the
work of a bee is a bee, and that what does the work of a man is a man.
[A] See Seneca, Epp. 70, on these exhibitions which amused the people of those days.
These fighters were the Bestiarri, some of whom may have been criminals; but even if
they were, the exhibition was equally characteristic of the depraved habits of the
spectators.

[B] The islands of the Happy, or the Fortunatae Insulae, are spoken of by the Greek and
Roman writers. They were the abode of Heroes, like Achilles and Diomedes, as we see in
the Scolion of Harmodius and Aristogiton. Sertorius heard of the islands at Cadiz from
some sailors who had been there; and he had a wish to go and live in them and rest from
his troubles (Plutarch, Sertorius, c. 8). In the Odyssey, Proteus told Menelaus that he
should not die in Argos, but be removed to a place at the boundary of the earth where
Rhadamanthus dwelt (Odyssey, iv. 565):—
"For there in sooth man's life is easiest:
Nor snow nor raging storm nor rain is there
But ever gently breathing gales of Zephyr
Oceanus sends up to gladden man."

It is certain that the writer of the Odyssey only follows some old legend, without having
any knowledge of any place which corresponds to his description. The two islands which
Sertorius heard of may be Madeira and the adjacent island. Compare Pindar, Ol. ii. 129.

9. Mimi,[A] war, astonishment, torpor, slavery, will daily wipe out those holy
principles of thine. + How many things without studying nature dost thou
imagine, and how many dost thou neglect?[B] But it is thy duty so to look on
and so to do everything, that at the same time the power of dealing with
circumstances is perfected, and the contemplative faculty is exercised, and the
confidence which comes from the knowledge of each several thing is
maintained without showing it, but yet not concealed. For when wilt thou
enjoy simplicity, when gravity, and when the knowledge of every several
thing, both what it is in substance, and what place it has in the universe, and

how long it is formed to exist, and of what things it is compounded, and to
whom it can belong, and who are able both to give it and take it away?
[A] Corais conjectured μῖσος "hatred" in place of Mimi, Roman plays in which action
and gesticulation were all or nearly all.

[B] This is corrupt. See the addition of Schultz.

10. A spider is proud when it has caught a fly, and another when he has caught
a poor hare, and another when he has taken a little fish in a net, and another
when he has taken wild boars, and another when he has taken bears, and
another when he has taken Sarmatians. Are not these robbers, if thou
examinest their opinions?[A]
11. Acquire the contemplative way of seeing how all things change into one
another, and constantly attend to it, and exercise thyself about this part [of
philosophy]. For nothing is so much adapted to produce magnanimity. Such a
man has put off the body, and as he sees that he must, no one knows how
soon, go away from among men and leave everything here, he gives himself
up entirely to just doing in all his actions, and in everything else that happens
he resigns himself to the universal nature. But as to what any man shall say or
think about him or do against him, he never even thinks of it, being himself
contented with these two things—with acting justly in what he now does, and
being satisfied with what is now assigned to him; and he lays aside all
distracting and busy pursuits, and desires nothing else than to accomplish the
straight course through the law[B] and by accomplishing the straight course to
follow God.
[A] Marcus means to say that conquerors are robbers. He himself warred against
Sarmatians, and was a robber, as he says, like the rest. But compare the life of Avidius
Cassius, c. 4, by Vulcatius.

[B] By the law he means the divine law, obedience to the will of God.

12. What need is there of suspicious fear, since it is in thy power to inquire
what ought to be done? And if thou seest clear, go by this way content,
without turning back; but if thou dost not see clear, stop and take the best
advisers. But if any other things oppose thee, go on according to thy powers
with due consideration, keeping to that which appears to be just. For it is best
to reach this object, and if thou dost fail, let thy failure be in attempting this.
He who follows reason in all things is both tranquil and active at the same
time, and also cheerful and collected.

13. Inquire of thyself as soon as thou wakest from sleep whether it will make
any difference to thee if another does what is just and right. It will make no
difference (vi. 32; viii. 55).
Thou hast not forgotten, I suppose, that those who assume arrogant airs in
bestowing their praise or blame on others are such as they are at bed and at
board, and thou hast not forgotten what they do, and what they avoid, and
what they pursue, and how they steal and how they rob, not with hands and
feet, but with their most valuable part, by means of which there is produced,
when a man chooses, fidelity, modesty, truth, law, a good daemon [happiness]
(vii. 17)?
14. To her who gives and takes back all, to nature, the man who is instructed
and modest says, Give what thou wilt; take back what thou wilt. And he says
this not proudly, but obediently, and well pleased with her.
15. Short is the little which remains to thee of life. Live as on a mountain. For
it makes no difference whether a man lives there or here, if he lives
everywhere in the world as in a state [political community]. Let me see, let
them know a real man who lives according to nature. If they cannot endure
him, let them kill him. For that is better than to live thus [as men do].
16. No longer talk at all about the kind of man that a good man ought to be,
but be such.
17. Constantly contemplate the whole of time and the whole of substance, and
consider that all individual things as to substance are a grain of a fig, and as to
time the turning of a gimlet.
18. Look at everything that exists, and observe that it is already in dissolution
and in change, and as it were putrefaction or dispersion, or that everything is
so constituted by nature as to die.
19. Consider what men are when they are eating, sleeping, generating, easing
themselves, and so forth. Then what kind of men they are when they are
imperious + and arrogant, or angry and scolding from their elevated place. But
a short time ago to how many they were slaves and for what things; and after
a little time consider in what a condition they will be.
20. That is for the good of each thing, which the universal nature brings to
each. And it is for its good at the time when nature brings it.

21. "The earth loves the shower;" and "the solemn ether loves;" and the
universe loves to make whatever is about to be. I say then to the universe, that
I love as thou lovest. And is not this too said that "this or that loves [is wont]
to be produced?"[A]
22. Either thou livest here and hast already accustomed thyself to it, or thou
art going away, and this was thy own will; or thou art dying and hast
discharged thy duty. But besides these things there is nothing. Be of good
cheer, then.
23. Let this always be plain to thee, that this piece of land is like any other;
and that all things here are the same with things on the top of a mountain, or
on the sea-shore, or wherever thou choosest to be. For thou wilt find just what
Plato says, Dwelling within the walls of a city as in a shepherd's fold on a
mountain. [The three last words are omitted in the translation.][B]
[A] These words are from Euripides. They are cited by Aristotle, Ethic. Nicom. viii. 1.
Athenaeus (xiii. 296) and Stobaeus quote seven complete lines beginning ἐρά μὲν ὄμβρου
γαῖα. There is a similar fragment of Aeschylus, Danaides, also quoted by Athenaeus.
It was the fashion of the Stoics to work on the meanings of words. So Antoninus here
takes the verb φιλεῖ, "loves," which has also the sense of "is wont," "uses," and the like.
He finds in the common language of mankind a philosophical truth, and most great truths
are expressed in the common language of life; some understand them, but most people
utter them without knowing how much they mean.

[B] Plato, Theaet. 174 D.E. But compare the original with the use that Antoninus has
made of it.

24. What is my ruling faculty now to me? and of what nature am I now
making it? and for what purpose am I now using it? is it void of
understanding? is it loosed and rent asunder from social life? is it melted into
and mixed with the poor flesh so as to move together with it?
25. He who flies from his master is a runaway; but the law is master, and he
who breaks the law is a runaway. And he also who is grieved or angry or
afraid, + is dissatisfied because something has been or is or shall be of the
things which are appointed by him who rules all things, and he is Law and
assigns to every man what is fit. He then who fears or is grieved or is angry is
a runaway.[A]
[A] Antoninus is here playing on the etymology, of νόμος, law, assignment, that which
assigns νέμει to every man his portion.

26. A man deposits seed in a womb and goes away, and then another cause
takes it and labors on it, and makes a child. What a thing from such a material!
Again, the child passes food down through the throat, and then another cause
takes it and makes perception and motion, and in fine, life and strength and
other things; how many and how strange! Observe then the things which are
produced in such a hidden way, and see the power, just as we see the power
which carries things downwards and upwards, not with the eyes, but still no
less plainly (vii. 85).
27. Constantly consider how all things such as they now are, in time past also
were; and consider that they will be the same again. And place before thy eyes
entire dramas and stages of the same form, whatever thou hast learned from
thy experience or from older history; for example, the whole court of
Hadrianus, and the whole court of Antoninus, and the whole court of
Philippus, Alexander, Croesus; for all those were such dramas as we see now,
only with different actors.
28. Imagine every man who is grieved at anything or discontented to be like a
pig which is sacrificed and kicks and screams.
Like this pig also is he who on his bed in silence laments the bonds in which
we are held. And consider that only to the rational animal is it given to follow
voluntarily what happens; but simply to follow is a necessity imposed on all.
29. Severally on the occasion of everything that thou dost, pause and ask
thyself if death is a dreadful thing because it deprives thee of this.
30. When thou art offended at any man's fault, forthwith turn to thyself and
reflect in what like manner thou dost err thyself; for example, in thinking that
money is a good thing, or pleasure, or a bit of reputation, and the like. For by
attending to this thou wilt quickly forget thy anger, if this consideration also is
added, that the man is compelled: for what else could he do? or, if thou art
able, take away from him the compulsion.

31. When thou hast seen Satyron[A] the Socratic,+ think of either Eutyches or
Hymen, and when thou hast seen Euphrates, think of Eutychion or Silvanus,
and when thou hast seen Alciphron think of Tropaeophorus, and when thou
hast seen Xenophon, think of Crito[B] or Severus, and when thou hast looked
on thyself, think of any other Caesar, and in the case of every one do in like
manner. Then let this thought be in thy mind, Where then are those men?

Nowhere, or nobody knows where. For thus continuously thou wilt look at
human things as smoke and nothing at all; especially if thou reflectest at the
same time that what has once changed will never exist again in the infinite
duration of time. But thou, in what a brief space of time is thy existence? And
why art thou not content to pass through this short time in an orderly way?
What matter and opportunity [for thy activity] art thou avoiding? For what
else are all these things, except exercises for the reason, when it has viewed
carefully and by examination into their nature the things which happen in life?
Persevere then until thou shalt have made these things thy own, as the
stomach which is strengthened makes all things its own, as the blazing fire
makes flame and brightness out of everything that is thrown into it.
32. Let it not be in any man's power to say truly of thee that thou are not
simple or that thou art not good; but let him be a liar whoever shall think
anything of this kind about thee; and this is altogether in thy power. For who
is he that shall hinder thee from being good and simple? Do thou only
determine to live no longer unless thou shalt be such. For neither does reason
allow [thee to live], if thou art not such.[C]
[A] Nothing is known of Satyron or Satyrion; nor, I believe, of Eutyches or Hymen.
Euphrates is honorably mentioned by Epictetus (iii. 15, 8; iv. 8, 17). Pliny (Epp. i. 10)
speaks very highly of him. He obtained the permission of the Emperor Hadrian to drink
poison, because he was old and in bad health (Dion Cassius, 69, c. 8).

[B] Crito is the friend of Socrates; and he was, it appears, also a friend of Xenophon.
When the emperor says "seen" (ἰδών), he does not mean with the eyes.

[C] Compare Epictetus, i. 29, 28.

33. What is that which as to this material [our life] can be done or said in the
way most conformable to reason? For whatever this may be, it is in thy power
to do it or to say it, and do not make excuses that thou art hindered. Thou wilt
not cease to lament till thy mind is in such a condition that what luxury is to
those who enjoy pleasure, such shall be to thee, in the matter which is
subjected and presented to thee, the doing of the things which are conformable
to man's constitution; for a man ought to consider as an enjoyment everything
which it is in his power to do according to his own nature. And it is in his
power everywhere. Now, it is not given to a cylinder to move everywhere by
its own motion, nor yet to water nor to fire, nor to anything else which is
governed by nature or an irrational soul, for the things which check them and
stand in the way are many. But intelligence and reason are able to go through
everything that opposes them, and in such manner as they are formed by

nature and as they choose. Place before thy eyes this facility with which the
reason will be carried through all things, as fire upwards, as a stone
downwards, as a cylinder down an inclined surface, and seek for nothing
further. For all other obstacles either affect the body only, which is a dead
thing; or, except through opinion and the yielding of the reason itself, they do
not crush nor do any harm of any kind; for if they did, he who felt it would
immediately become bad. Now, in the case of all things which have a certain
constitution, whatever harm may happen to any of them, that which is so
affected becomes consequently worse; but in the like case, a man becomes
both better, if one may say so, and more worthy of praise by making a right
use of these accidents. And finally remember that nothing harms him who is
really a citizen, which does not harm the state; nor yet does anything harm the
state, which does not harm law [order]; and of these things which are called
misfortunes not one harms law. What then does not harm law does not harm
either state or citizen.
34. To him who is penetrated by true principles even the briefest precept is
sufficient, and any common precept, to remind him that he should be free
from grief and fear. For example:—
"Leaves, some the wind scatters on the ground—
So is the race of men."[A]

Leaves, also, are thy children; and leaves, too, are they who cry out as if they
were worthy of credit and bestow their praise, or on the contrary curse, or
secretly blame and sneer; and leaves, in like manner, are those who shall
receive and transmit a man's fame to after-times. For all such things as these
"are produced in the season of spring," as the poet says; then the wind casts
them down; then the forest produces other leaves in their places. But a brief
existence is common to all things, and yet thou avoidest and pursuest all
things as if they would be eternal. A little time, and thou shalt close thy eyes;
and him who has attended thee to thy grave another soon will lament.

[A] Homer, II., vi. 146.

35. The healthy eye ought to see all visible things and not to say, I wish for
green things; for this is the condition of a diseased eye. And the healthy
hearing and smelling ought to be ready to perceive all that can be heard and
smelled. And the healthy stomach ought to be with respect to all food just as
the mill with respect to all things which it is formed to grind. And
accordingly the healthy understanding ought to be prepared for everything
which happens; but that which says, Let my dear children live, and let all
men praise whatever I may do, is an eye which seeks for green things, or
teeth which seek for soft things.
36. There is no man so fortunate that there shall not be by him when he is
dying some who are pleased with what is going to happen.[A] Suppose that
he was a good and wise man, will there not be at least some one to say to
himself, Let us at last breathe freely, being relieved from this schoolmaster?
It is true that he was harsh to none of us, but I perceived that he tacitly
condemns us.—This is what is said of a good man. But in our own case
how many other things are there for which there are many who wish to get
rid of us? Thou wilt consider this, then, when thou art dying, and thou wilt
depart more contentedly by reflecting thus: I am going away from such a
life, in which even my associates in behalf of whom I have striven so much,
prayed, and cared, themselves wish me to depart, hoping perchance to get
some little advantage by it. Why then should a man cling to a longer stay
here? Do not, however, for this reason go away less kindly disposed to
them, but preserving thy own character, and friendly and benevolent and
mild, and on the other hand not as if thou wast torn away; but as when a
man dies a quiet death, the poor soul is easily separated from the body, such
also ought thy departure from men to be, for nature united thee to them and
associated thee. But does she now dissolve the union? Well, I am separated
as from kinsmen, not however dragged resisting, but without compulsion;
for this, too, is one of the things according to nature.
[A] He says κακόν, but as he affirms in other places that death is no evil, he must
mean what others may call an evil, and he means only "what is going to happen."

37. Accustom thyself as much as possible on the occasion of anything being
done by any person to inquire with thyself, For what object is this man
doing this? But begin with thyself, and examine thyself first.

38. Remember that this which pulls the strings is the thing which is hidden
within: this is the power of persuasion, this is life, this, if one may so say, is
man. In contemplating thyself never include the vessel which surrounds
thee and these instruments which are attached about it. For they are like to
an axe, differing only in this, that they grow to the body. For indeed there is
no more use in these parts without the cause which moves and checks them
than in the weaver's shuttle, and the writer's pen, and the driver's whip.[A]
[A] See the Philosophy of Antoninus, p. 72, note.

XI.
These are the properties of the rational soul: it sees itself, analyzes itself,
and makes itself such as it chooses; the fruit which it bears itself enjoys—
for the fruits of plants and that in animals which corresponds to fruits others
enjoy—it obtains its own end, wherever the limit of life may be fixed. Not
as in a dance and in a play and in such like things, where the whole action is
incomplete if anything cuts it short; but in every part, and wherever it may
be stopped, it makes what has been set before it full and complete, so that it
can say, I have what is my own. And further it traverses the whole universe,
and the surrounding vacuum, and surveys its form, and it extends itself into
the infinity of time, and embraces and comprehends the[A] periodical
renovation of all things, and it comprehends that those who come after us
will see nothing new, nor have those before us seen anything more, but in a
manner he who is forty years old, if he has any understanding at all, has
seen by virtue of the uniformity that prevails all things which have been and
all that will be. This too is a property of the rational soul, love of one's
neighbor, and truth and modesty, and to value nothing more than itself,
which is also the property of Law.[B] Thus the right reason differs not at all
from the reason of justice.
[A] Τὴν περιοδικὴν παλιγγενεσίαν. See v. 13, 32; x. 7.

[B] Law is the order by which all things are governed.

2. Thou wilt set little value on pleasing song and dancing and the
pancratium, if thou wilt distribute the melody of the voice into its several
sounds, and ask thyself as to each, if thou art mastered by this; for thou wilt
be prevented by shame from confessing it: and in the matter of dancing, if
at each movement and attitude thou wilt do the same; and the like also in
the matter of the pancratium. In all things, then, except virtue and the acts
of virtue, remember to apply thyself to their several parts, and by this
division to come to value them little: and apply this rule also to thy whole
life.

3. What a soul that is which is ready, if at any moment it must be separated
from the body, and ready either to be extinguished or dispersed or continue
to exist; but so that this readiness comes from a man's own judgment, not
from mere obstinacy, as with the Christians,[A] but considerately and with
dignity and in a way to persuade another, without tragic show.
[A] See the Life of Antoninus. This is the only passage in which the emperor speaks
of the Christians. Epictetus (iv. 7, 6) names them Galilaei.

4. Have I done something for the general interest? Well then, I have had my
reward. Let this always be present to thy mind, and never stop [doing such
good].
5. What is thy art? To be good. And how is this accomplished well except
by general principles, some about the nature of the universe, and others
about the proper constitution of man?
6. At first tragedies were brought on the stage as means of reminding men
of the things which happen to them, and that it is according to nature for
things to happen so, and that, if you are delighted with what is shown on the
stage, you should not be troubled with that which takes place on the larger
stage. For you see that these things must be accomplished thus, and that
even they bear them who cry out,[A] "O Cithaeron." And, indeed, some
things are said well by the dramatic writers, of which kind is the following
especially:—
"Me and my children if the gods neglect,
This has its reason too."[B]

And again,—
"We must not chafe and fret at that which happens."
And,—
"Life's harvest reap like the wheat's fruitful ear."
After tragedy the old comedy was introduced, which had a magisterial
freedom of speech, and by its very plainness of speaking was useful in
reminding men to beware of insolence; and for this purpose too Diogenes
used to take from these writers.

[A] Sophocles, Oedipus Rex.

[B] See vii. 41, 38, 40.

But as to the middle comedy, which came next, observe what it was, and
again, for what object the new comedy was introduced, which gradually
sank down into a mere mimic artifice. That some good things are said even
by these writers, everybody knows: but the whole plan of such poetry and
dramaturgy, to what end does it look?
7. How plain does it appear that there is not another condition of life so well
suited for philosophizing as this in which thou now happenest to be.
8. A branch cut off from the adjacent branch must of necessity be cut off
from the whole tree also. So too a man when he is separated from another
man has fallen off from the whole social community. Now as to a branch,
another cuts it off; but a man by his own act separates himself from his
neighbor when he hates him and turns away from him, and he does not
know that he has at the same time cut himself off from the whole social
system. Yet he has this privilege certainly from Zeus, who framed society,
for it is in our power to grow again to that which is near to us, and again to
become a part which helps to make up the whole. However, if it often
happens, this kind of separation, it makes it difficult for that which detaches
itself to be brought to unity and to be restored to its former condition.
Finally, the branch, which from the first grew together with the tree, and has
continued to have one life with it, is not like that which after being cut off is
then ingrafted, for this is something like what the gardeners mean when
they say that it grows with the rest of the tree, but+ that it has not the same
mind with it.
9. As those who try to stand in thy way when thou art proceeding according
to right reason will not be able to turn thee aside from thy proper action, so
neither let them drive thee from thy benevolent feelings toward them, but be
on thy guard equally in both matters, not only in the matter of steady
judgment and action, but also in the matter of gentleness to those who try to
hinder or otherwise trouble thee. For this also is a weakness, to be vexed at
them, as well as to be diverted from thy course of action and to give way
through fear; for both are equally deserters from their post,—the man who

does it through fear, and the man who is alienated from him who is by
nature a kinsman and a friend.
10. There is no nature which is inferior to art, for the arts imitate the natures
of things. But if this is so, that nature which is the most perfect and the most
comprehensive of all natures, cannot fall short of the skill of art Now all
arts do the inferior things for the sake of the superior; therefore the
universal nature does so too. And, indeed, hence is the origin of justice, and
in justice the other virtues have their foundation: for justice will not be
observed, if we either care for middle things [things indifferent], or are
easily deceived and careless and changeable (v. 16, 30; vii. 55).
11. If the things do not come to thee, the pursuits and avoidances of which
disturb thee, still in a manner thou goest to them. Let then thy judgment
about them be at rest, and they will remain quiet, and thou wilt not be seen
either pursuing or avoiding.
12. The spherical form of the soul maintains its figure when it is neither
extended towards any object, nor contracted inwards, nor dispersed, nor
sinks down, but is illuminated by light, by which it sees the truth,—the truth
of all things and the truth that is in itself (viii. 41, 45; xii. 3).
13. Suppose any man shall despise me. Let him look to that himself. But I
will look to this, that I be not discovered doing or saying anything
deserving of contempt. Shall any man hate me? Let him look to it. But I
will be mild and benevolent towards every man, and ready to show even
him his mistake, not reproachfully, nor yet as making a display of my
endurance, but nobly and honestly, like the great Phocion, unless indeed he
only assumed it. For the interior [parts] ought to be such, and a man ought
to be seen by the gods neither dissatisfied with anything nor complaining.
For what evil is it to thee, if thou art now doing what is agreeable to thy
own nature, and art satisfied with that which at this moment is suitable to
the nature of the universe, since thou art a human being placed at thy post in
order that what is for the common advantage may be done in some way?
14. Men despise one another and flatter one another; and men wish to raise
themselves above one another, and crouch before one another.

15. How unsound and insincere is he who says, I have determined to deal
with thee in a fair way!—What are thou doing, man? There is no occasion
to give this notice. It will soon show itself by acts. The voice ought to be
plainly written on the forehead. Such as a man's character is,+ he
immediately shows it in his eyes, just as he who is beloved forthwith reads
everything in the eyes of lovers. The man who is honest and good ought to
be exactly like a man who smells strong, so that the bystander as soon as he
comes near him must smell whether he choose or not. But the affectation of
simplicity is like a crooked stick.[A] Nothing is more disgraceful than a
wolfish friendship [false friendship]. Avoid this most of all. The good and
simple and benevolent show all these things in the eyes, and there is no
mistaking.
[A] Instead of σκάλμη Saumaise reads σκαμβή. There is a Greek proverb, σκαμβὸν
ξύλον οὐδέποτ᾽ ὀρθόν: "You cannot make a crooked stick straight."
The wolfish friendship is an allusion to the fable of the sheep and the wolves.

16. As to living in the best way, this power is in the soul, if it be indifferent
to things which are indifferent. And it will be indifferent, if it looks on each
of these things separately and all together, and if it remembers that not one
of them produces in us an opinion about itself, nor comes to us; but these
things remain immovable, and it is we ourselves who produce the
judgments about them, and, as we may say, write them in ourselves, it being
in our power not to write them, and it being in our power, if perchance these
judgments have imperceptibly got admission to our minds, to wipe them
out; and if we remember also that such attention will only be for a short
time, and then life will be at an end. Besides, what trouble is there at all in
doing this? For if these things are according to nature, rejoice in them and
they will be easy to thee: but if contrary to nature, seek what is conformable
to thy own nature, and strive towards this, even if it bring no reputation; for
every man is allowed to seek his own good.
17. Consider whence each thing is come, and of what it consists, + and into
what it changes, and what kind of a thing it will be when it has changed,
and that it will sustain no harm.
18. [If any have offended against thee, consider first]: What is my relation
to men, and that we are made for one another; and in another respect I was
made to be set over them, as a ram over the flock or a bull over the herd.

But examine the matter from first principles, from this. If all things are not
mere atoms, it is nature which orders all things: if this is so, the inferior
things exist for the sake of the superior, and these for the sake of one
another (ii. 1; ix. 39; v. 16; iii. 4).
Second, consider what kind of men they are at table, in bed, and so forth;
and particularly, under what compulsions in respect of opinions they are;
and as to their acts, consider with what pride they do what they do (viii. 14;
ix. 34).
Third, that if men do rightly what they do, we ought not to be displeased:
but if they do not right, it is plain that they do so involuntarily and in
ignorance. For as every soul is unwillingly deprived of the truth, so also is it
unwillingly deprived of the power of behaving to each man according to his
deserts. Accordingly men are pained when they are called unjust,
ungrateful, and greedy, and in a word wrong-doers to their neighbors (vii.
62, 63; ii. 1; vii. 26; viii. 29).
Fourth, consider that thou also doest many things wrong, and that thou art a
man like others; and even if thou dost abstain from certain faults, still thou
hast the disposition to commit them, though either through cowardice, or
concern about reputation, or some such mean motive, thou dost abstain
from such faults (i. 17).
Fifth, consider that thou dost not even understand whether men are doing
wrong or not, for many things are done with a certain reference to
circumstances. And in short, a man must learn a great deal to enable him to
pass a correct judgment on another man's acts (ix. 38; iv. 51).
Sixth, consider when thou art much vexed or grieved, that man's life is only
a moment, and after a short time we are all laid out dead (vii. 58; iv. 48).
Seventh, that it is not men's acts which disturb us, for those acts have their
foundation in men's ruling principles, but it is our own opinions which
disturb us. Take away these opinions then, and resolve to dismiss thy
judgment about an act as if it were something grievous, and thy anger is
gone. How then shall I take away these opinions? By reflecting that no
wrongful act of another brings shame on thee: for unless that which is

shameful is alone bad, thou also must of necessity do many things wrong,
and become a robber and everything else (v. 25; vii. 16).
Eighth, consider how much more pain is brought on us by the anger and
vexation caused by such acts than by the acts themselves, at which we are
angry and vexed (iv. 39, 49; vii. 24).
Ninth, consider that a good disposition is invincible if it be genuine, and not
an affected smile and acting a part. For what will the most violent man do to
thee, if thou continuest to be of a kind disposition towards him, and if, as
opportunity offers, thou gently admonishest him and calmly correctest his
errors at the very time when he is trying to do thee harm, saying, Not so, my
child: we are constituted by nature for something else: I shall certainly not
be injured, but thou art injuring thyself, my child.—And show him with
gentle tact and by general principles that this is so, and that even bees do
not do as he does, nor any animals which are formed by nature to be
gregarious. And thou must do this neither with any double meaning nor in
the way of reproach, but affectionately and without any rancor in thy soul;
and not as if thou wert lecturing him, nor yet that any bystander may
admire, but either when he is alone, and if others are present ... [A]
[A] It appears that there is a defect in the text here.

Remember these nine rules, as if thou hadst received them as a gift from the
Muses, and begin at last to be a man while thou livest. But thou must
equally avoid nattering men and being vexed at them, for both are unsocial
and lead to harm. And let this truth be present to thee in the excitement of
anger, that to be moved by passion is not manly, but that mildness and
gentleness, as they are more agreeable to human nature, so also are they
more manly; and he who possesses these qualities possesses strength,
nerves, and courage, and not the man who is subject to fits of passion and
discontent. For in the same degree in which a man's mind is nearer to
freedom from all passion, in the same degree also is it nearer to strength:
and as the sense of pain is a characteristic of weakness, so also is anger. For
he who yields to pain and he who yields to anger, both are wounded and
both submit.
But if thou wilt, receive also a tenth present from the leader of the Muses
[Apollo], and it is this,—that to expect bad men not to do wrong is

madness, for he who expects this desires an impossibility. But to allow men
to behave so to others, and to expect them not to do thee any wrong, is
irrational and tyrannical.
19. There are four principal aberrations of the superior faculty against
which thou shouldst be constantly on thy guard, and when thou hast
detected them, thou shouldst wipe them out and say on each occasion thus:
This thought is not necessary: this tends to destroy social union: this which
thou art going to say comes not from the real thoughts; for thou shouldst
consider it among the most absurd of things for a man not to speak from his
real thoughts. But the fourth is when thou shalt reproach thyself for
anything, for this is an evidence of the diviner part within thee being
overpowered and yielding to the less honorable and to the perishable part,
the body, and to its gross pleasures (iv. 24; ii. 16).
20. Thy aerial part and all the fiery parts which are mingled in thee, though
by nature they have an upward tendency, still in obedience to the
disposition of the universe they are overpowered here in the compound
mass [the body]. And also the whole of the earthy part in thee and the
watery, though their tendency is downward, still are raised up and occupy a
position which is not their natural one. In this manner then the elemental
parts obey the universal; for when they have been fixed in any place,
perforce they remain there until again the universal shall sound the signal
for dissolution. Is it not then strange that thy intelligent part only should be
disobedient and discontented with its own place? And yet no force is
imposed on it, but only those things which are conformable to its nature:
still it does not submit, but is carried in the opposite direction. For the
movement towards injustice and intemperance and to anger and grief and
fear is nothing else than the act of one who deviates from nature. And also
when the ruling faculty is discontented with anything that happens, then too
it deserts its post: for it is constituted for piety and reverence towards the
gods no less than for justice. For these qualities also are comprehended
under the generic term of contentment with the constitution of things, and
indeed they are prior[A] to acts of justice.
[A] The word πρεσβύτερα, which is here translated "prior," may also mean "superior;"
but Antoninus seems to say that piety and reverence of the gods precede all virtues,
and that other virtues are derived from them, even justice, which in another passage
(xi. 10) he makes the foundation of all virtues. The ancient notion of justice is that of

giving to every one his due. It is not a legal definition, as some have supposed, but a
moral rule which law cannot in all cases enforce. Besides, law has its own rules,
which are sometimes moral and sometimes immoral; but it enforces them all simply
because they are general rules, and if it did not or could not enforce them, so far Law
would not be Law. Justice, or the doing what is just, implies a universal rule and
obedience to it; and as we all live under universal Law, which commands both our
body and our intelligence, and is the law of our nature, that is, the law of the whole
constitution of a man, we must endeavor to discover what this supreme Law is. It is
the will of the power that rules all. By acting in obedience to this will, we do justice,
and by consequence everything else that we ought to do.

21. He who has not one and always the same object in life, cannot be one
and the same all through his life. But what I have said is not enough, unless
this also is added, what this object ought to be. For as there is not the same
opinion about all the things which in some way or other are considered by
the majority to be good, but only about some certain things, that is, things
which concern the common interest, so also ought we to propose to
ourselves an object which shall be of a common kind [social] and political.
For he who directs all his own efforts to this object, will make all his acts
alike, and thus will always be the same.
22. Think of the country mouse and of the town mouse, and of the alarm
and trepidation of the town mouse.[A]
23. Socrates used to call the opinions of the many by the name of Lamiae,
—bugbears to frighten children.
24. The Lacedaemonians at their public spectacles used to set seats in the
shade for strangers, but themselves sat down anywhere.

25. Socrates excused himself to Perdiccas[B] for not going to him, saying, It
is because I would not perish by the worst of all ends; that is, I would not
receive a favor and then be unable to return it.

26. In the writings of the [Ephesians][C] there was this precept, constantly to
think of some one of the men of former times who practiced virtue.
27. The Pythagoreans bid us in the morning look to the heavens that we
may be reminded of those bodies which continually do the same things and
in the same manner perform their work, and also be reminded of their purity
and nudity. For there is no veil over a star.

[A] The story is told by Horace in his Satires (ii. 6), and by others since but not better.

[B] Perhaps the emperor made a mistake here, for other writers say that it was
Archelaus, the son of Perdiccas, who invited Socrates to Macedonia.

[C] Gataker suggested Ἐπικουρείων for Ἐφεσίων.

28. Consider what a man Socrates was when he dressed himself in a skin,
after Xanthippe had taken his cloak and gone out, and what Socrates said to
his friends who were ashamed of him and drew back from him when they
saw him dressed thus.
29. Neither in writing nor in reading wilt thou be able to lay down rules for
others before thou shalt have first learned to obey rules thyself. Much more
is this so in life.
30. A slave thou art: free speech is not for thee.

31. And my heart laughed within.
Odyssey, ix. 413.
32. And virtue they will curse, speaking harsh words.
HESIOD, Works and Days, 184.
33. To look for the fig in winter is a mad-man's act: such is he who looks for
his child when it is no longer allowed (Epictetus, iii. 24, 87).
34. When a man kisses his child, said Epictetus, he should whisper to
himself, "To-morrow perchance thou wilt die."—But those are words of bad
omen.—"No word is a word of bad omen," said Epictetus, "which expresses
any work of nature; or if it is so, it is also a word of bad omen to speak of
the ears of corn being reaped" (Epictetus, iii. 24, 88).
35. The unripe grape, the ripe bunch, the dried grape, are all changes, not
into nothing, but into something which exists not yet (Epictetus, iii. 24).
36. No man can rob us of our free will (Epictetus, iii. 22, 105).
37. Epictetus also said, a man must discover an art [or rules] with respect to
giving his assent; and in respect to his movements he must be careful that
they be made with regard to circumstances, that they be consistent with
social interests, that they have regard to the value of the object; and as to

sensual desire, he should altogether keep away from it; and as to avoidance
[aversion], he should not show it with respect to any of the things which are
not in our power.
38. The dispute then, he said, is not about any common matter, but about
being mad or not.
39. Socrates used to say, What do you want, souls of rational men or
irrational?—Souls of rational men.—Of what rational men, sound or
unsound?—Sound.—Why then do you not seek for them?—Because we
have them.—Why then do you fight and quarrel?

XII.
All those things at which thou wishest to arrive by a circuitous road thou
canst have now, if thou dost not refuse them to thyself. And this means, if
thou wilt take no notice of all the past, and trust the future to providence,
and direct the present only conformably to piety and justice. Conformably
to piety that thou mayest be content with the lot which is assigned to thee,
for nature designed it for thee and thee for it. Conformably to justice, that
thou mayst always speak the truth freely and without disguise, and do the
things which are agreeable to law and according to the worth of each. And
let neither another man's wickedness hinder thee, nor opinion nor voice, nor
yet the sensations of the poor flesh which has grown about thee; for the
passive part will look to this. If, then, whatever the time may be when thou
shalt be near to thy departure, neglecting everything else thou shalt respect
only thy ruling faculty and the divinity within thee, and if thou shalt be
afraid not because thou must some time cease to live, but if thou shalt fear
never to have begun to live according to nature—then thou wilt be a man
worthy of the universe which has produced thee, and thou wilt cease to be a
stranger in thy native land, and to wonder at things which happen daily as if
they were something unexpected, and to be dependent on this or that.
2. God sees the minds [ruling principles] of all men bared of the material
vesture and rind and impurities. For with his intellectual part alone he
touches the intelligence only which has flowed and been derived from
himself into these bodies. And if thou also usest thyself to do this, thou wilt
rid thyself of thy much trouble. For he who regards not the poor flesh which
envelops him, surely will not trouble himself by looking after raiment and
dwelling and fame and such like externals and show.
3. The things are three of which thou art composed: a little body, a little
breath [life], intelligence. Of these the first two are thine, so far as it is thy
duty to take care of them; but the third alone is properly thine. Therefore if
thou shalt separate from thyself, that is, from thy understanding, whatever
others do or say, and whatever thou hast done or said thyself, and whatever
future things trouble thee because they may happen, and whatever in the

body which envelops thee or in the breath [life], which is by nature
associated with the body, is attached to thee independent of thy will, and
whatever the external circumfluent vortex whirls round, so that the
intellectual power exempt from the things of fate can live pure and free by
itself, doing what is just and accepting what happens and saying the truth: if
thou wilt separate, I say, from this ruling faculty the things which are
attached to it by the impressions of sense, and the things of time to come
and of time that is past, and wilt make thyself like Empedocles' sphere,

"All round and in its joyous rest reposing;"[A]
and if thou shalt strive to live only what is really thy life, that is, the present,
—then thou wilt be able to pass that portion of life which remains for thee
up to the time of thy death free from perturbations, nobly, and obedient to
thy own daemon [to the god that is within thee] (ii. 13, 17; iii. 5, 6; xi. 12).
4. I have often wondered how it is that every man loves himself more than
all the rest of men, but yet sets less value on his own opinion of himself
than on the opinion of others. If then a god or a wise teacher should present
himself to a man and bid him to think of nothing and to design nothing
which he would not express as soon as he conceived it, he could not endure
it even for a single day.[B] So much more respect have we to what our
neighbors shall think of us than to what we shall think of ourselves.
[A] The verse of Empedocles is corrupt in Antoninus. It has been restored by Peyron
from a Turin manuscript, thus:—
Σφαῖρος κυκοτερὴς μονίῃ περιγηθέϊ γαίων.

[B] iii. 4.

5. How can it be that the gods, after having arranged all things well and
benevolently for mankind, have overlooked this alone, that some men, and
very good men, and men who, as we may say, have had most communion
with the divinity, and through pious acts and religious observances have
been most intimate with the divinity, when they have once died should
never exist again, but should be completely extinguished?
But if this is so, be assured that if it ought to have been otherwise, the gods
would have done it. For if it were just, it would also be possible; and if it
were according to nature, nature would have had it so. But because it is not

so, if in fact it is not so, be thou convinced that it ought not to have been so:
for thou seest even of thyself that in this inquiry thou art disputing with the
Deity; and we should not thus dispute with the gods, unless they were most
excellent and most just; but if this is so, they would not have allowed
anything in the ordering of the universe to be neglected unjustly and
irrationally.
6. Practise thyself even in the things which thou despairest of
accomplishing. For even the left hand, which is ineffectual for all other
things for want of practice, holds the bridle more vigorously than the right
hand; for it has been practised in this.
7. Consider in what condition both in body and soul a man should be when
he is overtaken by death; and consider the shortness of life, the boundless
abyss of time past and future, the feebleness of all matter.
8. Contemplate the formative principles [forms] of things bare of their
coverings; the purposes of actions; consider what pain is, what pleasure is,
and death, and fame; who is to himself the cause of his uneasiness; how no
man is hindered by another; that everything is opinion.
9. In the application of thy principles thou must be like the pancratiast, not
like the gladiator; for the gladiator lets fall the sword which he uses and is
killed; but the other always has his hand, and needs to do nothing else than
use it.
10. See what things are in themselves, dividing them into matter, form, and
purpose.
11. What a power man has to do nothing except what God will approve, and
to accept all that God may give him.
12. With respect to that which happens conformably to nature, we ought to
blame neither gods, for they do nothing wrong either voluntarily or
involuntarily, nor men, for they do nothing wrong except involuntarily.
Consequently we should blame nobody (ii. 11, 12, 13; vii. 62; 18 viii. 17).
13. How ridiculous and what a stranger he is who is surprised at anything
which happens in life.

14. Either there is a fatal necessity and invincible order, or a kind
providence, or a confusion without a purpose and without a director (iv. 27).
If then there is an invincible necessity, why dost thou resist? But if there is a
providence which allows itself to be propitiated, make thyself worthy of the
help of the divinity. But if there is a confusion without a governor, be
content that in such a tempest thou hast in thyself a certain ruling
intelligence. And even if the tempest carry thee away, let it carry away the
poor flesh, the poor breath, everything else; for the intelligence at least it
will not carry away.
15. Does the light of the lamp shine without losing its splendor until it is
extinguished? and shall the truth which is in thee and justice and
temperance be extinguished [before thy death]?
16. When a man has presented the appearance of having done wrong [say],
How then do I know if this is a wrongful act? And even if he has done
wrong, how do I know that he has not condemned himself? And so this is
like tearing his own face. Consider that he who would not have the bad man
do wrong, is like the man who would not have the fig-tree to bear juice in
the figs, and infants to cry, and the horse to neigh, and whatever else must
of necessity be. For what must a man do who has such a character? If then
thou art irritable, + cure this man's disposition.[A]
17. If it is not right, do not do it: if it is not true, do not say it. [For let thy
efforts be—][B]
[A] The interpreters translate γοργός by the words "acer, validusque," and "skilful."
But in Epictetus (ii. 16, 20; iii. 12, 10) γοργός means "vehement," "prone to anger,"
"irritable."

[B] There is something wrong here, or incomplete.

18. In everything always observe what the thing is which produces for thee
an appearance, and resolve it by dividing it into the formal, the material, the
purpose, and the time within which it must end.
19. Perceive at last that thou hast in thee something better and more divine
than the things which cause the various affects, and as it were pull thee by
the strings. What is there now in my mind,—is it fear, or suspicion, or
desire, or anything of the kind (v. 11)?

20. First, do nothing inconsiderately, nor without a purpose. Second, make
thy acts refer to nothing else than to a social end.
21. Consider that before long thou wilt be nobody and nowhere, nor will
any of the things exist which thou now seest, nor any of those who are now
living. For all things are formed by nature to change and be turned and to
perish, in order that other things in continuous succession may exist (ix.
28).
22. Consider that everything is opinion, and opinion is in thy power. Take
away then, when thou choosest, thy opinion, and like a mariner who has
doubled the promontory, thou wilt find calm, everything stable, and a
waveless bay.
23. Any one activity, whatever it may be, when it has ceased at its proper
time, suffers no evil because it has ceased; nor he who has done this act,
does he suffer any evil for this reason, that the act has ceased. In like
manner then the whole, which consists of all the acts, which is our life, if it
cease at its proper time, suffers no evil for this reason, that it has ceased;
nor he who has terminated this series at the proper time, has he been ill
dealt with. But the proper time and the limit nature fixes, sometimes as in
old age the peculiar nature of man, but always the universal nature, by the
change of whose parts the whole universe continues ever young and perfect.
[A]
And everything which is useful to the universal is always good and in
season. Therefore the termination of life for every man is no evil, because
neither is it shameful, since it is both independent of the will and not
opposed to the general interest, but it is good, since it is seasonable, and
profitable to and congruent with the universal. For thus too he is moved by
the Deity who is moved in the same manner with the Deity, and moved
towards the same thing in his mind.
[A] vii. 25.

24. These three principles thou must have in readiness: In the things which
thou doest, do nothing either inconsiderately or otherwise than as justice
herself would act; but with respect to what may happen to thee from
without, consider that it happens either by chance or according to
providence, and thou must neither blame chance nor accuse providence.
Second, consider what every being is from the seed to the time of its

receiving a soul, and from the reception of a soul to the giving back of the
same, and of what things every being is compounded, and into what things
it is resolved. Third, if thou shouldst suddenly be raised up above the earth,
and shouldst look down on human things, and observe the variety of them
how great it is, and at the same time also shouldst see at a glance how great
is the number of beings who dwell all around in the air and the ether,
consider that as often as thou shouldst be raised up, thou wouldst see the
same things, sameness of form and shortness of duration. Are these things
to be proud of?
25. Cast away opinion: thou art saved. Who then hinders thee from casting
it away?
26. When thou art troubled about anything, thou hast forgotten this, that all
things happen according to the universal nature; and forgotten this, that a
man's wrongful act is nothing to thee; and further thou hast forgotten this,
that everything which happens, always happened so and will happen so, and
now happens so everywhere; forgotten this too, how close is the kinship
between a man and the whole human race, for it is a community, not of a
little blood or seed, but of intelligence. And thou hast forgotten this too, that
every man's intelligence is a god and is an efflux of the Deity;[A] and
forgotten this, that nothing is a man's own, but that his child and his body
and his very soul came from the Deity; forgotten this, that everything is
opinion; and lastly thou hast forgotten that every man lives the present time
only, and loses only this.
[A] See Epictetus, ii. 8, 9, etc.

27. Constantly bring to thy recollection those who have complained greatly
about anything, those who have been most conspicuous by the greatest
fame or misfortunes or enmities or fortunes of any kind: then think where
are they all now? Smoke and ash and a tale, or not even a tale. And let there
be present to thy mind also everything of this sort, how Fabius Catellinus
lived in the country, and Lucius Lupus in his gardens, and Stertinius at
Briae, and Tiberius at Capreae, and Velius Rufus [or Rufus at Velia]; and in
fine think of the eager pursuit of anything conjoined with pride;[A] and how
worthless everything is after which men violently strain; and how much
more philosophical it is for a man in the opportunities presented to him to

show himself just, temperate, obedient to the gods, and to do this with all
simplicity: for the pride which is proud of its want of pride is the most
intolerable of all.
[A] μετ᾽ οἰήσεως. Οἴησις καὶ τῦφος, Epict. i. 8, 6.

28. To those who ask, Where hast thou seen the gods, or how dost thou
comprehend that they exist and so worshippest them, I answer, in the first
place, they may be seen even with the eyes;[A] in the second place, neither
have I seen even my own soul, and yet I honor it. Thus then with respect to
the gods, from what I constantly experience of their power, from this I
comprehend that they exist, and I venerate them.
[A] "Seen even with the eyes." It is supposed that this may be explained by the Stoic
doctrine, that the universe is a god or living being (iv. 40), and that the celestial bodies
are gods (viii. 19). But the emperor may mean that we know that the gods exist, as he
afterwards states it, because we see what they do; as we know that man has
intellectual powers, because we see what he does, and in no other way do we know it.
This passage then will agree with the passage in the Epistle to the Romans (i. v. 20),
and with the Epistle to the Colossians (i. v. 15), in which Jesus Christ is named "the
image of the invisible god;" and with the passage in the Gospel of St. John (xiv. v. 9).
Gataker, whose notes are a wonderful collection of learning, and all of it sound and
good, quotes a passage of Calvin which is founded on St. Paul's language (Rom. i. v.
20): "God by creating the universe [or world, mundum], being himself invisible, has
presented himself to our eyes conspicuously in a certain visible form." He also quotes
Seneca (De Benef. iv. c. 8): "Quocunque te flexeris, ibi illum videbis occurrentem tibi:
nihil ab illo vacat, opus suum ipse implet." Compare also Cicero, De Senectute (c. 22),
Xenophon's Cyropaedia (viii. 7), and Mem. iv. 3; also Epictetus, i. 6, de Providentia. I
think that my interpretation of Antoninus is right.

29. The safety of life is this, to examine everything all through, what it is
itself, that is its material, what the formal part; with all thy soul to do justice
and to say the truth. What remains, except to enjoy life by joining one good
thing to another so as not to leave even the smallest intervals between?
30. There is one light of the sun, though it is interrupted by walls,
mountains, and other things infinite. There is one common substance,[A]
though it is distributed among countless bodies which have their several
qualities. There is one soul, though it is distributed among infinite natures
and individual circumscriptions [or individuals]. There is one intelligent
soul, though it seems to be divided. Now in the things which have been
mentioned, all the other parts, such as those which are air and matter, are
without sensation and have no fellowship: and yet even these parts the

intelligent principle holds together and the gravitation towards the same.
But intellect in a peculiar manner tends to that which is of the same kin, and
combines with it, and the feeling for communion is not interrupted.
[A] iv. 40.

31. What dost thou wish—to continue to exist? Well, dost thou wish to have
sensation, movement, growth, and then again to cease to grow, to use thy
speech, to think? What is there of all these things which seems to thee
worth desiring? But if it is easy to set little value on all these things, turn to
that which remains, which is to follow reason and God. But it is
inconsistent with honoring reason and God to be troubled because by death
a man will be deprived of the other things.
32. How small a part of the boundless and unfathomable time is assigned to
every man, for it is very soon swallowed up in the eternal! And how small a
part of the whole substance; and how small a part of the universal soul; and
on what a small clod of the whole earth thou creepest! Reflecting on all this,
consider nothing to be great, except to act as thy nature leads thee, and to
endure that which the common nature brings.
33. How does the ruling faculty make use of itself? for all lies in this. But
everything else, whether it is in the power of thy will or not, is only lifeless
ashes and smoke.
34. This reflection is most adapted to move us to contempt of death, that
even those who think pleasure to be a good and pain an evil still have
despised it.
35. The man to whom that only is good which comes in due season, and to
whom it is the same thing whether he has done more or fewer acts
conformable to right reason, and to whom it makes no difference whether
he contemplates the world for a longer or a shorter time—for this man
neither is death a terrible thing (iii. 7; vi. 23; x. 20; xii. 23).

36. Man, thou hast been a citizen in this great state [the world];[A] what
difference does it make to thee whether for five years [or three]? for that
which is conformable to the laws is just for all. Where is the hardship then,
if no tyrant nor yet an unjust judge sends thee away from the state, but
nature, who brought thee into it? the same as if a praetor who has employed

an actor dismisses him from the stage.[B]—"But I have not finished the five
acts, but only three of them."—Thou sayest well, but in life the three acts
are the whole drama; for what shall be a complete drama is determined by
him who was once the cause of its composition, and now of its dissolution:
but thou art the cause of neither. Depart then satisfied, for he also who
releases thee is satisfied.
[A] ii. 16; iii. 11; iv. 29.

[B] iii. 8; xi. 1.

INDEXES.
INDEX OF TERMS.

ἀδιάφορα (indifferentia, Cicero, Seneca, Epp. 82); things indifferent,
neither good nor bad; the same as μέσα.
αἰσχρός (turpis, Cic.), ugly; morally ugly.
αἰτία, cause.
αἰτιῶδες, αἴτιον, τό, the formal or formative principle, the cause.
ἀκοινώνητος, unsocial.
ἀναφορά, reference, relation to a purpose.
ἀνυπεξαιρέτως, unconditionally.
ἀπόῤῥοια , efflux.
ἀπροαίρετα, τά, the things which are not in our will or power.
ἀρχέ, a first principle.
ἄτομοι (corpora individua, Cic.), atoms.
αὐτάρκεια est quae parvo contenta omne id respuit quod abundat
(Cic.); contentment.
αὐτάρκης, sufficient in itself; contented.
ἀφορμαί, means, principles. The word has also other significations in
Epictetus. Index ed. Schweig.
γιγνόμενα, τά, things which are produced, come into existence.
δαίμων, god, god in man, man's intelligent principle.
διάθεσις, disposition, affection of the mind.

διαίρεσις, division of things into their parts, dissection, resolution,
analysis.
διαλεκτική, ars bene disserendi et vera ac falsa dijudicandi (Cic.).
διάλυσις, dissolution, the opposite of σύγκρισις.
διάνοια, understanding; sometimes, the mind generally, the whole
intellectual power.
δόγματα (decreta, Cic.), principles.
δύναμις νοερά, intellectual faculty.
ἐγκράτεια, temperance, self-restraint.
εἶδος in divisione formae sunt, quas Graeci εἶδη vocant; nostri, si qui
haec forte tractant, species appellant (Cic.). But εἶδος is used by
Epictetus and Antoninus less exactly and as a general term, like
genus. Index Epict. ed. Schweig.—Ὡς δέ γε αἱ πρῶται οὐσίαι πρὸς
τὰ ἄλλα ἔχουσιν, οὕτω καὶ τὸ εἶδος πρὸς τὸ γένος ἔχει ὑποκεῖται γὰρ
τὸ εἶδος τῷ γένει [Transliteration text] (Aristot. Cat. c. 5.)
εἰμαρμένη (fatalis necessitas, fatum, Cic.), destiny, necessity.
ἐκκλίσεις, aversions, avoidance, the turning away from things; the
opposite of ὀρέξεις.
ἔμψυχα, τά, things which have life.
ἐνέργεια, action, activity.
ἕννοια, ἕννοιαι, notio, notiones (Cic.), or "notitiae rerum;" notions of
things. (Notionem appello quam Graeci tum έννοιαν, tum πρόληψιν,
Cic.).
ἕνωσις, ἡ, the unity.
ἐπιστροφή, attention to an object.
εὐθυμία, animi tranquillitas (Cic.).

εὐμενές, τό, εὐμενεία, benevolence; εὐμενής sometimes means well-
contented.
εὔνοια, benevolence.
ἐξουσία, power, faculty.
ἐπακολούθησιν, κατὰ, by way of sequence.
ἡγεμονικόν, τό, the ruling faculty or part; principatus (Cic.).
θεωρήματα, percepta (Cic.), things perceived, general principles.
καθήκειν, τό, duty, "officium."
καλός, beautiful.
κατάληψις, comprehension; cognitio, perceptio, comprehensio (Cic.).
κατασκευή, constitution.
κατορθώσεις, καταρθώματα recta, recte facta (Cic.); right acts, those
acts to which we proceed by the right or straight road.
κόσμος, order, world, universe.
κόσμος, ὁ ὃλος, the universe, that which is the One and the all (vi. 25).
κρίμα, a judgment.
κυριεῦον τὸ ἔνδον, that which rules within (iv. 1), the same as τὸ
ἡγεμονικόν. Diogenes Laertius vii., Zeno. ἡγεμονικόν δε εἔναι το
κυριώτατον τῆς ψυχῆς.
λογικά, τά, the things which have reason.
λογικός, rational.
λόγος, reason.
λόγος σπερματικός, seminal principle.
μέσα, τά, things indifferent, viewed with respect to virtue.

νοερός, intellectual.
νόμος, law.
νοῦς, intelligence, understanding.
οἴησις, arrogance, pride. It sometimes means in Antoninus the same as
τῦφος but it also means "opinion."
οἰκονομία (dispositio, ordo, Cic.) has sometimes the peculiar sense of
artifice, or doing something with an apparent purpose different from
the real purpose.
ὅλον, τό, the universe, the whole: ἡ τῶν ὄλων φύσις.
ὄντα, τά, things which exist; existence, being.
ὄρεξις, desire of a thing, which is opposed to ἔκκλισις, aversion.
ὁρμή, movement towards an object, appetite; appetitio, naturalis
appetitus, appetitus animi (Cic.).
οὐσία, substance (vi. 49). Modern writers sometimes incorrectly
translate it "essentia." It is often used by Epictetus in the same sense
as ὕλη. Aristotle (Cat. c. 5) defines οὐσία, and it is properly
translated "substantia" (ed. Jul. Pacius). Porphyrius (Isag. c. 2): ἡ
οὐσία ἀνωτάτω οὐσα τῷ μηδὲν πρὸ αὐτῆς γένος ἠν τὸ γενικώτατον.
παρακολουθητικὴ δύναμις, ἡ, the power which enables us to observe
and understand.
πεῑσις, passivity, opposed to ἐνέργεια: also, affect.
περιστάσεις, circumstances, the things which surround us; troubles,
difficulties.
πεπρωμένη, ἡ, destiny.
προαίρεσις, purpose, free will (Aristot. Rhet. i. 13).
προαίρετά, τά, things which are within our will or power.
προαιρετικόν, τό, free will.

πρόθεσις, a purpose, proposition.
πρόνοια (providentia, Cic.), providence.
σκοπός, object, purpose.
στοιχεῖον, element.
συγκατάθεσις (assensio, approbatio, Cic.), assent; συγκαταθέσεις
(probationes, Gellius, xix. 1).
συγκρίματα, things compounded (ii. 3).
σύγκρισις, the act of combining elements out of which a body is
produced, combination.
σύνθεσις, ordering, arrangement (compositio).
σύστημα, system, a thing compounded of parts which have a certain
relation to one another.
ὕλη, matter, material.
ὑλικόν, τό, the material principle.
ὑπεξαίρεσις, exception, reservation; μεθ᾽ ὑπεξαιρέσεως, conditionally.
ὑπόθεσις, material to work on; thing to employ the reason on;
proposition, thing assumed as matter for argument and to lead to
conclusions. (Quaestionum duo sunt genera; alterum infinitum,
definitum alterum. Definitum est, quod ὑπόθεσιν Graeci, nos
causam: infinitum, quod θέσιν illi appellant, nos propositum
possumus nominare. Cic. See Aristot. Anal. Post. i. c. 2).
ὑποκείμενα, τά, things present or existing, vi. 4; or things which are a
basis or foundation.
ὑπόληψις, opinion.
ὑπόστασις, basis, substance, being, foundation (x. 5). Epictetus has τὸ
ὑποστατικὸν καὶ οὐσιῶδες. (Justinus ad Diogn. c. 2.)
ὑφίστασθαι, to subsist, to be.

φαντασίαι(visus, Cic.); appearances, thoughts, impressions (visa
animi, Gellius, xix. 1): φαντασία ἐστὶ τύπωσις ἐν ψυχῄ.
φάντασμα, seems to be used by Antoninus in the same sense as
φαντασία. Epictetus uses only φαντασία.
φανταστόν, that which produces a φαντασία: φανταστὸν τὸ τεπσιηκὸς
τὴν φαντασίαν αίσθητόν.
φύσις, nature.
φύσις ἡ τῶν ὄλων, the nature of the universe.
ψυχή, soul, life, living principle.
ψυχὴ λογική, νοερά, a rational soul, an intelligent soul

[Greek transliteration from eidos: Hôs de ge ahi prôtai ousiai pros ta alla echousin,
outô kai to eidos pros to genos echei hypokeitai gar to eidos tô genei]

GENERAL INDEX.

*** The paragraphs (par.) and lines (l.) are those of the sections.
Active, man is by nature, ix. 16.
Advice from the good to be taken, vii. 21; viii. 16.
Affectation,vii. 60; viii. 30; xi. 18 (par. 9), 19.
Anger discouraged, vi. 26, 27; xi. 18.
Anger, offenses of, ii. 10.
Anger, uselessness of, v. 28; viii. 4
Appearances not to be regarded, v. 36; vi. 3, 13.

Astonishment should not be felt at any thing that happens, viii. 15; xii.
1 (sub fine), 13.
Attainment, what is within every one's, vii. 67; viii. 8.
Attention to what is said or done, vi. 53; vii. 4, 30; viii. 22.

Bad, the, ii. 1.
Beautiful, the, ii. 1.

Casual. See Formal.
Change keeps the world ever new, vii. 25; viii. 50 (l. 13); xii. 23 (l. 10)
Change, law of, iv. 3 (sub f.), 36, v. 13, 23; vi. 4, 15, 36; vii. 18; viii. 6;
ix. 19, 28 (par. 2), 35; x. 7, 18; xii. 21.
Change, no evil in, iv. 42.
Christians, the xi. 3.
Circle, things come round in a, ii. 14.
Comedy, new, xi. 6.
Comedy, Old, xi. 6.
Complaining, uselessness of, viii. 17, 50.
Connection. See Universe.
Conquerers are robbers, x. 10.
Contentment. See Resignation.
Co-operation. See Mankind and Universe.

Daemon, the, ii. 13, 17; iii. 6 (l. 8), 7, 16 (l. 18); v. 10 (sub f.) 27; xii. 3
(sub. f.).
Death, ii. 11, 12, 17; iii. 3, 7; iv. 5; v. 33; vi. 2, 24, 28; vii. 32; viii. 20,
58; ix. 3, 21; x. 36; xii. 23, 23, 35.
Death inevitable, iii. 3; iv. 3 (l. 22), 6, 32, 48, 50; v. 33; vi. 47; viii. 25,
31.
Desire, offenses of, ii. 10.
Destiny, iii. 11 (l. 19); iv. 26; v. 8 (l. 13, etc.), 24; vii. 57; x. 5.
Discontent. See Resignation.
Doubts discussed, vi. 10; vii. 75; ix. 28, 39; xii. 5, 14,
Duty, all-importance of, vi. 2, 22; x. 22.

Earth, insignificance of the, iii. 10; iv. 3 (par. 1, sub f.); vi. 2; viii. 21;
xii. 32.
Earthly things, transitory nature of, ii. 12, 17; iv. 32, 33, 35, 48; v. 23;
vi. 15, 36; vii. 21, 34; viii. 21, 25; x. 18, 31; xii. 27.
Earthly things, worthlessness of, ii. 12; v. 10, 33; vi. 15; vii. 3; ix. 24,
36; xi. 2; xii. 27.
Equanimity, x. 8.
Example, we should not follow bad, vi. 6; vii. 65.
Existence, meanness of, viii. 24.
Existence, the object of, v. 1; viii. 19.
External things cannot really harm a man, or affect the soul, ii. 11 (l.
22); iv. 3 (par. 2, sub f.); 8, 39, 49 (par. 2); v. 35; vii. 64; viii. 1 (sub
f.); 32, 51 (par. 2); ix. 31; x. 33.

Failure, x. 12.
Fame, worthlessness of, iii. 10; iv. 3 (l. 45), 19, 33 (l. 10); v. 33; vi. 16,
18; vii. 34; viii. 1, 44; ix. 30.
Fear, what we ought to, xii. 1 (l. 18).
Fellowship. See Mankind.
Few things necessary for a virtuous and happy life, ii. 5; iii. 10; vii. 67;
x. 8 (l. 22).
Flattery, xi. 18 (par. 10).
Formal, the, and the material, iv. 21 (par. 2); v. 13; vii. 10, 29; viii. 11;
ix. 25; xii. 8, 10, 18.
Future, we should not be anxious about the, vii. 8; viii. 11; ix. 25; xii.
1.

Gods, perfect justice of the, xii. 5 (par. 2).
Gods, the, vi. 44; xii. 28.
Gods, the, cannot be evil, ii. 11; vi. 44.
Good, the, ii. 1.

Habit of thought, v. 16.
Happiness, what is true, v. 9 (sub f.), 34; viii. 1; x. 33.
Help to be accepted from others, xii. 7.
Heroism, true, xi. 18 (par. 10).

Ignorance. See Wrong-doing.

Independence. See Self-reliance.
Indifferent things, ii. 11 (sub f.); ix. 39; vi 32; ix, 1; (l. 30).
Individual, the. See Interests.
Infinity. See Time.
Ingratitude. See Mankind.
Injustice, ix. 1.
Intelligent soul, rational beings participate in the same, iv. 40; ix. 8, 9;
x. 1 (l. 15); xii. 26, 30.
Interests of the whole and the individual identical, iv. 23; v. 8 (l. 34);
vi. 45, 54; x. 6, 20, 33 (sub f.); xii. 23 (l. 12).

Justice, v. 34; x. 11; xi. 10.
Justice and reason identical, xi. 1 (sub f.).
Justice prevails everywhere, iv. 10.

Leisure, we ought to have some, viii. 51.
Life, a good, everywhere possible, v. 16.
Life can only be lived once, ii. 14; x. 31 (l. 11).
Life, shortness of, ii. 4, 17; iii. 10, 14; iv. 17, 48 (sub f.). 50; vi. 15, 36,
56; x. 31, 34.
Life to be made a proper use of, without delay, ii. 4; iii. 1, 14; iv. 17,
37; vii. 56; viii. 22; x. 31 (l. 14); xii. 1 (l. 18).
Life, whether long or short, matters not, vi. 49; ix. 33; xii. 36.

Magnanimity, x. 8.
Mankind, co-operation and fellowship of, one with another; ii. 1 (l.
11), 16; iii. 4 (sub f.); 11 (sub f.); iv. 4, 33 (sub f.); v. 16 (l. 11), 20;
vi. 7, 14 (sub f.), 23, 39; vii. 5, 13, 22, 55; viii. 12, 26, 34, 43, 59; ix.
1, 9 (sub f.), 23, 31, 42 (sub. f.); x. 36, (l. 16); xi. 8, 21; xii. 20.
Mankind, folly and baseness of, v. 10 (l. 9); ix. 2, 3 (l. 13), 29; x. 15,
19.
Mankind, ingratitude of, x. 36.
Material, the. See Formal.

Nature, after products of, iii. 2; vi. 36.
Nature, bounds fixed by, v. 1.
Nature, man formed by, to bear all that happens to him, v. 18; viii. 46.
Nature, nothing evil, which is according to, ii. 17 (sub f.); vi. 33.
Nature of the universe. See Universe, nothing that happens is contrary
to the nature of the.
Nature, perfect beauty of, iii. 2; vi. 36.
Nature, we should live according to, iv. 48 (sub. f.), 51; v. 3. 25; vi. 16
(l. 12); vii. 15, 55; viii. 1, 54; x. 33.
New, nothing, under the sun, ii. 14 (l. 11); iv. 44; vi. 37, 46; vii. 1, 49;
viii. 6; ix. 14; x. 27; xi. 1.

Object, we should always act with a view to some, ii. 7, 16 (l. 12); iii.
4; iv. 2; viii. 17; x. 37; xi. 21; xii. 20.
Obsolete, all things become, iv. 33.
Omissions, sins of, ix. 5.

Opinion, iv. 3 (par. 2) (sub f.), 7, 12, 39; vi. 52, 57; vii. 2, 14, 16, 26,
68; viii. 14, 29, 40, 47, 49; ix. 13, 29 (l. 12), 32, 42 (l. 21); x. 3; xi.
16, 18; xii. 22, 25.
Others' conduct not to be inquired into, iii. 4; iv. 18; v. 25.
Others, opinion of, to be disregarded, viii. 1 (l. 12); x. 8 (l. 12), 11; xi.
13; xii. 4.
Others, we should be lenient towards, ii. 13 (sub f.); iii. 11 (sub f.); iv.
3 (l. 16); v. 33 (l. 17); vi. 20, 27; vii. 26, 62, 63, 70; ix. 11, 27; x. 4;
xi. 9, 13, 18; xii. 16.
Others, we should examine the ruling principles of; iv. 38; ix. 18, 22,
27, 34.
Ourselves often to blame for expecting men to act contrary to their
nature, ix. 42 (l. 31).
Ourselves, reformation should begin with, xi. 29.
Ourselves, we should judge, x. 30; xi. 18 (par. 4).

Pain, vii. 33, 64; viii. 28.
Perfection not to be expected in this world, ix. 29 (l. 7).
Perseverance, v. 9; x. 12.
Perturbation, vi. 16 (sub f.); viii. 58; ix. 31.
Pessimism, ix. 35.
Philosophy, v. 9; vi. 12; ix. 41 (l. 15).
Pleasure, he who pursues, is guilty of impiety, ix. 1 (l. 24).
Pleasures are enjoyed by the bad, vi. 34; ix. 1 (l. 30).
Power, things in our own, v. 5, 10 (sub f.); vi. 32, 41, 52, 58; vii. 2, 14,
54, 68; x. 32, 33.

Power, things not in our own, v. 33 (sub f.); vi. 41.
Practice is good, even in things which we despair of accomplishing,
xii. 6.
Praise, worthlessness of, iii. 4 (sub f.); iv. 20; vi. 16, 59; vii. 62; viii.
52, 53; ix. 34.
Prayer, the right sort of, v. 7; ix. 40.
Present time the only thing a man really possesses, ii. 14; iii. 10; viii.
44; xii. 3 (sub f.)
Procrastination, See Life to be made a proper use of, etc.
Puppet pulled by strings of desire, ii. 2; iii. 16; vi. 16, 28; vii. 3, 29;
xii. 19.

Rational soul. See Ruling part.
Rational soul, spherical form of the, viii. 41 (sub f.); xi. 12; xii. 3 (and
see Ruling part).
Reason, all-prevailing, v. 32; vi. 1, 40.
Reason and nature identical, vii. 11.
Reason the, can adapt everything that happens to its own use, v. 20; vi.
8; vii. 68 (l. 16); viii. 35; x. 31 (sub f.).
Reason, we should live according to. See Nature.
Repentance does not follow renouncement of pleasure, viii. 10.
Resignation and contentment, iii. 4 (l. 27, etc.), 16 (l. 10, etc.); iv. 23,
31, 33 (sub f.), 34; v. 8 (sub f.), 33 (l. 16); vi. 16 (sub f.), 44, 49; vii.
27, 57; ix. 37; x. 1, 11, 14, 25, 28, 35.
Revenge, best kind of, vi. 6.
Rising from bed, v. 1; viii. 11.

Ruling part, the, ii. 2; iv. 11, 19, 21, 26; vi. 14, 35; vii. 16, 55 (par. 2);
viii. 45, 48, 56, 57, 60, 61; ix. 15, 26; x. 24, 33 (l. 21), 38; xi. 1, 19,
20; xii. 3, 14.

Self-reliance and steadfastness of soul, iii. 5 (sub f.), 12; iv. 14, 29 (l.
5), 49 (par. 1); v. 3, 34 (l. 5); vi. 44 (l. 15); vii. 12, 15; ix. 28 (l. 8),
29 (sub f.); xii. 14.
Self-restraint, v. 33 (sub f.).
Self, we should retire into, iv. 3 (l. 4 and par. 2); vii. 28, 33, 59; viii.
48.
Senses, movements of the, to be disregarded, v. 31 (l. 10); vii. 55 (par.
2); viii. 26, 39; x. 8 (l. 13); xi. 19; xii. 1 (l. 18).
Social. See Mankind.
Steadfastness of soul. See Self-reliance.
Substance, the universal, iv. 40; v. 24; vii. 19, 23; xii. 30.
Suicide, v. 29; viii. 47 (sub f.); x. 8 (l. 35).

Time compared to a river, iv. 43.
Time, infinity of, iv. 3 (l. 35), 50 (sub f.); v. 24; ix. 32; xii. 7, 32.
Tragedy, xi. 6.
Tranquillity of soul, iv. 3; vi. 11; vii. 68; viii. 28.

Ugly, the, ii. 1.
Unintelligible things, v. 10.
Universe, harmony of the, iv. 27, 45; v. 8 (l. 14).

Universe, intimate connection and co-operation of all things in the, one
with another, ii. 3, 9; iv. 29; v. 8, 30; vi. 38, 42, 43; vii. 9, 19, 68
(sub f.); viii. 7; ix. 1; x. 1.
Universe, nothing that dies falls out of the, viii. 18, 50 (l. 13); x. 7 (l.
25).
Universe, nothing that happens is contrary to the nature of the, v. 8, 10
(sub f.); vi. 9, 58; viii. 5; xii. 26.
Unnecessary things, v. 45.
Unnecessary thoughts, words, and actions, iii. 4; iv. 24.

Vain professions, x. 16; xi. 15.
Virtue, vi. 17.
Virtue its own reward, v. 6; vii. 73; ix. 42. (l. 47); xi. 4.
Virtue, omnipotence of, iv. 16.
Virtue, pleasure in contemplating, vi. 48.

Whole, integrity of the, to be preserved, v. 8 (sub f.).
Whole, the. See Interests.
Wickedness has always existed, vii. 1.
Wickedness must exist in the world, viii. 15, 50; ix. 42; xi. 18 (par. ii);
xii. 16.
Worst evil, the, ix. 2 (l. 9.)
Worth and importance, things of real, iv. 33 (sub f.); v. 10 (l. 16); vi.
16, 30 (l. 7), 47 (sub f.); vii. 20, 44, 46, 58, 66; viii. 2, 3, 5; ix. 6, 12;
x. 8 (l. 27), 11; xii. 1, 27, 31, 33.

Wrong-doing cannot really harm any one, vii. 22; viii. 55; ix. 42 (l.
25); x. 13 (par. 1); xi. 18 (par. 7).
Wrong-doing injures the wrong-doer, iv. 26; ix. 4, 38; xi. 18 (par. 3).
Wrong-doing owing to ignorance, ii. 1, 13; vi. 27; vii. 22, 26, 62, 63;
xi. 18 (par. 3); xii. 22.
Wrong-doing to be left where it is, vii. 29; ix. 20.

THE END.

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