The philosophical thought of the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius represents the reflection of the last great exponent of the Stoic doctrine, belonging to the so-called new Stoa or "Roman Stoicism".
His philosophy retraces the Stoic attitude, starting from the withdrawal into oneself, aided by political activism, following the Fate. The celebration of interiority is clearly evident from the title of his only written work, the Meditations, also known as Thoughts, Memoirs, or To Himself.
Marcus Aurelius wrote the twelve books that make up the work between 170 and 180, during breaks from his numerous travels, in Greek of the koinè, as an exercise for his own guidance and self-improvement, influenced by some of his youth teachers who had pushed him towards philosophy;; among them Quintus Junius Rusticus, Diognetus, Claudius Maximus, and Apollonius of Chalcedon, remembered in Book I. The literary style is inspired by that of the grammarian Alexander of Cotiaeum, another of his tutors, as Marcus himself recalls.; The title of this work was a posthumous addition; originally, Marcus titled the work To Himself, but it is not known if he intended to make it public. The Thoughts demonstrate a logical mind, and his notes are representative of Stoic philosophy and its spirituality, also offering a fine and detailed psychological portrait. The book is considered one of the literary and philosophical masterpieces of all time.
Philosophical formation
Marcus Aurelius's education took place at home: in line with the aristocratic trends of the time, his great-grandfather Severus encouraged him to avoid public schools. One of his teachers, Diognetus, proved particularly influential, introducing Marcus to a philosophical view of life and teaching him rationality. In April 132, at the behest of Diognetus (identified by some as the recipient of the letter Epistle to Diognetus), Marcus began to wear the clothes and adopt the habits typical of philosophers: while studying, he wore a rough Greek cloak, and he slept on the ground until his mother convinced him to sleep on a bed.;
A new series of preceptors, the grammarian Alexander of Cotiaeum, Trosius Aper, and Tuticius Proculus continued to take care of his education in 132–133. Little is known about these last two teachers (both of Latin), while Alexander is described as an important literary figure of his time. Marcus thanks Alexander for his training in literary style, evident in many passages of the Meditations.
After donning the toga virilis in 136, he probably began his oratorical training. He had three Greek teachers, Aninus Macer, Caninius Celer, and Herodes Atticus, and one Latin teacher, Marcus Cornelius Fronto, whom Marcus often remembers as his teacher of style and life in the Meditations. Fronto and Atticus, however, became his tutors only after his adoption by Antoninus in 138. The preponderance of Greek tutors indicates the importance of the language for the Roman aristocracy. This was the age of the Second Sophistic, a revival of Greek literature. Although educated in Rome, Marcus would write part of the Meditations in Greek.;
Fronto was considered, as an orator, second only to Cicero, or on par with the "glory of Roman eloquence", a fame that today, based on the few remaining fragments, may leave one astonished.; many modern critics have doubted this admiration of contemporaries. Renowned philologists expressed numerous criticisms: Barthold Georg Niebuhr described him as "frivolous", Samuel Adrian Naber found him "contemptible", see ; others called him "pedantic and boring", writing that his letters offer neither the political analysis of a Cicero nor the introspection of a Pliny, see ; an '80s prosopographical study rehabilitated his reputation, though not considerably, see, for example, on . He had no sympathy for Herodes, although Marcus eventually managed to establish good relations between them. Fronto had complete mastery of Latin and, skilled in word choice, was capable of formulating unusual expressions through literary art., who cites . A significant amount of correspondence between Fronto and Marcus has survived to us. The two were very close; Marcus called him "my dear Fronto" and "my joy" and also spent a lot of time with his wife and daughter, both named Cratia, in casual conversations.
On the occasion of the imperial ascent of his pupils, Marcus and Lucius Verus, Fronto left his home in Cirta and on 28 March returned to his Roman residence. He sent a note to the imperial freedman Charilas, asking to be able to contact the emperors because, he said later, he had not dared to write directly to the emperors. The teacher showed immense pride in his pupils: reflecting on the speech given for the ascent to the consulship in 143, where he praised the young Marcus, Fronto was enthusiastic: "There was then an extraordinary natural ability in you, now perfected into excellence; the growing grain is now a ripe harvest".;
It is known that Marcus, once he became emperor, discussed with Fronto his reading of Coelius and Cicero, and of his family. His daughters were in the house in Rome, with their great-aunt (daughter of Salonina Matidia, a direct relative of Hadrian and Trajan), because the emperor thought the evening air was too cold for them. He asked Fronto to provide him with "some readings of eloquence, something of yours, or of Cato, or Cicero, Sallust, or Gracchus, or a poet, because I need distractions, especially at this time, reading something that dispels my urgent anxieties".;
In another occasion, Marcus wrote Fronto a letter for his birthday, stating that he loved him as he loved himself and appealing to the gods that all his literary knowledge be learned "from Fronto's lips". His prayers for Fronto's health were more than a conventional act (because Fronto was often ill and sometimes seemed to suffer from a constant infirmity), so much so that he asked to share Fronto's pain himself. and in the translation by .
Fronto did not become Marcus's full-time teacher and continued his career as a lawyer. A case brought him into conflict with Herodes, who was the main accuser of Tiberius Claudius Demostratus, an Athenian notable defended by Fronto. Due to his conflicted relations with the city of Athens, the defense strategy would probably have attacked Herodes's character. Marcus had begged Fronto, first "advising him", then "asking him the favor" not to attack Herodes, whom he had already asked to refrain from striking the first blows. Fronto declared himself surprised to discover that Marcus considered Herodes as a friend (perhaps because Herodes was not yet his tutor), but acknowledged that Marcus might be right in asking that the case not turn into a spectacle. Nevertheless, he confirmed his intention to use the material at his disposal: "I warn you that I will not use the opportunity that presents itself in this case disproportionately, since the accusations are terrible and must be spoken of in these terms. Especially those events that refer to beatings and robberies, I will expose them in all their gravity, but even if I accuse him of being an uncultured little Greek, I will not intend war to the death". Marcus was satisfied with this response from Fronto.
The outcome of the trial is unknown, but Marcus managed to reconcile the two. Subsequently, Herodes became consul ordinarius, while in July and August of 143, Fronto was appointed consul suffectus.. Marcus wrote to him informing him that Herodes's last-born had just died and invited him to express his condolences. Fronto therefore wrote him a letter, in Greek, partly preserved. Fronto also praised Marcus for his talent as a mediator: "if anyone has ever had the power from his character to bring all his friends together in mutual concord, you would succeed with extreme ease".
At the age of twenty-five, Marcus began to lose interest in legal studies, showing signs of widespread malaise. He was tired of his exercises and of taking positions in imaginary debates. When he criticized the insincerity of conventional language, Fronto took to defending it., translated by . In any case, Marcus's formal education was now over. He had maintained good relations with his teachers, still following them with devotion, even though the long education had negatively affected his health.
Initially, Fronto had warned Marcus against studying philosophy: "it is better never to have undertaken the study of philosophy than to have tasted it, with the tip of the tongue, as they say". He disapproved of his lessons with Apollonius of Chalcedon. Another philosophy teacher whom Marcus remembers in his writings is Claudius Maximus,Claudius Maximus, consul in 144, later governor of Pannonia Superior ( around 150–154) and proconsul in Africa. a philosopher and politician.
Quintus Junius Rusticus also had influence on the boy; Rusticus was twenty years older than Marcus and was only slightly older than Fronto himself. As the grandson of Quintus Junius Arulenus Rusticus, one of the martyrs of Domitian's tyranny and his persecution against philosophers (Arulenus had been condemned to death for treason, for heavily criticizing Domitian himself in a book focused on Thrasea Paetus), he was heir to the tradition of Stoic opposition to the "bad emperors" of the 1st century and considered the true successor of Seneca. Rusticus had been consul suffectus in 133; later, Marcus appointed him consul ordinarius in 162, as well as Praefectus urbi in the years following 162. Marcus thanked Rusticus on numerous occasions for his teaching. In addition to Rusticus, Marcus was probably inspired by reading Arrian, to whom we owe the transcriptions of the lessons of his master (whom Marcus did not know due to age), Epictetus of Hierapolis (a pupil of Gaius Musonius Rufus and friend of Hadrian); it was Rusticus who suggested these readings to him.Marcus remembers Epictetus as a spiritual guide, often referring to his Diatribe and the Manuale, for example in , quoting and commenting on some of his maxims.
Chronology of writings
Many modern authors believe that the first of these books, written on the Granua (the current Hron river, in Slovakia), constitutes a kind of inner testament, where Marcus Aurelius remembered all the important people in his life - such as his parents, grandparents, adoptive father Antoninus Pius, wife Faustina, children (particularly Commodus and Verus), friends, and all his literary and philosophical teachers - in autobiographical form, perhaps datable to 179, a few months before his death.
Book II, written at Carnuntum, also considered to be of later dating, may have been written in 178, and most importantly, represent the key to a possible chronological interpretation of the work.
In this case, it would be hypothesized a chronology in which the first book is datable to 179 and the last, XII, to 168–170, at the time of the death of his fraternal friend and teacher of rhetoric, Marcus Cornelius Fronto (170), and shortly after that of his son-in-law, co-emperor, and adoptive brother, Lucius Verus. Moreover, the theme of death recurs in this XII book, in the passage placed as the conclusion of the entire work:
Philosophical positions
Marcus seems to take up the classical Stoic positions, from Zeno to Epictetus, emphasizing the sense of human powerlessness in the face of divinity and destiny, and the superficiality of human representations, whereby what matters is not the thing as it is, but as we perceive it. He let himself be guided by philosophy even during the difficulties faced in his public and personal life (such as the death of many of his children at a young age; out of thirteen, only five reached adulthood), as much as he could, being a statesman, follow the path of the philosopher.
Acceptance of duty