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CLARENDON LATER ANCIENT PHILOSOPHERS Series editors: Jonathan Barnes, Université de Paris IV–Sorbonne and A. A. Long, University of California, Berkeley MARCUS AURELIUS MEDITATIONS BOOKS 1– 6 PUBLISHED IN THE SERIES Alcinous: The Handbook of Platonism John Dillon Epictetus: Discourses, Book I Rober...

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CLARENDON LATER ANCIENT PHILOSOPHERS Series editors: Jonathan Barnes, Université de Paris IV–Sorbonne and A. A. Long, University of California, Berkeley

MARCUS AURELIUS MEDITATIONS BOOKS 1– 6

PUBLISHED IN THE SERIES Alcinous: The Handbook of Platonism John Dillon Epictetus: Discourses, Book I Robert Dobbin Galen: On the Therapeutic Method, Books I and II R. J. Hankinson Marcus Aurelius: Meditations, Books 1–6 Christopher Gill Porphyry: Introduction Jonathan Barnes Seneca: Selected Philosophical Letters Brad Inwood Sextus Empiricus: Against the Ethicists Richard Bett Sextus Empiricus: Against the Grammarians David Blank

MARCUS AURELIUS MEDITATIONS BOOKS 1– 6

Translated with an Introduction and Commentary by

CHRISTOPHER GILL

3

1 Great Clarendon Street, Oxford ox2 6dp, United Kingdom Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide. Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries © Christopher Gill 2013 The moral rights of the author have been asserted First Edition published 2013 Impression: 1 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, by licence or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above You must not circulate this book in any other form and you must impose the same condition on any acquirer British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Data available ISBN 978–0–19–969483–9 Typeset by RefineCatch Limited, Bungay, Suffolk As printed and bound by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, cr0 4yy

For my colleagues and students at Aberystwyth and Exeter

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PREFACE This book provides a new translation and commentary on the first half of Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations, together with a full introduction on the Meditations as a whole. Apart from Hadot’s commentary on Book 1, this is, I believe, the first commentary on an extended part of the Meditations since Farquharson’s two-volume study of 1944. As in other volumes in the series, discussion of part of a text offers a bridge towards understanding the entire work. The main focus in the introduction and commentary is on the philosophical content, especially the question how and how far the Meditations relates to Stoic theory in general. The volume is also designed to bring out the distinctive style and mode of reflection in the work and what seems to be its principal function, to help Marcus to take forward a life-long project of ethical self-improvement. This project has a special interest in the modern context, in the light of current concern with personal development and pathways to happiness. This volume joins earlier books in the series on Seneca and Epictetus in presenting versions of what we can describe as ‘practical ethics’ in the Roman imperial period. The appearance of these three volumes marks a greater willingness on the part of scholars to take such writings seriously as philosophy and to explore their characteristic idiom and line of thought. This book, like others in the series, builds on recent intensive academic work on Hellenistic and Roman philosophy, including studies of the Meditations. From my own standpoint, the book continues my examination of ethics and psychology, including the therapy of emotions, in Hellenistic and Roman thought, especially Stoicism. The focus here is on a single— intriguing and suggestive—text. In future work, I plan to reflect in broader terms on the significance of Stoicism for modern thought about ethics and the interface of ethics with psychology and the study of nature, as well as on the possible uses of Stoic practical ethics for modern purposes. The completion of this book was made possible by a semester’s research study leave provided by the University of Exeter, along with a nine-month Fellowship funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council; this support has been invaluable and is much appreciated. I would like to thank, very strongly, the general editors, Jonathan Barnes and Tony Long, for agreeing to include this work in the series, and for their acute and detailed comments on all parts of the volume. I am grateful also

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prefac e

to Marcel van Ackeren for his perceptive observations on the introduction and for the stimulus offered in various ways by his own recent work on the Meditations. Of course, all the remaining errors of fact and judgement in this book are my responsibility. I would also like to thank Peter Momtchiloff for his support and all the staff of Oxford University Press involved in the preparation of the book for their characteristically careful and helpful work. I am very grateful to Petra Bielecki for her help towards compiling the Index Locorum. The book also builds on my previous work on the Meditations, including providing the introduction and notes for a complete new translation by Robin Hard, prepared originally for Wordsworth Classics and subsequently revised for Oxford World’s Classics. Collaboration with Robin on these and related volumes has always been both congenial and instructive. I have also gained from helpful comments by other scholars on several papers on Marcus. These were given at a 2004 conference on Greek and Roman philosophy (100 BC –200 AD ) at the Institute of Classical Studies in London University; a 2006 colloquium on Platonism and Stoicism at Gargnano organized by the University of Milan; a 2007 conference on Meditations at Cambridge University; and a 2009 conference on Marcus Aurelius (the first ever, as far as we know) at the University of Cologne. Three of these papers are cited in the Bibliography as Gill 2007a and 2007b and 2012b. During a career in university teaching spanning more than forty years (mostly at Aberystwyth and Exeter), I have been fortunate in being able to teach regularly Hellenistic and Roman philosophy, including the Meditations. I have benefited greatly from the responses and insights of my students, and also, more broadly, from those of my colleagues, in discussions and seminar-papers, especially at Exeter. In a more intangible, but more important, way, I have also benefited from the companionship and support of colleagues and sometimes students who have become good friends. This volume is dedicated to them with great warmth.

CONTENTS Abbreviations and Conventions

xi

INTRODUCTION

xiii

Overview

xiii

The Meditations—Main Features Is There a Core Project?

xv xxi

Marcus’ Ethical Outlook Confronting Death and Transience Ethics and Other Branches of Philosophy: Psychology

xxxiv xlix lii

Ethics and Other Branches of Philosophy: the Universe

lxiii

INTRODUCTION TO BOOK 1

lxxv

Note on the Text and Translation TRANSLATION

lxxxv 1

Book 1

3

Book 2 Book 3

9 14

Book 4

20

Book 5

30

Book 6

40

COMMENTARY

51

Book 1

53

Book 2

86

Book 3

104

Book 4 Book 5

119 145

Book 6

168

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contents

Bibliography List of Main Themes in Meditations 2–6 Index Locorum General Index

197 206 208 215

ABBREVIATIONS AND CONVENTIONS The abbreviations for other ancient authors and works are normally those used by H. G. Liddell, R. Scott, and H. S. Jones, A Greek-English Lexicon (9th edn.) (Oxford, 1940) (LSJ), or P. Glare (ed.), Oxford Latin Dictionary (Oxford, 1982) (OLD). Authors and texts cited by abbreviation are given in full form in the Index Locorum. All secondary works cited by author and date are included in the Bibliography. All references not otherwise identified are to the Meditations, referring to the books, chapters, and divisions of chapters in the edition of Book 1 by Hadot and Luna (1998) and in the remaining books to the edition of the whole Meditations by Dalfen (1987). In the Commentary, these references are given in bold. All translations of the Meditations given in the Introduction and Commentary are mine. All dates are AD unless otherwise indicated. Internal references are normally given in the form: ‘see Introd., text to nn. 21–2’ (referring to the main Introduction); ‘see Introd. to Book 1, text to nn. 3–4’ (referring to the separate Introduction to Book 1); and ‘see Comm. on 1.4’ (referring to the Commentary on Book 1, Chapter 4 of the Meditations). References to the Commentary may also take the form ‘see main note on 1.16’ or ‘see note on 1.16.3’, identifying relevant parts of the Commentary. In citing evidence for Hellenistic philosophy, especially Stoicism, and (less frequently) the Presocratic philosophers, I generally refer only to the numbers in LS or DK. Referring to LS passages has the advantage that it enables readers to study the passage alongside other evidence for the relevant theory, and to do so in conjunction with the LS commentary. However, in the case of more important or controversial evidence, I cite also the primary source. Commonly used abbreviations in this book (not found in LSJ or OLD) are as follows: DK Epicur. K. D.

Diels, H., Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, ed. W. Kranz, 3 vols. 6th edn. (Zurich, 1951–2) Epicurus, Kuriai Doxai

Epict. Diss.

Epictetus, Dissertationes

HA

Historia Augusta, with the relevant life identified, e.g. Vita Marci.

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abbreviations and conventions

LS

A. A. Long and D. N. Sedley, The Hellenistic Philosophers, 2 vols. (Cambridge, 1987); references are normally to sections and passages.

Plu. Comm Not.

Plutarch, De Communibus Notitiis adversus Colotem

Sen. Ira

Seneca, De Ira

Sen. Tranq. Stob.

Seneca, De Tranquillitate Animi C. Wachsmuth and O. Hense (eds.), Ioannis Stobaei: Anthologium (Berlin, 1884–1912, reprinted 1958). H. von Arnim (ed.), Stoicorum Veterum Fragmenta, 4 vols. (Leipzig, 1903–5, reprinted Munich 2004).

SVF

INTRODUCTION

Overview The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius is an exceptional philosophical work, by ancient—or any other—standards. It is a reflective notebook by a Roman emperor, apparently written for his own private use in the last twelve years of his life when he was campaigning in Germany. Apart from Book 1, there is no clear organization or system but rather a series of loosely connected, short observations. Although the main underlying influence is, evidently, Stoicism, the work is non-technical and distinctive in style and seems at some points out of line with Stoic theory. What can philosophically minded scholars and students (the main target audience of this volume) hope to learn from a work of this kind? It would be unrealistic to expect sustained or authoritative analysis of specific aspects of Stoic doctrines. What we find are repeated attempts to encapsulate, in a few, highly charged sentences, the broad vision of human life and its larger cosmic setting offered by Stoicism. Above all, the work communicates with remarkable power what it means to try to live one’s life—sincerely and urgently—according to Stoic principles. At the heart of the Meditations, I think, is an idea central to Stoic ethics, though not perhaps unique to Stoicism. The key thought is that, over and above the biological or physical and purely external or formal dimensions of our existence, we should aim to shape our lives as the expression of an ongoing journey towards an ideal state of character, understanding, and mode of interpersonal relationship, which should constitute our target even though we will never achieve it fully. In the light of this larger project, Marcus addresses challenges of which he is especially conscious but which are also universal human concerns. These are, above all, facing the looming presence of our own death, and recognizing the significance of our communal roles and personal relationships in spite of our shared mortality and transience. Marcus also addresses in his own distinctive way broader topics in the interface between ethics and logic or the study of nature that were crucial for Stoicism. He looks for reassurance, despite some uncertainties, that the capacities of human psychology and the nature of the universe support the kind of ethical vision that Stoicism offers. Understood in this way, the Meditations

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can be seen as a genuinely philosophical text, on some accounts of ‘philosophy’ at least, and the work can have its own special resonance for modern readers as it has done for preceding generations.1 This introduction discusses the Meditations as a whole, although the translation and commentary deal only with the first half of the work, Books 1–6. The introduction is a rather full one, in comparison with other volumes in this series. Marcus’ work, with its short and seemingly disconnected passages (which we call ‘chapters’) and its rather elusive doctrinal position, benefits from a broader interpretative discussion to provide a context for the commentary, which is focused on the individual chapters. I begin by outlining the main formal features and what seems to be the overall function of the Meditations. Next, I consider how far we can identify a single intellectual or ethical project or programme underlying Marcus’ mosaic of brief, sometimes oracular or even fragmentary, reflections. I do so partly by considering some recent scholarly approaches to this question and partly by outlining four main strands in the framework of thinking expressed in the work, which are examined later in this introduction. The first and most important strand is Marcus’ ethical outlook, above all his core project in the Meditations, that of living one’s life as an ongoing journey of self-improvement. Marcus’ understanding of this project depends on a complex of Stoic ideas about development, society and politics, and emotions. A second important strand in the work is Marcus’ recurrent preoccupation with human death and transience, especially his own. Although this theme is often considered by scholars on its own, I suggest that it is strongly informed by the first major strand, Marcus’ ethical outlook. The two final strands fall within Marcus’ exploration of the interface between ethics and other branches of philosophy, namely logic or dialectic and physics or the study of nature. In this connection, I examine Marcus’ distinctive way of dealing with questions crucial for Stoicism, namely, how, and how far, human psychological capacities and the nature of the universe as a whole are compatible with Stoic ethical ideals. I see these questions as forming the other two main strands in the work. A recurrent theme of my discussion of these two latter strands is the much debated question whether the Meditations constitute orthodox Stoic doctrine, in so far as this can be definitely established.2 Although I do not

1 On the sense in which the Meditations (Med.) should be considered a work of philosophy, see van Ackeren 2011: 25–38, 707–13; on reception of Med., see van Ackeren 2012: part 6. 2 On the complex, even problematic, nature of our sources for Stoic theory, see Introd., n. 26.

introduction

xv

ignore the features of the Meditations that have been seen as non-standard, I think Marcus is much more in line with mainstream Stoicism than is sometimes claimed. On the interpretation offered here, the Meditations do not only offer a unique and powerful version of ancient practical ethics. They also provide an eloquent, if unusual, statement of the main principles of Stoic ethics and of their interconnections with Stoic theory more broadly.

The Meditations—Main Features All the external and internal indications point, I think, to the conclusion that the Meditations constitute a purely private notebook of philosophical reflections, prepared by Marcus for his own use with no thought of publication. There is no evidence that its existence was known in Marcus’ lifetime or by subsequent generations in antiquity. The work was transmitted, by a rather slender manuscript tradition, up to its first publication in the Renaissance.3 But the early vague references to the work and the lack of an agreed title indicate that the original text had no title and was intended for Marcus’ sole use.4 The titles now attached to the work (‘to himself’, Meditations, Pensées, Selbstbetrachtungen) have all been supplied by editors or translators.5 What this suggests is that the notebook, whether written down by Marcus himself or his secretary, was preserved after his death, quite possibly in the form in which it was left at that point. Book 1 does have a distinct structure, and consists of a connected account of what Marcus owes to specific people, and the gods, in his ethical development.6 However, apart from this book, there is little evidence of deliberate organization. In some cases, there are clusters of quoted passages; in others, neighbouring passages have similar or related themes.7

3 The first printed edition (1559) was based on one manuscript, subsequently lost; there is only one other complete manuscript still extant, along with other manuscripts containing extracts. 4 The work is referred to as ‘recommendations’ (parangelmata) by Themistius (4th cent. AD ), ‘ethical writings to himself’ by Arethas (c. 850–935). It is quoted, as taken from ‘the conduct (ago¯ge¯ ) of his own life’, by the encyclopaedia known as the Suda (c. 950). 5 On the textual transmission, commentary, and translation of Med., see Ceporina 2012; also Farquharson 1944: xiii–lvii, Dalfen 1987: v–xxvii, Hadot and Luna 1998: xii–xxx, and van Ackeren 2011: 49–51. 6 For a separate discussion of Book 1, see Introd. to Book 1. 7 For clusters of quotations or notes, see 7.35–7.46, 7.50–7.51. (All refs. not otherwise identified are to books and chapters of Med.) On ‘interwoven composition’ (i.e. the studied juxtaposition of topics), see Hadot 1998: 263–75. On the organization of ideas in Med., see Giavatto 2008: 15–27, 2012b, Gourinat 2102b.

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However, for most readers, the overall impression is of a series of individual reflections, which are unified only by the underlying thought-world of the author. It is widely assumed that Marcus simply noted down his thoughts whenever he had time from his pressing tasks as emperor, perhaps at the beginning or end of the day, and that the Meditations represent the surviving notes.8 How does the composition of the Meditations fit in with Marcus’ life as a whole? Marcus, born in 121 as Marcus Annius Verus,9 was brought up, after his father’s early death, by his grandfather, a relative of the emperor Hadrian, and was admired for his character by Hadrian, who nicknamed him Verissimus (‘most truthful’). In 138, Hadrian adopted as his successor Antoninus Pius, and required Antoninus to adopt Marcus, then aged seventeen, along with the younger boy Lucius Verus. Marcus then began what turned out to be a long period of preparation for the imperial role. This included an extensive educational programme, in both rhetoric and philosophy, about which we know a good deal both from Book 1 of the Meditations and the surviving letters to Fronto, his teacher of Latin rhetoric. On the...