From
my mother, 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.
From
my great-grandfather, 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.
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.
From
Diognetus, 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 Greek discipline.
From
Rusticus 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
practices much discipline, or does benevolent acts in order to
make a display. . . .
From
Apollonius 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. . . .
—Marcus
Aurelius, Meditations, Book 1 (tr
Long)
We still
thank those who have helped us when we receive honors, and we still tend to
write dedications for books or records, but we usually don’t do so with half as
much commitment and reflection as Marcus Aurelius. They will cut you off after
a few too many seconds at the Academy Awards, but Aurelius fills the entire
first book of the Meditations with his thanks. We think it enough to thank a
spouse for just being “patient” in the preface, but Aurelius tells us so much
more, about how and why these many people helped him to build his character.
It is
interesting to look up who these people were, but perhaps even more interesting
to consider why he is grateful to them. I may thank my manager for getting me
the best contract, or my business professor for teaching me the art of the
deal, or my law partner for helping me win all of those lucrative cases. Aurelius
is not interested in the acquisition of wealth, power, or fame, but admires
others for the wisdom and virtue they modeled. This isn’t about recognizing
those who were there while he became a big man, but those who helped him to
become a good man.
Only the
first few entries are listed above, but they already give a powerful sense of
the man who ruled an empire and slept on a board.
He
hardly sounds like a wealthy heir when he speaks of what his family offered
him: good morals, temperance, modesty, manly character, piety, beneficence,
abstinence from evil deeds and evil thoughts, and simplicity of living far from
the habits of the rich. I smile when I see him grateful for an education at
home, something he does think is well worth the expense.
Some of
the teachers who had a great influence on him, Diognetus, Apollonius, and
Rusticus, encouraged the pursuit of a philosophical life: to follow reason over
superstition, to dedicate oneself to self-discipline over the love of
appearances, and to choose steadfastness of purpose in all circumstances.
Now I
have been around the block a few times, and I have seen people mouth all the
right words, while still doing all the wrong things; those are, in fact,
usually the most successful kind of criminals and tyrants. If I have any doubts,
however, about whether Marcus Aurelius will put his money where his mouth is, I
need only read on in the Meditations.
He was a
man with faults like anyone else, but what sets him apart is his commitment to
a life of constant personal improvement, and a perspective on the value of all
human effort within the harmony of the entire Universe. I believe there is a
good reason he was the last of Rome’s “Five Good Emperors”, men who tried to exercise power with virtue.
Written in 12/1999
Image: Portrait of Marcus Aurelius as a Boy (c. 140 AD)
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