Meditations – The Classical Translation by George Long (Reader’s Library Classics)

Throughout his life, the great Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius would write down personal notes ranging from a single sentence to several pages on his observations in his everyday life. These notes, written originally in Greek, would be the basis for how he could improve himself and his stature amongst his peer, and how he would conduct himself in the world. After his death, these notes were collected to form one volume titled Meditations. Separated into twelve chapters, Marcus Aurelius’s famous philosophical work provides a clear insight into the stoic philosophy that was prevalent during the Roman Empire. Presented here is the unmodified 1862 George Long translation published under the original title The Thoughts of the Emperor M. Aurelius Antoninus. This translation was greatly esteemed, for it kept a faithful direct translation of the original Greek text.

George Long: Born November 4th, 1800, in Lancashire, England, George Long was a Cambridge-educated scholar, historian, and linguist of Latin and Greek. He directly contributed to the translations and commentary of works from antiquity previously without scholarly editions, including Cicero’s Orations, Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, and Discourses of Epictetus, among many others. He died in 1879.

Marcus Aurelius: Born in A.D. 121, Marcus Aurelius was the Roman Emperor from A.D. 161 to A.D. 180. He is widely recognized as the last of the “Five Good Emperors,” and was the last emperor of the Roman Empire’s “Pax Romana” age, a time of relative peace and stability. Contemporary biographers call Marcus Aurelius “the philosopher” for his book on philosophy titled Meditations. He had 14 descendents, including his successor Commodus. He died in 180 A.D.