Meditations

2004

Special Collections B1 GS48 no.02. (Permissions kindly granted by Penguin Ltd.)

London: Penguin

Adopted by the Emperor Hadrian (76-138) in 138, Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180) became emperor himself in 161 AD. Educated at home, Marcus Aurelius studied law and followed the teachings of Stoicism. He wrote Meditations while waging war against the Germanic tribes to the North, in the decade before his death in 180 AD. This work, intended only for his personal use, has helped Marcus Aurelius’s enduring reputation ‘as an influence, an example and an inspiration for two millennia’ (McLynn). Meditations is still relevant today. Pocahontas’ husband, Captain John Smith (1580-1631) took two books with him to America, one of which was Meditations; Cecil Rhodes (1853-1902) often carried a well-read and annotated copy; and Bill Clinton (b. 1946) is known to have read Meditations while in residence at the White House.