Meditations

Marcus lists the virtues exhibited in and gifts bestowed by seventeen figures in his life, including his parents (adoptive and biological), teachers, public figures, and the gods. Recurring motifs across the entries are integrity over a desire for honor, simplicity of living, kindness towards and tolerance of others, a willingness to improve oneself, love of truth and justice, even-temperedness, and self-control. The two longest entries, and the final ones logged, are addressed to his adoptive father and to the gods.

Marcus’s adoptive father was Roman emperor Antoninus Pius, who Marcus succeeded with Lucius Verus (See: Background). Marcus praises him as a man who had proper perspective and balance. Antoninus avoided extremes and acted with measure in all things. He respected “genuine philosophers,” deferred “ungrudgingly to those with some special ability,” and behaved “with an eye for precisely what needs to be done, not the glory of its doing” (7).

Marcus’s entry on the gods focuses on his appreciation for having been surrounded by family and friends who taught him proper values and modeled exemplary behavior. He credits the gods for his physical health, the qualities in his character that he appreciates, and their “help through dreams” (9).