stoicism MarcusAurelius Meditations

Plato in his book “The Republic” said the ideal ruler would be a philosopher-king. This wish would come true under the rein of Marcus Aurelius, the last of the five good emperors of Rome, who ruled sometime after Nero but before the first Christian emperor Constantine. Marcus was not known as a philosopher during his lifetime, for his Stoic masterpiece, “Meditations,” was penned while he was on campaign as Emperor fighting the barbarian, probably as a series of reflections for his son. The “Meditations” did not circulate widely in antiquity, but gained recognition in the centuries following his reign. […]