This book reads like a collection of self-help mantras. Some of them are rather simple and straight forward. Some of them are lost in translation and don’t really make sense to our times. Or they just don’t make sense at all.
I get the feeling Marcus spent a lot of time inside his head. But I’m suspicious of something. What if these aren’t his words? What if there was some alternate explanation for his meditations?
In the end I am left asking myself: Are these just Mom-isms? Not that there is anything intrinsically wrong with Mom-isms, I believe they serve some purpose to somebody somewhere in this vast universe. For me, that purpose may just be laughter and joy.
Marcus goes to school one day. The children pick on him. Marcus gets really, really angry. Marcus beats one of the kids up. And rightly so. The kid goes and cries to the principal. Principal scolds Marcus. Sends Marcus home. Marcus must face the wrath of his parents, a wrath more powerful than dragons and gods, a wrath responsible for the conscience (which punishes relentlessly).
Marcus’s Grandfather Verus says ‘I raised you better’ or perhaps I taught you “the lessons of noble character and even temper” (3). Marcus, full of guilt, apologizes. Marcus’s Father scolds him next and says whatever happened to “modesty and manliness” (3)? Marcus says ‘the man in me just kicked that little bastard’s ass. Is this not what men do?’. Marcus’s Father says ‘a modest man doesn’t.’ Marcus gives up and apologizes. Marcus’s Mother shows up with a solid Mom-ism, she says Marcus must keep himself “not only from doing evil things but even from dwelling on evil thoughts” (3). Marcus apologizes. What has Marcus learned in the end?
I would have learned that the first thing to do is kick that kid’s ass. Immediately afterwards I must threaten the kid with further violence so as to deter his bastard ass from running his mouth again as well as preventing him from getting me into trouble. But not Marcus, the great stoic, he learns to be an emperor and rule with peace and love and hugs and kisses and…did that really happen that way? I wasn’t there. But I doubt it. Here are a few great lines from the TV Show ‘Hell on Wheels’ that may suit Marcus Aurelius more than the don’t dwell on evil version presented:
“This business is not for the weak of heart. It is a thorny, brutal affair that rewards the Lion for his ferocity. What of the Zebra? What of the poor Zebra? Well, the Zebra is eaten as the Zebra should be. Make no mistake, blood will be spilt. Lives will be lost. Fortunes will be made. Men will be ruined. There will be betrayal and scandal. Perfidy of epic proportions. But, the Lion shall prevail. You see, the secret I know is this: all of history is driven by the Lion. We drag the poor Zebra kicking and braying. Staining the Earth with its cheap blood. History doesn’t remember us fondly. But then History is written by the Zebra for the Zebra.”
That would suit Emperor Aurelius’s actions. Meditations seems to distract us from the savagery of campaigning and protecting Rome. But Marcus is covered. Covered not just in blood but covered morally and/or ethically. His stoic-ness may have wanted him to live dispassionately but his duty required him to serve as Emperor.
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