Audiobook · read by volunteers
Meditations
Marcus Aurelius
Read by Aegist, Kevin McAsh, davyobrian, Cicorée, ontheroad, Fr. Richard Zeile of Detroit, ML Cohen, Leon Mire · 15 chapters · 6 h 59
About the book
Between the years 170 and 180, while he was on campaign far from Rome, the emperor Marcus Aurelius wrote down thoughts for his own use. They were not meant for publication, and they read as brief memos from a man trying to live well: how to meet insult with calm, how to face loss, how to do the work in front of you, how to remember that life is short. Written in Greek, the Meditations express the Stoic idea that we cannot control what happens to us but we can govern our judgement of it. They are collected in twelve books, here in George Long's nineteenth-century English version. Eight volunteer readers share this recording, and the quiet, practical wisdom comes across clearly in every voice. There is no pretence in these pages, only the steady counsel of a man talking to himself.
Introduction
Marcus Aurelius was born in 121 and died in 180. He ruled the Roman Empire from 161, and much of his reign was spent dealing with wars on the frontiers and with a plague. He was also a student of philosophy, and the notebook he kept during his campaigns has become one of the most widely read books of ancient wisdom. Its Greek title is usually translated as To Himself, or simply Meditations.
The text is not a treatise. It consists of short entries, sometimes a single sentence and sometimes a longer reflection, written to remind the author of principles he wished to follow. He draws on the Stoic tradition: that virtue is the only real good, that nature has an order we should accept, and that we are part of a larger human community. Many readers, whether in government, in the army or in everyday life, have found steadiness in his plain, honest words.
This recording uses the English translation by George Long, who lived from 1800 to 1879 and published his version in 1862. It lasts around seven hours and is split into 15 sections, an introduction and the twelve books among them, read by eight LibriVox volunteers. It is a good book to dip into slowly, perhaps a short passage each day, and it still speaks to anyone who seeks calm in a difficult time.
The Meditations make no claim to be a systematic philosophy, and that is part of their appeal. They are the private notes of a man who held great power and yet kept reminding himself that he was mortal, and that every day should be used well.
Public domain
The LibriVox volunteers dedicated this recording to the public domain.
Sources : LibriVox page · Files at the Internet Archive · Original text