Marcus Aurelius and The Later Stoics - F. W. Busell 1910

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THE WORLD'S EPOCH-MAKERS

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Marcus Aurelius
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THE WORLD'S EPOCH-MAKERS
Marcus Aurelius
and the
Later Stoics
By
F.
W.
Bussell,
D.D.
of^Biasenose College^ Oxjotd
New
York.
Charles Scribner's Sons
1910
VIRI AMABILIS ET DBSIDEBATISSIMI
A. H, J. GREENIDGE
MANIBUS,
QTJI
ME AMIGA
NI
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IMPULIT, ET
INDUSTRIE SU^l
INENABRABILI8 EXEMPLO
EX DESIDIA EXGITAVIT
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THIS
events
little
look will letray
the
length of time
it
has
been under consideration by several allusions to
modern
which are now anachronisms.
But
I have preferred
to
to leave the text as
I wrote
it
some time ago ; and
make
no change in the estimate of the Stoic teachers, although in some respects my own standpoint is not the same. On the
whole,
it
agrees fairly well with the valuation of a pure

' '
Monism set forth in the Bampton Lectures of 1905 ; and I am glad of an opportunity of supplementing and
supporting
the general
statements
made
there
ly
this
detailed inquiry into tivo or three of the most eminent

sincere expounders of
and
an untenable
creed.
MUNBHAM
HOUSE, NORFOLK,
December 1909.
GENERAL SYNOPSIS
GEXKHAL PHEFACE
PART
CIKP.
I.
"The Roman Emperor"

The
II.
Stoic Philosopher"
.,,,.. ..... ....

I.
P-AFiB
INTRODUCTION
.
18
III.
Development of PHILOSOPHY
m Rome
IV. " The Wise
Man"
II.
....35
.
51
PAET
I.
THE IMMEDIATE INFLUENCE

New Cynism
.
EPICTETITS, or the
Devotional Personification
,
of the Cosmic Order
.76
76
;
A. The RELIGIOUS transfoimation
PHILOSOPHIC Dogma B. The Gift of Free Will ; the Fatherhood of God the " Divinity of Souls; the Cosmopolis" the Special Function
of
0.
Providence extending to Particulars Sons of God
......
;
...
;
82
Discipline of the
03
II.
The
"Wise
Man
in the
Two Commonwealths
Opportunism,
.
or the r61e of Contemplation
and Passivity
.97
.
A. Modern Conception of Stoicism in error ; the Expediency of Resignation and Abstention

JB.
essential
.
97
Close Restriction of the Sphere of Missionary Influence
Rejection of Civic or Domestic Duties by the true
Anchorites
C.
.....
ix
104
The Sage Spectator
rather than Agent in the Universe
107
x
CHAP
III.
GENERAL SYNOPSIS
PAGK
The intimate Problems

A. Death and Immortality B. Some Minor Points; the
.
110
. .
.110
the
;
"Pax Romana";
World
of Conflict
Life of
the Moralistic Standpoint
the
"Noeiic"
God
.
Futility of meie Technical

,
. .
Emancipation, etc. Harmony between Epictetiib and Marcus AurelmtJ
.117
.
120
PART
I.
III.
THE CREED OF MARCUS AURELIUS ANTONINUS

;
The Teaching of the Emperor

Agent
A. Chief
Characteristics, ot
the Nature of
Man
the
Office
J5.
and his Time
.....
his
122
Meditations due to his
122
C.
Z>.
Thought The Constitution and Psychology of the Individual Man's Function and Place in the World; Special
.
Influence of the Conception of A<$7os on Greek
132
13b*
Equipment
II.
of each being a
. .
Man
Happiness and the World
....
.
Key
to its purpose
.
and
.147
.15-2
Agent
A, The two Commonwealths and the

or Quietist
...
.
.
Citizen, as
.152
.
B. The Problem of "Conformity to Natuie"; varying

Definitions of 4iVts
0,
. .
,158
the
Inheient Diveisity of the Natuic of
World
III
Absolute Subjectivity
.....
.
Man and
167
175
A. Complete Isolation of the Individual from Things and from his Fellow-men
B. Moral Effort expires in Tolerance of Evil
G.
...
.
175
.181
its
Soul, without real Contact with Things-in-Themselve.s,
can assimilate and transmute into Material for
own Nurture IV. Happiness and Destiny

A.
......
of
18(>
Man 'b
Spii it
.
Self-bufficingness of the Soul
.191 .194
GENERAL SYNOPSIS
CHAP.
J?.
xi
PAGE
Mystical Tendencies
within"
C.
.
The Problem
of
206 Immoitality E. Belief in Immoitality essential to the logical Theory, if not to the Pursuit, of Morality .217
.
...... ......
and the Doctrine
of
"
Deity
202 204
Monopsychism
. .220 Appendix A, B, V. The Universe, Eternal and Divine, and Transient and
. .
. .
Contemptible.
A. The Perpetual Flux and Monotony of the Worldprocess

Jj.
......
.
.
.225
225
Creation and Providence,
VI. The Alleged Conciliation of the
how far Intelligible? Two Natures

.
235
241
A. Vanity and
JB.
Insignificance of
.
Human
.
Life
.
in the
Measureless Gulf of Time The Uses and Methods of Philosophy

of Intellectualism
C.
" Scientific
D.
On
Study as a Meditation on Death Rebellion and Apostasis from the World-order

.
How
far possible
GENERAL CONCLUSION
..... ......
;
.241
250
255
the
SUHBENDER
"
.
262
272
APPENDIX
Translation of Passages cited from Epictetus
.
.288
MARCUS ATJKELIUS AND THE

LATER STOICISM
PART
I.
INTRODUCTION
I
CHAPTER
"
THE ROMAN EMPEEOR "

ANALYSIS
1.
2.
The Roman Empire an extempore expedient. The Emperor a Republican official, not a King ; no recognition
of the hereditary principle.
3. 4.
The Empire alow Nationality,

Vagueness of Imperial ideal allowed oscillation between civil
.military conception; the Gcesar represented the Spirit of the Age in his choice. 5. Dual aspect of the Emperor as "Overlord" of the provinces
and
6.
(where his personal caprice modified by continuity of tradition, by policy of non-intervention) and by local autonomy} ; and as " Prvnceps " and Delegate of the Senate. Honest attempts of "Five good Emperors" to rule as Presidents
of a Free State (96-180 A.D.)
failure (180-285 A.D.).
;
history of its subsequent

to the
7.
This period an exceptional epoch, devoted Reconciliation of the Dyarchy.
problem of the
8.
Disappointing results of M. Aurelius* reign and character due in part to the sadness of his philosophical speculations.
MARCUS AURELIUS
No
political system that man's ingenuity has invented can ever equal in interest for us the Roman Empire. Like the British Constitution, it was the slow growth
Julius and Augustus contributed, in large of time. measure and in answer to a tired world's demand, to this unification, this centralizing of authority in a single city and a single ruler; but they could never have dreamt of the full significance of their work. Augustus, indeed, to the very close of his life cloaked his power under a pretence of extempore expediency
;
and masterly though

of the suspicion
this policy
was in disarming the
old classical prejudice against a "tyranny," yet
much
and discord, the mutinies and bloodshed, which succeeded, was due to the singular indefiniteness and ambiguity of his new Constitution, which under the old titles and magistracies concealed a complete He could never have foreseen that this revolution.
hasty attempt to* reconcile the traditions of the past with the needs of the present, would become permanent
in his
appear at
and, after it had passed away, would subsequent times of human history as the visionary Ideal towards which the aspirations of our The paradoxes, but imperfectly disrace are directed.
all
own Empire,
guised by the Imperial mantle, involved inconsistencies so absurd and so fundamental, that we wonder how the
system survived for ten years the inquiry of reasonable men. Yet a stability seems to haê attended it, which from experience we know is denied to the paper constitution and definite formulae of modern theoretic
government.
2.
the strict sense
The Roman Empire was never a monarchy in " to the very end the word " Respublica
;
took precedence of the
title
of
the despot,
who
con-
"THE ROMAN EMPEROR"

trolled
and frequently enslaved

(little
Imperial apotheosis
In spite of the understood, and often misit.
appreciated), in spite of the obscure inviolability of the
Tribunitian power, no special sanctity surrounded the The "nation," a vague representative of the people. name sometimes embodied in the Senate, sometimes
in the
real
tumultuous shouts of frontier

all
and ultimate
legions, repositary of all lawful power
was the and we
marvel that in
of the Imperial
the patient and accurate legislation
epoch no attempt was made to define
with exactness the duties, the prerogatives, the rights of succession, the dynastic claims, the methods of
election, of that central point
upon which this wheel The divinity, government and society revolved. which to our modern eyes "doth hedge a king," the peculiar respect in speech and address, the reverence to the person of a monarch, the accumulated titles of all these were utterly lacking. We have honour,
of
enormously
character of
increased
the
prestige,
the
sacrosanct
it
our modern
of their
sovereigns,
though
may
be at the cost
is
prerogative.
Their influence
elected
the greater, because it is indirect. The Caesar, by a free choice, and possessing of himself no single claim to sovereignty, was the trusted minister of Democracy, and atoned for failure with his Ufa
all
" Le roi est mort The King can do no wrong " are two principles which lie at the backVive le roi ground of the stability of Europe, and are by no means mere sentiments or convenient fictions of the law. Yet they involve ideas which a Eoman in the most
"
;
!
!
"
We servile period would have repudiated with scorn. have raised monarchs above the strife of party, above the bitterness of rival factions, into a serener atmosphere
MARCUS AURELIUS
and when the history of the Nineteenth Century is compiled by dispassionate critics, it will be seen how largely we have augmented the influence while circumAs late as scribing the direct power of the Crown. the reign of Maurice (582-602), Theophylact could proudly boast of the contrast between the "legal and constitutional government" of the Byzantine, and the
And
despotism of the irresponsible Chosroes. after the policy of the rough but astute Diocletian, of Constantine, and still more definitely
capricious
this,
of Justinian,
had
set itself to centralize, to seclude, to
consecrate the monarchical idea, after the pattern of Nor did the hereditary principle meet Oriental courts.
with recognition throughout this period of fifteen centuries. Nothing is more remarkable than the safe security of the family and relations of a deposed or murdered emperor. They sank unnoticed into private
life
;
no vengeance
associated
them
in the misdeeds of
their kinsman; no discontented faction saw a pretext for sedition in their indisputable claims to Imperial
rank.
If
we examine
the "dynasties" of this period
from Augustus to Constantine xiv., we shall observe how common was the peaceful succession of son, of and the page of brother, or of nephew to the throne
;
history is full of ephemeral families, each one increasing in duration and stability, till at the close, the Comneni
and the hundred
Palaeologi
years.
divide
it
But
between them nearly four must be continually remembered
Eoman Empire " became
tary principle, as
that this involved no recognition whatever of the herediwe understand it to-day. The " Holy
monopolized by a single family
in later times, without ever expressly denying that the highest secular office in Europe was open to any
"THE ROMAN EMPEROR"
From one brief baptized and free-born Christian man. but pregnant sentence in Tacitus we gather the remarkable difference between the aristocratic modern world
of to-day
"
and the democracy of the classical peoples " ex duces ex virtute sumunt (Grermama, nobilitate, reges This is the key not only to mediaeval, but even vii).
:
to much of modern history. account in this way for the long survival of effete dynasties, and the real business of affairs concentred in some " Major Domus."
We
similar respect produced in Japan the singular dualism of Shogun and Mikado and in Roman history itself we may see it appearing in the last days of the
;
Western Sovereignty, when powerful barbarians like Ricimer, dividing the honour and the reality of authority,
introduced a principle utterly alien to the spirit of the Romans. But it is not too much to say that to the acute observer, who refuses to be deceived by the harmless
and necessary turmoil of democratic legislation and reform, European Society, in its firm loyalty to monarchs who are "born not made," to a governing class that is never a bureaucracy, and to the laws of succession and property, relies for its surest foundations on the hereditary principle. And this, just because the people are free, and with their instinctive good sense prefer to place power in those whose past traditions are a guarantee of confidence and good faith, and who breathe a purer air of patriotism and disinterestedness, apart from the narrow conservatism of officialdom and
the intrigues of professional politicians. " brother3. To-day, though humaner views of the
hood of man prevail, and are destined to triumph over war and the miseries of dissension, yet there is no sign For this becomes of the decay of National feeling.
"
MARCUS AURELIUS
it
more genuine than a so often amounts which vague cosmopolitan sympathy, of certain theoretical promerely to the acceptance To this duties. immediate positions, indifference to feeling, this generous emotion, the Empire, whether The mediaeval or ancient, was an absolute stranger. " Civis Empire was the denial of nationality. The Romanus" was one who enjoyed a supra-national He was a Spaniard, a Neapolitan, a Cyrenian, privilege. The gradual a Syrian; but he was something more. extension of what may be termed the "franchise" advanced to its goal of complete comprehensiveness (under an Antonine, in 213 A.D.) along with the decay In its narrower significance, the of the Eoman race. Eoman family became extinct. The legitimate children by birth were succeeded by the adopted family of all "nations under heaven"; and adoption constituted in the ancient world a tie no less sacred and binding Thus the Empire is comthan did physical descent.
stronger in our hearts, as
is
pletely ignorant
of the
modern notions
of
kingship,
of heredity, of nationality.
It attempts to conceal the
powers which it places in the hands of representatives, and seems ashamed or afraid to define
absolute
them.
embodies the and authority; but he people's aspirations, exercises a sacred trust which has been freely delegated to a chief magistrate. He is a steward, not an owner. In the son of Caesar there exists no inherent prewishes,
The Emperor is merely the comprehensive and invisible State.
first
subject of this
He
supposition or pretension to
office.
And
the political
system founded on the very negation of nationalism or separateness, formed a bond of union between tribes and civilizations the most adverse and distinct, an
"THE ROMAN EMPEROR"
intangible network which held together in harmony and peace the last centuries of the decaying peoples of
classical antiquity.
4.
introduction
Enough has been said to suffice as a general " " to that of which Marcus Imperium
Aurelius Antoninus was so bright an ornament. shall try to portray the work, the character, the influence of this ruler and in attempting to estimate
;
We
his place, either as a thinker or a governor, the remarks which precede will be found by no means superfluous. Among the various attempts made by generals or
statesmen on their accession to define this strangely vague dignity, none was more noble or conscientious than the policy of the five good Emperors whose names have brightened that period of repose, and perhaps of
lethargy, which seemed to Gibbon the happiest age in human records. The reigning Caesar, finding few
"
"
precedents and generally armed with a "mandate," silent or expressed, to reverse and stigmatize his predecessor's methods, was at liberty to give prominence He to whichever of his dual positions he preferred.
even in time of peace, incline towards an Absolutism supported by the Sword or, rejecting the " title Imperator, he might live and govern as princeps,"
might,
;
as
primus inter pares," among his peers, the Senatorial In this oscillation, greatly though this change was due to the character of the Emperor and his
fathers.
"
predilections
for republican or military ideals, yet there can be no doubt that in whatever capacity, he that represented the temper of the Roman world
public opinion and that plainspokenness of the populace which was tolerated even under the most savage reigns.
Probably no government has ever existed unless favoured
MARCUS AURELIUS
The and approved by the larger part of its subjects. seditious may be clear- voiced and bold, but they always The approval of the citizens constitute a minority. inertia of indolence or sheer be due to the may
ignorance, or the profound doubt that any change can An infinitesimal fraction of the be for the better.
Russians have more than
once imperilled a system firm on the piety and veneration of the which is set The Sultan of Turkey, in vast bulk of the nation.
spite of the protests of a acceptable to his subjects.
"
"
Young Turkey
faction, is of France,
The government
which
offers a frivolous
sport of a ministerial crisis in place of regicide

fall of dynasties,
nation the comparatively harmless and the
reposes undoubtedly upon the negative and contemptuous consent of the people. The Tudor
Sovereigns, perhaps
more
cruel in their suspicions of
our noble houses than any Caesar, had the unfailing
support of their subjects, and live in their grateful memory. Similarly, the Roman Emperors seem at each
moment
to
embody the dominant
spirit of
the age, and
Trained for the perhaps rather to follow than to lead. most part in no princely seclusion, but moving freely as soldiers or citizens among a free-speaking people,
acceding to a dignity which rarely dazzled them* they brought to the throne the tastes, the studies, the predilections of a private station, and gave unconscious
expression to the popular voice, and clearer utterance
vague murmurs of discontent. 5. Great as was the power of Cassar, his personality was perhaps of less account than the character of the
to
Constitutional monarch of to-day. The provinces of Rome, where the real life and progress of the Empire continued, were indifferent to the occupant of the throne.
"THE ROMAN EMPEROR"
Though the Roman civil service never degenerated into a bureaucracy, yet there was a continuity of tradition, a uniformity of procedure, which never snapt, though the
idea of sovereignty was incarnate in a rough Dacian peasant or an effeminate Syrian boy; though on the
frontiers the transient
phantoms in the purple baffle the The secret of Roman greatness was her respect for individual rights and local The central government was to be strong autonomy. and vigilant for the public cause, but it was to honour the liberties of the governed, and above all never to interfere in those debatable and uncertain matters which,
assiduity of
Numismatics.
as indifferent to the public order, are best left to individual taste. The New Testament from Pilate to
Festus
is full of
eloquent testimony to the forbearance
and toleration
of the
Roman
official,
and his instinctive
sense of the limits of government and the restrictions which should be placed upon State interference. Rome,
unfairly weighted with the odium of the Ten Persecutions of the Christians, is yet the first State that disThe ear of covered and practised religious tolerance.
the Emperor was an infallible and uncorrupt court of final appeal but his vigilance did not obtrude itself, nor
;
did his authority mischievously supersede the ancient

local systems.
Seneca (De Clem.)
is
"golden age" might well epitomize

administration during
illos
of the
addressing his master during the Quinquennium; yet these words

:
the general view of Roman whole supremacy. I. 2 "Multa cogunt ad hanc confessionem (esse felices), qu&
its
.
nulla in homine tardior est; securitas alta, affluens; Lsetissima jus supra omnem injuriam positum.
. .
forma RP*, cui ad
summam
libertatem nihil deest nisi
io
pereundi
MARCUS AURELIUS
licentia."
;
Imnon omnes tarn quern supra se perial position " familiar and the se sciunt esse quam pro metaphor, " Sic haec Quemadm. totum corpus animo deservit. animse unius circumdata immensa multitudo (enveloping
of the conception of the
I.
And
"
:
like the
body the soul
of a single
man)
4.
ille
illius
spiritu
regitur, illius ratione
flectitur.
...
Ille est
enim
vinculum per quod EP. cohseret;
spiritus vitalis,
quern hsec tot millia trahunt, nihil ipsa per se futura nisi onus et prseda si mens ilia Imperii subtrahatur.
5.
Animus
EP
temper
of the
The whole tu es, ilia corpus tuum." more acquiescent Eoman and the attitude
:
:
05
towards the new regimen, is probably ce Ille vir well contained in the following Ep. Ixxiii. sincerus ac purus qui reliquit et curiam et forum et
of the provincials
omnem admin
eos per quos artes bonas."
If the
6731
EP
.
.
06
ut
ad ampliora
. .
secederet,
.
diligit
hoc
ei facere tut6 licet

.
magnam rem
nescientibus debet
sub quorum tutela positus exercet

is
wisdom
of
of the British
content to leave the
hundred separate and distinct administrations in India, we have learned this lesson from the Eoman. The Eoman world was no loosely-knit congeries of independent satrapies behind the apparent licence of the urban life of Asia Minor was the strong hand of the central authority, watchful yet seldom obtrusive. The supreme merit of the system was due to this self-control, which for the first time in history curbed and restricted the interference of government, encouraged native traditions and creeds, and avoided that dangerous lethargy which a professional bureaucracy and over-minute supervision tend to produce in some modern States. Thus the Empire clearly had two faces,
anomaly
over
six
"THE ROMAN EMPEROR"

like Janus, the
one as the benevolent and impartial
warden
of the world's peace; the other, in its stricter relation to its immediate environment, the Senate of Borne. The Emperor was the " overlord " of a multi-
plicity
of
States,
who found union symbolized and
guaranteed
person; but he was, besides, the a municipality. The individuality in supreme magistrate of Caesar mattered little in the provinces; but his
in
his
momentary temper was all-important

Tacitus
seditions
in
Eome.
While
to
devotes
of
almost
exclusive
attention
the
terrified
Senators,
who might thwart but
could scarcely help Caesar's Imperial ideas ; while Suetonius interests his readers in the petty and malicious
gossip
of the Court, the real effect of the
we must look elsewhere for new system, and explain from

homage which
it
other sources the gratitude and the

called forth.
6.
We
have said that the Prince could on his
accession emphasize at his will the civil or the military side of sovereignty ; and that in making this choice he
represented more truly than an heir-apparent to-day The advent of the general wish or public sentiment.
Vespasian and the Flavian harmony with middle-class
was in complete "Peace, retrench" ment, and reform was the watchword of a tired society after the startling extravagance and heroic vices of the
dynasty
feeling.
"
"
Unfortunate misunderstanding drove Claudian house. the last of this family, an able administrator of a gloomy and suspicious temper, into that undying feud with the
opening chapters
society
Senate which Tacitus so eloquently describes in the The tone of Roman of the "Agricola."
and aspirations in 96 A.D. became once more The period of nearly and distinctly Republican. overtly
12
MARCUS AURELIUS
one hundred years was marked by an honest attempt on

the part of the adoptive Emperors to govern as Presidents of a free State. Trajan managed to hold in solution
the diverse elements of military enterprise and deference to the consultative Body, which still remained in name
fount of honour," and the source of the delegated authority which he exercised, whether in camp or court.
the
"
Hadrian,
in represents the restless "Wanderjahre this epoch's life, had reason to suspect the loyalty of the Senate, but he rarely disregarded their dignity.
who
"
"
Antoninus the
First,
one of those tranquil,
artless,
and
almost saintly characters that raise to the throne the domestic virtues, and influence not by ability, but by pure simplicity of life and aim, continued in his event-
same policy of modesty and deference. Antoninus the Second (or Marcus Aurelius), in whom the period closes not without sad and melancholy foreboding
less reign the
of a lonely old age, was fully persuaded of the ultimate authority of the Senate, though he must have confessed to himself that as an engine of government it was supine
and incapable.
I
With
his death
and the ominous (per-
" The Senate haps apocryphal) threat to Oommodus, " sends you this ended the dream of reconciliation between the two disparate members of the Dyarchy.
The African Dynasty

annals,
and fortunes
of its
of Severus (bearing in the character, members so strange a resem-
blance to the Flavian) broke entirely with this tradition;
The apparent was formal and ineffective. The senatorial nominees, Pupienus and Balbinus or Tacitus some forty years later were scarcely fitted
successors.
and the counsel, " Gain the became the charter of his
Army and
despise all else,"
restoration under Severus n.
to the requirements of the time.
The
offer of -ffimilianus
"THE ROMAN EMPEROR"

to limit the powers of the
13
Emperor
to
external policy
and the guardianship

the
"
of the frontier, of
must have been
election placard
"
an insecure candidate rather

;
than the mature judgment of an unquestioned ruler and the revolutions of Diocletian and his successors
recognised and sanctioned a state of affairs already existing, rather than dealt the blow or decreed the downfall
Eome was seen to be what it had long a become, provincial city, governed by a municipal body
of the Senate.
whose traditions were splendid, but whose influence was The capital, in the turbulence and excontemptible. ternal menace of the third century, had ceased to be the centre of interest and activity, or the pivot of The powers of the Caesar, or of his subgovernment.
ordinate lieutenants, gained in theory as in practice, the greater the interval which separated them from the
capital.
Eome was
rather the seat of the opposition
than the centre of administration. The new residences chosen for the members of the Caesarian College seemed to imply a widespread consciousness of danger impending from the North, and an almost prophetic sense of a
sacred mission, as sentinel of Europe against Asiatic
perils.
7. Thus it must be readily conceded that the second Antonine belonged to an epoch altogether exceptional " in the records of Imperial Eome. The " Dyarchy (as it is sometimes called) was a deliberate attempt to sever and yet to conciliate the two provinces of civil-legal and military administration. ISTo doubt in the mind of JEmilian (253 A.D.) dwelt a vague reminiscence of this fortunate era. Only then was the theoretical truth of
the Constitution recognized by the Senatorial representative, namely, that in that body reposed the ultimate
14
MARCUS AURELIUS
1 authority of the Eoman people j and that the Emperors or delegates to carry executive were but the chosen their The two out their will during good pleasure.
Antonines were ideal representatives of this anomalous system, which sought to veil autocracy under republican
forms in exact contradiction of the modern scheme, which expresses in despotic formulae the limited or
vicarious action of a constitutional monarch.
In both
there
is
a deception which deceives no one; but
we
may well consider whether Bolingbroke is right, who maintains that disguised absolutism veiled under popular forms is more dangerous than the open exercise of
Brought power, without any pretence of concealment. up from early years in the atmosphere of a Court, the second Antonine had avoided many of its temptations
and learnt
of
much
of its responsibilities.
"
f
The peculiar
" one born in the purple ( rrop<f>vpo<yvvr)TO<s), danger which seems the clear lesson of the career of Oommodus, is contradicted (like most historic generalisations) by
the example of his father.

for
The
filial
regard of Aurehus
Antoninus (to call them by their familiar titles) was sincere and unaffected. He succeeded, first among the to a throne secured by a profound not Emperors, only
loyalty, but to duties already well defined ; and he was spared, by pious glances at his model, much uncertainty in the conduct of affairs, that uncertainty as to the
assembly and the executive, their chosen but distrusted representative. His reign was distinguished by no great ad1
and limits of power which embittered the character of Tiberius, and sowed the seeds of incurable hatred in so many promising reigns between the
significance
As
later, in
the College of Cardinals, the inherent right of all Chris-
tians to choose the
Supreme
Pontiff.
"THE ROMAN EMPEROR"
15
His wars ministrative reform, no eventful campaigns. were confined to the frontiers of the Augustan Empire,
which Trajan had vainly attempted to enlarge; and interest us only because they seem to forebode the great Barbarian movements of the coming centuries. The absolute stillness which enfolds the reign of Antoninus is certainly broken under his successor by the din of arms and the alarms of sedition. Avidius Cassius is
the already familiar type of ambitious provincial governor " who instigates a military " pronunciamento ; but he
may
interest us as
showing that Aurelius failed to secure
the allegiance of the troops, while he failed to rouse new The desultory and futile life and energy in the Senate.
campaign in Persia (with which this mutiny was connected) merely marks the recrudescence of that eternal quarrel between East and "West which in this form lasted for seven hundred years, and produced in all that time no lasting alteration of frontier. In internal policy I must not forget the beneficial legislation for the weaker part of the community, which, derived from no classical
ideal,
depended upon a mixture of humanitarian Stoicism and unseen Christian influences and to both these the Roman mind was peculiarly susceptible. But we may
;
look in vain for any important contribution to the fabric of the Roman Imperial system ; and, while respecting
"the principle of heredity,
we must
regret that Aurelius
could not have foreseen the abuse of power in unworthy hands, and have rendered harmless the uncontrolled
caprice of later times. 8. Marcus Aurelius has thus certainly left no permanent mark upon the development of the Imperial
ideal
The
His influence upon his successors was slight, tranquil figure of Antoninus exercised a far more
16
MARCUS AURELIUS
potent fascination; and a shadowy Dynasty of affectionate respect issued from him, ending in disgrace in Heliogabalus, who may be reckoned the eighth who bore,
and perhaps the third who

Julian, in
irony,
sullied, that
honourable name.
his "Caesars/'
treats
him with astonishing
and seems to forget that the imperial Stoic is the model for the imperial Cynic.1 Among his own friends,
within his
own
family,
we must
regret the little weight

carried. 2
which his character or his teaching

in his
Something
nature disqualified the noblest of Eomans, the very pattern of sovereigns, from impressing the age with
the permanent stamp of his influence.
appreciate public duties of the
this failure aright,
If we wish to we must turn from the
man, which
lies
Emperor to the inner soul of the " bared before us in his Meditations."
There, self-revealed, as perhaps in the case of no other 8 monarch, we have the record of his life and spiritual
conflict.
It is
of Aurelius that
when we pass to the philosophic opinions we meet some partial explanation for
monarch or a reformer.
his failure as a
We
shall
have
to review the various stages by which Philosophy, that dangerous and seductive foe of the Common Life, pene-
trated
mind, and attempted to pervade the Quietism, which the Stoics In society. with the East, we shall discover them from brought
the
Eoman
Roman
1 Sextus Aurelius, it is true, speaks in his customary terms of vapid eulogy, here, perhaps, with greater genuineness. 2 Mr, Pater, who has, if we may hazard a guess, produced with an
unerring and inimitable instinct the peculiar "atmosphere" of the Antoniman age, represents the secret doubts and amusement of the Emperor's audience, when he lectured to them on the Stoic philosophy, 3 1 except the naive and creditable autobiography of the Mogul conqueror Babar
;
Gaekwar
of Baroda
whose example the present Amir of Afghanistan and the would seem to emulate.
"THE ROMAN EMPEROR"
17
the most satisfactory clue to the sadness of the Imperial to the unwilling disappointment which his speculator,
writings and his life must finally arouse in all those who love him for his unselfish devotion, his goodness of heart, his unaffected sincerity.
CHAPTER
"
II
THE STOIC PHILOSOPHER "

ANALYSIS
1.
Greek Philosophy (in the sphere of conduct) is foreign in

origin,
its
and
abstentionist ;
aims
at discovering
Law
or
2.
Unity beyond conventional Sanctions and the City-State. Classical Greek temper delights in variety ; but Greek Thought desires a Unity, which as beyond the Multiple, becomes pure
Negation. Philosophical Quietism in contrast
to
3.
vigorous democratic
life.
4.
Disappointment of the Sage who in the supposed new domain of
5.
6.
Freedom encounters resistance and incalculable forces. " Unity" achieved in the political world by Alexander and by Augustus; Roman aristocrats, condemned to idleness and introspection by the new government, join the party of abstention and indifference. Their "Supreme Unity," at first Fate or Destiny, and implying futility of endeavour, becomes a religion of devotional yet
A Practical
7.
Roman
despairing Theism. Philosophy as Syncretist and Eclectic ; with little emphasis on Absolute Truth, and much on casuistry and in-
dividual needs; the dogmatic matenalist becomes an agnostic

8.
mystic. Ghief features of the eclectic writers in the first two centuries, Christian and Pagan.
and a
9. Concentration
on the Inner Life as the
sole reality.
to
% 10. Stoical doctrine

its
transformed according
personal character of
chief
Roman
exponents, Seneca, Epictetus,
and Marcus
Aurelius.
1.
GREEK Philosophy cannot be

Greek
soil,
18
called
native
original
product of
or a spontaneous
and
"THE STOIC PHILOSOPHER"

creation of the Greek mind.
fringes
of
19
It sprang
Hellenic
civilization
up in those which bordered the
barbarian peoples, whether in Thrace, in Italy, in Sicily, Obscure and alien influences comor in Asia Minor.
bined to give to the end of
it
its history.
that peculiar complexion which it bore Vague hints and dark legends
connect every prominent sage with a visit to Egypt, and a fabled intercourse with the priests of an esoteric
religion.
In Greece proper we meet with the late

;
though splendid names of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle but the earliest discoverers and the later successors of the Golden and Athenian age were foreigners. The whole tone and temper of speculation from first to last is sharply contrasted with those features of Greek social and political life which are most familiar to us. From
the outset this stream of thought ran counter to the classical instincts, and to the needs and aspirations of
Hellenic
The Athenian period, marked life and culture. by a bold attempt to unite the two unsociable sides
("
principatum ac libertatem "), ended, nevertheless, in the complete disclosure of their final incompatibility.
Philosophy in
its birth is essentially Komantie; and subjective impressions take the place of exterior law. True it is that the very aim of Eeflexion is to justify and
explain this outer law to the subject, and to accept voluntarily speculations which had been imposed before upon slaves. For by the intrinsic nature of Reason or
Dialectic,
separatist
yet
unifier,
all
these
reach
unity in the world of nature and of thought, by a comparison of the various organs of intelligence or a more
or less
sifting
away
patient scrutiny of physical processes; by a of the nondescript, the particular, until
the pure but rarefied form appeared; by overcoming
20
MARCUS AURELIUS
the extravagant conceit of individual thinkers or imall pressionists, in a discovery of a fixed norm of
rational unanimity.
2.
But
it is
instructive to trace in
history the
such attempts to arrive at a unity of conciliation between the universal and the individual Difference (so dear to the Greek spirit, so reason.
failure of all
mature reflexion) obtruded itself in where a final harmony was promised; every sphere, if and when attained, proved to be and the unity, for the supreme Eeality was indisvoid of content, from This search, which is the tinguishable negation. function of necessary unifying reason, was pursued with
distasteful to its
quiet persistency, until we lose sight of Hellenic sobriety and orderliness in the raptures and ecstasies of the
bastard Platonism.
Reflexion, in its earliest stirrings due to barbarian influences, suggested unity as the fitting
goal for
human thought and endeavour;

variety,
;
while
the
whether in art, or a variety which was not mere dispoetry, or politics which in the end knew orderly licence or caprice, no other restraints but those of native good taste and In the sage, the two conflicting tengood feeling. dencies constantly confront one another no less than in and the peace of mind of the one is sacrificed society no less than the harmony of the other. The whole essence of the creative and progressive Hellenic life was In the commonwealth of Oityliberty and equality. States (I do not speak here of the monastic rigour of the Dorians and a common worship), loosely united by a traditional ancestry, and in the ordinary life of any one of the group, whether colony or metropolis, It was signivariegation was the chief characteristic.
;
Greek temper delighted in
21
Scant that they chose to find in an artistic sense of limit the real controlling force behind the multiple of
turbulent society
realize
in
which other nations are compelled to and arm in the full panoply of mail, or incarnate a final appeal to some despotic monarch. In the
;
free,
unimpeded interaction of independent units, the Greek State found a wholesome social life, free alike from the lethargy of servile decay and from subversive But it must be observed that this recognition anarchy. of law depended on no written constitution, but on the unwritten law (aypafo? 1/0/^09) of custom and precedent, and in the last resort could be defended by no peremptory sanction. Similarly, Greek morals, whether
in the unreflecting or self-conscious days, based their appeal upon a sense of personal dignity and freedom,
and were controlled in outline and direction by
aesthetic
propriety (as among the Eomans in later times by a The UoXts, in the strictly conventional decorum). limited number of free families and individuals, en-
couraged a hasty yet regular exchange of authority and obedience and could rely upon a willing deference to
;
which was certainly unable itself against a The citizens were satisfied with the calculating tyrant. general stability, and yet felt how little sacrifice of caprice, how brief a delay to legitimate ambition, such a constitution demanded. 3. Not among such happy and independent minds
this
law
of
e<
"
give-and-take
(as republics
always are) to enforce
did the problem of the universe press, urging for solution. Engrossed as they were in the unceasing and
multifarious duties of their civic
life,
they had neither
leisure nor opportunity for speculation. of despotism, whether the inordinate
The shadow
power
of
the
22
MARCUS AURELIUS
of
"man
colossal
the
hour" in
of
Greek
tyrannies,
or
the
the Persian King, must fall with figure sombre influence over these blithe and prosperous communities, before men can sit apart to muse on the substance of
all
things, the futility of existence,
and the
negative ethic of abstention
and
be interesting (though here
of quietism. It would out of place) to trace the
share which this consciousness of an unholy or a lawful unity exercised in the production of the reflecting habit
among
less
the Greeks.
Certain
it is
that this thought, no
than the spectacle of factious democracy, largely contributed to the development of philosophy; which from the first set itself to correct, to deride, or to super-
by some deeper explanation than unconscious universal consent, the conventional fabric of society and
sede, of government. This feud, once started, was never again healed, and the practical outcome on the cities of the Hellenic world of so much meditation and dispute, may
be confined to the aristocratic communities of Pythagoras
and the personal influence of Socrates whose life as an obedient citizen, whose death as a martyr to truth and to patriotic duty, served only to emphasize the more The reason for vividly the discord of the two spheres. this distrust and suspicion is not far to seek. The desire for a personal and individual apprehension of truth, apart from the sacred ministrations and mediation of the Family-State, seemed as impious to their eyes as the claim to immediate revelation by Protestant or Mystic, to the devout Catholic to-day. The con;
servatism of unreflecting obedience (whether in a tyrant or in an Aristophanes) waged a truceless warfare against
the seekers
after
higher
to
sanction.
The
religiotis,
whose
belief
was limited
poetic
tradition,
whose
23
practice was bounded by the ceremonies and festivals of the State's authorization, saw nothing but impiety in the deeper scrutiny, which refused to acquiesce in the
divinity
of the obvious, and attempted to bring some concord into the turbulence of Olympus. The practical men of business and affairs viewed with grave dis-
approbation the
citizen's
life
withdrawal
of
so
many
hours of a
disputes
of
into the meditative idleness or querulous the sage's leisure. Even the popular
on numberless petty occasions the uneasy sense of the community that Philosophy was the chief enemy of social life; that the calm and imridicule or dislike betrayed
partial discussion of those self-evident axioms on which a State is founded, must in the end prove a sceptical solvent, fatal to all law and principle, whether of love
in
the family, of devotion to the commonwealth, or respect for the divine beings whose worship the State This was not an evanescent prejudice of the enjoined.
Hellenic mind, which disappeared after a proper familiIt was an age-long temper, arity with true wisdom.
which never wavered in
its distrust
until indeed philo-
sophy, in the inactively tolerant and pacific period of the Eoman Empire, became a mere synonym for a
brilliant
ability in extempore harangues, or an antiquarian and comparative study of the dogmatic tenets In the age of the Antonines the four of the schools.
principal sects could exist together on amicable terms,
and enjoy the Imperial liberality without disgracing For by that time the such bounty by their quarrels.
pretentious claim of Philosophy to guide human life had in effect yielded to the more modest and indirect, But in but genuine and effectual, direction of Eome.
its earlier
days Philosophy was in continual opposition
24
MARCUS AURELIUS
and
classical spirit.
to the Hellenic
soil
Arising in foreign
and under
alien influences, it
demanded an exclusive
the current conceptions of allegiance to a code above cover of practical maxims, under duty and it tended, effort or endeavour into a from to withdraw the student
;
life of
contemplation and inactivity. 4 Above all, Philosophy, while it taught the selfhim liberty to sufficiency of the wise man and promised
expatiate in a larger sphere than the State, yet in truth only deprived him of the innocent excitement and
useful duties of social routine, and enslaved him to the more comprehensive unity which it professed to disIn effect he became the sport of natural forces, cover.
or the organ of impersonal reason, or the citizen of a supposed kingdom of the universe, a cosmopolitan, with
ill-defined
and often purely negative
duties.
Leaving
the sole realm where
virtue can be efficient, and can, even in failure, look forward to future progress or
human
reform with unselfish joy, the sage found himself in the presence of forces which he could not control or
indeed understand.
1
In seeking freedom in the developThe irony of the whole Stoic position is admirably but unconsciously 1 displayed by Seneca, Trtmq. Ammi, "Sequor Zenonem Cloanthem Ohrysippum quorum tamen nemo ad Rempublicam accossit, nemo non JDe Otw vel Secessu. misit. 30. Duse maxime in liac re dissident sed utraque ad ofoum diversa vi& w$6it> Sectee, Epic, et Stoicorum Epicurus ait: non accedet ad RP. Sapiens nisi si quid intervenerit, Zeno ait Accedet ad RP. nisi si quid impedierit. Alter otium ex proCausa autem ilia latfc patet Si RP. posito petit, alter ex causa si occupata est malis non nitetur Sapiens in supercorruptior est
:
;
vacuum, nee
32.
egisse
"Nos
quam
mbil profuturus impendit. certesumus quidicimus ot Zenonem et Ohrysippum majora

se
si
"
duxissent exercitus, gessissent honores, leges tulissent
quas non uni

the
civitati sed toti
humano
life's
goneri tulere."
And throughout
little treatise,
in dividing
templatio, actio, it is clear
where
possible aims into voluptas, con* his real sympathies are.
25
merit of his personality, lie only learnt that freedom and personality are alike illusions. Philosophy, although has often proved a noble ally, is in some sort a it
protest against the finality of domestic and social life. It charms man with hopes of a higher companionship, which, alas in the end are to be reached only by laying
!
down what
of the
is
distinctively
is
by abandoning what
Divine
"
in the philosopher, his own, in the ecstasy especially
human
Unio."
5. Historically, the Union, the higher world which they sought for, was the achievement of Alexander for one brilliant moment, and of Eome perhaps for all time,
whether as a secular or a
3
spiritual
monarchy.
Kendall (ch. iv. Ixxxv.) The conquests of Alexander changed the moral as well as the political outlook of Hellenism ; for, ethically as well as socially, it became impossible any
:
"
longer to regard the irdXts as the supreme unit of morality." The undoubted decline of democratic zest at the entrance of
the twentieth century may be attributed, partly, to the discovery that social problems and inequalities are independent
great measure, to that Imperialism
institutions ; partly, and in which expatiates in a larger world, and unconsciously relaxes the tension of mind into civic duties, and consoles the poor and oppressed for present misery
of the suffrage
and representative
by a hallucination from the pleasure
of foreign power.
I cannot here refrain
of quoting this sentence, Ixxxviii. : "As Stoicism sprang historically out of the suppression of Greek City-States by the expansion of Greece into the world-empire
of Alexander
so, too, its
second birth in Italy heralds the
Imperial stage in the destinies of the great republic." Though Boman Stoicism adopted or simulated an attitude of systematic
defiance to this system,
is
we may note
that in
modern times
Divine right and Hegelianism passive obedience; and to-day the quiescence of anything
allied with,
recognition of
26
MARCUS AURELIUS
be attributed to the approaching educated republicanism may on the world. prevalence of a similar outlook
The Stoic philosopher, proclaiming the Again, cxxxvii. moral autonomy of the individual, disclaimed the strictly to found morality upon bases that political bond and sanction
:
"
were universal. The civic obligation in its narrower application was annulled, and superseded by the Cosmic j but the ' name and association of citizenship were too deeply grafted into moral consciousness to be killed out. They survived
'
into the idea of a
'
"
world-citizenship.'
And Borne especially was not disposed to regard the transcendent promises either of sage or Christian, except as violations of the compact which united the governors
and the governed. The classical Roman spirit, averse to individualism, had long and stubbornly opposed the It was introduction of Philosophy and strange rites. almost an irony that drove the Republican senators of
the early Imperial age to seek solace in those theories which their ancestors and models had relentlessly expelled.
for the
accountable decay of population and the old vigorous urban life, now defied the political system which it had called forth. The Empire was the natural result of individual-
The pursuits
of wisdom, in
much
ism and
because
of disintegration
it
it
could tolerate diversity,

it.
transcended and controlled
It
provided
these aristocratic sages of the opposition with a conspicuous theatre for their noble, if ineffectual, defiance ;
and they forgot that its removal would leave them without occupation, in the midst of a surfeited demoIt is impossible cracy, who hated and despised them. to refuse our admiration to the heroes and martyrs in
ethical
the cause of the Republic; but the thinness of their equipment, the negative character of their
27
maxims, must prevent us from regretting their failure. There is no happiness in the world without endeavour, without practical work. It was the merit of the Eoman to be happy only in working, and he exchanged his
Idlespear for the plough after the annual campaign. ness settled down on Italy after the extinction of the
yeoman
class and free labour and, in spite of Vergil and Columella, the recreations of the aristocratic Eoman
;
in the Imperial era ceased to be rural, as their chief An unhappy accident business ceased to be military. or
want
of straightforwardness in the
new
constitution
prevented the nobles from accepting office under one who was but a member of their own order, a delegate of their own body one who stood in an exalted position a penalty indeed, but well within the reach of envy,
;
from which the limited sovereign of modern times is exempt, from the very magnificence and uniqueness of his dignity. Jealousy excluded them from responsible and important posts; and an enforced leisure might
vary with the voluptuous or austere, in the pursuit of strange pleasures of sense and ear, or in the defiant, yet
negative, courage of a Stoical philosophy. 6. The peculiar form which the Unity of the common search took in these philosophers was Fate.
Quietistic as all
Greek schools tended

the
ing "practice" with
to become (banishBuddhist as disease), none
preached more assiduously the futility of human effort than the Stoics. An irresistible current of Destiny (which united all events and effects in an unbroken the universe as an unceasing process, always in series)
;
motion, yet never progressing; the vanity of earthly pursuits, and a studied contempt of human ambition ; the sense of Eternity, present here and now, final and
28
fixed,
MARCUS AURELIUS
;
indifference to
a resolute with no hope for a brighter dawn human history, except to point the moral of the emptiness of our wishes, and the final equality of
things and all men, good or bad, of all striving, as well as all inaction ; the conscience, or inner voice, as a single stable point in the flux of sense and matter, yet
all
without practical value, seemingly an aimless penalty of a jealous (or a suffering ?) god, who gives as that cruel gift, a part of himself, the power to survey and to mourn the misery of life without the power to
change; practical duties of life, slipping one by one from the grasp of the sage, until his moral life can be " such are summed up in a perpetual " non possuinus and such the later chief tenets of the Stoicism, admirably
:
suited the melancholy temper of Eoman abstentionists. The earlier school (though possibly tinged with a latent
Phenician
of defence,
gloom)
had
been
indistinguishable
its
from
system and in a metaphysical dogmatic, to which Antisthenes had wisely remained a stranger. No practical effort marked the earlier founders, whose sole business was to weld into a solid and coherent body,
guarded by unassailable argument, a certain theory of the world. Only when domiciled in Eome did the
Cynicism, save in the logical completeness of
and become not a sect, but a Eoman mind transformed the Stoa from a mere house of dogmatic paradox
School
actual
life,
religion.
mix in The
practical bent of the
into a temple of a devout,

7.
Though negation
;
Stoical Ethics, yet this

of
positive character
though despairing, Theism. is the keynote of passivity takes among the Eomans a kind and their inertness is one of
dormant energy. But this entirely depends upon the personal and individual bias of the various exponents
;
29
and on the common influence of the Eoman Empire, which appeared to tolerate, nay, to invite, criticism and reflexion, while it seemed to close so many avenues to wholesome effort. Never slaves to a system, always
Eoman
above logical symmetry, the were all eclectic. philosophers They followed with no servile adherence to a master's word, but com" " posed, as it were, a rosary from many Schools, to fit the urgent needs of their existence. To the present
placing
practical
value
moment, orthodoxy is the supreme merit of Eastern To Churchmen, as heresy is the most heinous sin. the Western Catholic everything is subordinate to utility and the honour of the Church or the welfare of souls salvation is to be found only in communion with Borne; and schism, or visible disaffection, is the unThe Eastern is rather a member of pardonable offence. a spiritual realm of truth, the Western a citizen of a The rules of the former are ascervisible kingdom. tained by the pure Eeason (or communicated instan:
taneously
unalterable,
by heavenly
G-race).
and unchanging.
They are definite, But an earthly State
demands certain concessions
to the individual, politic
reservation of the whole truth, materializing of dogma, casuistry in the treatment of special events, and opportunism in the attitude of the spiritual to the secular
powers.
8.
This distinction prevailed also in the philosophy
Greek and Eoman. Among the latter there are no Seneca tempers the rigour pure or unmixed schools. of the early dogmatism by the maxims of Epicurus and
of
the sentimental dualism of Plato. Epictetus, another Socrates, transforms into a loving Father the ultimate and irresoluble physical force that lies behind the vain
30
MARCUS AURELIUS
shadow, Sansara, of existence, and colours with personal piety the Buddhistic atheism of the academic Stoics. Plutarch, who has much in common with this School, is
yet, in ultimate metaphysics, a Dualist, and in practical life an admirer and (so far as the times allowed) an
ancients.
the simple and cheerful virtue of the Marcus Aurelius, the last of the Stoics, is, at the same time, the first of the Neo-Platonists, and in " " transforms a mere his doctrine of the deity within and the of the soul upper air into a physical connexion mystical creed that was the very bulwark and sup-
emulator of
port of the brighter side, the

Meditations.
Clement
of
southern front," of his Alexandria (if by the in-
"
may complete the list) adapts the Stoic precision of formula and definition to the growing science of Christian Ethics, which, issuing from the pure passivity of the Millenarian or the patient
clusion of this
name
sufferer
for truth's
life,
sake,
was
destined, with its
new
interest in social
resume: the welcomed a somewhat frigid school as having an implicit power of sustenance and consolation in critical times. Yet within this loose network they borrowed from many sources they laid no claim to completeness or For the mainspring of their studies was consistency. not intellectual curiosity, or the desire of applause, or
;
to re-create society in Europe. To victims of the Imperial regime gladly
the tranquil discovery and enjoyment of eternal verities. In the decay or syncretism of various popular cults, in
the congregation of the most varied nationalities under a single sway, in the blurring of all distinct outline, once separating the petty gods from the great and single Source of Life, in the gradual closing to the
nobles
of
the
arena
of
practical
ambition
under a

socialist
31
monarchy which dispensed with

see the chief
their services,
we may
and of materialism into one of the scheme commonplace if the most Where noblest, melancholy, of all religions. all separateness of feature, all idiosyncrasy, had faded into a world-empire, where all individual effort or
tion to Stoicism,
significance tended
to disappear in a universal law, the sage meditating profoundly on the unity of Being and the nexus of events, the eternity of type and the
causes of this passionate devothis gradual transformation of a
triviality of the fleeting particular, could only find con-
solation in Mysticism, none the less real because it was not explicit, 9. Stoicism preaches, as we have seen, the ethics
of abstention.
Centring
all
attention on the inner
life
of the individual, like all the subjective schools of the
post-Aristotelian age, it speedily despaired of finding a true sphere for his activity, and gradually withdrew its claims to occupy or to direct any portion of human life.
The universal order and unity

;
(so strangely contrasted
with Epicurean pluralism) could be approached only by " " unselfishness that devotion to a purely typical (not a personal) excellence which characterizes all Greek
thought in the
field
of
morals.
The
single free
and
perpetually repellent point of consciousness, the will (to which alone any value could be attached), was to be
occupied in a meaningless conflict with natural emotion,
and in lofty disdain of the outer world of nature or While the theoretical creed of the Stoic or the society.
Cynic proudly pronounced its text to be a reasonable following of Nature, an insistence on the unity, harmony, and order in the world, and a belief in a common human
brotherhood predominating above petty national or class
32
MARCUS AURELIUS
distinctions, the School not only ended in setting the sage in isolation from a world of fate or chance, and
from
Ms fellows, hut tortured him with a sense of dualism and unceasing conflict within the limits of his own nature. It was impossible to regard the world as a field for moral discipline and trial (for the conception of Stoic immortality compels us to pronounce its
asceticism either impious or superfluous), nor, again, as a scene of perpetual advance for the human race
towards
distant
though it he, may Neither was unsteady and failing footsteps. show, the uneasy dreams of some sleeping
theory which
reconcile
goal; which belief, cold comfort indeed sustain pilgrims in their own
it
a vain
:
God
may amuse a
him
pessimist speculator, and to the indifference of sensations (or, in-
deed, of hopes), which, after all, are not really his. 10. It is difficult to say what the Stoic universe
meant
for the wise man. Its motive, its author, its goal were alike undiscoverable ; and the kindly thoughts, the noble sentiment of duty, the compassionate unselfish-
ness of so
many of the School, were held as a legacy of some primitive religious teaching, some illogical remnant of personal temperament, in spite of the negative dogma
of their philosophic creed. Personal distinction, earnestness of aim, and devotion to a set purpose, have consecrated the names of Seneca, Epictetus, and Aurelius.
But
this influence depends,
not on their close adherence
to a logical system, but in the original sincerity of their Under sentiments, in their pure and genuine characters.
them, the School loses all its distinctive features, its moral harshness, its dogmatism. A gentle melancholy of doubt, and a delicate and refined consideration for
others, take the place of the certainty
and the austerity
33
of the elders. The Roman character, tempered by that admixture with Spanish influences which marks the first century, both in politics and in letters, becomes mystical and feminine. Only from the older school is maintained that barren article of faith which is the doom of human
effort or enterprise in Stoic, in
Mahometan,
in
Brahmin
"
the divine Unity.

describe this original
" Utterly unable to qualify
or
the earlier
and comprehensive Being, rejecting physical interpretation, and straining on the
path of negative theology towards a purely spiritual conception, they did, indeed, succeed in establishing a verbal kinship between the soul and its maker, one gleam of consolation in an alien world but in so doing, they abandoned the chief tenet of their nominal system, and prepared the way for that final leap into sentiment and emotion in which Greek philosophy was destined to
;
fate probably awaits all Schools which an assumption of original Unity. Stoicism is but one of many which end in a complete reversal Monism has passed of their most fundamental axioms. into the harshest Dualism Pantheism into an impossible transcendence sternness, certainty, and effort into If Aurelius dedoubt, compassion, and resignation. our and mands our sympathy praise in his unselfish
perish. start from
A like
the security of the Empire, it is because his better than his creed because he has suppractice fate of positivism by a distant Providence, the planted to whom he stretches out pure hands, full of mute but
efforts for
is
;
unavailing appeal.
But he
is
the last of
Eoman Stoics
;
he founds no School
Eational thought is swept away Oriental a torrent of mysticism or ceremonial and by even while we read his private memoirs the empty
garments of a formal Stoicism

3
fall
away
to disclose a
34
MARCUS AURELIUS
soid glowing with an
emotion midway between compassion and love, and stirred to an activity (which
his creed belied), if not by enthusiasm, at least by a Our task will lead strong sense of loyalty and duty. us to examine in detail the points in which the
Emperor
wise
to
truer instincts of his
deserts the philosophy of the Schools for the own heart; but first it will be
inquire
into
the
contributions
of
his
fore-
runners, and thus estimate

Epictetus.
his debt to Seneca
and to
CHAPTER
III
DEVELOPMENT OF PHILOSOPHY IN ROME

ANALYSIS
% 1.
Roman
"Stoicism" as a familiar phase of
human
thought ;
faith -philosophy (in ethics) superinduced on naturalism and without attempt at consistency.
2.
The Empire not
the cause, tut one
among many symptoms,
of
a widespread
3.
Quietism.
to
Rome's contribution
courages the concrete

4.
and
Individualism ; as Nominalist, enpersonal, in default of Hellenic
appreciation of abstractions.
Seneca defines
weight
to
"Summum Bonum" as a "Soul" ; and attache " decreta" "prcecepta" rather than to
dogmatism,
5.
Decay
of scientific
philology; Seneca seeks reconcile natural order
and distaste for physica a moral Deity; and is unalk to and the moral law, or combine in a
6.
7.
single Supreme principle. His Dualism and Asceticism; he repudiates utilitarian motive in Science, and dissuades from public life. The leisure of the true Sage occupied with friendship or
8.
The "chief good" as Tranquillity of Mind; Egoism

Greek philosophy.
of all
9.
Absolute Inwardness of the chief good; as an attitude of mind which places happiness entirely in our own power, and neither
finds nor demands correspondence in the outer world.
1.
IT
is
"
Stoicism
"
perhaps a
little
unfortunate that
we
talk of
as the predominant philosophy at
Eome
among those whose energies, debarred from political action, had passed into the fresh channel of speculation
36
MARCUS AURELIUS
of the civic
on human conduct, independent
sanction.
If it is Stoicism at all, the tenets are
very different
what we can
it
deem, certain in the older School.
from To call
Eclecticism again, or worse still Syncretism, is to give a difficult name to a very familiar phase of the human
mind
the interest of an ordinary reader, who will fancy he has to deal with profound truth or logical subtleties, rather than with a moral
;
and perhaps to
stifle
attitude
which is very likely nearly akin to his own. The Eoman character had indeed much in common with
It held fast, in the practical sobriety of the English. the decay of local worships, to the original and honourable sentiments which social instinct had implanted, and tradition had ennobled and illustrated by heroic
example,
country.
duty to
self,
They were
to parents, to friends, and to either unable or unwilling to
The thought analyze the ultimate motives of conduct. of tearing up the roots of moral behaviour and examining
to them.
critically the springs of action
As
Professor
was abhorrent Huxley makes no pretence at
accommodating his human practice to the laws of the 1 the human funcuniverse, as he completely separates tion with its postulate of Freedom from the self-centred and predestined automatism of the rest of Creation " " so the Eoman through evil report and good report preserved his sense of human dignity, and respected the claims which an exacting State or a capricious Fortune might make on his loyalty, forbearance, or self;
sacrifice.
He
could not explain or justify

it
but he was
convinced that somehow
was
his duty to act after the
old time-honoured fashion.

1
Divine sanctions might be

his
as
As completely as Maurice Maeterlinck in Andrew Seth. in Man's Place in the Cosmos.
Kingdom
of Matter, or
PHILOSOPHY IN ROME
37
mere fables, and that peculiar tutelage of gods for men which has so often supported in good hopes and joyousness the victim of Chance.
states vanished, as the world
As the
barriers of city-
the unity, of the distance,
the reflecting mind. boundless expanse of Nature, a boundless leisure (save as an Imperial servant or official),
became one, so a sense of of God was borne in upon
an almost
race
limitless state coextensive
with the
human
the decay, not merely of stirring municipal in; terests and competition, but of all except the vaguest these were the new facts to which the positive beliefs,
practical
and conscientious
is
spirit of the
Eoman had
to
adapt
itself.
an error to suppose that the peculiar Bornan tendency of thought, from Cicero to Aurelius, was due to the Empire, as creating an atmosphere of restraint and suspicion, of psychological analysis, of brooding over wrongs and the injury of an enforced The institution of the Empire was clearly idleness. but one of the symptoms of an abnormal condition of
2.
It
humanity in that
ported
itself
age.
No
despotism has ever sup-
The against the will of the majority. The apotheosis of Caesar was a result, not a cause. most fanatical worshippers of past liberty in this age never ventured to propose a substitute for the Caesarian
regimen, though they were ready at any moment to change the particular representative. The distaste for
affairs
which
is
was
really the long-seated evil
mostly attributed to Imperial jealousy which rendered Caesar
democracy (real or imaginary) which indispensable. has disgusted the honest by its turbulence or venality has but one resort, the strong hand; and Cicero in
spite
of
his
protestations,
Seneca, and
Aurelius,
all
38
MARCUS AURELIUS
recognized this, and felt that the high Idealism, supporting a republican form of government, had passed
away for ever, and that the temper of the times demanded a personal and embodied Sovereign, dispenser 1 of the material benefits of justice, peace, and plenty. this sombre veil Over the Roman world had spread of Quietism. This spirit had handed over to the conquerors as yet vigorous the independence of a wearied and diffident society, and had at last sought its newest
recruits
was a higher
3.
the conquerors themselves. Speculation than action indeed, was the highest kind of activity for those who claimed to be free.
among
life
To
this attitude of reserve
Roman brought
fashion to-day 2 influence that emphasis on the liberty of the individual and his immortal destiny, which formed the secret
and resignation, the It is the certain qualities of his own. to attribute to the Germano-Christian
impulse
tution,
of the Mediaeval Empire, in its ideals, constiand development, which resulted, breaking up the Realistic fabric inherited from Classical times, in the Reformation, and the movements of Emancipation
within living memory. But it will not be fair to forget the precious contribution of Rome. Greece, while it
revelled in the wild
and unaccountable caprice of some of favourite fortune, never rose to a full definition spoilt of the Personal. The brief emphasis on the relativity
of
knowledge in the Sophistic age, only reacted into a Absolute and the so-called Subjective Schools failed, as we have already seen, to justify or
deification of the
;
to explain individual consciousness.

1
They could only
See the undoubtedly sincere language of Seneca as to the Imperial responsibilities and significance, De Clem. i. 1, 3, 4, 5. 2 See Gierke's Political Ideals in the Middle Ages.
PHILOSOPHY IN ROME
39
point to a shadowy type of ideal man, before which all special or peculiar or relative qualities in each must be
sacrificed
as excrescences.
The Roman,
as
practical
man
of affairs
abstractions.
even in retirement, knew nothing of these He refuses (with Horace) to bow the
knee to any master. He subordinates all to practice, he disparages logical symmetry, and believes all time wasted which is spent in those dialectic subtleties, so dear to the Porch, in its early Megarian and Eristic Cicero and Seneca mingle impartially, and withdays.
out attempt at uniformity, the teaching of the Schools and the maxims of many rivals. Even that Ideal
Virtue or
Summum
onum, which (in default
of dis-
covering the Sage) must ever remain beyond human attainment, should be sought rather in the concrete, imitable form, which its nearest imitators have set
before us, all the
perfect.
more useful because they are imInstead of reverence for Zeno and Chrysippus, masters of formula, we have respect for good men, for The pages of Seneca are Socrates, Cato, and Brutus.
pleasantly diversified by anecdotes of honest citizens, whose approximations to Virtue are far more edifying than any solitary musing on ideal perfection. Thrice
does
Seneca startle us by calling the Chief Good a No distant sea of impersonal goodness, no realm of pure ideas, no unfaltering moral Law, above and but an individual, who irrespective of all particulars
Soul
!
;
had embodied and attained in some measure that human excellence of which all men were speaking,1 and
a Both dpenf and "virtus "are entirely mistranslated by virtue." Vvrtue suggests, I think, an external standard which demands our obedience without question or compromise ; while the other names imply a far closer and implicit connexion between the ideal and per-
"
40
MARCUS AURELIUS
life illus-
could offer in the concrete circumstances of

trations of its
4.
In
method and value. the 113th letter

est ?
to
Lucihus
we
se
find:
"
Justitia,
quid
Animus quodammodo
habens"
In Letter 117, 12, Sapientia is defined as Mens perad summum So, too, in optimumque perducta. fecta ml
the
"
Blessed Life,"
"
4,
Summum Bonum
in Letter 120,
est
fortuita despiciens"
is
and
8,
Animus when he
rudimentary knowledge of right and wrong came to us, he believes the example of ancient merit and heroism stirred us to realize, by an
inquiring
first
how
the
impulsive and involuntary (Fabricius Iicec et hujusmodi facia imaginem In precisely the same spirit, ndbis ostendere Virtutis ").
admiration at
first
and Horatius Codes, "

he
is
averse to
so
empty
generalizations, to laws of con-
duct
universal
that
they
cover
everything
and
recognizes greatest profit, not nothing. " " in these formal " deereta," but in the of praecepta the casuist or the Director. The difficulty in Ethics
counsel
He
(whether as a science or for individual guidance) is never the discovery of general principles, but their
application.
are prompted
friends. " place,
All Seneca's writings are occasional, and by the distress or spiritual needs of his
The mere idle repetition of Stoic commonThe good man alone is happy," " Virtue is the
sonal interest. This was due to the vague teleology which dominated Greek thought and its derivatives after Socrates. Harmony of inward and outward was dJ5cu//.oj/a, (ru/ô&pws, o/ioXcôu^^ws tfjv rj 0tf<rei (with its ambiguous meaning). 'Aper^ was the means to this end desired by all and was attained by the development of the olKetov gpyov, which, in
;
opposed to Stag or Tiger) was a "reasoned and consistent is quite impossible to say where unselfish admiration for a lofty ideal of behaviour, and where the lower motive, urging us to tranquillity and peace in the only certain region of our conscioxisness, have their precise limits.
(as
life."
man
It
PHILOSOPHY
sole
IN
ROME
hrm.
41 Everyone
end of
Life,"
did not interest
agreed about the fundamental principles ; but few could The austere Quintilian reapply the minor premise.
bukes him for superficiality in his treatment but a sincere must be needs really casuistry opportunist and sometimes even inconincoherent and disconnected, was of a in new Socrates to sistent. want Philosophy
;
bring
down formula
again into
life.
We
disinclined to-day to quarrel with
him
are certainly for exchanging a

;
barren and formal symmetry for moral earnestness just that personal, almost missionary, interest which
enables French
writers
x
to
compare him with the
Catholic directors and father-confessors of the seven-
teenth century.
5.
The
fabric
of
Certitude
the
great
dogmatic
Cosmology of early Stoicism had crumbled into dust. Nothing was left of it except a sense of immensity, against which the Hellenic mind had from the outset striven nobly but in vain and a conception of a Unity beyond all human appreciation. In all ultimate problems, Seneca was an Agnostic, with a firm hold on the dignity of the moral life, none the less firm because it was inconsistent. With all his Stoic protest that Knowledge, like Life, was one, an impassable gulf yawns between his theory and his practice. The earlier school has been materialist and positive its theology was a " sounded department of its physics its ethics merely " the recall from a corrupt and wearied society of civilized beings to a norm of nature and simplicity which no one cared to define precisely. But the first century had passed beyond the naive positivism which superimposed on universal automatism a doctrine of
;
;
M. Constant Martha among
others.
42
MARCUS AURELIUS
man's freedom and responsibility, and narrowed the " term " natural to the passive resignation of an ascetic. The demand of the three Eoman Stoics is for a moral
Author
of the Universe.
Their failure to discover any
satisfactory clue to the Divine dealings produced that It is in this deepening sense of vanity and distress.
consciousness of failure that Aurelius seeks within the
he cannot find without, and becomes the first To Seneca all dogma the introspective Platonists.
solace
of
is
fluid, except the belief in the final destruction of the world. Though he yearns, with Fichte, to see God in
"
the moral order of the Universe," he
interests of
Unity
to identify
is
Him
is forced in the with every other
known
force.
As He
He is suit Him. and abstract law which guides it He is Nature or The partial names of special deities are all His, Fate. and together they make up the fulness of the Divine title but they disappear in the immense nothingness, The special sense of rather than colour or qualify it. nearness to man, of a sympathy something more than physical, of an approval and favour more clearly displayed than in a brilliant heaven and unerring laws, this is wanting. All Theology nmst be anthropoA morphic or it ceases to be more than Natural Law.
;
;
everything, so any name will the sum of existence ; or the secret
barrier (which
we
believe can
never be transcended)
separates man as a moral agent (or more clearly, as a consciousness burdened with a sense of moral responsibility,
which cannot be shaken
Universe.
Any
off) from the rest of the attempt at a Supreme Synthesis, from
the side of either material or spiritual Law, is destined to failure. The world is twofold ; and it is as foolish
to forget the real in the Ideal, as it is to
merge the
PHILOSOPHY IN ROME
special
43
of man in the processes of a Because Seneca cannot see the finger of God in the world outside, and because he is determined to find Him somewhere, he brings into prominence a
consciousness
causal series.
certain
dogma
of the earlier school, the divinity of the
soul as a ray sent
down from heaven
and gives
this
purely physical belief a new and a moral significance. Upon this semi - naturalistic, semi - mystical tenet,
Epictetus, a truer follower of Socrates, builds his magnificent appeal to the children of a common Father.
Early Stoicism doubted if Providence condescended to the School ended in Aurelius with denying particulars
:
that
God had any

6.
other
home except
the purified spirit

left
of the individual
And
riderless.
the vast Universe which was thus To whose dominion was it entrusted ?
To
a blind or malevolent spirit of caprice, with whom the Sage could have no compromise. Nature to our
modern
nature
;
Stoic
his
meant emphatically the wise man's inner reasonable soul, as defined by Aristotle.
;
of the world mighb be termed Providential, and general sense but the parts, the special events, were abandoned to the Usurper Fortune, just as in the Stoical Christian Lactantius, the Devil and no one else is the ruler of earth and the dispenser of
The course
in a vague
every earthly blessing. admire the orbits of the
\oyiKov man might and find some delight in the study of natural problems. But the more particular " Touch enjoyment of her gifts was strictly interdicted. " was written on the vestibule not, taste not, handle not
As
%$>ov
stars,
of the
sities
Stoic temple.
;
All contact beyond pure necesas a scene of gaiety the world
was disallowed
was forbidden ground; the "regnum hominis" over
44
the
MARCUS AURELIUS
inanimate
The sacrilegious profanation. and generally in practice also) gave up the present and the visible to the evil spirit, quite as decisively as the most pessimistic and introThe doctrine spective anchorite among the Christians.
was a
Stoic (always in theory
of the
sympathy
of all things
(crvfiTrdOeta,
crvvdfaia)
ended in a most rigorous contrast of man and nature. As Macaulay rightly objected, it was " only to be " looked at any utilitarian motive in scientific knowis impiety in the eyes of Seneca or of his pupil ledge And again as o>oz/ Trokirucov man was in Lucilius. to take part in a smaller world of summoned theory
;
Society.
But the debates
of the earlier Stoics exhibit
a ludicrous hesitation to enter public life. Many were the excuses made, strange the pretexts accepted for the evasion of this obvious and classical duty. Either
the actual State was too corrupt, or there were peculiar
if
temporary obstacles, which hindered this especial and condemned him to a leisure which he accepted with pretended reluctance. Seneca is at least acute enough to see that these protests were insincere, and that it was the fixed if unacknowledged resolve of the " Stoic Masters to abstain from politics. The result," " he tells us, is the same in either school whether the Epicurean refuse an active life unless the circumstances
Sage,
;
the State
forth,"
are exceptional, or the Stoic condemn seclusion unless is too lawless, none of them ever do issue
followers to enter public their invariable abstention.

7.
and he notes their invariable counsel to their life, and at the same time
ambitious, and
fort of
Debarred from the life of the voluptuary or the welcomed to the somewhat frigid comscientific studies, strictly without ulterior motive,
PHILOSOPHY
the
Stoic
IN
ROME
scantily
45
occupied.
found
this
leisure
but
Friends found a place in his heart and in his time, left vacant by the disinterested scrutiny of natural pheno-
mena.
This
new
value of friendship had been the dis-
covery of Epicurus ; and it gives a certain modern tone to the writings of Seneca, The old Esau-like turbulence
and suspicion of the intense city-state is as foreign to the modern temper as to the early Imperial age. Domestic life and friendly intercourse has gained from the decay of purely municipal interest, from the delegation of power to a few, the creation of a public " Seneca is Mandarinate." service, a bureaucracy, a like Cicero, the fatigued or disappointed man of action,
who
studies;
a consolation in abstract or psychological or in the encouragement of friends to fight manfully even a losing game against the allurements of sense or the caprice of rulers. The old Eoman
finds
spirit
life
All interest centred round the keen. moral agent, even though this has retained " little but passivity, a perpetual The nonpossumus," entire teaching of Seneca may be grouped round his
still
was
of the
portrait of the Sage, illustrating the Supreme Good in This porthe life of excellence, distinctively human.
trait,
which he delineates so carefully, adding little touches at the call of some special need, he honestly tells us is drawn as much to comfort and strengthen He dilates almost conhimself as his correspondent.
vincingly on this calm constancy, and I shall devote the ensuing chapter to describing this Ideal, and to explaining some of the questions which arise from it. All the rest are indeed side issues, are episodes on the
one unvarying
theme, the
Tranquillity
of
the Wise
Man.
46
8.
MARCUS AURELIUS
This as the guiding principle of actual life is as As soon as inquiry into the wider
old as Democritus.
world of Nature had dissolved the old religious allegiance to family and country, the sole aim of the personal
was repose and self-sufficiency. The brief and classical Athenian School alone (and that very imperIt attempted fectly) continued to recognize an objective. of and sanctions old to revive the patriotism piety, and But the give them a new meaning and universality. emphasis on Duty among the post-Aristotelians, and
life
Providential Coscomprehensive to the blind one egoistic aim of their mology," cannot There is, I admit, the perenspeculation and practice. to the last, as to the true nial question, never settled " Which ? my own/ or that interpretation of Nature. of the Universe?" To-day we are inclined to place at opposite poles the heroism of sacrifice to the common good, the piety of resignation to the divine, and any scheme of self-realization. 1 We connect the Stoics with the former but it must be remembered that the motive for their philosophy was
their
large
and
"
'
above
of
all utilitarian and eudsemonistic the attainment contentment and calm by a critical inquiry into the exact limits of man's powers and freedom, a comparison (if you like) of the universal and the special Nature, but, above all, from the point of view of the latter. (It is a mistaken and unfruitful labour to decide whether "virtue" must be followed because it is G-od's will,
;
irrespective of
common
1
sense
any consequences and experience
to us
of
or because plain
is
other
assures us that lasting peace of
mind
men's folly only reached
For a similar result in a modern mind, cf. Kirkengaard the Dane, quoted by M, A. Stobart, Fortnightly Review, 1902, January (see p. 49).
PHILOSOPHY
on
this path.
IN
ROME
47
system has ever clearly explained l ? There lies at the root of our nature an impulse to do good in which the overmastering joy of the emotion is strangely mixed with " " and calmer recognition of duty to one's neighbour it would be impossible to determine whether mystical resignation springs entirely from love to God, or entirely from a sense of the vainness of resistance. 2 ) " " 9. However this may be, to Seneca virtue and
the motive of unselfishness
;
What
happiness were identical objective and subjective not a mere empty postulate of correspondence, but a real
;
"
tasted
"
and tested
unity.
lives.
the folly of the lower
He is quite convinced of He sees in their votaries
creatures of impulse,4 swayed by unworthy passion or ambition, slaves of their surroundings (for the rich are
"possessed,"
and are not
real possessors),
who have
laboured gratuitously to make comfort in life unattainable, because they strive only to increase, instead of
diminish, without.
the
multitude
of
things
they cannot
do
Here is the "casus belli" between Seneca and Bacon as portrayed in Macaulay's famous essay. Seneca had seen through the illusion of a complex
civilisation.
He
lived in the midst of such
himself
refined,
1
enjoyed the artistic,

9:
command
; nay, he the material, the which very few of us can claim
over
Vit. Seat.
"Sed tu quoqne ". inquit, "virtutem non ob

This
is,
aliud
colis
quam
;
contested
8
quia aliquam ex ilia speras voluptatem." but it becomes a mere question of words.
of course,
e.g. Tit. Beat. 3 : "ETam pro voluptatibus et pro illis quse parva et fragilia sunt et in ipsis flagitiis noxia, ingens Gaudium subit inconcussum et aequabile : turn pax et coneordia aninri et magnitude cum
mansuetudine." 4 The " Marionnettes "
48
MARCUS AURELIUS
to-day, and which was outside the wildest speculation " of the apostle of the Eegnuin hominis." The ordinary
Eoman
exacting
city-slave
than an
was probably more fastidious and Englishman of the middle class
to-day;
and we know how little the terrors of cross and whip tempered the gaiety or controlled the mischievous intrigues of these happy and irresponsible But satiety and disgust is the note of children. of which an in the early imperial age Eome polished the effect than the rather was exquisite sensuality to Seneca consummate It seemed cause. folly to or to found one's to fortune, spiritual give hostages happiness on an unsubstantial fabric of external wealth,
;
1 Not or the favour of a monarch, or a people's praise. in for the most exalted indifference, but pure common
had the early Stoics repudiated the Aristotelian and Peripatetic alliance, or compromise with the " outer Surely the content' of a soul at peace with goods." itself must depend on nothing which fortune could 2 Happiness must be something injure or take away.
sense,
altogether iSiov, ava$cu,per6v\ something private, eternal, and in the face of the exinexhaustible, unassailable
;
travagant claims of science to-day, we may complain that (even in the Churches) this wholesome caution of the Stoics
is
forgotten.
Resignation, unselfishness,
is
1 Civilization and its increased wants and complexity of living passed under the censure of both schools. Stobaeus, Floril. xvii. 'E
:
TWS &v TIS ir\Qvrr)ffLv ; Otf TO??
oftri
irpocmdels
$17 TTJS
" Onmia enim 2 ista, in quse dominium Oasus exercet, serva Ep. 66 sunt ; pecunia et corpus et honores : imbecilla, fluida, mortalia, possossionis incest. Ilia rursus libera et invicta opera virtutis ; quse non ideo magis appetenda sunt si benignius a Fortuna tractantur ; ncc minus
:
si
aliquH rerum iniquitate premuntur."
PHILOSOPHY IN ROME
certainly
49
of
not
the
centre,
nor
the
motive,
their
system.
Forin., Jan. 1902.
M. A.
Stobart,
" It
is
perhaps by the
'
expressions desire to enjoy
life,
most fitly be epitomized. the two forms of living, the (esthetic and the moral. " For the conditions attending the necessity to enjoy life exist (says the Danish apostle) either outside the individual, or,
if
that the Êsthetic goal can And here lies the difference of
contained within himself as in shape of health, sport, or pleasure entering in any of a thousand forms are of such a nature as to be beyond his own control 5 they are conditions, in
other words, they are relative to circumstances of time, country, surroundings, and the inherited place in the world of the
individual, whose spontaneity of action is controlled by a relationship to Destiny, which is beyond his own limit of
responsibility.
" Whereas in the Ethical, the conditions of life are contained within and not outside the individual ; for the true Ethical sphere is reached (says IL) alone by inwardness ; by
subjective conquest of the will, by the evolution of a power of will which, making in the direction of a consciousness of
the value of the soul, as a portion of the Eternal Entity, gives a continuity, a teleological value to every action, lacking in the Êsthetic Life of Eelativity, which is of the moment,
and as such
despair.
is
subject to fluctuating alternatives of joy and
" There comes (says K.) to everyone a time when he outthe grows spontaneous qualities of his child's nature, when he becomes dissatisfied with a haphazard relationship to Time
and
to Existence,
and wishes
to assure himself of a definite
when he realizes, with place in the scheme of the universe ; the Preacher of old, the vanity, the transitoriness, of that
upon which he had set his mind ; and when, unconsciously it maybe, he longs to grasp himself as Soul, as an Eternal Entity, rather than as a fleeting Ego, and despair is the result.
4
50
"
Despair
itself
is
MARCUS AURELIUS
the culmination of the aesthetic
life,
which
is
despair, transitoriness
moment
that
of Despair
may
being of its essence, and the he the moment of the choice. It is
on the importance of
it is
this choice that
K. lays
stress.
Not
absolute as between good and eyil.

evil, it is indifferent.
is
The
Êsthetic
fact that what
The importance lies in the the Self, not as a limited relative Ego in a circumscribed existence, but the Self as a portion of This choice Eternity, of the great and everlasting power.
life is
not
chosen
is
constitutes in itself a treasure within each
man
that makes
life
him
greater than the angels.
Nothing, he says, in
can
equal the solemnity, the significance of the moment, when the Individual becomes conscious of and chooses his Self as a portion
of the Eternal
Whole.
At such
a moment,
when
all
Nature
is
around
is
hushed, serene as a starry night,

visible the Everlasting
and the soul
alone
in all the world, then will the heavens seem to divide,

will
and there
will the
be made
Power,
Then
Ego become
of,
for the first time conscious of,
and being conscious
will choose or rather accept his Self.
Then has the Soul
seen the Highest, what no mortal eye can ever see, and what the Soul has received that knightcan never be forgotten,
hood which ennobles

another personality
unites its
He becomes, not it for all Eternity. becomes but he consciousness Himself; ; he is for the first time Himself. and fragments,
ethical (it is apparent in Kir.'s view) is
"This
but the
rainbow-bridge to the last of the three great spheres, Êsthetic,

Ethical,
introduces us.
and Religious, to which throughout his writings he The bias of his own mind was never towards
the purely
c
human
moral, which, according to his teaching in
Either, Or,' required an open dealing with the world incom-
patible with his
own
mystical and recondite nature;

religion,"
but
towards
pietistic
and exacting
CHAPTER
"THE WISE
IV
1.
Ideal of Quietism; TJie "Surnmurn Bonuin" as in Retirement.
tlie
Wise Man
2.
Man as
spectator, not as agent perpetually in history.
an
ascetic ideal
which recurs
to
3. Stoic
" Follow Nature " the exact converse Naturalism; man's peculiar nature as his power
maxim
modem
to criticise,
4.
without enjoying. " " The Golden Age," The Fall"; Seneca more optimistic than
Aurelius.
5.
6.
External Nature = God; and natural studies unfold the essence of the Deity (physical Pantheism). At the same time, needs of man's moral nature demand as com-
plementary doctrine, Spiritual pantheism; God contrasted with the world, as man's Soul with his body. Failure of all
7.
synthetic and monistic systems. Seneca's depreciation of History, as the realm of the contingent and perishing, by the side of Natural Law, or the con-
8.
His Psychology
templation of the Sternal and unchanging. entirely Platonic and dualist; a
still
more
complete separation of the two spheres in Gnostics; Christian Church struggles against the Dualism and Abstention of
9.
Summary
1.
classical antiquity. of the various sides
ofphiksophic thought which meet
in the System of Seneca.
LET us now look at two
or three passages in
which
Seneca depicts this ideal of quietism

calm.
51
and
self-sufficing
52
"
:
MARCUS AURELIUS
Si vis utique verborum ambiguitates diducere, hoc Ep. 45 nos doce "beatum non eum esse quem vulgus appellat, ad quern pecunia magna confluxit Sed ilium cui bonum omne in animo
est,
erectum et excelsum et mirabilia calcantem ; qui neminem
commutatum velit ; qui hominem ei soil, est ; qui Natur^ magistr^ utitur, ad homo parte sestimat, qu& illius leges componitur, sic vivit quomodo Ilia prsescripsit ; cui bona sua nulla vis excutit; qui mala in bonum vertit;
videt
cum quo
se
certus judicii, inconcussus, intrepidus
nulla pert/or bat; nocentissimum, vi
quem aliqua vis movet, quem Eortuna, quum quod habuit telum maxim & intorsit, pungit non vulnerat, et
;
hoc raro." Ep. 66

sit.
"Ad
primuni revertamur
peritus
et
consideremus id quale
ac petendorum,
Animus intuens vera,
f ugiendorum
non ex opinione sed ex NaturS, pretia rebus imponens, toti se inserens mundo et in omnes ejus actus contemplationem suam
mittens, cogitationibus actionibus intentus, ex sequo magnus ac vehemens, asperis blandisque pariter invictus, neutri se
Eortunse submittens, supra omnia quse contingunt acciduntque eminens, pulcherrimus ornatissimus cum decore, cum
viribus
sanus
ac
siccus,
imperturbatus
intrepidus,
quem
nulla vis frangat,

Talis
quem nee
est."
attollant fortuita
nee deprimant.
Animus Virtus
F#, Beat. 4: "Quid enim prohibet nos beatam vitam dicere, liberum Animum et erectum, et interritum ac stabilem,
extra
metum
honestas,
unum malum
extra cupiditatem positum? cui unum bonum turpitude ? Csetera vilis turba rerum,
nee detrahens quicquam beatse vitse, nee adjiciens, sine anctu ae detrimento Summi Boni veniens ac recedens. Hunc ita
fundatum necesse
tinua et
est
(velit
laetitia alta atq.
ex
nolit) sequatur hilaritas conalto veniens, ut quse suis gaudeat
nee majora domesticis cupiat ... 5. Ergo exeundum ad Libertatem est: hanc non alia res tribuit quam Fortunae
negligentia.
Tuna illud orietur insestimabile bonum, quies
mentis in tuto collocatse et sublimitas."
"THE WISE MAN"

Ep. xxxi. "Perfecta Virtus per omnia conscmans sibi; .
.
. .
53
asqualitas ac tenor vitae
hoc est
Summum Bonum:
non supplex
solida "
!
quod
si
Ep.
occupas incipis " xliv.

:
Deorum
esse socius
.
.
Summa
beatss vitse
securitas
et
ejus inconcussa fiducia." " Tails est Ep. lix. : sapientis
Animus
est."
1
qualis
Mundi
status
super
Lunam semper
;
illic
serenum
Ep.
xcii.
"
:
Quid
.
est
beata vita
tranquillitas.
Hanc
deceat."
:
dabit
.
,
Animi magnitudo, dabit
Securitas et perpetua constantia
benejudicatitenax.
qualis
Talis animus Sapientis esse viri debet,
Deum
Ep. cxxiv.
" Yis
tu, relictis in
quibus vinci te necesse

reverti
est,
dum
est?
J
in aliena niteris, ad
bonum
tuum?
'Quod hoc
Dei,
super
Animus scilicet emendatus ac purus, semulator humana se extollens, nihil extra se sui ponens."
2.
There
is
perhaps nothing strikingly original in

see
this picture.
We
the universal features of sage

It
is
and student
neither
Hellenic.
detachment, indifference, peace.

Oriental
purely
(Buddhist or
Brahmin), nor
The It is simply human and catholic. from borrow more than did not Greeks India, early any Madame de Guyon or St. Theresa, for example, were indebted to Plotinus. The abstentionist tendency recurs without any historic or spiritual connection between its
The philosopher, as true man, several exponents. as spectator rather than as agent. represented
is
We
;
watch the gradually extinguished fires of social action l the faint flicker or the chilled embers of critical study
;
finally,
We
1
obscure night of unconscious indifference. It is are on the brink of the mystic precipice.
the
attitude of
"
"
Compare the
it.
M. Eenan,
and
to
whom,
is so
interesting in its distress
sinfulness, that
as student, the world he would not attempt
to reform
54
clear
MARCUS AURELIUS
from ancient history that the critical attitude becomes a favourite, when the concrete particular of
life is
distrusted or despised ; when the generalizations of the student are alone supposed to contain the truth.
We
have seen how the outer world, though nominally

to
of
subject
providential ruling,
was yet
really in
the
hands
This amounted to an incalculable caprice. a denial of Providence; and the periodical contests between Stoic and Epicurean, of which Lucian gives us an instance a century later, were purely verbal and
academic.
Quintilian, in numberless passages, shows us
how
was the thought of Providence If only the with interest in public duty. unchanging and permanent is real, if the personal and the particular
intimately connected
are illusion or a debased copy of the unseen, interest in the world's transformation gives place to the purely
scientific
respect, spondent, Lucilius. "
which we note in Seneca's correChristianity lays a similar Platonic
world of true Being," but has never of formula or dogmatic dialectic, clouda the in forgotten, that the world exists for the trial and discipline of
emphasis on the
souls, "
an assumption which
it
is
easy to ridicule as
anthropocenbric," and on which reposes the whole complex of Western Ethics and European Society. 3. This rigid consistency and undeviating tenor of life, by which a man becomes "his own," free, and
in happy, is to be maintained by following nature, the double sense, accepting his allotted destiny without murmur, and exercising the distinctively human faculty in himself.
He must
abandon,
if
he seeks perfection,
every claim upon the fragile and insecure environment, the "non-ego," which hems in his inward life; and
again,
every quality or equipment which
he has
in
"THE WISE MAN"

common with
55
lower animals. We often connect schemes of Naturalism with a whole-hearted devotion to Nature. Eousseau and Thoreau, to name two in-
would lead one back to the simplest pleasures and to impulsive emotion. But the philosophic mind of antiquity was far more
stances,
of unreflective acquiescence
austere.
tion, it
Eeacting against a selfish or corrupt civilizaseems to recall men to a golden age of harmony with Nature. The result was widely different. It set an altar in the abstract, the faculty which to Eeason up criticizes and does not enjoy while by its own experience it was sadly convinced that the particular mani;
festation
of
this
Eternal Intelligence, in Socrates or
Hence its systematic Zeno, was imperfect and infirm. trend towards Mysticism, towards a surrender of the
visible world,
incompatible
a depreciation of the value of the present, with any true sympathy with Nature.
In spite
of his own weakness to attain truth, the sage could not, even in the Epicurean School, throw off the critical and analytic spirit and become a child of
Nature.
minimizes the gulf between

"
Those who think that the Hellenic temper man and the natural world, It was this immediate query, are most assuredly blind.
What
is
my
nature in relation to the Universal

of the essential opposition.
it
"
which convinced them
If
man had any

their
true affinity,
was with the
stars
and
automatic precision and unreflecting perfection,
not with the God-forsaken region of the sublunary. Because man could criticize as well as enjoy, a combination implied in conscious happiness, could analyse as well as act, and because the lower animals who
were
clear
<3a
&\oya could only act and
enjoy,
it
seemed
other
that
man's special function lay in the
56
direction.
MARCUS AURELIUS
A
modern Naturalism might find in the encouragement of the "ape and tiger" the true end of man; a resolute egoism which saw our duty in the
human arena of that struggle for that boundless life, competition, which marks the lower no disciple of the School could place Certainly sphere. the special virtue of man in the feminine passivity of
continuance in the
or forbearance, abstention, mildness, and indifference in a contemplative study which set a veto on more
;
It seems clear that to the Greeks never lost her old terrible charNature and Eomans, the superstitious savage to still which she bears acter, haunted in every tree or grotto or river by jealous and unaccountable powers; unstable, insecure, a Siren who familiar intercourse.
The almost unilavishes her allurements only to slay. versal transference of force from grotesque or malignant
spirits to impartial
this sense of foreignness
mechanism failed to relieve man of and alienation. Lucretius, like

social
many
another apostle of religious or exults in vain over an empty victory,
freedom,
and thinks the
discovery of law, or, at least, of uniformity, implies the attainment of liberty. Epicurus, his master, saw more and knew that mechanical truly into the heart of man
;
law, though more satisfying to the sage, because he seems to control by understanding it, is yet to the sage
as man, more intolerable than the propitiable caprice of the expelled Daemons. Be this as it may, it is certain that the Classical nations never entered, in spite of several efforts, into that blissful harmony with Nature
which should have saved them
this recurring
problem
What
4.
is
my
peculiar
nature, duty,
"
or happiness
in
relation to the
whole
The sense
of the
Tall," of the relapse
from an
"THE WISE MAN"

early
57
and primitive age
men,
all
of States, of this fertile
of Gold, of the gradual decay of earth itself, is visible in
ancient authors. The writers of the Augustan age with one consent sing the praises of this lost felicity; and advise all who can to revert to a simplicity which Seneca thinks it is they could not attain themselves.
State before the Fall." He, possible to return to this far more optimistic than Aurelius, believes in man's innate goodness and his power to obtain happiness by
limiting his wants and trusting Nature. " " attacks the doctrine of so Original Sin Augustan (as well as Augustinian) speculators
"
He
:
even
to
dear
Ep. xeiv. (55)

nasci.
"
:
Erras enim
si
existimas nobiscum vitia
Nulli nos vitio datura Supervenerunt, ingesta sunt. conciliat : ilia integros ac liberos genuit." Cons, ad Helv. 5 :
" Bona conditione geniti sumus si earn non deseruerimus ; id egit Eer. Natura ut ad bene vivendum non magno apparatu " Quid de Her. datura querimur ? opus esset." Brev. Vit. 2
:
Ilia se
benigne gessit vita si scias uti longa est." Ep. Ixxviii. "Sic nos amantissima nostri Natura disposuit, ut dolorem aut tolerabilem aut brevem faceret." Ep. xc. "Non
:
:
fuit tarn
inimica Natura, ut . . homo solus non posset sine tot artibus vivere ... ad parata nati sumus ... a Natura luxuria " Omnibus enim Natura fundamenta cviii. descivit."
.
Ep.
dedit,
semenque
cxviii.
:
virtutum:
omnes
ad
omnia
ista
nati
sumus."
Ep.
" Unde
secundum Naturam est
aliquid cognoscitur bonum ? ... hsec ejus proprietas est."
Si peifecte
Ep. cxxii.:
"Omnia
Ep.
1.
:
vitia contra
Naturam pugnant
(aversandi diem et
vitia inimica et
totam vitam in noctem transferendi)."

" Virtus secundum Naturam est
;
infesta sunt."
" Bonum sine ratione nullum est autem ; sequitur ratio Naturam. Quid est ergo ratio 1 Naturae imitatio. Quid
Ep. IxvL
:
58
est
.
.
MARCUS AURELIUS
summum
.
hominis
bonum 1 ex
Bonorum unum propositum

5.
voluntate se gerere. est consentire Naturae."
Matures
But we cannot help noticing that the term He is not using it unstable and precarious. Just as it is imin the ordinary and current sense to decide on the limits or essential in Lucan possible difference of Fate and Fortune, which are probably identical, so Seneca uses Nature and God interchangeBut we have already seen how the moralizing of ably. the Divine idea in the Roman Stoics had shaken the " hold of the Divine Being on the actual world, Semper
Nature
is
paret, semel jussit."
He
universe, or the lot of individuals.
does not control the physical He is like a parent
in the folk-lore tales sending out his children into a world, scantily equipped with a few maxims of prudence
and a
setatum
occulto
father's blessing.
"Insita sunt nobis omnium omniumque artium semina, magisterque ex
collocutor rejoins that

special will not hear of
Deus producit ingenia" (JBcnef. iv. 6). His it is Nature and not God (as a " providence), Natura hsec mihi prsestat." Seneca
the antithesis
"
:
Nonne
"
intelligis, te
cum hoc
" mutare nomen Deo ? Quid enim est aliud Natuia quam Deus et Divina Ratio toti mundo
dicis,
8. "Ergo nihil agis, inpartibusque ejus inserta." gratissime mortalium, qui te negas Deo debere, sed " Naturae." Quia nee Natura sine Deo est, nee Deus
sine Natur&, sed
idem
est
;
(See also N. Q. ii
45
1.
Quid est " quod non vides totum Lucan's famous line: "Jupiter
;
mens
universi.
utrumque nee distat officio." " Quid est Deus ? prolog. Deus? quod vides totum et with which we may compare
i.
:
est
quodcunque moveris.")
Now
here, as in
quodcunque vides, most parts of
"THE WISE MAN"
59
the Stoical physical ethics (an absurd attempt to unite the irreconcilable), we see two conflicting tendencies.
Again and again does Seneca hymn the delights of Science for it is an inquiry into God it is the truest occupation of the Sage's leisure; not the mere apera;
jj,\r)rb$
fjbovri
of Plato,
secrets
and inmost
essence.
but a real insight into God's So much for the con-
templative side. Speculatively, the universe is one and individual a the part ; God is Nature. 6. But the moment the practical or moral side is
The Deity
his body.
approached, this postulated harmony at once disappears. is implicitly in strongest contrast to the work
of his hands, just as
man, as
spirit, as intelligence, is
to
Universe and body are for practice, dismissed
with epithets as contemptuous, as ascetic, as are ever found in the frankly Dualist Schools. The real essence of the Divine creeps into the soul of the wise man, to escape, as it were, from the creature which has passed
beyond
control.
There
is
even a certain chivalry to
a fallen and exiled monarch.
God
is
"
quod non vides
totum, quodcunque moveris"; the thoughts of the good, the unseen world (such as a Eoman could conceive
it);
and the tendency of all Pantheism is to separate more sharply than before the natural mechanism in which it starts, from the transcendent spirit, in which
it invariably ends. Every attempt to unify the world in a gigantic and audacious synthesis issues in this
The unequally mated yoke-fellows the toore vehemently for their brief spring apart and enforced companionship. So Seneca, when he bids
strange Dualism.
all
us follow Nature, because Nature giving us a maxim for practical
is
God,
is
not really
"
:
life.
(Ot. 5
Ergo,
dedi,
secundum
Natura
vivo,
si
totum
me
illi
60
si
MARCUS AURELIUS
illius
admirator
cultorque
sum.
Natura
autem
utrumque
vacare.
facere nie voluit et agere et contemplationi Utrumque facio quoniarn ne contemplatio
quidem sine actione est.") The wise man found the unity demanded by his reason only in theory from the life of action he felt " " himself debarred. Underlying the word nature are two polar conceptions. The one would seem to banish reflexion and immerse in a life of natural wants and
;
pleasures; but the identification with God in the second sense lays stress on the special prerogative of man, his reason enshrines the deity in his inmost soul
;
(" quasi
Deum
him
in
humano
to enable
to maintain in
corpore hospitantem ") ; and some region the fiction of
Unity, condemns him to moral passivity and negation, or as a counsel of perfection, perpetual contemplation
of
the
physical
order,
an eternal but unmeaning

with this attitude that Seneca
spectacle, 7. It is consonant
should depreciate history, the pageant of man on the The Romans could form no estimate of stage of time.
the significance of the Empire. It was reserved for foreigners in a later age, like Eutilius, or Claudian, or Corippus, or even Dante, to see the immense advance
which Augustus (rather than Julius) had
effected, with such ironical modesty, in political ideals. The Emperor Aurelius is free from the slightest sympathy with the past, as from any hope for the future. Barely does he
mention a
historic name, except to point the moral of the futility -and nothingness of men, and the things about which they toil and struggle in the brief and
feverish nightmare of life. And Seneca, though he is not as blind as Tacitus or Suetonius to the meaning of
"THE WISE MAN"
61
the Empire,1 yet has no sort of appreciation for the transient and yet glorious attempt of Alexander. Borne
adopted his precedent and gave it life; original in nothing save in the power to clothe an ideal with flesh
and blood, and give a frozen statue

disgust to scientific studies.
life. Yet Seneca " latrocinia Alexandri," and turns in only talks of the
8. This is not the place to enter fully into Seneca's It will be enough to observe that, like all psychology. the Romans, he adopts the Platonic imagery of the
imprisonment
of
a pure and divine element in a fleshly
tomb
of dross or
mud.
He
rivals the
mystic in the
intensity of his desire to fly from this hateful companionThe precise form of pantheism dominant in the ship.
Eoman Empire
soul
at this time tended to sever body and from any joint action. The Gnostics carried this Their practical teaching tendency to its utmost limits. is a caricature of the Stoic Sage with its carelessness of externals, or of moral action, and its exclusive insistence on the purity of the divine particle within this could not be defiled by any bodily deeds, and so these were dismissed as superfluous or immaterial:
f)
8e <f>pr)v avwpoTos. fj Against this ofjw>fjw) the Church Christian tendency struggled persistently
<yX<3cr<7'
1
Of. his
and
lesponsibilities,
probably sincere words on the Emperor's position, duties, De Clem. i. 2, 3, 4: "Ego ex omnibus mor-
talibns plaeui electusque
sum qui in terris Deorum vice fungerer, ego vitse necisque gentibns arbiter, etc. etc. 8. Qnam mnlta tibi non " licent quae nobis beneficio tuo licent See also Consol. ad Polybium
!
eulogy of Claudius and conception of Imperial responsibilities ; and the whole of Ep. Ixxiil, especially 18 : " Confitebitur ergo nmlttini se debere ei, cujus administratione et providentia contingit illi pingue otium et arbitrinm sui temporis, et imperturbafa jpubttcis occupational^
with
its
*0 Melibcee (quotes Seneca quies. otia fecit.'"
with approval) Dens nobis hsec
62
and not in
MARCUS AURELIUS
vain.
Epictetus and Aurelius both seek the to depreciate body, and with it external action, by These Platonic and harsh and contemptuous names.
Gnostic ideas were widely diffused and accepted in this They are epoch, to the lasting prejudice of morals.
certainly clearly visible in Seneca; but the vagueness of his definition must here preclude us from attempting
Suffice it to point out in correction precise treatment. of a common error, that this Dualism was far more
generally predominant in Pagan than in Christian Ethics. 9. I shall conclude this episode, already overlong, with a rapid summary of Seneca's tenets and characteras they may be collected in the disconnected As a practical Eoman series of occasional writings. seeking guidance for the single life, he objects to the 1 As a Stoic degradation of Philosophy to Philology.
istics,
he adopts loyally the doctrine of the Sufficiency of As a man "Virtue," "honestum," as the only End.
of experience who has mixed with men and courts, he believes all men are good by nature, but are blinded
or warped by convention, and by ignorance which pursues false "goods"; the simplicity of earlier life was the Golden Age. As a Monist, he holds this Universal Nature as the true guide, which has given
us the special dower of Eeason, and calls us (whether her God or Providence or Fate) to enjoy her As a contemplation rather than abuse her bounty,
we name
Pessimist, he teaches
philosophy,
2
pain,
1
that the true life, the genuine a perpetual meditation on death, exile, and poverty ; for the world outside, with all its
is
(16), 45, 48, 49, 82- (9, 19, 22), 83, 88, 106,
Epp. 27
108
(23, 85),
109
(17), 111,
2
113 (17, 25) ; JBrev. Vit. 10. " Nihil tamen seque tibi profuerit ad temperantiam Ep. 114 :
omnium
"THE WISE MAN"

method and
"good
will,"
63
order, has
no correspondence to the sage's and (unlike the theory of Descartes) the
Deity cannot or will not hring about occasionalistic As a Manichee, this world-order is the conformity. Eealm of Chance or Fortune, conceived as a malignant As spirit, with whom the good can have no dealings. a Personalist, he prefers example to precept, and has
perhaps adopted the Stoic profession because he finds in the worthies of Eoman annals living (if unconscious)
As a Scientist, he patterns of scholastic "Virtue." fails to appreciate the value of History as giving signs
of advancement and of progress, as ministering comfort to our sense of weakness and failure: the only true
leisure
from self-improvement
records of
is to
laws, not the

abilist,
human
frailty*
study the universal As a Prob-
"
he is apt to follow the popular voice, the " consensus gentium," rather than applaud the " heuretic 1 As an Agnostic, he power of the speculative reason.
declines to pronounce on
any ultimate problem except " the sufficiency of Virtue," the solidarity of the human brotherhood, the unity of the cosmic order ; he does not
Finally, as a his are often devotional; and the Mystic, aspirations
flatter
himself he has reached truth. 2
respice
rerum quam cogitatio brevis sevi et hujus incerti quicquid facias, ad Mortem." (Of, also Ep. cxx,, quoted on p. 65.) 1 The attentiveness of Heaven to our prayers is proved by the manifest concurrence of human opinion and practice, not by a, priori qualification
;
of the God's nature.
Similarly, personal immortality, on which he is very ambiguous, follows on popular acceptance rather than dogmatic teaching.
Deos.
2
"
Benef.
iv.
" Non surda numina
et inefficaces
Eenef.
iv.
33:
"Nunquam
exspectaie
nos
certissimam
rerum
comprehensionem quoniam in arduo est Veri exploratio; sed ea ire, qua ducit Veri similitude. Sequimur qua Eatio, non qua Veritas ducit," thus in the end a chasm yawns between the separate subjective reason and objective Truth
64
MARCUS AURELIUS
Sage is the peer of God, except in eternity, for both have made "il grand nfiuto," the great renunciation. 1 Both view the world, saying, " Haec omnia mea sunt " but only if neither attempt to control or to enjoy and it may be that he felt that the truly Divine in the outer order met and blended with the single point of human consciousness, and found there its highest expression, and its only secure asylum.
;
APPENDIX
In order to complete the portrayal of Seneca as a philosopher, and to allow him the same opportunity as we shall give to Epictetus and Aurelius, I subjoin certain selected passages on the subjects of chief Stoical import: the nature of man and of the world ; the divinity of the soul and its future life ; the scientific or religious interest, and the true function of We shall detect the wise to contemplate rather than act. here, without need of further comment or elucidation, the
growing tendency to free the spiritual element (and notion) from the husk or envelope of physical constraint, and elevate a transcendental concept of soul and deity, in place of an immanent abstraction. A 1. The soul as Divine , Ep. xxxi. " Animus rectus
:
" " Non tantem ? Ep. xli, nee exorandus sedituus

:
Quid aliud voces hunc, quam

.
. .
corpora hospisunt ad coelum elevandaa manus,
Deum
in
Immano
intus
est.
Ita
dico
Lucili,
prope est a te Deus, tecum est, sacer intra nos spiritus sedet
observator
et
malorum
1
bonorumque
fin.
:
nostr.
custos.
... In
instrnxit,
jucuiidum, ad quod Natura te non deserueris par Deo surges. Parem autem Deo pecunia non faciet Deus nihtl habet. Prsetexta non faciet Deus nudus est. Fama non faciet nemo novit Deum."
iter est,
Ep. xxxi. ad
" Tutum
:
Dedit
tibi Ilia quse si
"THE WISE MAN"
65
unoquoque bonorum (*quis dens incertum est') habitat" " (The good man,) majore sui parte illic est, unde descendit. Quemadmod. radii solis contingunt quidem terram sed ibi sunt unde mittuntur 3 sic Animus magnus et sacer, et in hoc demissns nt propius divina nossemns, conversatur quidem nobiscum, sed hasret origini suae." Ep. Ixxiii. "Miraris hominem
:
ad deos
ire
Deus ad homines
venit,
immo quod
propius
est,
Semina " Hie in corporibus humanis divina dispersa sunt." Ep. xcii. Deos eequat, illo tendit, originis suae memor Quid est autem cur non existimes in eo divini aliquid existere, qui Dei pars est. Totum hoc quo continemur, et prm-nt. est et Deus et socii sumus et membra. Capax est noster animus/'
in homines venit.
est.
:
Nulla sine Deo niens bona
" Perfectum animum supra quern nihil est nisi mens Dei ex qua pars et in hoc pectus mortale defluxit; quod nunquam magis divinum est quam ubi mortalitatem
Ep. cxx.
:
.
. .
suam
Ot.
cogitat."
Sapientis,
32
" An illud verum
sit
quo maxime
probatur,
scintillas
hominem
"
?
divini
quasdam sacrorum
6
:
spiritus esse partem, ac veluti in terras desiluisse atque alieno
loco hsesisse
Cons,
est:
ad Helv* ... Yaga

quod
" Mobilis et inquieta

quietis
mens homini data
et
Isetissima:
impatiens et novitate rerum non miraberis si primam ejus originem

et gravi concreta corpore
,
aspexeris.
Kon
ex terreno
ex
illo
cselesti spiritu
descendit
... ex iisdem quibus
divina con-
stant compositu(s) seminibus."

is contemptible, a burden to the soaring " Yir magnus ac prudens of Ep. Ixxviii. : spirit. impulse animum deducit a corpore, et multum cum meliore et divina parte versatur ; cum hac querula ac fragili quantum necesse " Gravi es t." terrenoque detineor. . . . Quicquid Ep. cii.
A 2.
The Body
tanquam hospitalis loci sarcinas specta ; Detrahetur tibi hsec circumjecta transeundum est. ossa novissimum velamentum tui cutis ; detrahetur caro
circa te jacet rerum,
. .
.
66
.
MARCUS AURELIUS
. .
.
Depone onus! JEqao animo membra jam supernervique. . vacua dimitte eti stud corpus inhabitatum diu pone. Quid ista sic diligis quasi tua ? istis opertus es." (Ishtar's descent.) " JSTec domum esse hoc corpus sed hospitium et Ep. cxx. hinc atque hinc tentamur et expellimur ; breve
,
1
quidem
hoc evenire
attollunt
et
solet
in
tarn putre sortiti," etc.
atieno habitantibus. " Ista Ep. Ixv.

:
Nos corpus
enim
omma
levant
animum
ad
qui
gravi
sarcina
pressus
explicari cupit et reverti
ilia
quorum
fuit.
illo
hoc animi pondus ac pcma est; premente

vinculis est nisi accessit Philosophia."
!N"am corpus urgetur, in
Com. ad Helv. 11
"hsec circumfusa gravis sarcina
Corpusculum hoc custodia et vinculum animi." Ep. xxiv. "Mortale et fragile corpusculum grave corporis mei
: .
.
pondus." C. Soul thus distinguished from the grosser envelope finds Of. Sap. 32 its chief delight in science and contemplation.
:
"Curiosum nobis Natura ingenium dedit;

pulcritudinis
suss
et
artis
sibi
ac
conscia,
gpectatores
nos
tantis
rerum
nos sui parte constituit, spectaculis genuit. ... In media* nee erexit tantummodo et circum&pectum omnium nobis dedit
;
hominem, sed etiam ad contemplationem

illi
sublime
fecit
caput
ad hsec quserenda nato.
JS"atura
autem
utrumque facere me voluit et agere et contemplationi vacare." " Brev. Vit. 19 Eecipe te ad hsec tranquilliora, tutiora, sacra et sublimia accedas, sciturus quse ad hsec majora!
.
materia
sit
Diis,
quae voluptas
quis
animum tuum
casus
exspectet, ubi nos a corporibus dimissas Natura componat ? etc. (hence will arise) cupiditatum oblivio, vivendi atque moriendi
seientia, alta
rerum
quies."
;
Ep.
Iviii.
"Imbecilli fluidique per
intervalla consistimus
mittamus animum ad ilia quse seterna in miremur sublimi volitantes rerum omnium formas sunt;
(i.
e.
Ideas Platonicas);
Ep. Ixv. (Philosophy) ilium respirare Rer. Naturae spectaculo Haac libertas jussit et a terrenis dimisit ad divina. est,
ejus
"
Deumque
inter ilia versantem."
"THE WISE MAN"

evagatio;
et
CSB!O
67
reficitur."
subducit interim se custodies in qua tenetur Ep. Ixxix. (This study begun here in
reverent spirit
is the delight of heaven hereafter for the " released souls) : Licet contentus interim sit effugisse tenebras, adhuc non fruitur bono lucis. Tune Animus nosfcer habebit
sibi, quum emissus his tenebris in quibus totem diem admiserit, et redditus cselo suo fuerit, quum receperit locum quern occupavit sorte nascendi. Sursum vocant ilium initia sua. Erit autem illic etiam
quod gratuletur
volutatur
.
.
antequam hac custodia exsolvatur, quum

in divinas cogitationes emicuerit." neminem occupat nisi hserentem
sibi.
vitia disjecerit
Ep. Ixxxii.
"
:
(Fortuna)
Itaque
quantum
possumus ab
que cognitio
divinis
:
ilia
resiliamus
sciat
quod quo iturus sit, unde

;
sola prsestabit sui Naturce-
ortus," etc.
.
. .
Ep. Ixxxviii.
"
:
Magna
et spatiosa res est Sapientia
de
humanisque discendum est ... an per se sit aliquid, deinde an aliquid ante tempus sit, si tempus cum mundo cseperit, an et ante mundum quia fuerit aliquid, fuerit et
tempus.
Innumerabiles quaestiones sunt de

qualis
sit,
unde
sit,
quamdiu
esse incipiat
Animo tantum; ... an aliunde
alio transeat et
domicilium mutet, ad alias animalium fonnas conjectus; an non amplius quam semel serviat et emissus, quomodo libertate sua usurus quum ex vagetur in toto ;
.
.
.
hac effugerit cavea \ an obliviscatur priorum et illie nosse se incipiat, postquam de corpore abductus in sublime secessit."
sint
qua Ep, xc. (Philosophy) "ad beatum statum tendit totius Nature notitiam mala quse videantur ostendit
: . .
. .
et suse tradit.
Quid
sint Dii qualesque
quid in secundam
consistant,
Numinum formam
. .
. . quid inferi animse perpetuse, ubi

. . .
.
quid agant.
Hoc
ejus initiaraenta sunt, per
non municipale sacrum, sed ingens omnium Deorum templum mundus iste, reseratur. ... Ad initia deinde rerum redit, et jEternam Rationem toti inditam, et vim omnium seminton singula proprie figurantem. Turn de animo ceepit Deinde a corporalibus inquirere unde esset, ubi, quamdiu.
quse
.
68
se
MARCUS AURELIUS
transtulit,
-
ad incorporated
excussit.
Nat. Qu.
L prcef."
is
" and " contemplatio

spectat.")
sibi
:
Veritatemque et argumenta ejus " " (Here the division betw. actio " ad called ad deos homines, quse quse
"Altior est haec et animosior:

fuit oculis contenta.
multum
permisit
quiddam suspicata est ac pulcrius quod extra conspectum Natura posuisset. Altera docet quid in terris agendum sit, altera quid agatur in cselo. Supra hanc caliginem in qua volutamur excedit et Naturae Rerum tenebris ereptos illo perducit unde lucet.
.
non
Majus
esse
gratias ago versi materia

.
secretiora ejus intravi . . . quas Uniquid sit Deus totus sit, quis auctor aut custos ad nos an in se intendafc aliquando respiciat ; f aciat quotidie
.
quum
aliquid,
illi
f ecerit ; pars Mundi sit, an Mundus ; liceat et ex lege Fatorum aliquid derogare ; decernere hodieque an majestatis deminutio sit et conf essio erroris, mutanda f ecisse " Nisi ad hssc admitterer, non fuerat nasci . (We may
an semel
note here that this passage approaches nearer to our modern conceptions of Pure Theology than the subsequent physical " centres the interest of the
Nat. Qucesphenomena, in which "Detrahe hoc insestimabile bonum" ( = theoretical tiones") " non est vita tanti. quam contempta res est homo science) ." The secondary and cathnisi supra humana surrexerit
! .
artic value of
and would delight magnifica non quia per

:
Porphyry est malo caruisse, sed quia animura laxat acprsaparab ad cognitionem codestium dignumque efficit qui in consortium Dei veniat." (Morality, as a necessary stage to be transcended, and in itself only needful because of the body, which stands in the way of the yet pure unimpeded energy of the rational soul. In this half-Neoplatonic halfscientific emphasis on intellectualism, Seneca, if he is sincere, has a far more amiable outlook on the world than his two
: .
moral purification is clearly put in a later section, " Virtus Aristotle and
.
se
beatum
successors.
He can
almost shelve the question of immortality
as unmeaning, so implicit is the notion of continued life in the mastery of eternal truth. For example, do these words refer to
"THE WISE MAN"

tiiis life
69
or the next
sortis
bonum
et
" Tune consummatum habet plemimqne humanse, quum calcato omni male petit altum
*
in interiorem Naturae
finem venit
Tune juvat
is impossible.
inter
sidera ipsa vagantem, divitum pavimenta ridere," etc.

scientific
(In this
study of
self
and Nature, atheism
As
Marcus
sees the absurdity of allowing
man
a reason denied
" to the outer world, so Seneca.) Sunt qui putent sibi ipsis animum esse et quidem providum ac dispensantem singula, et
sua et aliena:
hoc autem Universum, in quo nos quoque

consilii, et
sumus, expers esse
aut
ferri temeritate
quadam aut
sibi
Natura nesciente quid

cognoscerel
. .
.
faciat.
Quam
possit?
utile
existimas ista
quantum Deus
.
. .
materiam ipse
formet an data utatur?
Deus, quiequid vult,
efficiat,
an
in multis rebus ilium tractanda destituant, et a
magno
Artifice
prave f ormentur multa ? (Non quia eessat ars, sed quia id in HSBC inspicere, quo exercetur ssepe inobsequens arti est.)
haac discere, his incubare,
nonne
transilire est mortalitatem

si
suam
et in
meliorem transcribi sortem? ...
"Ki1
aliud,
hoc certe sciam omnia angusta esse, mensus Deum!" Cons, ad Helv. 8 : "Animus contemplator admiratorque Mundi, pars
ejus
magnificentissima,
propria nobis et
perpetua,
"
tamdiu
nobiscum mansura, quamdiu ipsi manebimus (where I believe " mundus hie >J before, propria, etc., to be neuters, including the two things which, as subject and object, are correlative and ever in our power). 9 " Bum oculi mei ab illo spectaculo
:
cujus
insatiabiles
sunt non abducantur,
dum
mihi lunam
solemque intueri liceat,

ortus
dum
.
ceteris inhserere sideribus,
dum
eorum occasus intervallaque et causas investigare velocius Dum cum his sim et caelestibus, qua meandi vel tardius. homini fas est, immiscear ; dum animum ad cognatarum rerum
.
refert mea, quid calcem?
conspectum tendentem, in sublimi semper habeam quantum 11 (Lapides and aurum)non potest
:
amare sincerus Animus ac naturse

expers curse et
turus.
suse
memor,
levis ipse et
quandoque emissus fuerit, ad
Interim quantum per
summa ernicamoras membrorum et hanc
70
MARCUS AURELIUS
licet, celeri et
circumfusam gravem sarcinam

divina perlustrat
SBVO par.
.
.
. .
volucri cogitatione
liber et dis cognatus et

.
omni mundo
omnique cui non possrint injici manus." " animus omnis cogitationis expers operibus when)
.
:
Animus
ipse sacer et ceternus est, et Cons, ad Helv. 17 (Soul best

suis vacat
;
et
modo se levioribus studiis suam Univer&ique naturam,

primum situmque earum
oblectat,
modo ad considerandam
insurgit.
veri
;
avidus
Terras
deinde conditionem circumf usi mans, cursusque ejus alternos et recursus ; tune quicquid inter coelum terrasque plenum formidinis interjacet perspicit, et hoc tonitrubus fulminibus ventorum flatibus ac nimborum
quserit
nivisque et grandinis tumultuosum spatium : Tum peragratis humilioribus ad summa prorumpit, et pulcerrimo divinorum spectaculo fruitur, dBternitatisque suas memor, in omne quod
futurumque est omnibus seculis, vadit." Ot. Sap. 31 " Huic majori Beipublicse et in otio deservire possumus ; immo ut qu&ramus quid sit virtus ? vero nescio an in otio melius.
fuit
: .
.
natura an ars bonos viros f aciat 1

.
.
terrasque
sparserit?
complectitur,
suum
sit? Deus sedens opus ? utrumne extrinsecus illi circumf usus an tractet spectet, sit, an toti inditus? immortalis sit Mundus an inter caduca Hsec qui contemplatur, quid et ad tempus nata numerandus Deo prsestat? ne tanta ejus opera sine teste sint. Solemus
diducta, et solidis
Continua sit inane permixtum
unum sit hoc quod maria an multa ejusmodi corpora Deus omnis et plena materia ... an
*{
dicere,
Summum Bonum
esse
datura nos ad utrumque genuit

actioni*"
secundum Naturam Tivere et contemplationi rerum et

:
D. On Death and Immortality. In spite of this happyoutlook and vast pretensions, death appearing as but an unimportant episode in the theoretic life which opens the
gate of Truth
still
wider, there are not wanting passages of
sceptical alternatives, of
much
existence of consciousness.
later Stoic leaders, a debt to
Death becomes, then,
perplexity about the continued as to the
the universal order, rather than
"THE WISE MAN"

:
71
the Platonic emergence from bodily prison. Cons, ad Polyb. 27 " JNTam si nullus defunctis sensus superest, evasit omnia
pater meus vitse incommoda j in eum restitutus locum in quo fuerat antequam nasceretur ; expers omnis mali nihil timet nihil
fratris
cupit nihil potitur. ... Si est aliquis sensus ; nunc animus mei velut ex diutino carcere emissus tandem sui juris
et arbitrii gestit, et Rer. Naturae spectaculo fruitur et
humana
omnia ex superiore loco despicit j divina vero, quorum rationem tamdiu frustra qusesierat propius intuetur. Aut beatus aut nullus est beatum deflere invidia est, nullum dementia." Ep.
.
.
Ixxvi.:
status restat,
manent/efoa'or illis . contra versantur in corpore fidem est feliciores esse liberis et in Universum datis clausas et
"
Si
modo
solutaa corporibus animea

est
quam
dum
obsessas."
affici
.
.
Cons,
.
ad Marc.
19:
"
Mors omnium dolorum

.
Cogita, nullis defunctum malis et solutio est et finis .

, .
nos in illam tranquilhtatem in qua antequam nasceremur nee potest miser esse qui nullus est jacuimus reponit
.
.
Excessit
filius
ilium
magna
tuus terminos intra quos servitur. Excepit et seterna pax." 26 (Marcia's father consoles her
:
from his place in heaven)

seterna sortitse
" Nos
quoque
f elices
animaa et
(
quum Deo visum
erit
iterum
ista
moliri"
" labentibus cunctis, et ipsse parva ruinse destroy the world), ingentis accessio in antiqua elementa vertemur"
Epist. xxiv.
:
" Non sum tarn ineptus ut Epicuream cantile,

.
nam hoc
timeat
!
loco persequar
.
. .
nemo tarn puer Mors nos aut consumit aut

.
.
.
est ut
exuit.
Cerberum
Emissus
meliora restanfc, onere detracto; consumptis nihil res tat." Ep. " . Ixiii.: Nunc cogita omnia mortalia esse. Cito nos eo per-
venturos quo ilium pervenisse mseremus.
Et
fortasse, si
modo
sapientum verafama est" (cf. Tacit. Agric. last ) "recepitque nos locus aliquis, quern putamus perisse, prsemissus est." " " Mors Ixv. Ep. quid est ? aut finis aut transits (Marcus' " Yis adversus hoc in the same strain, Ep. Ixx.: /AeraoTjJvat)
:
:
corpus liber esse!
tanquam migraturus habita; propone tibi quandoque hoc contubernio carendum." Then Ep. IxxL, with
72
MARCUS AURELIUS
: .
a similar vein to Marcus' musings on the need of death for the f ortius finem sui suowhole " Ebbis solvi perire est
.
rumque
pateretur, si speraret omnia ilia sic in per vices ire, et composita dissolvi, dissoluta
vitam mortemque componi in hoc

:
opere seternam artem cuncta temperantis Dei verti." cii. " Quum venerit dies ille qui Again with confident eloquence : mixtum hoc divmi humanique secemat, corpus hoc uhi inveni
Per has mortalis sevi relinquam ipse me Diis reddam. . in alium moras illi meliori vitse longiorique prohiditur JSTaturse maturescimus partum, alia origo nos exspectat; alius
:
rerum
foedi
status.
."
Then with almost

ventris
Christian rapture and

dies, et
ascetic fervour
"
:
Veniet qui te revelet

educat.
ex contubernio
tu
atque
olidi
Hinc nunc quoque

etiam
necessariis
quantum
potes,
suhvola
.
cohserehunt alienus.
utique Dies iste

:
qusa
reformidas, oeterni natdlis est!
quem tanquam extremum ... Aliquando Naturae tibi

Imaginare tecum
arcana retegentur, discutietur ista caligo.
quantus
.
.
.
ille sit
Quid
?
fulgor tot sideribus inter se lumen miscentibus ! tibi videbitur divina lux quum illam suo loco
In the last resort, as we see from a certainly sincere he falls back on popular belief ; and while Philostatement, sophy may have inspired those magnificent hopes of a home
videris
"
among the
"
Stars, it clearly
has not strengthened

disserimus,
its
Quum
I
de
Animarum
with
a
dEternitate
non
proof : leve
momentum apud
conclude
nos habet consensus hominum."
somewhat lengthy quotation, still the most striking of any, and recalling rhetorical, yet perhaps clearly the fundamental note of pessimism in a reflective
Dio Chrysostom's Charideantiquity (rov <f>vvra fywp/etv, etc. " Si velis credere altius veritatem intuentibus, omnis mus)
:
:
vita
Supplicium est" " In hoc
profundum inquietumque
.
. .
projecti
mare
nun-
quam
est.
stabili consistimus loco
nullus portus nisi mortis

quiescit,
NQ
itaque in videris fratri tuo;
tandem Uber,
tandem
tutus,
tandem
osternus
est.
Fruitur nunc aperto et
"THE WISE MAN"

libero ccelo
:
73
ex humili atque depresso in eum emicuit locum, est, qui solutas wnculis animas beato recipit quisquis sinu Et nunc libere vagatur omniaque Eerum Naturse bona cum summa voltiptate perspicit. Erras non perdidit lucem
ille
!
!
frater tuns sed securiorem sortitus est.
commune
est iter.
Quid
fata deflemus
Omnibus illo nobis non religuit ille nos,
sed antecessit."
E. The "Cosmopolis" and man's special function; or the problem of the Two Natures. Cons. ad. Marc. 18: "Puta, nascenti me tibi venire in consilium Intratura es urbem dis
:
hominibusque communem omnia complexam certis legibus seternisque devinctam, indefatigata coelestium officia volventem" (followed by a list of Nature's wonders written with evident
appreciation).
Of.
Sap. 31.
has the more

et
serious
(The greater Commonwealth "Duas Respublicas animo claims.)

et
complectimur, alteram
magnam
vere publicam qua Dii
continentur; in qua non ad hunc angulum respicimus (ytovôv), sed terminos Oivitatis nostrce cum sole
homines
metimur"
" Ep. xxviii.:
hie est
Non sum
Ep.
Mundus."
;
.
.
cii.
uni angulo natus ; patria mea totus " et res est

:
Magna
generosa
Animus
patitur.
nullos sibi poni nisi

.
communes
et
cum Deo
terminos
Illi
patria
est,
quodcunque suprema
et universa
circuitu suo cingit."
end,
Great emphasis on the peculiarity of endowment, of and therefore of perfection (= happiness). Ep, Ixxvi: "Omnia suo bono constant; vitem fertilitas commendat, sapor vinum, velocitas cervum. ... Id in quoque optimum est, cui nascitur, quo censetur: in homine quid optimum? Homini Ratio hac animalia antecedit, Deos sequitur suum bonum Ratio est; si hanc perfecit, laudabilis est, et
2.
:
finem naturce suce
attigit.
HSBC Eatio perf ecta, Virtus vocatur
eademque honestum
changeable, like God,
(So these four words are interchance, Nature: the "good," the Highest End, Virtue, Eeason ; and as there is nothing in
est."
fate,
74
MARCUS AURELIUS
:
the objective world but God, so within there is only the " " " Ratio good will which is to be accounted of. (Ep. xcii.
vero
hominibusque communis; hsec in illis consummata "Dicitis, inquit" Ep. cxxi. est, in nobis consummabilis.") " omne animal is objecting) primum constitutioni sues (Epicurus " " homines autem /carotene
diis
:
conciliari (Marcus' tionem rationalem esse,"
eify)
constitu-
etc.
Ep. cxxiv.
"
:
secundum naturam cujusque est." Ep. xli. (fin.) " Lauda in ipso quod nee eripi potest nee dari ; quod proprium est hominis. 2 Animus et Eatio in animo perfecta, Quaeris quid sit Consummatur itaque ejus bonum si id adimplevit cui nascitur. Quid est autem quod ab illo Ratio haec exigit ? rem f acillimam secundum naturam suam vivere." (See below, Cons, ad Helv.
:
. .
(Bonum) hoc quod
Propria virtus.) " Personalist " F. Traces found of a conception of Deity : Seneca treats all names for the ultimate forces as synonyms, and
8,
convertible (though he might be puzzled to put "Eortuna" in her right place as a mere attribute of the Supreme, as the
unaccountable operations of Providence seen from the point of view of accidents). There is no need to multiply evidence
interesting.
Eut one or two passages are ad Helv. 8 (How little the exile loses !) " duo quse pulcerrima sunt, quocunque nos moverimus, sequenId actum est mihi tur Natura communis et propria virtus. crede ab illo quisquis formator Universi f uit, sive ille Deus
of
his
ample
identification.
Gons.
est potens
omnium
sive incorporalis Ratio
artifex
Spiritus, per omnia, SBquali intentione diffusus, sive Fatwm et sarum inter se cohserentum series
. .
sive divinus
ingentium operum maxima, minima,

immutabilis cau.
ut
in
alienum
arbitrium, nisi vilissima,
non caderent."
Ep. xvi. To an objector, that Reason's only benefit
who
is
not without cause complains

:
to assure us of our slavery

si
"
'
Quid mihi prodest Philosophia

est?
:
Fatum
.
.
est
...
si
rector
...
si
si
casus imperatl
Mutari
certa
Deus non
possunt
aut consilium
meum Deus
occupant, decrevitque
"THE WISE MAN*

1
75
Quicquid facerem, ant consilio meo nil Fortuna pennittit. " " qnid est ex his (decides Seneca no less than. Marcus) vel si
omnia hsec aunt, philosophaadum

lege
ista
est:
Sive nos inexorabili
constringunt, sive
arbiter
Dem
universi cuncta
disponit, sive casus res
humana
debet.
sine ordine impellit et jactat,
philosophia
nos
tneri
Hsec
adhortabitur ut
Deo
libenter pareamus, ut Fortunes contumaciter resistamus." With "which ciarious yet vague division of the realm
of
a complete objective Nature and human experience, Manichean dualism, we will take leave of Seneca.
PART II THE IMMEDIATE INFLUENCE:

EPICTETUS
CHAPTER
EPICTETU8, OR THE
CYNISM ; DEVOTIONAL COSMIC ORDER OF THE PERSONIFICATION
NEW
(A) THE EELIGIOUS TRANSFORMATION OF PHILOSOPHIC
DOGMA
ANALYSIS
New
all classes
a personal god; Cynic missionary sent to with Gospel tidings; egoistic idealism or indifference of Buddhist; in Epict. two opposite tendencies (1) sympathy ; (2) hermit isolation ; Individualism (the will alone being free) ;
devouttiess towards
this is all that
God could bestow on His children (omnipotence
limited)
mystic communion.
St.
IN Epictetus, a new phase passes over Stoicism. As Paul to Philo of Alexandria, so is Epictetus of
Phrygia to Seneca of
Eome.
By
the very urgency
of personal needs, of devotional requirements, the conception of an all-embracing Force, indifferent to the
particular
and too abstract to be the object
of prayer or
THE NEW CYNISM
77
reverence, is transformed into the old traditional Zeus, " father of gods and men." Without doubt it is in this
novel religious earnestness and unction that the student detects the most significant feature. The Sage, more of a Cynic than a Stoic in principle, has a wider mission
than the Imperial Minister he is sent to all men with a kind of missionary consecration, to live in their sight the perfect life of happiness and peace. He is there,
:
before their eyes, like some later Stylite of the East, or Western hermit; set apart, indeed, from men and
human
pursuits, yet in a very real sense their guide, comforter, and counsellor. How easy and how accessible was salvation To him, come wandering seekers after
!
truth, with troubled consciences, or restless desires,
vague and unsatisfied aspirations after an ideal. When Seneca, with less comprehensive sympathy, speaks only to direct a friend, Epictetus, knowing no caste, no restrictions in the human brotherhood, welcomes all without prejudice one instance only being shown where, as Socrates under demonic dissuasion, he found himself unable to converse with an applicant, because there was no sort of common agreement on which to base discussion or appeal Not
;
that this
interest in men as individuals recognizes " of each as the startingspecial endowment The ideal is still man as the "organ of impoint. " personal Reason ; no longer the aristocratic reserve of
new
"
as yet the
an intellectual confraternity, but the ascetic reserve of We must not look here for quietism, no less narrow.
the Christian conception of society, varying according to the ability, equipment, opportunity of each constituent
in a hierarchy of function and usefulness, finding a the the cold for the scholastic, devotee, place burning
taciturn recluse, the eloquent friar, the high-born lady,
78
MARCUS AURELIUS
The outlook of the lay brother at his menial task. intense a restricted outside yet patriotism was antiquity
Although it was seen quite early singularly cramped. that the motive alone counts, that it is the inward
temper only which ennobles or degrades the outward As act, no use was made of this fruitful thought.
Anaxagoras disappointed Socrates in his use of
so
vov?, find the suggestive maxim Travra vTroK^j^frc^ leading, not to the illumination of the phenomenal, of the circumstance of life, but rather to an egoistic Idealism,
we
which denied or disregarded the concrete, to Sophistic The busy subjectivity, to pure Buddhistic indifference. and conventional activity of an average citizen was
abhorrent
after "
to "
reflexion.
The
philosopher,
especially
the
death
of
Socrates,
turned
away from the
and diversity (jrouu\ia) of the Hellenic character to meditate upon the One, and exchange
flamboyance
eagerness for a passive r61e. The old contempt for the handicrafts (natural enough in a slave-holding community engrossed in civic feuds)
tended to increase, and to include in the same condemnation, not merely all artistic endeavour, but even the more formal political duties of active life. The philosophic ideal was a perpetual straining after a more
perfect
existence;
of
all
but
to
empty
disc
"
positive
content,
the very last it remained a " blank luminous
" " rather than a well-rounded sphere (Kv/cXoreprj? cr<f>alpo$), bearing witness to the despondence and early
discouragement, not to the vitality or fortitude, of the Greek mind. It was purely negative, if you like, "feminine"; and could only issue, in spite of professions
of
cosmopolitan
sympathy, in abstention
and
resignation.
THE NEW CYNISM
79
In Epictetus two opposite tendencies contend for the

mastery, and their struggle and his effort at reconciliation add to the pathos of his character and teaching.
All
men to him are brothers, sons of a common God Himself, and it is in this transcendental
kindness,
first
parent,
affinity
that he discovers a sanction for those peculiarly

virtues,
human
which
consideration,
so
forbearance,
seem sight incongruous in any creature. Tor the sympathetic instinct is there, unquestionably; the most puzzling problem of philosophy is to rationalize, to justify it and, to speak frankly, from the standpoint of Stoic materialism this was impossible. Yet Epietetus, though he be a father confessor, has no special casuistry
at
;
apply to the several needs of his applicants. He has but one formula, one prescription for the cure of souls. The formula, too, sounds to us strange in the mouth of
to
an
"
No
Physician, heal thyself Our sympathy, 1 one can do anything for another.
apostolic
teacher.
"
It
"
"
is,
our appeals, good offices, kindly services, only play about the surface, and never touch the deep-seated evil of the
deliver his brother, nor make God for him." unto Virtue, like the knowagreement is of the incommunicable, Sophist, although we ledge
souL
"No man may
may
reverently repeat the Socratic text SiSa/erbv rj The missionary can only remind his hearer of apery. his absolute and immediate power to be wise, happy,
1 Even this sympathy is strictly against nature, which, in spite of the co-ordination of the parts, forms of each creature an impenetrable monad, immersed only in his special but selfish function, and with no legitimate
end but self-culture-
"You must
not be angry with wrong-doers"
(Teubner, 61, ftvOpuTre, el ak Set Trapa fyvtriv frrl rots aXXoTpiois /ca/cots Their conduct has nothing to do 8ia.Tlde<rG(u t\ei jj.a^\oy % AC<T)with you and, in a choice of two evils, the less culpable affection of the
aMv
soul
is
pity,
for it is less disturbing.
8o
and
free,
MARCUS AURELIUS
Ms
inalienable prerogative of instantaneous
conversion, in spite of the long coils of evil habits,

forfeited
never
can speak warmly, with fervour, unction, " the of assurance, grace of the Sonship," to be had for
the asking.
things, our
He
One simple
is free
article of faith sufficed

self-sufficing
;
that
the will alone
and
that all outward
bodily framework included, can never be under our control, and are thus indifferent and
own poor
immaterial to our
happiness.
As
in Aurelius, there
tends to be a division between inexorable Fate and the

provident gods, dispensers of benefits, who alone can be in a true sense objects of worship. No scientific interpretation of the world can ever calm the individual's
God Himself anxiety or satisfy his sense of justice. sinks into a subordinate place, as the Platonic Demiurge ;
He is limited in power by a law or destiny anterior to Him. His goodness is saved by limiting His authority and we gladly exchange an unintelligible omnipotence for the more human faculty of merciful contrivance,
which brings
Him
nearer our level, within the scope
of our comprehension. u " is in theory conceded, as If this almighty power
in the Christian system,
it is
at once circumscribed
by a
voluntary abdication, which leaves room for the reality and distinct coexistence of persons, and for the usefulness of moral
to
effort.
If
these distinctions are allowed
evaporate in the night of the Absolute, it seems there is no further need of energy in search or action ;
nothing but the speculative

at last
self -introspection of a Deity awake in man, and contemplating the results of his unconscious labours with some amazement and considerable pain, Epictetus, with his practical motive and God has religious sentiment, never hesitates a moment.
THE NEW CYNISM
81
given us all He possibly can ; He could do no more. He could not " put all things under our feet," " give us
(as the worthy Hebrew said in his gratitude " over the works of His hands." for tangible blessings) The Divine Being is a " God of Sorrows," pathetic in
dominion
"
stillness
and helplessness it appeals to us to keep "holy and undefiled," untarnished, and in undimmed lustre, that tiny luminous jewel within us which is part In reaction against the grossness and unof itself.
:
spirituality of Stoic teaching, the vague devotionalism which we call the mystical spirit has spread widely Latent there and disguised by rhetoric, since Seneca.
these pious aspirations to overcome the world of opposites and distinctions have now become the sum and
The fatherhood of God, centre of the Neo-Oynic creed. such is the staple and subthe brotherhood of man,
stance of
"
the Gospel which

old."
"
(as
Eenan
tells us)
"
will
yet, after this plausible commoncommonwealth of the Universe, such this in reputed place, atomic isolation and reciprocal repulsion Such immure-
never grow
And
ment
of the individual in the

!
narrow prison-house of his
Such disappointing barriers to a larger Such natural evanescence and more vigorous sympathy Such oppressive or discouragement of corporate action
consciousness
!
despondency in the thought that, after all, of place in an alien world, like the wise
God
is
out
man who
He follows in His footsteps : " His own received Him not I

and
"
came unto His own, and Such wistful adherence
against hope to the one sheet-anchor of moral instinct, to that one dogma which in Marcus will absorb all
other articles of faith, that God is in us, " reconciling," " the world to Himself," but the individual not, indeed,
soul in a blissful
6
and
indissoluble union
82
MARCUS AURELIUS
THE FATHERHOOD OF SOULS THE " COSMOPOLIS"; THE SPECIAL FUNCTION
;
(5) THE GIFT OF FREE WILL GOD THE DIVINITY OF

;
1.
With
increasing knowledge,
with heightened
"
activity of the State, our
realm
"
of freedom, of
one's
How much of that we own," shrinks to nothingness. our personal self did of once regarded as essential part of influences that cross, we discover to be the resultant Within confirm, or resist one another within us
!
narrower and ever narrower proportions shrank that in One part the us, which we could really call our own. bodily organs claimed as their contribution, another
fell
beneath the general psychic forces, which, by no merit of their own, work according to identical laws in The tiny sphere alone, that which is all individuals.
ruled and shaped by the freedom of our moral action, " seemed to afford an asylum to our Eeal Self (Lotze, If I may be allowed to quote from Mikrokosmus, L 1).
The entire aim of had been to set the personal spirit free of all earthly hindrance and encumbrance to concentrate thought upon itself. But in proportion as this effort was successful, and the Spirit released itself from all that was not germane to its true life, the realm of alien things loomed larger and larger, because ever more threatening and hostile. Such sacrifice had enriched the power of the enemy, and
an
earlier
volume
of
my own
"
post-Aristotelian thought
impoverished the territory of the man, struggling in " a vain pretence of freedom against overwhelming odds This free will, 3). (School of Plato, Bk. iv. ch. iv.
ineffective
beyond
itself,
was God's best
gift to
man,
indeed his very
self.
It rose like a small point of rock
THE NEW CYNISM

from the midst
thing
else.
83
of the waters,
which submerged every-
but of an
because
It is the centre, not only of individual life, It was free, entire scheme of anthropology.
God its giver and parent was free. It was not to act but to contemplate. Within it lay the here,
good and
rights
;
ill
of life
good,
if
it
exercised
its
sovereign
ill, if it
allowed
itself to
mistook obstinacy for principle. no power or influence but its another is only to suggest, and let the lesson work its way in: "for no man may deliver his brother." In
this
become perverted, and It was amenable to own; and to convert
supreme gift, a portion of Himself, God had exhausted His bounty. He could give us nothing more that was not the mere sport of chance and circumstance. The body, covered with opprobrious epithets,
dissolved partnership with this proud yet ineffectual monad just as the world (in spite of appeal to take everything as sent by God's goodness and mercy) had
:
really slipped
5.
from the control

oZv
of Deity.
%v a%iov y TO /cpdritrrov aTrdvr&v /c. Kvpievov o! 0eol pwov e<J>* Tjfuy eirovqa'av, rrjv %p7](rw 3 rrjv op6r)v r. <$>a,v ra<n,al<$, ri 8' aXX* OUK i$ rfjuv. *Apd ye ore ovx ijde\ov ; 7 /*ev SOK& cm el ^Suâvro jcdxeZv
&(nrep
r
av rjpZv eTrerpefyav' d\\& Trdvra)? OUK ^SuVavro, em yfj$ yap ovra? tc. <ra>fjbaTt, crvvSeSe/Aeuov? TOLovTqt K. KOWCOVOIQ TotouTOt? 7ro)9 otov T fy el$ ravra vwb TWV e/crbs fiy
"
efL>jroS%e<r0ai, ;
What
saith Zeus
Epictetus,
let
it
if it
had been
possible, I would have substance free and unhindered.
made thy body

But
of this
not escape
thee, all this is not thine, but mud artfully kneaded. * Since I could not do this, I gave thee a part of us
(pepos
TI
and not
Sovereign power of willing If thou wilt that uses impressions. willing,

fipirepov), this
84
MARCUS AURELIUS
guard this carefully and place in it all that is thine, thou shalt never be stopped, never be hindered, but be always free from groan, reproach, never have need to fawn on another. What then ? do these gifts seem to thee trivial ? ... art satisfied with these ? 218. "My brother has more than his share of the
field."
Let him, as
fjutf
much
as he will.
jur}
Mrf
ovv rov
ai&tfpovos,
rt,
T.
TrwrToO,
TI Tov <f>t,\a$e\<f>ov ;
fcf3a\elv
;
IK
6
ravrrjs
yap
T%
ovvia<$
rk
Svvarat,
eir*
ovS*
Zev$.
K.
ovSe yap
rjOeh/rjc'ev
aXX'
ejiot
avrb
etrovrjcrev
$&K6V
olov el\ev auras dii5XuToi> dvcu'dyKaoToi'
aTrapaTTOii.
Sto-Toz/.
(Of.
Eufus in the Eclogues of

.
.
Stobceus,
TO Ka\\i<rTov
cS Srj
!
. .
So 130.
Tk
el;
auro? evSaipcov e.) fodprnros, TOUT e. ovbev

/c.
fyw
VTTO-
Kvpiarepov Trpoatpeo-ea??,
a\\a Tavry ra d\\a
reTajfJieva, avrrjv S* dSouXcurov K. avvjToraKrov.
310.
Tdl,
970*619
TO
7TWT6S
Tivi; 6appS>v. Tfi5 dKW\UT(0 T&
&
dva<J>atp^T<j>,
povcp dappelv lv$e%TOUT* . T^
irpocupGcrei
aavrov.
fioi
SeScDfcev /MOV tc. avTe%ovcriov ; ri KaTe\vrrev j ra TrpoaipeTMca JAOL SeSw/cev, ITT* To crco/aa TO 7T7j\tvov TTW? eS
7row)<rai> ;
330. Ti
avr&
vireraêv oZv
rfj
r&v 0\(ov
. .
.
361. o o Zev<$ OVK

av8p. TOVTO
irela-ai
;
ySvvijd'r)
K. /catcd.
iroirio-at,
riva
e.
ay.
eiceivo
povov ao^
SeSorat,,
Mr) yap S8orai cravTov 7rera.
<roi
256. IIpoaip6<riv yap ovSev ^vvarai KwXGcraL el pr} avrr) kavr^v. 48 (So Encheir. Tratrav Gxfreketav K. jSKdfirjv e% eavrov Trpoo-Sofca.) So 193: IIpoalpeerLv ri 92.
. .
:
So
aTrpoaiperov ovBev avrrj 8 eavrrjv 270. U59 ovv Tt, dvcfjnr^Swrrov elvai rt Svvarai
r&v
rov <JW/AaT09 / Trfo &e /^ya, ^ afyoKoyov TO $v<rec ve/epbv
THE NEW CYNISM

17
85
. .
77} 6 7rrj\6$ ;
TL ovv
ovftev
eêre
eXeuflcpov
iccti,
Ti? u/ta? dvay/cdcrei Svvarat, o-vy/caTaOecrffat, rS> evOdS ovv opdre STL e. TL V
TakaiTT&poi,, TOVTO
7n/j,e\cr0e,
S~ep<yd%e<rd6,
TOVTOV
evravda &)TiT
e.
e<j>*
TO dyadov.
TJJJUI>
174. OVTS TrXoSro?

TOVT
ovd*
vyieta
ir\rjv
TOVT
&K.&\UTQV
<j>vcrt,
Let others look to their principles (395, 396)

S'
70)
.
ej^G)
.
TLVI
.
.
6e&.
irpoaLpeoriv
vTroreTa^dai 'E/A6 e'ycetz/09 <rvvea"rr)av ep,avT& tc. rrjv Oir^ralci' ejiot JJIOKW, Sov? icdvovas ei<s
.
tie
Bei apiiriceiv
TIVI
TO>
avTJ]$.
This
aZoTie is
in the strictest sense good
com-
pare Kant's famous exordium: (32) *Av /xou iruvOavri TL e. a<ya6ov TOV avdp. ov/c ep^co <roi a\Xo elireiv rj art,
iroia TTpoaipecTLs.
All else
this,
control,
but on
will
show you who

"
670) O-QL Set^ca
is d\\OTpta and under alien even though the tyrant say, " I is master," he has no real hold.
OTI,
(65)
o
UIOK
KvpLos
el/JM."
IloSev
(TV ;
e/te
Zev$
eXeuOcpoK d^TJKeK,
*H
;
eav KaTaBov\ovcrOaL
ort eyLceXXel/ TOV tStov TOV ve/epov 8^ fiov fcvpio? eZ,

&OKei<$
\d/3e CLVTOV.
all
Here
are all the striking features of later
Stoicism: contempt of body, complete abandonment of externals to the "Temporal power" (for strangely
of Fortune, so constant a
is
enough the reign

Seneca's eloquence,
theme
for
here forgotten), and the complete of one this small point from other laws, exemption
physical or social. 2. This last quotation will lead us imperceptibly to the second point in the Epictetan estimate of man,
"
The Fatherhood
1
of
God "
a vague pietistic doctrine,

is
This summary dismissal of the foreign and alien in our lives
the
leading doctrine of Epictetus, and appears with unceasing assurance.
86
MARCUS AURELIUS
engrafted on the early materialism of the Porch by a natural alliance in Rome with practical endeavour,
with primitive instinct, with religious belief. Socrates, who from a formal standpoint is merely the author of
definition
and generalisation, is, in the history of thought, notable rather for his recall of exiled gods, his unfeigned
belief in a special superstitious mission. monitor, a special Epictetus, in similar fashion, of unchanging law by the warmth mitigates the coldness
"
"
interest in others, his
of allegoric language
and
is
which, though it baffles analysis wholly inconsistent with the rest of his creed,
;
nevertheless represents a sincere, the triumph of Faith over Reason.

that
all
if
From
vague, conviction, a recognition

rovr<p
TOU
God
else
is
our Father in a special sense, he believes

follow.
will
13.
EL
n<$
r& SoyfMtn
ycyoi'afjiei'
friro
0ou 7ra?T9 TrpOTjrfoVftev&s K. 6 Seos ira-n^p e. rwv r av6p. K. Oe&v, such an one will entertain no ignoble thought " If about himself (ayevves, rairewdv). Caesar adopt " av Se you, who could stand your intolerable pride ? He continues yv<p$ ore rov Aids ulos e2, OVK eTrapdrjcry ;
<rv/jmadi](TCU /car
a%iav Svvairo
on
in
strangely ascetic
ez>
Platonic manner
IryrcaTa/jbe/jufcrai,,
eTreify
8i!o
ravra
TT} <yev<rei fjiiSsv
KOLVOV 7T^09 TO, %$&,

0eov$, a\\otp,ev
\6<yO$ Se K. yVCO/JW)
rb a-topa pev KQWQV 7T/>09 TOU?
em ravryv air OK\IV overt, rrjv <rvyy4veiw rrjv

8e rti/9 ITTL rrjv Qelw K. paicapiav.
drux^
K. veKpî', oKfyot,
So 33. The truly wise learns that this universe is TO a-vo-TijfjLa TO % avdp. K. 6eov, and that from Him come all seeds, el$ airavra fj,ev ra em 7^9 yevvw/jbevd re K. <f)v6fieva, 7rp07]yov/jbevG)$ 8* 69 Ta \oji/cd on Kowwvelv povov ravra rrefaice TO> de& T% vwavao-rpocffis tcara
9
rov
\6yov
eTrnreifkey/jLevay
one
ic6<rfMov ;
Bta
why
not
call
such
an
p,}]
ulbv TOU
OeoG/
Shall not this
THE NEW CYNISM
87
sense of sonship take away all our pain, if affinity to an earthly Caesar makes one arrogant ? (Juvenal's "tumidumque Nerone propinquo ") TO Se rov 6ebv TrovqrTjv
eftew
K.
-iraTepa K.
KrjSepova
ovtceri
ripa? effcuptfarerat,
\vir&v
history, quite apart from religious conviction, will doubt the absolute efficacy of such an assurance for a life of heroic effort
K. <f>6/3(ov ;
No
student of
human
and martyrdom
but in our author
it is
an unwarrant-
able "poetic licence," or an accretion on Stoic Positivism. 49, When you get hotter water than you wanted
from your servant, or find the fire is out, and there's none to be had, you say: U&9 oJru 1-49 avda-^raL ra>v rotovr&v ; 'AvSpdiroSov, QVK dvegrj rov de\<j>ov rov <ravrov, 09 eêi rov Aia Trpoyoyov, &<nrep ul&s e/c r&v avr&v o-irep/Mdrcov 76701/6 K. r^9 avr^9 avccQev Karapokf)?;
(cf. St.
John i 12, 13,

.
iii.
7), ou fiepvijcrT) TL el K.
TW&V
oru vvrfYev&v, QTI
dScX^wi/ <|ua-i,
on
rov Aids
He sweeps aside the next pretext of absolute ownership with magnificent indignation and contempt for the material fabric and social conventions, "But I " Do you see where bought him with my own money."
you are looking ? To earth, to this pit of confusion, to these miserable legal fictions of dead men, not to the
eternal laws of heavenly ordinance (efc rrjv yiqv, els TO ffdpadpov, efo T0i9 Ta\ai7n6pov9 TOVTOVS vopovs TOV$
!
"
r&v
ve/cp&v, et9 Se Toi>9
r&v 6e&v ov
/8\67Tfc9).
Hercules,
through his life, spent in perpetual toil and exile, was never anxious about his children. 289 ov crrkv&v ovSe
:
iroBtov ovo* c&9 opfycwovs d(f>L6i^ gSet* y&p oru ovSe/9 avdp. op<f>avo?, aXX^ iravrcov del fc. Sî/rw9 o riar^p
e.
e.
KtjBojjLcj'os.
For
89
to Hercules
theoretic belief that Zeus
it was no mere report or was the father of men (pexpl
\oyov
.)
76
tc>
avrov nor^pa
ero avrov
K.
efca\ei}
/c.
88
MARCUS AURELIUS
efeewov d<f)op&v eirparrev a eTTparrev. And thereand through this consciousness, he could always
fore, in
live happily (Travraôv efjv avra> Sidyew evSaifiovcos). For our father has made us for happiness; it is our
own
fault
if
we put not our hand

reach,
to the fruit
hanging
within
TV%, (287) pipvyco on Trap* avrov arvêl. O yap 0eo? Trdvras avOp. em T& 311. With superb &8ai|Aoyiv, 7Tt TO ev<TTa6elv cTrofycrcK.
C
our
av
Se
TA?
" the Psalmist, Yet saw I never the righteous OVTG>$ 6 forsaken, nor his seed begging their bread."
faith, like
r&v avrov
eTrirewyfjidTow
St,a/c6va>v
ol$ fjbovow XprjTai TrapaSeiy/Jiacrw Trpbs
TOV?
ovic
on
r&v
ovSev
is,
e.
K.
e<rn, K. fca\&$ St,oiKi TCL
o\a
"
tc.
dvffp&Triv&v Trpajfjudrcov, K. STL dvSpl apja6&
/caicbv, ot5re
^&vn ovr diroOavovn, =
that
He
and that
He
is
seek
Him "
(Heb.
TO
xi. 6).
a rewarder of "
them that diligently What, when He gives them

"
1
no
food,
and allows them to starve
Yes,
0*9
crTpaTyryb?
aico\Qv6&,
Hpya.
dvafcKyn/cov pot o-ea^fiay/cep' rbv rjyepova, V/AV&V 67rev<fyr]fJi,oov
^But the analogy is incomplete

peril,
and unconvincing
common
with his
soldiers,
common purpose unites the general nay, a common justice, which allows no
a
and exposes all in turn to a like personal danger; but the Stoical Deity has no purpose, runs no danger himself, and maintains no correspondence
favourites,
The philosophic Exbetween desert and recompense. emplar is now Diogenes, the nearest approach to the Wise Man, as yet undiscovered: he has superseded Socrates in popular reverence for saints. 338. He has become
is
a supreme type of holiest ascetic renunciation (but it the ready sacrifice of limbs by the Star-fish, and
Tolstoian non-resistance to vile)
:
and
this because the
THE NEW CYNISM

present
ingless
a(j>7}/cev
89
is
life,
with
him.
its
kinship and association,

7779
/crri(reQ)$
meanavrrjv
to
El
7re\dj3ov,
av 001 /jbd\\ov fj y/coXovdrjcrev Si avrrfv. So with leg or whole body (oveeXo? o-a/jLaTiov), nay,
.
acquaintances, friends, fatherland "J^TSet rn-oBev eêt Toi)? pev <y irapa rivos /e. eVi Ticriv \aftcov. TO* K. OVTC rov9 fleods irpoy<$>us rrjv irarplSa
.
K.
av
e<y/caTe\t,7rev,
KT\.
then,
3.
Souls,
"sons
of
gods,"
are particles
of
Deity, and God knows and sympathises with their every movement; how could it be otherwise? 50, 51: al
^vâl pep
ovrcos
Ve$ep,evai,
tc t
K.
cwa<J>eis
T
S*
are a^Tou jiopia oixrai,
d7ro<nrcicr|jLaTa,
Travrbs
609
are
ol/ceiov K.
cru/zûoO? o
ao-TG) Trapeoryo-ev
rbv efcdcrrov
K.
<j>vkdo-<rew
K.
TOVTOV aicoi^rirov
52.
When
ye shut the doors and
create darkness within, ^fjbvqcrde ^SeTroTe \eyeiv on, 6<TT' ov yap ecrre aXX' 6 0eo9 evSov e. K. 6 ufUrcpos
ecru;.
It is curious to note, in the
metaphors
the
used
of
this
central power,
will,
or
conscience,
between the helplessness of a sacred charge and the sternness of a divine monitor in Aurelius, it is rather we who have to keep the inner idol of the shrine clean and unspotted, than expect guidance from
vacillation
;
the voice.
fLot rrjv
122: OVK
eôo rbv Mdrriv

K.
over Lav
rov ay.
rov
?
/ca/cov ;
to
me
of birds or of entrails
The
rbv eipyKOTa use, then, notion of God has

e<ra>,
what
really receded into the purest atmosphere of Idealism, and has left the realm of created things : it is no longer
a Pantheism of Nature, but only of Thought. Tl oZv; OVK <rrl 0e&v epya fcaiceiva; ecrrw, aXV ov Trpovjyovfjieva
0&v.
Sv
Se irpOTiyovjievov
el, o*v dir6<nrcuTfia
el
9o
MARCUS AURELIUS
ev cra,vr&
p,e'pos
e/celvov
ov/c
on,
6ebv
rpefai,?,
!
6ebv
. .
yvfjbvdfa? ;
6eov
rd\a$
K.
K. asyvoeis
avrov rov deov Trapovro?

K.
6<j>op&vTos
Travra
67ra/covovTo$,
are
you
not
ashamed
to,
think and do what you would not dare o> avaivdrire 1-979 before his image in the Temple
to
!
!
cravrov ô-eca?
(cf.
156, 157, where TrapaicoKovdeiv

coupled with etcelvov ev cravra) precise meaning can be attached to
is
ry
the
"
SIOLKOVVTI,
TCJL
oXa
7T6/3i^>pe^).
What
is
notion
Deity sometimes a guardian angel with plenary powers sometimes an insulted and forgotten sovereign sitting apart
;
within
"
impossible to define; sometimes the is a sort of burnished silver idol
in a palace where rebels carouse. 373. The Soul is true man /c&v the airoveipov o\vyov %pdvov TG> cravrov
;
*H<ye/J>ovi,KQ)' o-fctyai,
...
you
ri TTOT ef%et9 TOVTO K. ircSOcv l\if]Xu66s, your time be given to externals (rA e/ero?) will keep this squalid and neglected (pwirapov K.
if all
4. This doctrine of the essential kinship of man with God in a highly spiritual sense, leads naturally to the doctrine of the COSMOPOLIS, and man's duty as a subordinate part of a great whole. 117. If you are a separate entity, detachable from the rest (aTro-
<&?... \vrov), by all means live your own life ; el f jj,pos *O\ou T6Z/09 <7Jcoirei<s, St* e/ceivo TO 'O\ov vvv fiev
vocri)<rat,
/caffrj/cei
.
.
aTTOpydfjvai rl yap .
. .
Trpb
Trkevaat, Kwvvev<Tai &pa$ avroSaveiv Ti oZv a<yavaKTel$ ;

. . . .
.
e.
avOpcoTros
jutepos ir<5\<)s
TT/OCOT^? jj,ev
T?)?
i
IK 6e&v
K.
avOP&ITGV
9
e.
fiera
ravra Se
Tyjs
c&?
pucpov
tc.
o\9?9
fJt,i/J, r}fJia.
131.
el
rov
K6<rjxou
r&v
avrov, ov% $v T&V Tfa ovv TrporjyoviMevcdV

fj^pos
. .
.
THE NEW CYNISM

TToKvrov ;
fJwjS&s
91
Trepl
e%ew
d-nxSXuTov.
IBia
(rupfyipov,
Jov\ev6(T0ai o>?
rationally
This due to your power of
following the divine ordering (7rapafco\ovdyTircos TT) 6eia Sioi/ô-et K. TOV lr}9 e'rrikoyia'TUcos). If foot or hand had reason (Xoyia-pbs), they would never
desire or aim except in reference to the welfare of the whole body (^ GTraveveyKovres ml TO "Oôv). " If the " true gentleman knew the future (so well speak our "he would have co-operated in his own philosophers), illness and death and mutilation/' knowing that airo
e
7779 TOH/
'O\a)v 8wfcTafeo>9 rovro aTrovefAeTai, Kvpubrepov

fj^povs
it
fc.
Se TO
r/
O\ov TOV
y TroXi?
TOT) iroXirou.
We may
is hard to distinguish a very proper note, first, that resignation to the inevitable from a culpable negligence
or indifference to ordinary preventive measures ; so in modern India, to adopt means to control plague or
famine
here
is
to
oppose the Will of God;
second, that
full-fledged that tyrannical Eealism, the superiority of whole to part, of abstract to concrete, of name to thing, which will dominate a certain phase
of semi-mystical thought throughout mediaeval times 3 how comforting was the sense of being a portion
of
we have
thirdly,
God, and
!
how very
discouraging
is
the sense of being
which is emphasised the one thought all radiance and peace and here loving acquiescence; the other, all harshness and The end justifies the means; the callous expediency. individual is nothing the agent is a mere instrument and this in the interests of the higher morality but clearly an ethical relation implies a personal object. Sometimes Epictetus (who, we must remember, is under no contract or obligation to be consistent) seeks to unite the two aspects, by dwelling on the absoluteness
also a part of a physical universe,
;
:
!
92
MARCUS AURELIUS
of
and arbitrary power
God, as a master
of slaves, as in
264. In the Gospel, "taking leave of his servants." a well-regulated household no one may suddenly say to
"
himself,
<f>el$
I ought to be steward
K.
"
el
Se
/j,r},
KVpto?
l$(bv
avrov
<TQ$ap5s<$
e\Kv<ra$ erepev
him/' as
he
is
("The Lord turned and looked upon " beating his fellow-servants, and cut him
asunder," appointing
him
his
due portion),
ovrco
eort yap rts K. K. lv rf} peyahT} ravry Ka<rra biaraaa&v, giving to each their r&le olKoSecnroTTfjs
nrfXct*
(which Plato
"
left to
avaiTw], somewhat unwisely
the prenatal choice of mortals, 6eb$ for a professed Theodicy.
You be
the sun
you, again, a heifer,

;
comes, do your part else you shall a bull, come forth and fight; for this
function.
when the lion You be repent.
is your fitting You, again, can lead an army to Troy; so You can meet Hector in single be Agamemnon.
C
combat; be you Achilles!"

ftia
288.
007409
OVTQ$
y
iroXis
e.
K.
f)
ova-ia
^9 $e&r)fMovpyr)T(u p,ta
tc.
/c.
trepLoftov
TWO,
etvai
Trapa^p^fTLv
aXXow
where we may note Aurelius' favourite apology;

the consubstantiality of the world, the fleetingness of the part, the rearrangement of constituents scattered
dissolution of an organism, the need of this to the whole bright and new by perpetual change. keep So 371 a7ra% naQibv ore TO yevofievov K, (f>6aprjvat SeZ,
by the
fjurj wry'Tai, ^778* e/JLTro&ifyrat,, corresponding exactly to that meditation on the transience of physical objects, brief compounds soon resolved, which
wa
o Koo-fios
comprises the whole of Aurelius' speculative knowledge, and is all the lesson the Universe has to teach him.
THE NEW CYNISM

(<7)
93
PKOVIDENCE EXTENDING TO PABTICULARS; DISCIPLINE OF THE SONS OF GOD
ANALYSIS
5.
Natural
Law
becomes
God's will;
God
interested even
in
all
persons (Socrates).
6.
The Good must be happy, like Hercules, the Son of God} in the toils wh^ch the taskmaster ^w/poses.
5.
.
There is in such a Universal Law (. comof a a harsh father's tasktender solicitude, pounded master's arbitrary apportionment to slaves a ,) continual change of standpoint from Pietism to callous indifference, which latter is the proper attitude of Cynic and Stoic. " I cannot understand the Universe, nor on what ground I call it a moral sphere, or ruled by Providence but I am not going to let other and meaner men see that I am puzzled." Scientific law is transformed into Heaven's will, unconscious and blind into conscious
.
.
personal purposive:
ternals, o>9 irtyv/eev"
7.
"Use
all
the indifferent
o>9
ex609
II&? ofo 7re<f>VKV ;
av
Epictetus goes far to meet the popular demand for a special providence, a daemonic tutelar, such as Appuleius, for instance, discovers in Isis, the
0G\y.
45.
Eoman
IJLWOI,)
.
Catholic
in
patron
(eltrl
saint:
He
dismisses
Epicurean compromise
.
.
7rc!)9
t*y9
pev, /jbyBevo? 8 eVêXovecrTai, \ he will not be content
even with the current Stoic belief that God looks to general laws, but abandons the particular to itself (OVT&V
x.
7ri,/A\ovfjLev(0v
el
avr&v
can
reached
KAI
NH
pafiepla
SidSotri?
efc
av0p.
ef
AIA TE KAI *EIS 'EME), how
have again be salutary doctrine? the Socratic conviction that he personally This and his doings were interesting to the gods.
this
We
94
MARCUS AURELIUS
It is this sense which is is religion, and this alone! lost in the materialism of Aurelius' system, and retained
anomalously in the candour of Aurelius' piety. Seeing this, the good man rrjv avrov yv&wv uiroT^raxey T
ajaOol iroXirai TO> yojjiw TTJS The analogy here, again, breaks down human Tn&eus. what escape society is after all a voluntary association
;
SioiKovvn ?a
f/
0\a &<nrp
ol
or asylum
is
there for the disillusioned citizen of the
world
So, again,
all
on
life's trials
he uses another
is
simile,
!
which, like
Stoic comparisons,
God
is
sending
whom He
avSpa?
you labours, " and Hercules receiveth

;
only half true chastening "every son

is
toils cheerfully
borne
74
Al
Trepta-rdcre^
efjujreo-g
a type of such e. al rou?

jrepia-raa't,?,
Sei/cpvouo'cu'
\OITTOV
<re
o><?
orav
on
0eo?
"
Very good
not surely for the
rpaêl veavia/ctp but for what ulterior motive ? advance to infinity," which is no
; ;
dXciTmjs
argument or justification that your stout fight may be an example to another, and he again may pass on the
torch of this purposeless fortitude ? For the end is a/a 'oXufjnrioi/iKtjs y&y Sij(a 8' ISp&ros ov ylryverai,. av So 272 ov 7re7ri<rrat, S' o
:
TOVTGDV,
on
'E/ceivo?
avrov
VTTO
yvfjt,vd%t, ;
Trdvra' ovros
iceKpceyevaL
K.
TOV Aib$ dOXoujuici'os So 304. God sends ar/avaKTelv.

S'
. .
his
saints
to
G-yara
and
to
prison
ov
(j,t<r&v
prj
yevoiro* rfe
avrov ;
eZ,
3
piaei rbv apuvrov r&v vTrypeT&v r&v ovS* apek&v os Y v tutcpordr&v TWOS d\\a yvjjiv&lw 1 K. pAprvpi irpos rod?
8e
^
.
tiones pntat.
In a similar strain Seneca, De Provid. 2 " Omnia adversa exercita. , Athletas videmns . . cum fortissimis confligere, etc. Marcet sine adversaria Virtus. Patrium habet Deus adversus
:
. ,
THE NEW CYNISM

Els
95
This is, of course, ov%l 0X09 7T/>09 rov Beov TerafjLat, ; emotional and pietistic, but quite inadmissible; in a monistic universe this spectacle of struggle and
endeavour, where there is no triumph to achieve, is merely the sanguinary gladiatorial exhibition which gratifies the vanity of a despicable tyrant; "Morituri
Oesar
.
te
salutant."
So 312:
TpvQ&v
roJ
K.
utct
p,e
ov 6i\et,
ovSe yap T&

. .
S*
'Hpa/c\ei Trapefyev 67TTaO-(TTO K. 7r6vl,

K.
. .
.
T& eavrov,
7779
K.
6.
tc. ravr eiroiei ft. yuiwos K. avopla? Surely the good must be happy; 290:
Tk
Swi-
Se ica\6$ re
Kelrat,
iroXtToiv,
/c.
ayadbs Sva-rvêi;
el
fir)
ra
f
f/
O\a,
r^3 eiripeKelraL 6
ovrt,
rca/c&s
Zev$ T&V
În
laurou
iv
&crw opoioi avrS> evBalpoves.
352 the
of practical happiness is (as always in Epictetus) gathered up into a brief formula here, curiously, the
;
sum
and the religious aspects Mia intermingled and confused.

scientific
of
the world are

eVl
0809
evpoiav
bonos
Viros animum, et illos fortiter amat, et 'operibus' inquit . . 'doloribus ac damnis eragitentur, ut verum colligant robur!* N"on fuit Diis Miraris tu si Dens ille bonorum atnantissimus, etc. . .
. .
Imm.
in
difficiliori
satis spectare Oatonem semel ; retenta " parte se ostenderet (where the
to a sanguinary spectator of the arena is itaque Beus quos probat quos amat, indurat, recognoscit, exercet . . . Dux lectissimos in castris quoque periculosa fortissimis imperantur . .
.
ac revocata Virtus est ut comparison of such a deity 4: "Hos fully justified).
mittit
Nemo
.
.
dicit
judicavit'
digni visi
'maledeme imperatormetuit/ sed'bene sumus Deo in quibns experiretur quantum

(The misleading and fallacious character
humana natura
posset pati."
of this simile has been already pointed out.) Quid mirum si dure generosos spintus Deus tentat? nunquam virtutis molle documentum
est." (Perhaps this language of pious resignation scarcely conceals the latent defiance; 6: "Hoc est quo Deum antecedatis: Die extra patientiam malorum est, vos supra.)
..."
96
.
MARCUS AURELIUS
.
aTTOcrracrc?
t,,
dvrpocuperaw, TO TO TrapaSovvai, irdvra r& SCU/AOVLW, ry
r&v
eTTiTpoTrovs
ez/
avr&v
7ro^<racr0at
rich
tStj)
01)5
/c.
(viz.
-TTÔ?
the
IÂ
undeserving
and powerful),
T
afca>\vTq>.
;
avrov Se
eî
fjbovtp
TW
Here again it is purely religious in tone 345 K&V *iv ToO K. <|)iXos Qeov, *EXJ0pos yap el/u, ircMwjiai avr&. 328. "I have never been prevented willing,
:
nor unwilling forced

/j,ov
Kdyfi)
how
is this ?
"
rrjy
oppyv
. . .
To5
@eo3.
Qekei
oZv
e/cewo?
OeXo)
airo&avelv
0eA.ft>'
o%v
6e\a>.
In
385,
comforting
death,
addresses a
fashion:
personal Deity quite

e\a/3ov
K.
after
727)09
Epictetus the Christian

aivdscrQai
TOVTODV
ov/c
*A$
f
a$opp,a$
f
TO
aov
1-7)9
Sto4/C7;(rea)9
afco\ov6fjcrat,
<re
avrf],
ere
ruj\7)<ra
.
.
ov KaTyo")(vva
. .
/MJ
irore
Svor^pea-rrjo-a
OT^
pe
o~v eyevvqcras *)(a>pw

<TOA?,
&v
$a)fca?
ecj>
ovov ej^fô-d^v TOA?

/c.
apicei
pot.
avra
fyv
a/rrokafie
/cardraôv
et9
.
Trdvra,
.
av
/lot,
avra SeS&Kas
T/9
iroia
e/celvo
KaraffTpotf)})
370
yap
del
paXkov
o
K.
0^w TO
$ o
i/celvy,
ywo/Jievov.
6700.
yyov/jMi, &
eo9 Oeket,
d/cokovQos
<rvvopn&
CHAPTEE
"Out
II
of the night which covers me, Black as the pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods there be
For
my
unconquerable soul."
THE WISE
IN THE TWO COMMONWEALTHS; OPPORTUNISM, OR THE ROLE OF CONTEMPLATION AND PASSIVITY

CONCEPTION OF STOICISM IN EKROR: THE ESSENTIAL EXPEDIENCY OF RESIGNATION AND ABSTENTION
HAN
(A)
MODERN
ANALYSIS
1.
Erroneous
mew of ancient Stoicism (Arnold, absolute contrast to the modern temper.

selfishness
Eenan)
an
2.
Pure
sole
and personal expediency
the recognised
aim;
duty of reflexion, to convince us that inward peace, the only good, is under our control, is ours for the asking.
BEFORE the Unknown, one nature,

defiant
;
like Ajax, is superbly another in doglike resignation creeps back to the hand that smote it, with humbled and fawning
;
deprecation, not, however, wholly contemptible another boldly forces tbe invisible power out of dull natural
law into personality, and compels

with
its
it
to hold intercourse
poor creature across the void.
Nothing
is
98
MARCUS AURELIUS
to notice the universal approba-
more astonishing than
tion of the enlightened nineteenth century for these two latter characters. Surely it has absolutely for-
gotten its starting-point, its very The essence of the modern spirit
depressing
"raison
is
d'etre."
to
abomination
the
politic,
which
to
"
hands
men
expel the over to

social,
tyranny in
stagnation in
;
the
whatever is, is right." to superstition in the religious Fetich-worship of the natural order is entirely unreasonable.
not God's will at all, but mainly our a useful quarry for our comforts and discoveries; stronger than poor humanity, it is true, but to be evaded, cajoled, deceived, forced, anything It is difficult to understand but worshipped as divine. how Matthew Arnold could have written the following
Nature
is
own
creation
words:
"
"It
is
remarkable,"
he writes
of
Aurelius,
how little of a merely local or temporary character, how little of those scorice which a reader has to clear away before he gets to the precious ore, how little that
even admits of doubt and question,
the morality of
Marcus
recognise
exhibits."
is
prescribes
action Marcus general, action which every sound nature must
"In
the
as
right,
and the motives he assigns are
motives which every clear reason must recognise as We might be back in the eighteenth century, valid." the Age of Eeason, in this complacent appeal to The teleology of Nature and our rational faculty.
whole presupposition on which Epictetus' and Marcus' ethic depends is that we have no control over things
1
Even
if
we remember how
far
we
are separated in thought from his
standpoint, how the process of never-ending analysis has placed moral ideas in the same category as theological, showing that either they depend mutually on each other, or that both are equally insecure.
SELFISHNESS
99
or circumstances, and must bow to destiny. Since Bacon's time, we have utterly rejected this belief and
;
schemes of improvement, secular and religious alike, rest in large measure upon our confident transformation
all
of
our surroundings.
As
to that reverential "kissing
of the rod," there is
no place any longer for such a As to the primacy of this inner spark, there theory. is no such Manichean belief in its independence or its
authority.
As
if
to the
universe,
it is
Supreme Centre of Life in the found merely active in the material
realm, it is not much concern of ours, and we will drive it as we have driven gnomes and fairies from their
rustic
domains
"
:
Great Pan
is
dead."
If traces of its
footsteps are rather to be discovered in the historic and social life of humanity, still more clearly perchance in
individual
life,
in the instinctive
hope
;
of the race for
another
life,
aXX^s- av
el'^
Gtctye&s
:
for here the Stoics
with their intense self-consciousness and intense scorn of personality cannot help us we cannot meet on equal terms ; and there is no common starting-point for our
discussion.
Equally fallacious, or rather self-deceptive, is Kenan's eulogy, which would apply with equal exactness either to Epictetus or to his pupil Marcus: "La religion de Marc Aur&le est la religion absolue, celle qui resulte du simple fait d'une haute conscience morale, placee en face
de 1'univers.
Elle n'est d'aucune race ni d'aueun pays.
revolution, aucun changement, aucune dcouAnd we have this ne verte, pourront la changer." inconsiderate and meaningless praise from one who is a Since he cannot high priest of the Scientific Spirit. detect that the whole hypothesis of life has changed after the liberation of the citizen and the discoveries of
Aucune
ioo
MARCUS AURELIUS
it is
modern thought,
waste time to enlarge on his total is just the one phase of semimisconception. scientific, semi-mystical thought which can never recur.
Stoicism
We
of
have severed
life
finally
human
and
and completely the two realms The Moral Consciousness, activity.
problem of the Universe, will either, with Kant, proceed through the curious foreignness of the moral instinct to the three corollaries, which Stoics deny or, despairing of correspondence in an alien world with its inward aspirations (not, indeed, a demand
confronted
with
the
for pleasure,
but for mere
justice), it will
range
itself
with
complacent and scholarly pessimism of Schopenhauer, or with the open revolt of Nietzsche
the
or Gorki.
2. Indeed, these rhetorical eulogists seem to have penetrated but little into the inner core of this practical
was pure expediency; and Stoicism. Resignation Epictetus at least shows that here is supreme justification for his maxim ; that along this path of least resistance lay the road, the only road, to happiness and He never for a moment elevates an altruistic peace.
standard
never speaks in vague and lofty language of It was the calls of duty, apart from personal interest. the mere determination to be unassailable, to offer no
;
sistent
in the fort, no hostage to fortune. A conand unperturbed life could be secured by mastering a few rules, by making up one's mind that the control of things and events and persons could never be
weak spot
ours.
If
we
" anticipate
"
(as it
were)
the disappoint-
1 For all particular morality, behaviour in detail, is the recognition of the minor premise : tya.pp.vyv T&V irpoXêwy rats fttpovs ofotcus, testing power of the will applying the touchstone of preconceived rules
which could assuredly never be derived from individual experience.
SELFISHNESS
101
ments or the shocks of life by this firm assurance, we shall not be shaken from our moorings into the raging sea of passion and suspense and fear; nor does the
constant appeal to the divine will or to God's special
care for His children blind one to the fact that
gives us already
all
He
He
can,
an "unconquerable
soul."
We
expect no more from Him, in special grace, no recognition, no recompense (which to the Christian is
a prerequisite of rational morality, not as a vulgar reward in kind, but the eternal sense of God's approval, the true heaven).
How
faith
frank
of
is
and
life!
the following confession, a rule of Beneficence is only incidental to

m
self -culture.
65.
subject) TOVTO OVK
Z&oV
eZ>.
aO-rou fceica
Freedom before tyrants (a favourite ecm (f>iX.avrov yeyoz/e jap oimas TO TTOLVTCL iroict. Kal <yap o H\LO$ avr.
rf
QTdV 6e\7J IldT^p avSp&v T6 dewv Te, o/>a? that he cannot attain such functions or such titles, GUV p/q 66*9 TO KOLVOV o><e?u/4o<? y. Such, then, He r made the nature of rational beings: iva pySevos T&V cvya6&v SvwqTat, rvy^dveiv eav pr^n ei$ TO KOWOV
7T. TTOieZ,
K.
TO \OV7TQV
CLVTQ<$
Zev$.
a)O*J
etvai *TeT409 K. ÊTritcapTrios K.
TO TtdvQ*
aTrocrrf)
fjila
Ovrcos OUK^TI &Koiv&rr\rov irpQcfyepyrai. auToG Ii/eKa iroieti'. 'Eirel rl /cSe^rj
wa
avrov
K.
rov
I$IG)$
<riyêpoz>T09
e.
f]
/cal
K.
f)
avTr) ap^r) Trao-iv
77/009
| aiJrAJ
Here the only way

realise one's
own
to serve the public is to develop, specific nature. Unselfishness Epictetus
neither demands nor expects.
He
is far
more
in agree-
ment with modern thought when he

ultimate impulse
at all costs, than
is self-preservation, instinct of
recognises that the survival
acquiescence.
when he is preaching abstention and That this rudimentary impulse of life takes
102
MARCUS AURELIUS
a somewhat different trend in man, and seems to overleap the span of mortal existence with a sense of wider
expediency, does not in the least alter its original and In 17 he condemns Individualism. historic character
scientific research (eirl
T^V ev TOL$ $4/3XwH9 e%w Teraa-Oai)

;
because
it
in no
straightway go
e<f>
way home
assists this inner life

K. pr) ap,e\elv
e.
he bids him
r&v
& diroBeSijfjLTiKev ovSev
aXX'
e/ceivo
TOVTO yap jx\Ta> c^Xeiy rov

etcel'
TO oL pot K. TO TaXa? 7<. 49. in ri alone ovv The Xpfjc-i? <j>avTa<ri&v your control; &v TOVT ravO* ceavrS* avwjrevOvvos e<rrt,v eTn<T7ra$ el;
yS/ov iTK0Tj K. oLfjLwy^s K.
cauTw Trap^xei"
jiov aujjiêpoi/.
irpd-yp-aTa.
71
eycb
jap
irtyvica Trpo? TO
161
Aia
ri S7/o"TU^6?9/ Bca
ri6\ovro^
<rov TI ov ryiverat,) K.
fir)
avrri êyio-rTj Suo-poias
deKovro? yiverai ; aTroSeigt,? yap K. KaKoSaijxoKias. 145. The epyov

this; STL Bel rfy avrov j3ov\i](rw
rov (f)L\oa-oôvvTo^
<rvvappo<Ta!, TO*?
yfjL&v
is
ywea-dat,,
.
. .
ywopevois <&? pyre /crX,. *E$ o5 Trepie<TTi

fJbrj C
atcovrcov
^97
...
a?ro-
rvy%dvtv
1'*
158
TrepiTrfcrew, AXdirws dôpws drapdxws if29 dirYiXXaYjî/os SouXctas TO\jJL7](7ov avaelirelv OTL
s 7T/309
rov 0ebv,
Xp&
pot, \OLTTOV
els
o av ^6X779* 6/jLoyvQ)fjLov> O-OL, 0*09 eifM. 335 : Avrrj 17 o&09 CTT* \o0piaK oyei,, avrtj fjuovr) diraXXayr] SouXctas, TO
Bvv7)drjvai TTOT' einelv ef 0X^79
ayov 8e
p!
^^7)9 TO & Zev, KT\.
291. The Oeopdxos who fights against Heaven's decrees, like the tragic sufferers, is always anxious and miserable, Trpbs 7ra<rav airayye\iav rpefiav, ef eiria'ToX.&if dXXorpiuK
"
(Seneca's emphatic
eftavTov dir<0iai'.
... To
:
aliena opinio ") r)pTi)/jbeyr)v ejo>z> rrjv the fool who will not be free
he says in contempt
TTTOTf)jji,vos
iTi/6oj^
:
KdOrja-o TOIVVV ?rpo9 iravra Tavra dru^wv BuoTuxwv 6^ aXXou ^pTvjjjievo^

virep 7raX^9 #. Trayfcpartov 6 aya>v
305, 306
Ov yap
SELFISHNESS
Trpo/ceiTaL
.
. .
103
tfXX,'
virep avTrjs curuxias K. e68cup,oaas.
320. This personal assurance, inward calm, peace, subri yap e. o ^re? jective happiness is what all men seek
:
Tra? avdpwrros;
jroielv,
fjbrj
KG)\veo-0at,.
cuorraOfjcrai, 1
cuSaifxoj'fjcrai,
:
7rdv8' <&9 0\et,

d<|>is rods
362
Ov
0e\ei?
aXXous
352 : auros o-auTw yevecrOai, K. /jâdrjT^ K. $i&d<rxa\o$; oZv TO "Ka\al *A\\a ravra Trdvra. al *A<|>S 'Adijvat,"
KO\\IOV TTO\V TO
fcelo-Oat,
dira0YJ
TO,
era TrpdryftaTa.
Aval TO drapaxoc TO 3 68: TL
irl
K. eut^nws
Trdvra ra <rvp>fBaiVGiv Swdfieva
/c$6%6fjt,vov ;
378. The foolish
man
says,
6e\a
TL K.
ov ryLveTai
70) druxîs elfii
The
proficient
who
t
is
vain
and proud
l
of his
advance sayg, aTraGijs elpi K GTdpa%or

QTI VJJL&V KVKU/JLGVCDV
/c.
1$ dyvoeiTe &
avd.,
0opv/3ov-
ra ^Sez/09 a^ta, povos
6*7(0 fcrfi\\a,ypai
irdcr^
as vulgar display, Kevbv K. fopTitcov, yet it is obvious that he is secretly in full sympathy with the maxim of Lucretius,
Though Epictetus repudiates
this
alterim spectare lalorem, ii. 1. Suave mari wiagno So happiness, a purely personal matter, is (as to Marcus) 383: @e\i)crcu Se K. completely under one's control.
.
.
yeyovev, Sl&pd&Tai
"EcrwOcv
yap
ea-Tt
K.
diroSXeta K.
It follows naturally
:
from this emphasis on the inner
temper (91 TOVTQV TQV vopov 6 0eo9 TeOence K. <fry<rlv "el dyaObv 0\et9, trapa o-eaorou Xa^Se") that other
men
158:
1
interest the introspective philosopher but
little.
est
'
: Qmd desideras autem magnum et smnmum Seneca, Tranq. Deoque vicinum, non concuti. Hanc stabilem animi sedem Grseci * e&Gvfjdav vccant, de qua Democriti egiegium volnmen est; ego Tran.
.
Ov/c el 'Hpa/cXx]? Animi "
K,
ov Svvy /cadalpew TdXX<5rpta
quillitatem voco." Compare Diog. Laert, ix. 45 : T&Mvfilav . ty yaXyvus K. cvoPTaOws -^ tyvxfl Stdyet, vv6 fjuqdfros Taparropdvij ^XXou rwos Tr&Oovs.
Ka,6'
1)
<f>6{3ov
104
aXX* ov&
MARCUS AURELIUS
r
Btfcrevs
iva ra 7779 'ArTi/cfjs
TO o-auToG Kd0apov.
controls the eager and meddlesome philanthropist whose zeal outruns knowledge and 245 EvOea)? <&9 <ro<pol Sidyetv edekopev K. discretion
;
:
He
cityeXcij'
dvOpotarous.
<yap
G><f>e\ff)cra$ ;
HoLav o><eXeiaz/; ri Troêfe; cravTov *A\\a TrpoTptyai, avrov? 0eXet9. Sv

'
7TpOTTpl|rat
<J>iXocro<)>ia,
,
$61%OV
!
CLVTol$
tlTL
(TEaUTOU OLOUS
K.
jj,rj
<p\vdp6L
ecrdi&v, irwcov,
d>^>eXet
re.
et/cow
avexo/tevos,
QVT&S avrov?
TO aavTov
(B) CLOSE EESTEICTION OF THE SPHERE OP MISSIONARY INFLUENCE; REJECTION OF Civic OR DOMESTIC
DUTIES BY THE TRUE ANCHORITES
ANALYSIS
3.
The Cynic an exemplar rather than active consoler of men.
4. Grnostzc
and Mamchean scorn
of
human
ties.
True, he sometimes refers to his religious mission, as a passive example, almost a lay figure, rather than as active teacher and consoler; 266 : JEJSemt SeZ
3.
but
it is
cm
ayycXos
curro
K. fcaic&v, v'jroSelj'&v
&Tov<n
rr)v
dirc'araXTai Trepl djaff&v avrols OTI TreirkdvTjVTai K. aXXaôu oixriav of these two. Or he is a spy or
.
rov dibs
scout sent forward into the land of promise to reconnoitre, with clearer vision than the rest, to tell where
true happiness may be found To3 yap ovrt, icon-dunco-mfe e. 6 Rvvifcbs TOV riva e. rot? dvOp. <^>iXA /c. TWO, iro\fj,i,a. This mission is quite incompatible with ordinary ties of
:
home-life.
273
T7J
'Airepla'Trao'rov
ivai, Set
TOV Kvvi/cbv
avBp&TTOl?
iSt,<DTifcoi$
SlttKOVt^
TOV @eOV,
G7Tl(j)Oi,TaV
ov
TTpoo-SeSefievov
fcaOrffcovarw
DETACHMENT
(rd)(rei
105
8e oLTroKel rov ayytkov
Then
cares
final
TO rov Ka\ov fcdyaOov TrpocrcoTrov, rrjp&v K. Kardv/coTrov K. KijpVKa T&V Qe&v ; follows a curious passage in depreciation of home
and duties
standard of
274
life
is
and in contempt for any other but that of detached serenity. His
spoilt
universal mission
ticular ties.
by being
restricted to par-
Great
pains
have been bestowed (and

;
sometimes wasted) upon demonstrating the doctrinal debt of the Christian Church to Greek philosophy but it is not difficult to see whence came the practical ascetic ideal of anchorite and monk, hermit and ascetic for Epictetus is nearer Simon Stylites than to a preach273. A young ing friar in a more robust and social age. man asks him if he would accept a friend's invitation to come to his house and be tended in sickness (oWe z/oo-ohe replies noG Be $i\6v /JLOL Scoop K,ojjw)6y]vcLi)
;
,
:
AOLTTOV Trpoo-e^w TO?? avdp. /civovvrat, K. Tovra ov /caicorfda)? ovS'

:
347
riva
*Lv
fyacrl
e^co tyey
&XX
.
ir
.
ejjrCiuiw
mcrrp&{>,
el
ravra
to assimilate
rare
It
teal
lya> rj/jidpTavov vvv S' 4 ov/cerc
t,$
T& Qe$.
would be very unfair
the Cynic to the Pharisee in the temple ; but such selfcentred complacence is more akin to that type or to the
/AeyaXo^v%o5
of Aristotle
ethical behaviour.
He
clearly,
than to any modern ideal of with his sympathy for
ance to Socrates, who owed his influence to a

to "
Diogenes, goes too far in attributing this passive tolerreal, not
How
an assumed or pretentious, interest in others. " imperturbable he was under provocation

!
354. \tav
<ykp dcr<f)a\&$ eê^vr^ro ori ov$ei$

icvpievei;
ak\orpLov
7j<ye/j,ovifcov
ovSev ovv a\\o tf0e\ev $ TO ffiiov (desired that only which was in his power), not to change them
io6
MARCUS AURELIUS
rovro yap d\\orpiov, but that while they acted according to their nature, he might also keep to his (OTTOJ? eicew&v ra iSia fjroiovvro)v afc avrols So/eel, auros /j,i)Sev
fjrrov
Kara fyvaiv eget,. 1 Por 361 'Efceuva /JLOVOV <roi He is glad, however, to be able SeSora^, aauiw ireicrat. in the more social days of the Kornan Empire to have
:
He
the figure of Socrates to set up for men's imitation. is quite aware of the general impression which is
left
by Cynical preaching.
Sei/cvvfit,
Kal wa
^
<j>iXous
p/rj
80^779,
339
v(j>
ori irapdSevyfjLa
K.
dvSpbs aTrepicrrdrov
JX^TC yuva.lti
reicra jx^re irdrptSa

i
^ oruyY^LSj
&v
irepHnraa-Bai TjSvvaro, Xaê SfOKpaTij K. 6ed<rai 7. K. iraiîa e%pVTa y aXX* a>9 aXXorpta' ^He is much annoyed when on his discountenancing matrimony,
the interlocutor inquires: Uo)9 ovv en Siao-cacrei, TTJV rbv Oeov croi, /jLeigova 8' evepryerova-w avol TJ Bvo fj rpLa fcarcoppvyxa vraiSia avff avr&v
!
f)
ol
lrirt,Gico'jrovvT$
7ro)9
Trdvra? Kara
.
Svvapw
av8p. rl TTOIOVO-W, irapa TO TrpoarfjKov
TtVo9 a/j,e\ov<ri all this is very true in a way, but ; such scornful language of pride and isolation seems to
Sidyovcriv,
. .
partake of that vulgar complacence (KCVOV
K. <f>opriKov)
which he rightly repudiated above.

4. It is quite
easy to induce in some minds a kind of
by dwelling on the squalid side of natural processes, by pitying Hooker very much when he is found rocking the cradle, by exciting and stimulating a disgust (ready enough to hand in most minds) at the mysterious union of the noblest and the most ignoble in human love. Marcus will be found even more emphatic he analyses
ascetic morality
;
physical passion until nothing remains but the sordid

1
off
my
So to the tyrant, there is no animosity, no reproof ; You must cut head * Very well, you do your part I will do mine,"
* '
;
DETACHMENT
107
and contemptible. While many may perhaps secretly sympathize with this, no one can help feeling disappointment when Epictetus dismisses the holiest relationship of parent and child with a realistic epithet. In a word, the moral system of Epietetus and Aurelius
is
a revived Gynism which, however, it may compromise and modify and make concessions to common sense and
ordinary
decorum,
is
at
root
profoundly
for
anti-social
and
subjectivist.
It substitutes
Socrates
as
the
typical
man
of saintship
a figure of Diogenes seen through a halo which he was far from deserving and it is
;
not without interest to notice that the Emperor Julian has the same extravagant admiration for the least
estimable of Hellenic moralists.
(C)
THE SAGE SPECTATOR RATHER THAN AGENT

THE UNIVERSE
IN
ANALYSIS
5.
Mariy like the gentry at a fair or race-meeting, comes into this
world merely
to look on.
5. The philosopher, foiled or impotent in his attempts at reform, holding a cynical isolation to be the highest life, has interwoven with these coarser threads the more
refined curiosity and respect for Nature.
Citizen of the
larger commonwealth, he surveys the Universe as spectator, in that attitude of semi-mystic contemplation and
worship which effectually prevents a utilitarian attitude to things, or a sincere interest in the human community. " Epictetus rightly insists on the difference of function," though his teleology is childish, and harmonises ill with
the Stoical impersonality of the creative energy (22, 23).
io8 The
MARCUS AURELIUS
distinction of men and animals is just this reflection, which puts an end once for all to our paradisaic innocence and enjoyment the 7rapaKo\ov07jTtfcr) SiW/u?. 22. God has need of animals and of men; e/ceivav
:
.
.
%po)fjLva)v rafc
rfj
(fiavrao-iai,?,
e/ceivoi,?
fffi&v
Se irapcLKokov-
jp9?o-6'
.
Se
TpoTrov
K.
K.
ravr TeTaypevw K a/co\ovda)? ry

.
ov/cert,
pep aptcel TO eeBiew KT\. aTrap/cei, a)OC av p,rj Kara

/CO,<TTOV
<f)v<ret,
fcaTCKr/cevfj
rov
s
lauTwz/.
rov reXov? Tv6fjt,e0a, 'Trpdrrcopev One to be eaten, another to help in

oviceri
tillage,
another to give cheese,

ov
fjbovov
such their duties.
TOZ>
8
,
&v6pG)7rov Oca-TV elffr^/a^fev

.
Avrov
K.
re
K.
r>v epyayv
Aia,
K.
dearrjv
a\\a
clYjyriTTp
avr>v.
rovr aia-xpbv 6. T^ avSp. ap%6<r0at, K. /caraXtfryeiv OTTOV K. ra akoya, aXXA ju,a\\ov evffev pev apêadai KaraJu/jyeiv S'
S*
e<j>
& /care\7}^6v
K.
e^>'
fj JJL&V
77 (frvai,?.
7rl
Geupuxy
rg
ipvtrei.
Trapatcohovd'qa'iv /c. <rvp<f>a)vov e Opare 08^, pi) dOâroi TOVT&V aTro&dvrjre.
The animals have
instinct
and impulse, and do their
allotted task without reflecting on their mission. does so reflect. His "differentia" (egaiperov, 210) is
Man
not bare XPtf '^ <f>avrao-t,&v, but Xoyuaj %pfjcri,5. And when Reason thus awakes to guide and hallow Instinct, what results ? Nothing except the gradual abatement
of Instinct, as in Buddha's system, the will-to-live is becalmed and neutralized. Man no more acts he only
;
And this is his highest pleasure; and contemplates. therefore his highest duty. For in the Stoic scheme (hedonist in all but name) there is no real distinction
between wise pleasure and the aim of our being. 148, 9 Toiavr e. rh ^fLerepa &>? ev iranfjyupcr flocks to be sold, and men, some to sell, some to buy 0X1706
:
Se
rive?
e.
ol /cara
Oecty
epôêvoi
7979
DETACHMENT
t
109
rovro ytverai K. $ia *ri #. r/i/e<? ol TiQevres rrjv So in this great world-fair: 7ravr} yvpw K. eVi rivi. some like beasts think of nought but food; for substance, slaves, fields, office, all are but food in different
forms
TI$
K.
T&9 7TOT*
o\uyoi OVV
.
8'
.
e.
ol 7raiw)yvpi%ovTe$ avQ. 4>i\o0<jxoi/e$
6 K.Q(7fLO<$, T/9
.
dVTOV StOlKl
9T0409
7r&>9
rjfjLei?
Be r/z/69 fivres VTT

;
avrov 7670-
vapev
77^09
K. 'JTpbs
ri epyov
K.
O>
Avrov
&pa 7* lyopkv rwa ^TrnrXo/erjv TovrZ/ TroXXwz/.
This
of
is, of course, a new form of the familiar story Pythagoras and the tyrant of the Phliasians, told
in the pseudo-Pythagorean texts, and by Cicero. The only proper business of the elect is to reflect on the
origin
of life.
conclusion,
It
and use of being, come (no doubt) to a negative and resign as soon as may be the burden
in those days not merely, like our
must be remembered that wisdom
professed to guide
men
in life;
Mystics to-day, to display the
sterile
which allows no room

pretend
ideals
to
for qualification.
unity of existence, These never
control things, exhort men, or elevate understand the given, and sum up in to ; only set formulae. Other influences govern men to-day but in the Imperial age, philosophy seriously claimed to
;
life. No one can regret that this esoteric did not penetrate far into the heart of the religion Men believed that there was something still people.
regulate
worth living and fighting for
and the Gospel reinforced the old instinctive belief of mankind, that simple acts
;
are better than indolence, zeal (even though mistaken)
than indifference.
CHAPTER
III
THE ULTIMATE PROBLEMS

(A)
DEATH AND IMMORTALITY

ANALYSIS
1.
Lifa as profoundly moral and significant; death, as mere

physical dissolution;
release not to friendly gods lut to
frigid elemnts ; man, not a fellow-worker with God in any red sense t lut a captive forced into the arena to make sport.
2.
Ambiguous phrases, "returntoGod"; Buddhism;

a virtue of necessity.
resignation,
3.
Man
really excluded
from
loth worlds,
animal and divine ;

is
expediency (in face of the
unknown)
the end, the sole
mtive; Virtue recognised neither in next; Death welcome as the haven of all
1.
this
world nor the
woes.
SUCH
unscientific Science is closely akin to neu;
and it is for this reason that both mysticism Epictetus and Aurelius regard with so little perturbation
rotic
the "THAKATISTIC" hypothesis.
The ultimate problem of and spiritual life, dissolution

character,
is
death, as end of material

of
treated, as in Aurelius, in a physical

Life,
body and extinction of and

and de-
un-moral
votional
!
light.
so
profoundly moral
death, so purely a matter of physical science,

It is curious to
of the scalpel, the dissecting-room!
turn from the absorbed pietism and self-abandonment of

his
prayers to Zeus,
"
Thy
will,
not mine, be done," to

his
in
of
chilling
pedantry in
ri
the
explanations
little
death.
104
&dvaro$
<rri ; fjLOp/jLo\vJC6t,ov
\
/card/Made' ISov ir&$ ov Sd/cvei

of Theocritus).
(a
GTpetyas avrb reminiscence
To o-^^dnov
.
.
Se? x&pio-drjvat,
TOV irvev-
fiariov
o>9
Ti ovv fj v&repov. irporepov e/ce^copio-ro, fj iva f) irepioSos dvwjrai TOV el vvv ;

vvv
.
pdav yap eêi T&V fiv eviaTap,kv&v T&V So this child of fteXXoi/TO)!' T&V S" rjvva-fjLevwv. of and the divine works, God, this spectator appraiser Let us is, after all, in no way superior to an animal. hear what Epicurus says after this discovery that the gods take no thought of men, and that at death the 179 Ti oZv ; OVK dpe<r/cei croi soul is extinguished. ravra \dj3e vvv> TTW? r\ Sitccuoo-vwrj ovSev earl TTCO? fj aiSo>9 jjLwpta e. 7rc39 TTCLTTJP ovSev e. TTW d vlo$ ovSev e.
Be
:
He
will not practise this destructive theory but logicEpictetus' thin veil ally it is complete and irrefutable. of pietism cannot abolish the fundamental inconsistency
;
of the religious
and the
scientific
view
of
the world.
244. The contrast, though painful, is almost comical: "Grav Se prj irapij^ rava<yicala, TO dva/c\r]Tifcov ar)p,aivei,, So far so good ; Trjv dvpav rjvoiêv A:. \e<yei, voi "Epyôv. the personal and loving relation so conspicuous in the
Cynic's life is not, then, to be cut short at death 1 IIov ; eh ovSev Sewov aXX* oOev eyevov, eh TO, <j>i,\a ic. of course, to the gods ? efc ra a-Toiyeia, I crvyyevf)
We are amazed
ev VOL 7TUj009
is
this all
t9 7rvp cuTTziGiV)
he has to oaov
tell
us
0ow
fy
IIvpi(f>\<ye6G)v "
aXXa
TrdvTa 6e&v /j,e&Ti
K.
someone should come and slay me ? M&pe, Here the dualism is acknowere ov d\\d TO a-G*p.dTiov. ledged, and the invulnerability of the true Ego almost
What
"
if
H2
dogmatised.
MARCUS AURELIUS
Like Acis,
"To kindred gods

is
his
soul
not further purreturns." but seems taken in this passage, sued up somewhat 266 To (rcojMaTLOv S' ovSev 7r/>o5 e/ê* TO, TOVTOV later. Qdvaros ; ep^cr6a> orav 6e\g pepTj ovSev Trpbs epi
:
The thought, however,
ecre pepov? TWOS, fwyij ; K. TTOV Svvarat. TI? o av a7reX0<a> e/cei QTTOV rov ea> Kovfjiov ; eicj3a\ew
e?#'
e/cei
o\ov
cre\ijvrj
e/cel
aarpa
GVVTrvia
olavol
rj
nrpbs
It will be noted that he here passes rapidly opi,\La. over death without an explanation it is therefore just
;
(but to me by no means probable) that he intends the assurance and comfort of the last sentence
possible
He is on spirit. very outspoken and straightforward on the unfeeling or unconscious cruelty or design of Law in
to
extend also to the disembodied
occasion
death unsuccessfully with this mechanical automatism he attempts to combine the idea of a Olov 7^/3 e. Creator and of Providence. 300, 301 " ITCLCra ff aTTO T&V O\G>V TOLOVTOV 7T/)09 GVKOV, d-Trcoirpos rd tear avrrjv avaipovfjLGva \eiav yap tryfjialvei, r&v (rra^yfov, aXV ou rov Koa-pov. ndvra yap ravra r&v irporepcov el<rw els erepa
dealing
; :
.
fiTaj3o\al, o5x dTrwXeta,

8iouct]<ris.
.
dXXct
reTay^cKtj
T49
oiKOfojuiLa
/c
K.
&dvaTo$,
et9
/iera^SoX?)
jj,ei%Q}v
rov
fj^rj
vvv
Sv.
OZ/TO?,
<ôu>petav
TO pr) ov dXX' els TO

Icrci.
vvv
OUK ccrofiai;" OUK

e%ei.
a\\* ak\o
<rv
ov vvv 6
Kal
<yhp
er/evov
d\\' ore o Koo-po? %peiav
ofy ore <rv All the ea-êv.
picturesque metaphors of Sons of God, athletes tried at Olympia, soldiers to whom a wise general sounds the
recall,
1
break down utterly, confronted with such a passparticularly fond of this simile
;
He
is
of.
94
'Ec^
W o-wfij/y r<& rb

age
!
113
sole analogy is the wretched captive in the amphitheatre, who, forced into the arena, has to slay his comrades for the spectators' pleasure, and Even the gladiator takes wlunthen himself be slain. " " ore rjOehycre, and not risk his school he enters tary
The
Roman
This craven resignation to a Power which compelled. in the end is not personal, shows the complete bank-
ruptcy of logic or clear thought in this age, the prevalence of an emotionalism which can never unlock life's 369. Tl 0e\eL<s airoffavetv ; (on the secrets. a favourite imaginary tyrant and his power over men, theme with the poor slave, whose idea of Gsesar was formed from JSTero and Domitian). My Tpay&Set, TO
Trpaypa* a\X*
a-vvfj\dev
2.
eZ?
etTre 009 eêi
<e
77817
/ccupbs TTJV v\ijv e
3>v
e/celva
ird\w
a'Trofcarao'Tijaai,.
Kal
TL
We must not
tcaiceWev
i/,
of
such passages as
i.
be misled by the apparent sincerity 9 (34) crwyyevel? rtz/e? TOV &eov

:
lcr/JLV
g\i]Xv6a/JiV ;
a<(>cs Xu6iji/ai
direXOcTi/ oflcy ctê? 'ôre TWV Sco-jiwi' TOUTWI/ rcoz/ egyp-
â?
K. papovwr&v (the true later Stoic dualism and ready acceptance of Plato's antithesis of soul and body, in which the pure spirit is clogged and imprisoned). "Qrav e/ceivos a-rj^vy *Av6pa>iroi, e/cSegao-ffe TOV &eov K. a7ro\v<ry TOVTTIS 7775 vTrqpeo-ias, TOT 'AHEAET*ATTON- eirl Se TOV irdpovTo?
I
SES&E nPOS
v.
evoifcovvTes
TavTyv
Trjv
xcbpav
et? fyv etcewos
Aurelius has, as
we
shall see, the
same
unfortunate ambiguity in his language ; I am myself inclined, perhaps without sufficient data, and from an intuition hard to explain, to believe that Aurelius had a stronger personal hope than his master ; but I am
convinced that no modern Western mind

8
is
suited for
ii 4
MARCUS AURELIUS
It is congenial solely the task of such interpretation. to a Buddhist, in whose faith Nir-vlina is by no means universally defined as annihilation. Nay, is not Buddh-
ism the most sympatheticand kindred system to the Porch ? For it is free from the hypothesis of God, who is not merely superfluous, but whose exemption from all
canons of ordinary morality or logic threatens the whole cannot get fabric of human duty and convention
!
We
any further; we are compelled to leave the question The convinced dualist of in unsatisfactory suspense.
" Inner Self ") and the miserthe Hegemonic (the true able envelope, when he comes to the supreme moment " of the severance of Soul and Body, forgets the deity
within," the divine a-Troo-Trao-â, and professes to be content with a purely pJiysical explanation of the return have therefore of atoms or particles to their like.
We
Epictetus, like a vessel unballasted, rolling in a tremendous arc between two irreconcilable dogmas, each of which he believes so long as he is uttering it. "
How
dare you, insignificant part of the vast universe, comWhat matter to the sum of things which knows plain ? " not decay, if your leg be broken ? SWXos ovv pot,
ryeve<r0ai,
TreTrTjp&pevov
ii/
'Av&pdvroSov (a favourite method
of address) elra Si
ou/c
7Tt8a><re49
<rfce\v$pi,ov
r$
.
.
K6<rfjb5 /card ye TOV \oyov ou$e %etpa)v T&V dewv ovSe jMtcporepo?. Afyou y&p
OVK ol<r6a
^Xiicov
pepo$
el 7r/oo9 TCL
/teyeOos ov
firffcet,
ov$*
fttyw
fcpiverat,
aX\ct
Soypacrw.
old Stoical
Here there
is
a faint inclination to the

rivalry of
115
leads to
the Sage with
the
gods
but
it
nothing, and is not used to explain the presence of this " curious power in the frail earthen vessel" Yet how " often does he make use of the appeal to pietas," to the duty of cheerful submission as to an earthly father ?
emphasises not the nature? (47).

3.
pettiness,
but the dignity of human
Man
is
truly
for
him
o>oz>
that indefinable and

\oyt/cov ffwjjrov (128).
incomprehensible complex
He makes
no serious attempt to correlate or coand the individual who ordinate these antitheses not with the beasts finds in this rank himself may negative and empty prerogative no admittance to He is armed with a passport the divine company. which excludes him from both worlds* So in the last resort, when the practical reason will have its say, the motive for resignation is neither fatal obedience to an
;
absolute tyrant or cosmic law, nor willing concession to a loving Father, but purely a matter of expediency, dXuirws d+opws drapes, 145, 146). Epictetus, confident of the answer, puts to his audience the query, *Hfjui>
ovv
f
Xctyos eVi a>TV')(ia K. /cafcoSaipovia SeSorai, iv a6\toi, iva Tcevdovvr&s $tar6\&jj,ev ; 288: yet what is the value of reason except, as in Marcus, to impress on us the
conviction of decay, and to assure us of the vanity of striving ; 371 cwra /juiOobv OTI TO ryevopevov K. (frBapijvai
:
In vain he assures us, " Man is not flesh, nor hair, but Will" (ov Kpeas ov rptê? a\\a Trpoaipea-i^ 213), that the very nature of the supreme good is Will (9 1 its sole duty is ovcria rov ayadov 7rpoatpe<rt$ TTOIO) to remove us from earthly companions and simple
Bel.
:
pleasures, and to bestow in recompense the sad privicontemplating the mechanism of a unilege of
ii6
verse
is
MARCUS AURELIUS
in
which we can neither justify nor understand. vain that the Cosmic Process is sometimes It invested with the stern and inexorable attributes of
a just Judge
o5ro9
e.
;
1/0/^09
#6605
K.
o ra9 fieryicrra
p*e<yi<rra
r&v ra
a/j,apravovra)v.
But
the
in the
end
sub-
jectivity of
pure reward or penalty. There is no correspondence between the deserts of man and the measure of his recompense and Virtue is in effect recognised neither in this world nor in the next, neither by gods nor men. What is the punishment of the renegade, the
;
these Sinaitic fulminations
vanish in
Epictetus paints apostate, the runaway? defiant even in death, but a timorous QEdipus
no Ajax
f
!
O cforetSoOXo9
6&v ry 6eia
\VTreia-QoD
Sioi/crjcret,
Hora)
rairewbs TO
e<rra)
cfrdoveLrco
eXee/TCt),
/cecjxiXaiov
Trdvr&v,
The tone of profound pessimism cannot be mistaken; Book iii. (p. 313) ends with the
vcrrv)(eir<i) BpyveLrto.
unmistakable words
'Enl rovrov (death) ovv vaôv, evravda vevvrGMyav ol \6yoi irdvres ra ra avayva)a'jj,ara /c. elarj' oZrco JJLOVCOS
:
pot,
where the study of death

itself
is
the vestibule, and death

cf.
the gate of
7r/>09
true
liberty;
318: piav
elvai,
[Mrj'Xflvrjv
of Diogenes),
iXcuOepiav TO euK^Xws diro6^crKiv (a saying 387. Death is the quiet haven of all
our woes
el
ovra>
rdXas
%fj\0e$ 9
eljju,
XipV TO
airoBaveiv.
OvT09
tf
.
.
S'
XtfiTj^
Trdvrcov, 6
/c.
Orav
^6X779,
?
dvaro$> avri) % Karaûyq. ov Karcvftfl. (Is your

!)
hearth smoking
if
you can leave the house
No wonder
compliance of the Sage with a fateful ordinance he applies the word ^09; 127: vovovvra
tD this last

(B) SOME
117
"
THE " PAX BOMANA TEE WORLD OF CONFLICT THE MORALISTIC STAND" THE " NOERIC LIFE OF GOD FUTILITY POINT OF MERE TECHNICAL EMANCIPATION, ETC.
MINOE POINTS
;
4.
Before
influence
I close with an anticipation of on Marcus Aurelius, I may notice one

of interest.
his
or
Epictetus has quite rid of Seneca's declamation got perpetual against For" he a but is slave himself to the classical tune, tyrant,"
two detached points
So constant
is
his reference, that
we
are thankful
when
!
(316) he invites us to leave Caesar alone for a moment 'Edv (rot, SOKIJ, rov fjt,ev Kaicrapa irpb? TO irdpov a<f>&/Lev. He would be inclined to deal sharply with any Social" " istic Christianity, "Who made me a ruler and a judge ? " " that Speak to my brother," asked an applicant (52) " he be no more angry with me ; Owe <j)tXo(To^)la r&v e/eT09 TL TTepiirowjO'eiv rat He will not blame or reprove the person accused before " others Bring him here and I will speak to him,"
:
\eyeiv. Again, a universe he bemonistic advancing slightly beyond lieves in the Pythagorean dualism or systcechy of
'jrepl TV)?
o-ol
&e
l/ceivov 0/37^9 oirSev e^<
antitheses whose mutual

birth the visible world.
K. %et,/jL(!)va, K.
play and reaction
46
AUraê
Be
K.
bring to ffepos Avai

xa/ciav
K.
fyopav
K. a<f>opiav, K.
aperrjv
irdo-a? Ta$ roiavra^ Ivamo-njTas, irrrep trvjJbfavias

r
r&v
'0\ci>v. 1
Similarly (94), with the same implication, yap er^ KOCTJJLOV TOLOVTOV (o 5eo?), r&v eirl 7^9
TOIOVTGDV.
be
1
found in Seneca, Ep.

See
The same commonplace can evil, where the like moral
my
article
"Subordinate Dualism" in the Studio, Biblica,
vol. iv.
n8
MARCUS AURELIUS
of acquiescence is derived from the spectacle of Nature's violent contests and uncertainty :
"Natura autem hoc quod vides regnum mutationibus

temperat ; nuhilo serena succedunt,
. . .
fiant
invicem venti,
.
noctem dies sequitur ; contrariis rerum Êternitas constat. Ad hanc legem Animus noster aptandus est ; qusecumque fiunt debuisse fieri putet. Hanc rerum conditionen mutare non possuraus ; id possumus, magnum sumere animum
.
.
.
patiamur et Natures consentiamus optimum est pati quod emendare non possis, et Deum quo " auctore cuncta proveniunt sine murmuratione comitari
quo
fortiter fortuita
5. He is on occasion less of an Intellectualist than most Greek thinkers, and prefers, in his stress on practical life and happiness, a useful error to the glare of truth. 18: El ap ccnraTT]0â e'Sa paOeiv ( = " the lie in the soul") on T&V C/CTO? airpoaiper^v ovev e. TT/OO?
9/ja9,
70)
evpoeo? K.
tfeXere'
fj,ev t]0\OK T$|V dirdnri^ ravTt\v ef ^5 i]/J,e\\ov aTapaâ)? jSw(76o*0at vpels 8' oêed* avrol TI " of man to the and (y8) finds the " differentia
animal world not in the epithet voepo? or TLVL ovv Sia<j>epei, ; in moral qualities; 89
:
Xoy^/eo?,
.
. .
but
opaprf
Troêt, opa firj rq> KOLVCOVLK^ px) atS^/Aovt, T& aff$a\el t TO> crvveT& ; and it " " that prescribes, as if by the finger is this differentia
T&
irapatcoKovdeiV 0*9
T&> TTICT^,
TW
of God, his function, and, therefore, his blessedness
and
end.
IIov oZv TO |iya ev avOpcbTrot,? KCLKOV K. ayaObv ; He has much in common with ChrisOTTOV Y] AlAt>opA.
tian ideas as well as
much
that
is
wholly inadmissible
.
<f>i\,o(ro(f>ia$
s avrfjs,
(134) irapd 76 rot? 0*9 Set a-vvata'Bya'is rfjs avrov aaOevetas
fc.
irepl Tavayicaia.
unrest and sin,

this
This sense of inner want, of sends them to the Lecture Hall ; and
discipline will at first increase their pain rather

than remove
its
119
cause.
285
ou 8
iarpetov
e.
av$p$, TO TOV
in
"
6. In one passage he distinctly seems to recognise the middle of the purely physical /c7rvpto<rt,<s or Bagnarok," a noeric life of God independent of his
faithful
counterpart, the
visible
universe
(a
passage
recalling Dio Chrysostom's oration on the decay and " renovation of the world), Zeus does not bewail
himself or his loneliness

e^ct)
TaXa?
.
.
tycb ovre
.
T^V 'Hpav
o vyyevf}
"
!
OVT
TTJV
Âdyvav
ovd*
vlbv
27
For
CL7TO
men
TOV
t
TIVCL K avrov eavr&
judge him only by his beneficent functions, Ov$6V %TTOV Set CJ)V(TL ICOtV&VlKOV elvai. 7rpo9 TOUTO TTapaaKevijv G^GLV, TO Svvatrffai
dpKcii^,
eavrp
a-vvelvat,'
e<fi
a>?
o
K.
Zevs auro?
evvoel TTJV
ylverat.
-iv
w, K. ^cnâêt rrjv eavrov oia e. lavrw.
eavrov
ev
K.
iirwoiais
Here is a dim trace of Aristotelian influence, with which school, as the most sober and Hellenic in classical times, the Porch, Oriental, and pessimistic, had least in common, and was always at
feud.
7. He recognises yet circumscribes the eotfernal 243 'Opare benefits of Caesarism in a striking passage. yap ort, elprivriv fjL&yatojv 6 Kaurap fjjuv So/ceE Trapeze
:
ort OVK eldlv OVKGTI TroXeôi ov$

air
paâl ov$e
ovSe irîpaTiKa- a\X* egeorrw Trdo-g &pa But can he save you ava,To\&v eVl Sucrâ9.
from
give
fever, shipwreck,
love, grief,
envy
No, in
From earthquake, lightning? this alone can philosophy

;
and provide a safe prophylactic an inward ensuring peace, VTTO TOV 0oC fcefctjpvypev^v Sta rov Xoryou. And as he would have rejected any
exemption,
120
MARCUS AURELIUS
of elevating the masses
modern scheme
by change of he surrendered over the whole world of things and chattels to the strong hand without and criticism or expostulation, their proper lords masters (e/cewav fcvpios), so he would discountenance the Eeform movement which at one time saw salvation
environment, as
in the multiplied vote.
319:'O
SovXo<? ev9v$
ov&evos
TTopevofjLai,
Then comes the

of
OTTOV 6i\&, epxpjjLai orav " " white slaves disillusionment, as the
Elra England, or the emancipated serf in Eussia. OVK Trot /c. evffvs pêv ^dyy &Tl aTT^\vSpa>Tai> e^v
riva Ko\aK6V<rg
SouXeidv iro\u
-njs
I
tc.
7ra<rêt
rA
Setz/OTara*
:
ejjLireTrTOJKe^
15
irporepas â\e7ra)repav
the whole long
passage
is
interesting
and
significant.
(0)
HARMONY BETWEEN EPICTETUS AND MARCUS

AURELIUS
If
8.
we have
fully mastered the secret
maxims
or
the open counsels of Epictetus,

anticipation
we have
already in
understood
tinctly stand in the relation of master
Marcus Aurelius. They disand pupil and

;
the slave has taught the "purple-born" the solitary pathway to Indifference. All the special dogmas agree,
the distinction of " mine and not mine," the unity of the Greater Commonwealth, and the duty of submission. From Epictetus, Marcus
as well as the
main points
will borrow his constant query,
"
Who
is
vent
you?" (r&
ft
avayfcdo-ei ;
78); his
there to prebelief in
;
natural tendency of all

for specific
men
to the good,
217
the plea
knowledge and analysis
of particulars,
200

the blaming neither
of
;
121
books and
the
God nor man, 173 the uselessuess the scanty influence of logic, 163, 164 on a the silent as others, except model, 110 Sage
;
contempt
of the
body and
its
parts
pretation of death's meaning;

;
the physical interphilosophy as a mere

;
study of this last moment and, in spite of all, the firm hold on Providence. All these minor resemblances and
points of contact and the
ful
common atmosphere
of
of wist-
and
pietistic resignation,
convince us of the essential
harmony between the philosophy

1
emperor and
slave.
The
latest
references throughout in Epictetns are to the pages of the Teubner edition.
PART
III.
THE CREED OF MARCUS
AURELIUS ANTONINUS
CHAPTER
THE TEACHING OF THE EMPEROR THE NATURE OF MAN THE AGENT

;
(A) CHIEF CHARACTERISTICS OF HIS MEDITATIONS DUE TO HIS OFFICE AND HIS TIME
ANALYSIS
1.
2.
Such temper
Deadening
Troubled period of'history ; melancholy tone. the natural result of complex and well-equipped
civilization,
3.
effect
of order
and
security
under Flavian and
4.
Antonines(*JQ-18Q); straitened outlook; relief in Mysticism. Dulness of Socialwt routine; sadness of Aurelius; his Ascetic
dualism.
5.
No
genuine interest in the world; his writings, a private

to his
simulant
6.
own flagging faith.

to
Earnest yet Sceptical tone ; his supreme duty, not

world) or society, lut to himself.
God, the
NOTHING can well be more interesting to the We ordinary mind than the meditations of a king. a from them a the result of may expect ripe, complex,
1.
TEACHING OF THE EMPEROR
123
a unique experience, as of one who has mounted to the summit of the hill, and, embracing all the sides of the landscape below in which we severally play our
less
Yet the meditations of kings are by no and their verdict on life and experience frequent, is universally sad. Exceptional opportunities of comview seem never to result in buoyancy or prehensive
on the nature and the race.
conspicuous part, can look beyond in a wider survey of things and the future destiny of man
means
cheerfulness.
The sense
of
"
having achieved,"
of
mono-
tonous enjoyment of stationary dignity, the circumscription of the regal power of doing good, the hollowness of court life, combine to produce a peculiar temper of
mind
true
apathetic, tolerant,
and cynical and
ironic.
So
pleasure lies in process, in gradually drawing nearer a never-realised goal or ideal ; for in the moment of attainment satisfaction dies. The Book
is it
that
all
of Ecclesiastes
may
surely represent,
if
not the exact
words, at least the traditional attitude of King Solomon. may, indeed, detect in it the effect of that Oriental
We
sadness conspicuous in most Greek philosophers, which forms so striking a contrast to the sober yet abiding
optimism of the Jewish character. But there is nothing improbable in the tone, dispirited and disillusioned, which marks off this from all other Canonic Scripture.
It
is
entirely suitable to a peaceful

lassitude follow
of
and opulent monarch

or other emergency.
who has never been braced by war

Ennui and
fruition of
necessity the certain
good things; and Leopardi is profoundly depicts Zeus sending disease and misfortune to men, not to make life more painful, but that they might be reconciled to it through hope, anxiety, In such times of peace the suspense, and change.
true
when he
124
MARCUS AURELIUS
"
philosopher-king," cerreign of Marcus Aurelius, our of realm fall. The did not Nature, with earthtainly
quakes, famines, pestilences, allied with the Danubian The Parthian war, barbarians to disquiet the land. in which his colleague Verus took an unworthy part,
was an almost annual pageant or tournament of the Eomans, like much of our traditional feud with France But the Quadi might neither combatant was serious. well seem to Aurelius to be in deadly earnest. Tacitus had believed that Borne had no hope unless she
could keep these tribes quarrelling internally in a purposeless animosity, which should avert their covetous
from the treasure-house of civilization The Emperor could not have been ignorant either of the fears of the historian or of the real menace of these untamed tribes. Yet, though his time is amply filled
eyes
!
with
all that complex public service of the State now centred on the shoulders of one man, with benefactions,
orphanages, foundling hospitals, and campaigns, there is the same profound melancholy in the busy sovereign
in the satiety of Solomon. Gibbon extreme felicity of the Antoninian age but, while we have instruments for testing and registering human sensitiveness to pain, we have none so
that
we
detect
believes in the
delicate as to chronicle the excess or defect of happiness. 2. What is to be our criterion ? Certainly not
outward prosperity, or even advance of culture, sanitaWho nowadays supposes that comfort, letters. the Italian peasant is happier (whatever we may mean by that figurative and elusive term) under the new regimen than in the careless squalor, the light-hearted
tion,
ease, of the
days before unification
It is the slave
who has
a native minstrelsy, not the citizen.
Blithesome

gaiety,
;
125
which is one mark of happiness, belongs to a low and imperfect stage of civilised life, we are told but if it is gone or superseded, it is difficult to say what a
nation
manence,
human
Order, security, percompensation. yet it is idle to deny that what average nature demands is uncertainty, room for private
gets
in
venture and endeavour, and not the stereotyped monotonous comfort of equitable distribution. It is not the
decay
of belief
;
which makes much

is
of
modern
literature
the vanishing of hope, the shrinking pessimistic of the globe, the elimination of that mystery, half fear, half eager and delighted expectancy, which surrounds
it
world, and urges us to penetrate the realms romance or actual enterprise. It is under despotic monarchies, that is, in nations in an incomplete state of
the
of
unknown
development, that the dazzling vision of Grand Wuzir or Chief Sultana haunts the waking dreams of the slave
boy or slave girl. The tendency of all well-ordered communities is to crystallize into caste. The spirit of
the knight-errant or boy-hero of adventure evaporates with the certainty of life and estate. The ideal of most
inhabitants of countries essentially democratic, such as " France, Eussia, China, the United States, is a place " under Government and the son of these permanent
;
has no ambition except to follow in his father's The sudden rise cautious but uninteresting footsteps. of the mediaeval administrator and churchman, the " career veritably open to the talents," strikes us again
officials
and
again, in reading the origins of
European
society,
with a strange sense of contrast to the present day ; possible, indeed (for is not everything open to the worthiest in our society ?), yet extremely improbable and as the axiom of equality is now everywhere assumed
;
126
MARCUS AURELIUS
and conceded, we lack all those signal instances of successful merit which roused our admiration in the There is no actual bar to earlier days of Christendom. such ascent to power and responsibility; but the approach must be less rapid, more measured and continuous, and at the end of a prosperous family career the third in
descent
may
the
House
of
look forward to the dignified retirement of standard of mediocre Commons.
attainment has superseded the exceptional brilliance of some favoured and infrequent individual. The nation gains, and is all the more secure for this curtailment of
possibilities
;
but the interest of
life
dwindles, and the
classes, in spite of some show of social intermixture, The remain at core impenetrable and unsympathetic.
<c
General Post
political
and topsy-turvydom anticipated by the reformers of the nineteenth century has by no

verified.
"
means been
3.
Now, the Eoman Empire,

basis
of
cratic
society
its
shall see
its possibility than we Europe in our lifetime. The highest post in the State was open to anyone; but the entire policy
democratic in
and temper and
in spite of the plutotaxation, was far more
the successors of G-alba, Otho, Vitellius, first the Flavian dynasty, next the Antonines, had to eliminate " this awful risk of the man of talent," the " man of the
of
hour,"
heirs. 1
by a steady and uniform succession of adopted Did this regularity rob life of its zest, while it
1 Diocletian found himself obliged to repeat this practice after the turmoil of half a century, without in theory abandoning the principle that the supreme office, the baton of the Empire, was in every soldier's
haversack
excited
hence the anomaly of a hereditary dynasty which yet For the ideal was still republican, loyalty. impersonal, abstract ; whereas to-day our interest frankly centres round our First Family, by right of immemorial lineage.
;
no passionate

cleared
it
127
*
of the
danger of excited competitors
The
literature of the second century is just everything except civic or political. It is much like our own, though so
incomparably scantier
;
the same keen curiosity for the
occult, the personal, the romantic, the religious, the and behind this frivolous foreground the satirical
silent, patient, inexorable
work
of
of the
Eoman
legists,
custom, prescription, a world routine, round the limbs of a tired world, which would one day wake up and remonstrate. In
folding
who were
the coils
most freely organized community, or group of equal States, the deadening effects of order and security were found at work Decay and dwindling of the population,
this
lack of interest in civic concerns, and, with a straitened outlook, hereditary caste of noble or official or soldier
all
agreeable to the present safety, but adverse to the The horizon, once future welfare of an imperial people. boundless and full of mystery, became fixed and crystalline
infinite universes of just as in cosmic life the " infinite time/' were Ionia, born and destroyed in
;
"
"
replaced by the well-ascertained frontiers and modest extent of Aristotelian (and therefore all mediaeval) The impulse towards Christianity was by cosmogony.
no means universally a longing for moral regeneration,

but in great part the desire of a fresh domain, " new We see this clearly in the specuworlds to conquer." lative eagerness of the Gnostics, multiplication of the
Basilidian heavens, the increased zest of esoteric all coupled with indifference to conduct. teries,
4.
mys-
So
far
as
a worldly power can, the Empire
satisfied its children, giving
them order, sustenance, and amusement; but it could not protect them from the dulness and satiety of Socialism, or from the mis-
128
MARCUS AURELIUS
its
chievous effects of
1
own gifts, its own over-conscientious

of
vigilance.
and fatigue
To the Sovereign this sense came more acutely than to
weariness
others.
He
stood alone (as he tells us himself) in
the midst of
men
at
he had nothing in common. Let us hope they had some satisfaction even on a lower scale for it is clear that their master possessed
with
least
,
whom
the unfortunate faculty of taking his chief delight in know not which is the predominant melancholy. " note of his meditations," a constant appeal to bear the
We
inevitable with patience, nay, even with devout resignation; or a contemptuous vilification of the material,
the details, the occupations, the pleasures of human While he protests that the universe is a single life. whole, animated in all its parts by the same spirit of life and order and permanence through change, no
Gnostic or Christian ascetic can exceed the harshness

of "
the language for

encircled
the
(as
poor inoffensive framework
which
and
he
felt
it)
imprisoned
his
In order to keep Vital Spark of Heavenly Flame." himself free from any suspicion of attachment to the
flesh,
he seeks
foulness of
ness of
to excite his own disgust with the human reproduction, the vanity and nothinghuman life. The Stoic School, while professing
materialism and sensualism (in its theoretic sense), is gradually veering round to a complete Platonic Dualism,
of the visible substrate
and the unseen

to
spiritual energy.
While avowing
1
adhesion
the
formula,
"man
The invaders rebelled against
the outward forms ; and Middle Ages, which show the profoundest reverence for ideals, of Church, of Empire, of Christendom, never restraining for a moment the passionate and lawless egoism of everyday life, the most absolute
divorce of practice
this childish tutelage, while respecting this will explain the curious anomaly of the
and theory.

political
129
and
interest
after all
of the
social being," it succeeds in detaching the individual from social life: in which
lies,
manhood
with
its
tolerance, self-restraint,
and endeavour for a common good. 5. Marcus in his self-centred aloofness from any real concern in the world, is the true and unmistakable
disciple of the Porch. proselytes, he takes this
But,
like
all
the
Eoman
seriously than the Greeks. The unruffled calm, the deliberate consistent life in which the Ideal of the Hellenic world
dogma much more
was to be
realised,
was common
to all the later schools
the especial creed was a matter of temperament, of convenience, of logic, but scarcely of conviction. Marcus, educated as a devout Eoman to belief in gods
of the earth
and nation,
finds himself confronted
by a
Monistic interpretation of the world, which excludes 1 prayer, or the hope of immortality.
1 1 read with extreme surprise in the Expository Times, May 1902, the following words "Nobly one were they (Biedennann and Lipsius) in championing the cause of scientific theology. Where they mainly differed was that Biedermann disallowed alike the personality of God and the continuance or persistence of the individual spirit, both of which Lipsius strenuously upheld." It must be evident to the merest tyro in philosophy or religion that we have here the ultimate and absolute poles of thought, and that there can be no truce or compromise between the " two disputants. To apply the term "theology to Biedermann's system the thin veneer of sentifor is a sacrilege and an absurdity. Except ment, which even in a Schleiermacher failed to hide the true outline of it is indistinguishable from the grossest materialhis desponding creed,
:
ism, fails to supply any single adequate motive for moral action (which though natural and instinctive requires some encouragement and justification for its abandonment of the obvious law, "Might is Eight"),
and is unworthy of the term Religion" at all. For Religion implies a personal relation between the worshipper and the object of his worship, and is incompatible with any theory of Emanation and Eeabsorption ;
for personalities (which constitute the sole ultimately real experience)
may
harmonize, but cannot merge or interpenetrate.
130
MARCUS AURELIUS
writes
his
He
"meditations or commentaries" to
himself to comfort his soul in the stress of doubt, to remind it that Ethics are independent of metaphysic
that whatever the constitution of the Universe,
one,
manifold or chance, the likelihood of survival or dissipation, the careful guidance or neglect of the gods, one course alone the ingratitude of our fellow-men,
remained open to him, to follow right at all costs and all hazards, from a duty owed partly indeed to the Inscrutable Cause of all, but mainly to himself and that conscience of Duty and of work which he loves to
call
the " Deity within."

6.
Two very
this earnest yet sceptical

of its
interesting points emerge, then, from tendency first, that in spite

;
threatened dissolution
it
is
his
own
personality
that really concerns him, a self-absorbed introspective brooding on the "Way of Salvation," to which those
"
social
"
acts (fcow&vucal Trpdgeis) appeal, not
from love
of one's neighbour, but from a stern duty to one's higher self and next, that from the blank and dumb
;
fatalism of objective Nature (where Stoics sought God in a physical power), the soul of man was repelled, and
forced into seeking for himself a nearer and a more In Stoicism proper we have a cold propitious deity.
and <e scientific theology," which in essence differs not from materialism; in Aurelius we have Logic and Emotion, Pure Reason and Faith, contesting for the mastery in a bosom agonizing with conflict of doubts and hopes. In Platonism we mark reaction to a doctrine, which though highly scientific in outline, is
intensely emotional in essence.
Briefly, Stoic Positivism
;
incongruous (yet so sincere I) admixture of science and faith next, the pure subjective certainty
;
then Marcus

of
131
where the "Desire of Mankind" is no outer communicable system, fortified by but within logic and preserved by iterated maxims, the soul itself, secure and permanent, in everlasting
Platonism,
found in
companionship.
have in the foregoing brief introduction to a detailed inquiry into Aurelius' tenets, maintained that
is
We
the peculiar tone of melancholy pervading the volume to be expected from a "philosopher king," above
all,
from a
reflecting
Eoman
Caesar in that epoch of
have seen how nearly the circumstances lethargy. of his time correspond to our own and how little the removal of political disabilities or the assurance of a
;
We
competence can reconcile men to a life which, delivered indeed from anxiety, is also robbed of all hope. We have ascertained that in the peculiar system to which he attached himself in common with all earnest Romans, there was no satisfaction for a pious and an affectionate nature; and there is left for us (after hinting at the considerable step which the Emperor took in the direction of Platonism) to examine closely his often inconsistent views on man's nature, or the human soul, For this is the real startingthe human personality.
point of
1
all
the subjective schools. 1
We may
here inseit as an illustration of modern Stoicism the
following lemaiks of Mr. Norman Pearson (Nineteenth Century, May 1895), which already to us sound strangely confused and archaic : "Science accepts . . . that man belongs to a system of existence
which is inspired to struggle upwards by a power which makes for "His relations to such a power would be outraged by righteousness." * To man, as the last and petitions for the disturbance of this order."
f
highest product of this scheme, its due progress seems to be specially committed consequently, conduct which impedes his own struggle upward, is not only an offence against his own highest interests, but is a Sin against the order of the Universe. Feeling will in due course
;
,
32
MARCUS AURELIUS
(B) INFLUENCE OF THE CONCEPTION OF ^0709
ON GEBEK THOUGHT
ANALYSIS
1.
Personal need
Xdyos
the starting-point of practical philosophy ; principle of order and consistency, gradually per-
sonified.
" " of the Classical period ; $v<ris and Xoyo? teleology become interehangedble terms (at least, inseparable correlates). 3. Li progress of Stoicism, Xdyos tends to become detached and
2.
Incurable
4.
transcendent; franJs adoption of strict Platonic dualism; 3fanichcean atmosphere. For this dualism, Gnostics had some fanciful explanation; Stoics none; Aurelius only kept by his busy life and Roman
training from complete surrender of the actual.
1.
All philosophy,
desire to
self.
all science, springs from the accommodate and explain the world to the
A
"
probably joy of knowledge and discovery, the control of natural forces, or the necessity of satisfying the deeper needs such are the motives which impelled of the heart,
It is in the main purely personal Hellenic speculation. and of no school is this more true than or subjective
;
purely disinterested search for Truth has never entered into the heart of man." The
of
Aristotle's
successors.
All
Greek thought
is
an
attempt to find the Abyos in things, in words, in the With an almost endless State, in man's soul and life.
follow in the footsteps of Thought ; and the prayer of the future will be attuned to those higher conceptions which religious thought has already reached. Not less reverent, though more robust than the
prayer of to-day,
it will embody the religious aspiration of man, trained, indeed, to a truer apprehension of Nature and Nature's God, but freed from the trammels of theological dogma and priestly
mediation
lead
j and though it may draw man away from the him nearer to the throne "
!
altar, it will
DRIFT TOWARDS MYSTICISM

and perplexing variety
133
of meanings, it always conveys the sense of order, method, consistency ; and was free from all personal connotation. It was the universal
notion that underlay and bound together the complex of individual phenomena the definition which must be
,
ascertained before the discussion of terms can proceed " " " the deliberate policy, the rationale/' or raison d'etre
of
a community
the order and
harmony that Heraclitus

;
detected amidst the chaos of the empirical world

self-congruous fitness
clearly in all learnt to refer
the
and consistency which appeared behaviour and action, when one has all to a single aim, and to subordinate
life to
every minor detail of

little this
Little a guiding pzineiple. term by purely logical and abstract acquires a kind of objective existence and a mystical significance ;
and we cannot wonder that in the Hellenistic writers, whether Pagan, Jewish, or Christian, it is identified with a person, and becomes, in language either literal
or symbolical, not the discovered synthesis of things,
but the actual Creator and Sustainer of the Universe.
Now,
in the dogmatic
creed of the Stoics, the term
Awyos is employed just before it passes into this final and mystic stage. It is the world-order, the principle of life, and permanence through change appreciable by man, because he alone partakes in consciousness of the same spiritual force which regulates the world ; as " in the well-known saying, Like is known by like." 2, The Philosopher, conscious in himself and in Ms
;
community
of certain fixed principles, looked afield in
The the wider world for a similar "reign of Law." "fortuitous infinities" of Ionia (with its astoundingly modern guesses at Evolution) pass away before that
curious
and abiding phase
of
thought, which I
may
134
MARCUS AURELIUS
5
perhaps term the incurable or invincible teleology of the Greets. So we get to the limited universe of Aristotle
and to the unshaken conviction that everything created had a purpose and a meaning and that the secret of
;
its
happiness or satisfaction lay in discovering the cause " and the object of its being, and in doing its duty/' may pause a moment to wonder at the admirable
We
simplicity of
mind which
tolerated
this
fundamental
assumption.
Every colloquy Sceptic or a in of the favour was ended so Rationalist, Sophist soon as he had secured the admission that Nature had an end, each thing an epyov, or in the most popular
form
of the
with
thought
or this
that ^ Averts
ov$h
parriv Troiet
;
This Nature
^0709 were interchangeable terms
and while the former retained all that notion of spontaneous energy and beneficent creativeness which Aristotle gave it, the latter, as we have seen, was from
a cloudy or logical abstraction gradually assuming the lineaments of a Personal Intelligence. 1
3. The Stoics, starting from complete materialism, recognised but a single Principle but the ineiadicable dualism of intelligence sets itself, and that which it feels
;
akin and cognate to itself, in violent contrast to the unconscious and formless substrate. The A 0709 of the world
tends more and more to detach
itself from its works, and from being immanent and implicit in things to become transcendent. It is doubtful if any system that has a enjoyed vogue, has ever been strictly and severely
1
We
need
feel
familiar garb of
no surprise, then, if we find this Afryos takes the Olympian Zeus in the Syncretism prevalent throughout
;
the Imperial
Age
is,
Principle, after whose original material in complete docility.
on the other hand, identified with that rational exemplar the World-Soul fashions her
DRIFT TOWARDS MYSTICISM

Monistic.
135
us,
The common consciousness assures
with
the early Pythagorean systcechy, or groups of opposites, that things are in pairs; and we may say with considerable truth, that "most modern thought, and all
modern endeavour,
Stoicism,
rest
on a Dualistic
hypothesis."
imported
into
Eoman
territory,
adopted
frankly the opposition of matter and spirit, in a word, Platonism; and the nature of man suffered a like
schism, for which the unnatural or theatrical austerities of the earlier heroes have already prepared us. When
we
are
read Seneca or Epictetus or Aurelius, we feel we in a Manichsean atmosphere. The aim of the
0709 is to unite itself (not, indeed, too or with undue impatience) to the universal hastily .40709: exterior nature, with its blunt carelessness of our wishes or deserts, seems to be too dangerous ground
for us to repose
individual
we must abandon it, though still murmuring the commonplaces of its divine order and
on
;
arrangement.
of
For our own physical frame no language contempt was too exaggerated and, like some love;
sick mediaeval saint, the Stoic recluse sighed for deliver-
ance, while
he pronounced this world perfect and unique, with no ulterior object save ceaseless repetition. The
" Que diable allait-il query of the French dramatist, " faire dans cette galere ? arises to our lips, without
deliberate irreverence, as applicable, not merely to this
incompetent imprisoned ray of Universal Eeason, which had somehow fallen into the snares of matter, but also
to
the Parent of
all
retreats further
and further from

it
It such imperfect emanations. things, and abandons

itself.
the course of the secular series to

4.
Now
the Gnostics, be
at least a logical
remarked in passing, had and consistent, though fantastic answer
136
MARCUS AURELIUS
to this problem of the intermixture of mind and matter. But the Stoics could admit no such explanations to
Their instinct (like all humanity, solve the difficulty. with their reasoned philosophy, was at variance dualistic)
which pronounced things good, and descending from a " Hand in hand the Sage and Source of Life." single his Divine Counterpart or Original retreated from an
alien world, without in theory abandoning any of the tenets or axioms of the profoundest optimism and
content.
what,
stout
his
it
Man was made was impossible
for a purpose to discover,
but precisely
and while the
character of Aurelius and the exigencies and of responsible position keep him still busy faithful to the social instinct, and prevent the final plunge, yet there are not wanting symptoms of that somewhat morbid mysticism, which elevates as the
Roman
supreme goal
its
"
otherness
of the rational being the " in unconscious ecstasy,
overcoming of reunion with
Universal Reason.
(ff)
THE CONSTITUTION AND PSYCHOLOGY OF THE

INDIVIDUAL
ANALYSIS
5.
In Stoic world, everything necessary and perfect, each in its several place j you may neither complain nor hate nor
reform.
7.
Only in Man may service &e voluntary as well as compulsory ; marts "freedom"; he owes this (doubtful) blessing to his share in \6yos yet in no true sense is he critic or agent. AureHus has no sympathy with Matter, no account of the
;
relation
of
&oul and
Body;
sole
^nterest
in Spiritual
?
8.
Problem of Psychology , how
many dimsion*
in soul
(increas-
PSYCHOLOGY OF THE EMPEROR

^ng tendency in
9.
137
Monism
to
multiply differences rather than

?
reconcile contrasts).
(Are vovs and fiyepovutov ititerchaayealle

senses.)
vovsused in seveial
10. Instantaneous Conversion;

r
Spirit always free if it mil: Solipsism; no quality , sub&tance, or relation in outer thing*; Spirit's thoughts on things alone real
11.
"As many
worlds as spirits ; how is this imprisoned ray of Deity our very self* (transition from intellectual to
incontestable, is morally inconceivable; Aureliushacl no resource ^^l Metempsychosis; his
31
12.
moral differentia)* But Panthe^s^n, intellectually
Spirit the moral personality. 13. (Borne uses of-^v^ in higher sense, TJie Inner Self. 14. Sis psychology has no pretence to consistency (hints even of a urelius errs in good company. fourth element) ;
In this realm of law (without a lawgiver) everyThere is no evil, for thing has its appointed place. everything is necessary, and contributes to the welfare of the whole, else it would neither exist nor happen. The special function of each is to be found in its
5.
"
differentia," that quality or faculty
which marks
it off
nothing can you pass judgment, because nothing in such a world is superfluous or disorderly. Even unlovely or terrible things, as the menacing grin of leonine jaws, have their own
rest of creatures.
from the
On
appropriate use and intrinsic beauty; and are not to be set aside as bad merely because they do not fit in Lite with our selfish ideas of human convenience.
all
Pantheists, Antoninus is a stranger to that anthropo-
centric
civilization
conception of the world on which European and Christian faith is founded. As to the
"
"
ultimate equality of things, (as the good and bad words are currently employed), their " indifference," this doctrine recalls the modern school, which explains
138
MARCUS AURELIUS
the seeming conflict of ultimate principles as a mere passing phase, which gathers up and embraces the
turmoil and contrast of a lower sphere in the peace If to complain of such and silence of the Absolute.
a world
reform
impiety, so, too, is it to attempt to alter or As there is no questioning of the ways and methods of Providence, so the very notion of change,
is
it.
improvement, progress
thing
is
is altogether eliminated. Each in its place; its character and circumstances
are all divinely appointed
by that Power which may
either, once and for all, have settled on the course of events, and written out in anticipation the whole book
of destiny,
or
may
be even
now
with careful and particular solicitude guiding every trivial detail of the
venture to
decide
world's course; Marcus will not which of these views is correct.

6.
clearly in man's special conformation there is something exceptional and peculiar. The rest of the creatures form an orderly but unconscious retinue in the train
of the
But
King.
Their service
is
tary and automatic.
With man enters a new
perfect indeed, but involunfactor that

:
almost invisible point of Freedom, which at once tells of his close affinity to the Universal Intelligence, and also
permits
him to criticize it. The impulse to philosophic thought is curiously interwoven of the passionate desire to be free and the correlative yearning to discover and obey the Highest Law and all searchers after truth are like
;
Saint Christopher.
of valuing
Man
has this double power;

of
first,
and admiring the works
Creation, all the
Stoics placing the precarious paradise of
immortal heroes
in closer contemplation of the mysteries of stars and their orbits ; second, of determining himself freely and without reserve, in the very limited realm of Liberty

still left
139
to
him
in
in the universal
law.
This
very
doubtful
dominion of physical privilege he owes to his

indeed,
participation
the
^0709:
the
conscious
moral agent, may but the a Somnambulist vision of represent waking Is Reason, is the will-to-live, startled and Creator. amazed when, reaching consciousness in man, it beholds the universe which its blind and undirected efforts have
spectator of the world, the deliberate
? This is clearly a modern and which romantic belief, we should not try and discover in the system of Aurelius but we may mention it here, to show how assailable, how open to logical attack, is
called
into
being
his doctrine on
human
nature.
Critic,
he
is
forbidden
to speak;
"taboo" from finding enjoyment even in the innocent diversions of life, and confined in a narrow prison-house of " nonpossumus." His nature is conceived as abrupt dualism his ethics is limited to passivity and resignation. 7. An English bishop and Christian apologist has pronounced our body to be a "mass of matter with which we aie for a time associated"; and most Idealists would relegate it, with all its pleasures and
agent, he
is
restricted
by
ascetic
pains, to the dim phantom-region of the external world, neither more nor less cognate to us, nor more nor less approaching true being emphatically like it, a Thing. " The same sense of " foreignness may be found in
;
Marcus, \\ho
is
far
more au
,
idealist
than any prede-
cessor in the Stoic School
who, as we have seen, has not yet reached that genial Platonism which reconciles the two opposing factors; has no knowledge of the Christian faith which somehow can consecrate the
lower element while keeping it in proper subordination. He exhausts on this innocent envelope of the stiiving
4o
MARCUS AURELIUS
;
spirit all
the vocabulary of sarcasm, innuendo, contempt he might well be Saint Thomas a Kempis. may here repeat what was said under a similar heading in
We
Epietetus, that no Gnostic, no early Christian ascetic, conld write more severely : and we shall substantiate For he never accurately this by a fuller examination.
defines matter, or enters into the difficult
problem
of
the interaction of soul and body; we must therefore pass to the unseen or spiritual part of man, if we wish " differentia." to find his function and his
8. Xow here we are met by a considerable difficulty, Marcus makes not the slightest effort to be conSometimes the invisible and truer portion of sistent. man is twofold, as with us, " body and soul " at others, " it is, like our Now body, soul, and spirit," threefold.
for
we
it
find soul (^v%??) violently opposed to the higher principle, as the vital element of mere animal life ; now
includes
it,
or
is
even identical.
Now
it is
;
true that
we
are perfectly familiar with this looseness for it is only on occasion that we find in Scripture the triple definition ; and generally and in common parlance we
are quite satisfied with the popular dualism. But in a system avowedly monistic, we are puzzled when wo meet with this increasing tendency to multiply difference
and accentuate, rather than

it is
reconcile, contrasts.
But
not without significance; our honest and sincere student of human nature cannot really find satisfaction himself in the Unitarian tenets he professes. Our modern society and hopes of progress rest upon a sense " " of otherness and conflict, and not upon any
fatigued
or impatient assumption of
find
crctyut,
oneness.
In
iii.
16 we
ijrv^s
tyvx*},
vov$'
<rct>/jLaTo$
aia-Otfa-eis,
vov
Soypara,
sensations,
impulses,
principles.

To be impressed with
with the beasts
;
141
phantasies,
we have
in
common
be at the mercy of the " pulls of " impulse (vevpoo-TravrelvBai), with beasts and bad men ; while even the bad use vow as guide to obvious duties.
to
In
ii.
2 there
is
the same division, the
-^v^ now
being
irvev/MiTiov, and closely allied with the lower nature: "Whatever I am, crap/eta earl K. Trvevftarlov, e /col TO H<y6fj,oviic6v. see what the Despise the first
termed
second
is
a breath, a vapour, nor always the same, but each moment exhaling and again inhaled/ Third
is
!
the Euling Principle; thou art old; suffer this no So in xii. 3 : rpla <TTLV e 3>v longer to be a slave." aweo-Tv) teas' o-a/jLartov TrvevfJLaTLOv vovs: of these the
first
two are ours only so far it is our duty to tend them (pe^pl TOV 67riju,e\t<rdat, Setv) but the third alone is truly our own (TO Be rpirov JJLOVOV icvpL&s <rov). For
;
;
the
two other elements he

TO
crvfj,(j)VTOv
also
has TO
TrepiKeiftevov
(TCD/JLartov,
TTvevjAaTiov.
9.
Now we may ask, are

?
vovs
and
f]<ye/j,oviKbv
inter-
changeable terms
called
(for again in iii 3
we
find the higher
vovs
and
Sai/^&v,
the lower, including

K.
^v^y,
;
with customary fervour,
7?}
\v6pos).
Not always
for in x. 24, instead of the
being our supreme Guide, a god within, it appears more like an inner sanctuary which we have to keep clean Tl ecrri poi TO
MEfye//,.
;
^Hyepoviicbv ; what am I making of it at this moment ? to what use am I putting it ? is it empty of Mind ?
icevov
Nov
eWt), is it (airoXwov divorced from the bond

K.
K.
aTreaô-fJLevov of fellowship ?
Surely not (TT/ooo-Ter^ô?

engrossed
from
senses
this
and ingrown into the flesh ? It that Marcus employs vovs in two
identical
ava/ce/cpapevov TOO trapKifiCqi) is clear

different
(/8)
(a)
with
fae/i.
(in
the
soul);
142
referring
e<
MARCUS AURELIUS
to "
the
higher
Universal
Reason,
in
the
usage, into which man has indeed an such access by sensuality. lose but can inlet : Clearly, the Spirit (for so I may perhaps that believes he too,
Averroistic
translate
fflep.)
and degradation the " remains untarnished NoO? 77 7X0)0-0-' always pure Yet in viii. 41, when opvp,oX f) Se <f>pr;v av&poro?" " showing the various hindrances we meet," of aicrffrjo-is ra in body, of OP/-M? in animal appetite, he continues
;
fleshly cares, as to lose its liberty to whom even in physical crime
can be so immersed and engrossed in unlike the Gnostics,

,
pevroi, rov
you
iBia ovSei?
aX\09
etcoOev efjLTroSlfav
for
this nothing in the world can touch, not fire, not steel, not tyrant, not ill-fame.
no real divergence, for the it is the voluntary servitude of Spirit which can disgrace it, when it becomes the mere handmaid of body in
10.
But
just in this there is
long-sighted
Hedonism
it is
proof against any assault
from without, and becomes the victim only of itself. One of Marcus' most striking and often iterated convictions is that at any moment, whatever its past, Spirit can recover "in the turning of an oyster-shell," "in the The will is twinkling of an eye," this lost sovereignty. always free, and requires only to see the good to follow it. Thus we have the Soeratic and Platonic optimism and immediacy of repentance
caution, truer to nature
;
without Aristotle's
and experience, about habit and
the tyranny of custom, the gradual absorption of willWhen freed by its own power in repeated action. unaided efforts, Spirit has an immeasurable power it completely transforms the whole world, and colours it
;
with
its
own
tJwiigJits
not things, but on things" really matter (teaching alike of

it
hues.
What
thinks, is
"

Epicurus
143
For all the objective is and Epictetus). 1 an of indifferent atoms or complex neutral, array which our wait for notice, approval, interphenomena before have they any character in pretation, dissent,
themselves at
all.
rovro
pr)
v7ro\a/jt,/3avTa)
K.
Trdvra
v e%ei (see on 'IVoAflyiJrw).
K"ow
it
is
Spirit
that
inroKdpftavei, passes judgment, gives phantom, this almost imaginary objective, a " " If the poor body in the desert. (always the mirage
verdict
on this
unreal
diminutive,
iv.
away, yet
its
let that in thee
39) "be cut or burned, fester or rot which passes judgment take
ease (^(rvâêra)),
alike to good
knowing this, that what happens and bad men equally can be in itself
:
neither bad nor good." Similarly vi. 8 TO eavro eyeipov K. TpeTrov, K. TTOLOVV
f
To Hye/AoviKov
/j,ev
eavro otov
irav
of
&v
GLVCU,
de\r}
iroiovv
S*
kavT&
It
(fyaLvecOai
TO
(rvpfialvov,
olov
;
auTo
it
6e\ei.
can
make
itself
its
what
it
wishes
of
can construe exactly according to
desire this neutral, or even chaotic
and indecipherable,
complex
jectivity
to
material things. This is the pure subwhich Philosophy always aspires; not to
;
change things without not even, perhaps, to claim full " " knowledge (the ding-an-sich live apart inaccessible, and baffle our search); but to make things ours, to arrange the chance alphabet into a language of our own This is true freedom, and it is the substance invention. and sum of Stoic teaching, from its personal side. 11. Now it will be seen at once that, besides
1
Compare,
7)jjuj>
,
e.g.,
Epictetus,
is
11
T/
5'
4<m TOUTO; &pd ye &\\o %

in fullest freedom, that
fact,
:
STL
$So%ev
where it
the
67^10,
we form
is,
as
absolutely representing, even creating, the external is blind and voiceless ; so ii. 16 (p. 155, Teubner)
o&
which in
Ate
itself
;
T/ otv
rapdcffeL
144
MARCUS AURELIUS
:
the variation of nomenclature, there are certain grave difficulties (a) there must be as many various, yet
equally momentous and
valid, interpretations of the world as there are Spirits ("quot homines tot sententiee"), and we have almost got back in the most
dogmatic of ancient schools to the sophistic standpoint man) perpov airavrav and this recognition that subjective feeling, though
that dv&pcoTTos (each individual
real
;
and
true, is
incommunicable,
may
account for the

;
singularly scanty influence of Stoicism in public
(&)
again (as
of
we have already
Epictetus and God, a refraction of the Universal Mind/' in which case, how can it be our "very own"? (aw, 8,^1.). Will it not, like the Gnostic Êon Christ, like the Averroistic N<w, in the moment of death desert
the poor contemptible absorbed in the great
all
hinted), is this Spirit, as Aurelius so often assure, a " very portion
clay and soul, and be recentral Eeservoir? If it is
the universal (mathematical and logical) principles of
sound judgment and right reasoning, must it not be exactly alike and identical in all men ? In fact, we have here one of the most striking features of this transition period, viz. the passage from an intellectual
The Spirit conception of the Spirit. vovs or, as Aurelius prefers, faepovLKov) is (whether not the cold speculative reason, with its uniform and universally valid axioms and regulations, but the moral
sense recognising, indeed, pure truth and the Soypara, logical training, but in the end, the conscience, the will, the moral personality, the special " " idiosyncratic in man, rather than that reason typical
to
moral
and needing
which
is
the same in
all.
Christian teachers, becomes
Thus Marcus, along with the more moral, more personal,

and therefore involved
tries
145
in
perpetual trouble
when he
to identify this separate, struggling, isolated point
with the Supreme Being. 12. Intellectually, Pantheism is not only logical, it " is (as Lewes acutely remarks on Spinoza") inevitable Now the whole difference morally, it is unthinkable. of philosophic system depends on the one question, Whether the starting-point is from the moral or the intellectual side ? And Marcus, in common with the
rest of his age, is ready to abandon all rational symmetry and dogmatism for ethical certainty, or for this
inward pertinacious conviction, which in most good men is a substitute (or no unequal compensation) for demonstrable proof. It is obvious that he is as puzzled as about the cause of Error as Plotinus, in the Spinoza of the process Many from the One, in accounting for
;
the diversities of the Spiritual principle in men, when were equally divine He had not the ready of all of the Plato and Pythagoras, in solution, East,
all
!
Metempsychosis, in the long training of the soul He shows no through different lives and fortunes. trace of this belief. For him, as for Emerson, there is but one world ; he would not hear of a missionary " " without a shudder at other world telling of the his impiety. He had not the Gnostic and Averroistic belief that the divine particle in each remains uncon-
and
taminated by corporal contact, and vanishes away, pure indifferent, like the Man Christ, from the kuman To him the ^Hyepomtcov is rather what we sufferer. Hence his avowed call personality than intelligence. difficulties, which do honour to his candour, and remind us that perfect symmetry is unattainable unless we
prefer to sacrifice truth. 10
46
MARCUS AURELIUS
13. In vi.
32 we
find that the higher nature is
all included in the
'tyvxfa
buk
term -^v^- *E* crapaTlov elpl K. k ne one a ^ are indifferent (aSi,d<f>opa)

its
to the other all that are not

Be Siavofa a 8. ocra
firj
e.
proper functions (T$ avrfjs evepytf/jMTo) ; and these
own
are
entirely
in
;
tiavoia = tyvjcfi
Here power (Trdvra erf avrff). while in VL 1 4 ^v^f), with the addition
its
\oyiKi], represents spirit,

ic.
and
Tro\tTuc7jv rt,p,&v cares nothing for

ix. 3,
o tyvxr]v\oyifcr)v KadoXifcrjv any other interest.

}
; expect the TOV GOV hour, h ekurpov e/cTreaelrai. tyvxftpiov a in similar and context, on a peaceful deSimilarly TO from evfco\a)$ life, tyvxaplov a-Tro TOV o-cbpaTos parture identified with the higher is Again, ^v^ efe^Xemw.
Again,
we have the popular dualism
$ TO
nature (BendalTs Inner Self), vii. 16, TO ^HyepovMov lavT6o OVK eVo^jXe? ... TO Se tyvxaplov
.
p/q
TrdOy,
where they are homonyms

(?
whereas
in
ix.
36, TO TrvevfiaTiov
transitory),
-KOV) (like all other things
unreal and
Tavra jj&Td/3a\\ov,
current, vivifying matter.
a\\o TOIOVTOV, e/c TOVT&V eZ? where it may very well = the vital
of
now one now another complex
hope
have added these passages, but with little making the Psychology of Marcus clearer. Syncretist as he is, he adopts first one and then
14.
of
We
another system of bipartite or tripartite division. When is speaking of the whole human complex, he terms " " it, after immemorial fashion, body and soul ; when he is occupied with man's invisible life, he has to define
he
more guardedly. Indeed, there is not wanting trace " " of an Ego above the vital centre of animal life, apart from the deity within, which like some attendant on a
sacred shrine
(v<x>/copo<s)
has to keep the silver image
THE SPECIAL FUNCTION
147
unsullied, forming thus a fourth element in the individual. But it would be easy to parallel the slight confusion in any religious writer. Is the moral ideal,
separable from the will and the personality, conceived as a sort of Divine "deposit" (Trapatcaraffrj/cij) to be
carefully guarded? or rno? ? or the voice of
the
very
man
himself,
e^v
an inward daemon or
spiritual
monitor
ties
He who can discriminate the intricate subtlesuch a question will be able to settle the Mediaeval problem whether God created or obeyed the
?
of
still older but similar question the Ideas pre-exist, and form the exemplar to the artizan Deity, or are to be identified
Moral Law: and the
in Plato, whether
with his thoughts. The purely formal and logical
difficulty is
perhaps after
all
(D) MAN'S FUNCTION AND PLACE IN THE WORLD: SPECIAL EQUIPMENT OF EACH BEING A KEY TO ITS PURPOSE AND HAPPINESS
ANALYSIS
15.
JHw a priori
intercourse"
teleology;
ichat is
man made for?
"Modal
16.
" Reasonable
"dogmas"
17.
"Mutual
part.
beings made for each other" (lit>t of axioms or kept ready for crisis or temptation). service of tnen" (enshrined in rigid formula; indiis
vidualism excluded) ; ivhat
good for whole is good for
15.
of
this
We
have now to inquire what

creature,
is
curious
compounded
of
the function an actual
particle of the divine essence, and of the vital force and dust of earth, common to all animala And here
we come
to the
most ingenuous assumption
of the
whole
48
MARCUS AURELIUS
Xo wonder Marcus had
to
to have perpetual fundamental and yet those the recourse Bojâra, Stoic faith which alone could the of axioms startling
treatise.
encourage him in the disappointments and vicissitudes " Man is made for society." Again and again of life. tedious repetition he, in his solitude and almost with
isolation,
both of station and of temperament, impresses To bring together here the this axiom on himself. l passages bearing on this teleology may not be out of
place, as they build
up the
thing has an end] that
" Everysyllogistic fabric ; for which he is born is the
1 It i& the same kind of teleology which anticipates all experience with the barren formula and syllogism: "Nature can do nothing in vain, nothing \\rong," "the gods could not do any injury to their There is an absolute and exasperating want of empirical creatures.'*
verification: there is
no
real inductive inquiry at all.
Every avenue
to accurate knowledge, as to any comfortable use and adaptation of phenomena, is closed by some preconceived idea as to the goodness of e God and Mature. It is clear that the attitude of devout resignation "
'
in Marcus and in Epictetus is entirely borrowed fiom popular religiosity (like the compassionateness of Secularists to-day, which is so admirable
man racked unjustly, with every refinehe knows the death of a dog, extinguished for c\er, the universe is yet "the best of all possible worlds," and In such contexts and usages words cease to have Providence supreme. any meaning. For a fine instance of this superb adhesion to teleologic axioms, commend me to ii. 11, where the subject is suicide aud death
and
so unreasoning).
To
the
ment of torture, and dying
as
Xpw
j'
voiei
<$
&v9ptoirov
fayvoitiv
TT&S
&v
TOVTO
fjJkv
ptov
jjAj
avdp&irov xeJpw
7rpo(f>v~
Ovre
KCLT
o&r
ij
etSvta
dwafj^wq 8k
irapeidev
iop9(&ra<r&
rQv *OXwj> $01$

7}
&v
o#r*
&v
iJTOt Trap*
ddwafitav
irap* &re)(vlav &/a ret T' <tya0cb
K.
/ra/cd
^TTiV^s
TOLS
0,7.
"Nature could not" (such

either
av&p. K. rots KCLKOCS 7r(f>vpfj,v<as (ru/Aj3a^. is his magnificent and amazing faith),
*>kill,
through lack of power or lack of
have made such a blunder
the good and bad indiscriminately." An almighty power which can do no wrong, and which abides in our soul, and goveins the universe Why then this sense of pain, and t( otherness " ? Why this constant solace and reminder ?
evil indifferently befall
!
as to let good
and

end for each
:
149
the useful
where
is
the end, there
is
and the good reciprocity and
community
viii.
relatively to him; man is born for social life ; nothing that is good for the can be bad for the citizen."
19
GKacrrov
K.
o.
TT/W TL yeyovev
'ITCTTOS
a^tTreXo?.
Ti
K.
"HX&O9 epel Trpas TL epyov yeyova, 0avfjidlyL$ ; ol Xo&TTot 06ot, and man is born for association
;
il
Teyovafjiev
. . .
jap
7rpo9
o-vvepjiav
o>9
7roSe9
o>9
%efy)9
TO oZv avTiTrpdo-a-ew aXX^Xo^ irapa <j.i-(riv ; competition, self-seeking at the expense of others is " ra \ojt/ca &a a\\ij\(dv eve/co, unnatural/' iv. 3
:
yeyove.
^v.
16: OvTrep
<j>epeTai'
evcfcev
GfcaffTOv fcareo-Kevaara^
Se,
r68e
irpbs
(fteperat,
iv TOVTCO
TO
avrov' oirov Se TO TeXo?, e/cet K. TO a-vpfapov tc. *A<yadov e/eacrT^r TO apa dya8bv rov \oyttcov $>ov,
rl
OTI jap 7rpo9 Kow&vlav jejovajj&v, Is it not obvious (he asks) that Ta
V6KV,
TO,
T$>V KpeiTTOVCDV
&6 Kp6LTT(D Q.\\1J\G)V
KplTTQ>
Se
ra eptyvxa, rav 8e epfr. Ta \ojucd. Similarly xi. 10: Haarai Be je re^vai r&v Kpeirrovav v. eveicev Ta %e/pa> rrowvarw OVKOVV K. f) tcowrj $z5o-i9. O ToO oXou Novs Kotvaviitos. HeiroLriice jovv Ta 30 T&V KpeiTTov&v eve/ca tc. Ta KpefaTCo a\\i]\oi<s
T&V pep
atyv'XjQv
Opa$
aTreveifjbev
^0)9 vireTa^G, (rvveraê

K.
K.
TO KCLT
6/9
e/cdcrTO^
Ta
vii.
KpaTiGTevovTa
a\\y\G)v
fcd<7Tto
(rvvrjjay*.
TO
6^779
T$
oi>v
/caTaa-fcevrj*
V6/cev,
Ilpa/creov Se fcaTe&Kevaa-Tat, Se Ta
:
55
fjiv
\oiira
T&V \OJLK&V
fj&v
Ta &
\ojiKa
TIJ
aXXTJXcoz/
eicetcev
TO
Trporjjov/Aevov sv TO KOLVCOVIKOV e. xi. 1 8 (i.) :

StOA/coOcra*
TOV
fir)
avO.
El
vi.
37
Ta oXa
Gve/cev,
/c.
el
TOUTO,
Ta
XjeLpova
ToJoTd
Be aXX^Xa)^.
44
eprj
\ojiicr]
ijo
16.
sisting
viii.
MARCUS AURELIUS
5G, while denying Monopsychism and in-
on freedom and peculiar independence of each centre of consciousness, he allows, el KOI ori /jt,d\La-Ta " Be a\\r)\wv eveita yeyovapev where Rendall transl. our Inner one for Selves made much we ever so another,
;
:
have each their own sovereign rights."

eve/cev
So
viii.
59
ol
; fj TI avSpanroi yeyovaa'W ah\ij\a)v ix. 1. As a fundamental and irrefragable premise, (fxpe.
Si&da-fce
ovv
TJ}9
o\(ov $v<rea>9 KaTe<rtcevaKvia<s xi. 1 8 in a list of short vetcv <zXX??'Xa>z/.

is
jap r&v
ra
\oyt,ica
>a
maxims which
shall
he
ever to keep on his tongue's tip to meet any sudden
crisis,
Thus we STL d\\ij\o>v eveicev yeyovapev. KQIV&VIKQV or label find with the TroXm/eoi', the
for
argument
man's social virtue

<n*yyei>e$ irdv
is
whole assumed, and the

proof.
.
.
philosopher
tcowtovucov
saved further
.
trouble
of
iii.
TO
\Q<yt,tcov
Krfittdat,
v. 29.
iravr&v avdp. Kara rrjv rov avBp&Trov
<j>v(ri,v e.
Man
is
defined, without fear of

K.
doubt
ix.
or
denial, as
KOWCOVLKOV
O>OK
iii.
ZjtoQV.
:
16:
1
\QryiKQV
KOl
<bov appevo? K.
K.
7rpeo-j3vTov K,
iii.
7To\t,Tifcov
K.
'PcofLaiov
vi.
apftovTo ?.
tyvxfl
7
is
voepov
K.
ic.
iro\t,TMov %coov.
iro\iTt,icr)
14:
vi.
\oyi/cr}
KaOdKucrj
(as above.)
vii.
44.
My
K.
nature
TO
\OJIK^
7ro\t,TLK7j.
68.
K.
The present occasion

f
is for
me
apenj?
\oyucfy
jj
jTo\ifnicr]^
<rwo\ov
17
avffparn-ov
deov*
vii.
72.
"Whatever
the Spirit, the Inner Self) find TroKvrwri Svvapis ( to be neither voepov nor KQIV&VIKOV^ it will despise. viii. 2 rl ir\eov e7rt%r)T&) ei TO vrapov epyov a>ou
:
VOepOV K. KOW&VUCQV K. 10-OVOfJLOV 0ta. 17. In this perhaps tedious recital

least see
we
shall
at
(what might escape us in a translation)

conviction
how
and
profound a
was
this
of
the
affinity

mutual service
of men, and how which expressed it. language
rigid the
151
formula or
Nothing, therefore, that happens well for the community, for the swarm, for the universe, is bad for
citizen, the
.
bee, the
man.
v.
22
*0 T
TroXet
ov/c
v. 54: TO TG> /3\a/3pbv, ovbe TOP Trokiryv jSXaTrret. er x. 20 privet, crv/jbfapov, ov&e Trj /êXtcrcn; avpfapei.
%vfi$epei efcda-ra o fyipsi

x.
etacr
oil rbv
x. 6
y r&v o\av
fyvcret,
:
$V<TL$.
33
oXo>9 Se
/jLepvyjo-o
^dkLrtjv ovSev
ov ^QXa7TTt
Sky
pot, ofiv
<rvjjL<f)epei.
vi.
44
roXt?
/c,
Trdrpw
c&9
y 'Papy
009
Se av6pd)7ry 6 KOffpos.
fiot
Ta
rals
vi.
TavTais (BêXâ, pova L
ayadd.
45
oca
ravra
ro5
CHAPTER
II
MAN AND THE WORLD

(A) THE TWO
COMMONWEALTHS AND THE AGENT OR QUIETIST
CITIZEN, AS
ANALYSIS
of two societies, world and State (nearly always each with its duty, Resignation and Benevolence; in the end, both viitues pass into mystic piety. % 2. (Insistence on duties to gods and men.)
1.
Man is member
carefully coupled),
3. 4.
(= Passive and
perfection?)
(perfect contentment
active side of morality.) 'With loth, will he ever attain this
5.
Acquiescence and Resignation at last given the chief place among Virtues , Holiness and Justice include all otheis.
1.
THERE
are, then,
two chief relations (which

;
will
by the following series of quotations), one to the world and God, the greater city the other,
best be described
to
the lesser community,
human
society.
;
Marcus
is
nearly always careful to couple them rarely do we find one apart from the other in independence. Resignation
and acquiescence in the world-order, the passive side, is complementary to the active side, or vigorous beneficence and social virtue. Disappeared has all that fulmination " and defiance against " Fortuna which characterized the more theatrical pages of Seneca. This he has learnt
152
MAN AND THE WORLD

from Epictetus.
Everything that comes to us
153
is
direct providence, or our criticism is disarmed because " " " the canon or rule to apply is ready. Nothing that
is
to
according to nature is evil; nothing that happens us can make us worse therefore every event is
:
indifferent, no one can hurt a man but himself." Perhaps no subject is more frequent than this twofold conception of duty, and, Marcus being chiefly a moralist, we shall have advanced far towards a complete under-
standing
if
we
notice
the
correlate virtues
of Resignation
emphasis put upon the and Benevolence. The

:
reason
is
in both cases the
same
we
are akin to the
Creative Principle, and have a spark of His essence within we are akin to our fellows here, and recognise
;
in
them the same
affinity,
it
the same sublime source of
their being, though
may
be debased and shrouded.
Thus we are
lesser;
the
integral parts of the greater city and the "whole company of rational people," and
the
cosmopolis of the
wide diffusion of interest we
human brotherhood. To this may attribute the some;
rarefied patriotism of Marcus wherein all active endeavour for the Empire of Borne and its especial responsibilities seems (save in a few passages) to have evaporated in a sad and neutral tolerance for emry human creature. We shall see in the end how the extreme comprehensiveness and universality of this resigned and affectionate disposition leads insensibly to
what
a self-centred attitude, the avrapxeta (self-sufficingness) of earlier sages and in our last section we shall show
;
how
this,
of the
agreeably to the unselfish and feminine nature Emperor, passes again into a mystic and almost
ecstatic consciousness that the true
home
of
God
is
the
human
soul
the true end of man, not mere acquies-
154
MARCUS AURELIUS
among the
the soul's
brethren, but the
of
cence in fate nor work

serene
essential oneness contemplation Thus the twofold duty, or with the Author of all recognition of the objective State and Law, greater and
less, gives way before the new or newly-read teaching of the Deity within ; for the call to philosophy is not the misery of the world of men, or the beauty or
inexorable sequence of Mature, but the personal need

of peace
2.
li.
and salvation. 15 (Best service

: . .
.
of
God
within
is)
icadapov
irddov? Biarypeiv
K.
Sva-apeo-TTjcrew TT?S Trpos
ra
e/c
de&v K, avdpcoTTo^v ywopeva, and the first are S^ apTtjv the latter <f>iXa St,a o-vyyeveiav. iii. 5
9
#eo49 {nroTeraxpros eavrbv (like
some Socrates)
and
K.
r&v
av8p. TTpo/cySopevov. constant collocation
iii.
7.
To
iii.
this dual attitude the
voepav
(\o*/itcbv)
TTOÛTLKQV
noted above has reference.

oifceitocriv K. rfyv
rrjv
rofe Qeoi? a.Ko\ovQlav.

.
TT/W av0pa>Trov$ iii. 11. At each

.
TOVTO Se irapa event say rovro fiev irapa 0eov r\icei K. rou <rvp<pv\ov 13. Always remembering <rvyvvovs. in each action r>}s apforepcov Trpo? a\\v)\a c-w&ecre&s
.
avev r^9 iri ra 6eia crwavaovr /#7ra\w (here we have the close $opa$ ev 7rpd%&?, association of the two complementary halves of man's
duty).
777 T6)i/
OvT yap avOp&TTWov
iv.
3.
(On
discontent,
what
is
it
aimed at?)
avdp. /caxia ; roZ? K T&V ok&v a'jrov6/j,ofjLvot, vvv e%eo o /*e vvv ex iv 3 Koivrj $ucrt9, /c. Trpdvcra o p,e vvv Qe\et, % Here the universal /j#) (frvai?. Nature, which at this stage in his Meditations supdiscussed).
clearly
MAN AND THE WORLD

plants the gods,
:
155
is the law of destiny, apportioning, and sorrow to each my peculiar nature severally, joy is the social instinct of man, /coMwêX^?, KOLV&VIICQS. (Though it is difficult in such interdependence and
implication
to
insulate
any one
side,
yet
it
will
le
necessary to speak more fully upon this half-contrast, " half -conciliation of the two Matures," the world's and
ours, because in this consisted the great crux of the
whole Stoic philosophy.) 3. v. 27. Man's duty divided into

: .
pctssive
and
active
side of morality dpecrKopevyv tikv rois dirovfj,oiJLevoi<;, TTOiovvav 8e ocra ftovksrai o Aalpaiv . . SKOVTOV 1/01)9
K. Xo7o<?.
Here
it
may
not be altogether fanciful to
note in anticipation of Marcus' final mysticism, that the personal ivithin seems to compensate for the muter
and
fatalistic
withoitt.)
vL
16.
Eeverence
for
your
Sidvota
makes you
/e.
apecrrbv to yourself, K. rofr av&p. vi. 30 : alSov TO?? 6eol$ Gvpfyavov.

t
vi. 41. We can avoid blaming heaven and hating men (pepfydffdat, 6eol<s K. av6p&Trov$ fjuo-fja-aL), by knowing that only TO e^' fjiuv are good and evil: then will there be no reason either to 0eo3
dv6p(!*Trov<$
ty/cahea-ai or (rrrjvao
after
an
interval,
aravw 7ro\/j,tov Trpb? dvdp. (where, we may note the recurrence of

vii.
orthodox phrases).
<rvp>f3aLvovo'iv
TrapopdfjLaTO,.
.
. .
evftevea'Tepos Trpo?
rfj
54:
52: evraKrorepos ra Trapovarj Gv
e?rt
rofc irapova-w dvGptoTrov? tcar^t, Sifcaio<rvvriv 55 : Sia r&v avfipaivovrcov <ro^ opposed Trpoa-fyepea-Bat,.
evapevrelv
to
K.
Sia
r&v
if
Trpafcreav
inrb
crov.
vii.
66.
He
asks
Socrates
BlfCaiOS
he can be thus contented, Avdi TCL 7TpQ$ dvOptoTTOVS, K, OfflO?
dp/ceic-Oat
TO,
TO
ftpO?
0OV$.
viiL
23: Upacro-o
rt
ITpao-o-co
err
156
einrouav
MARCUS AURELIUS
ava<j>epa>v.
. .
TOU9 0ov$
avad>epa)i>
/c.
^vpjBalvei ri ILQI ; Seô/tat GTTL TTJV Trdvr&v Tnyryqv a$> 979 iravra
ra fyivojjiva (rvufirjpverat, (where, it may be noted, we Hud mixture of the personal and placable* providence of the i*ods, identified, ra at least set side by side, with the scheme of prerle-.tinarian Fatalism). 4. Inviii. 27 he adds another relation to the body
ft
1
(for I feel
compelled to adopt Coraes' reading, c-aparlov for airiov) Tpels oêVei?" f) fiev 737)09 TO a&jjLariov TO
:
TTpi,Keip>evov Tracri Trdvra'
f]
f)
Be 7rpb$ r^v Oeiav air Lav a$> Be Trpos rov9 Gvpftiovvras.

off
979 a-vpfiaivet,
vhi. 34.
is
AR
hand or any other limb cut

QeX&v TO
viii
if
from body, so
o ^r)
<rvfjt,fBalvov
rj
o a/cot,vcovi>iTQv TI 7rpd<r<ra)v.
my
43. The joyful satisfaction of my nature reached, Inner Self turn from none of our fellows and find
S
fault
with nothing which happens to men. (AM?T jT* av0p(i>7r<0v Tiva,fJW}Te Tt, T&V
This
is
true
health,
vyies
Hrye/jLovuc6v.
ix.
6.
What
suffices
(ap/ceT)
for
e%tv TO moral
:
judgment and so
T,
for
perfect
happiness and content
Trpafys KOIVWVLKT) tc. r) *7rapovcra Biddecrw evapea-riKT] 73-^09 irdv TO irapa 7^9 e/cro9 Alria? <TV/J,-
irapovcra
fiawov.
ix.
31. Ârapa^ta fiev irepl r&v
CLTTO T?}9 e/crbs
Atria? (rvfiftawovrcw' Bt/cator^ Be ev rols Trapa rrjv IK crov alriav evepyovjjLevois. (Here note in passing the clear emphasis on the freedom of the will; man's
agency is the single exception in the chain of fatal and predetermined series. Stoicism, in some points
is in others the very opposite, of x. 1. Marcus somewhat Calvinism.) despondingly asks if his soul will ever be such as to live with and
the very counterpart,
men
in fullest
7ro\t,reve<r()at,
gods sympathy, 0eo2? re K. avQpdnroi^ av/j,o&9 pyre pepfyecrBai avrobs, fJ^re Kara-
MAN AND THE WORLD

ywa)<rK<r6(u ini aur&v.
citizen's
x.
6.
157
of the
The happiness
life (evpota), TrpoLOvros
Sta Trpdge&v rol$ TroXt-
K. oTtep av T) TroXt? aTrovepg TOVT of course, applies both to the (which, typevQv the lesser and Commonwealth of Xature and greater x. 11. man recognising near of human society.
\vtTire\cov
approach o\ov eavrov
of death, devotes himself to

Bi/caioo-vvp fj,v els TO,
v<f>
two
things, avfj/cev
eavrov evepyovfteva
.
.
ev Se TO? aXXot? avpftaiv OWL rf) T&V o\&v $i/<ret and again, Bvo TOVTOL? apfcovpevos SiKaioTrpwyelv TO vvv rrpaa'G'Qp,evov /c. <j>i\iv TO vvv aTroveôpevov eavr. xi. 1 3. To such a man, what evil can befall 1 el Troiels TO T (f>V<TL (TOV ol/ClOV K. VVV TO 0\O)V T&V Tq 6%^
. .
<pv<ret ev/catpov.
A very noticeable passage; for here, for he time, assigns the first place to the passive We are here virtue of acquiescence and resignation. from on road the visible commonwealth in far our
5.
xi.
20.
the
first
the pilgrimage to the soul's true home; Marcus is, after all, a Quietist, though, like Mme. de Guyon, he shows wonderful aptitude for business, a wonderful
readiness for cheeiful endeavour.
/c.
npb$ o<noT^ra yap
Seocefieiav KarecrKevaa-Tat, ov% TJTTOV
(Tvvrjv.
Kal yap ravra

"
:
Si/ccuofj Trpbs ev etSet ecrri TTJS evKowG)V7](Tia$
/j,a\\ov Se Trpeo-pvrepa
excellently
r&v Si/caiOTrpayTj/jMiTcov. (Eendall (Our Inner Self) is made for holiness and God-fearing no less than for justice. These two
are included in the thought of world-communion, nay, xii. 1. Thus are prior even to the dues of justice.") o0-OT7?<? and Sifcaioo-vvy include all other virtues, the
" You can at once have all, whole Duty of Man of end the whole life, eav airevOvvys (TO vrdpov* compass
:
povov)
7Tjt>o5
ocrioTrjTa K,
Sifccuoo'vvvjv
the former,
wa
S8
MARCUS AURELIUS
TO aTTovepopevov, the latter, "va
K.
:
.
<j>i\p$
Xey^s re
al~lav,
Ta\ij0r)
irpdcra-rj?
ra Kara vopov
Trotefc.
.
K.
KO.T
r&v egwdev 24 xii. pv more 27. worthy of PhiloNothing crvp,$aivQVT&v.

fiVt
3>v
eVl
Se
sophy than to make oneself Sifcaiov, <r<b<f>pova, deol? eiropevov (where er<!><j>pova, adds the purely personal which usually relation to self, we noted once before the in social, but which, is, without doubt, included to have a paramount even to Marcus, was beginning
;
interest).
xiL
32
MqBev
/Jêya <f>avrdôv
rj
TO
o>9
Be o&9
(B)
THE PROBLEM OF
"
OOOTORIVIITY TO
NATURE";
VARYING DEFINITIONS OF $v<ri$
ANALYSIS
6. Difficult task
man
7.
to
be identified or
of disguising difference of world and man; is contrasted with Nature* which
nature is to guide
us?
Post-Aristotelians preoccupied with their own peculiar nature; the world outside? unknowable and surrendered to Fortune,
8.
Result ; pure subjectivity ; man out of a place in a realm of " fixed law; no assured confidence in efficacy of Virtue."
9.
Had
it any place in a Divine yet transient world f belief in personal deities revives (Boissier).
10.
The "differentia" of
conflict
man something isolated and unique; to-day betwe&n scientific and Democratic (Christian)
ideals.
11.
In a changeless and unprogressvoe universe, man has no other duty than to be still; promised or assumed unity and affinity in the two coynmonwealths disappears.
C.
Now
this last quotation will
form an excellent
link to unite the series just completed with a
new
set,
MAN AND THE WORLD
159
very similar to the foregoing, occasionally (as in this And these point to an case) cutting across them.
essential
or disparateness in the nature of the Nature of the Universe, my peculiar nature, and that universal power with which we are
difference
man and
sometimes identified and absorbed, sometimes set in
more or less conscious contrast. This recalls one of the most interesting phases in the early history of the
Stoic School.
The Phenician (?) founder of the School, adapting a certain Oriental gravity to the maxims of the Cynics, had ingenuously proposed the rule " Follow Nature " as
the end of
life
For
to the Hellene there
and the only certain guide to happiness. was no question as to the
interested
selfish
State
end of all speculation or practice. An unobjective standard based on the needs of the or of individuals, was to them inconceivable.
himself, most unselfish of men, lay yap a-vyyv&jM] TO iSt,ov ayaBov fyjTovvri ; Now the acute Greek mind was not long in
Does not Marcus
down
xi.
Travrl
?
16
discovering the worthlessness of such ambiguous advice.
The Cynics, spoilt children, flattered and indulged and deemed almost divine because they sank below the
ordinary average, had attempted to conceal or expel the distinctively human in man. They reverted to primitive barbarism, while boasting the citizenship of
the world and it is by a supreme irony that later ages looked on Socrates as a Cynic, who so stoutly professes his indifference to natural phenomena, and his in;
debtedness to
cared about.
human
society alone for all he
knew and
But, in the ample leisure for reflexion after Alexander's conquest, and the complete separation
of
active and theoretic
life,
the
new
disciple
of
the
160
MARCUS AURELIUS
Which Phenician saw the need for clearer definition. Nature was to be our guide ? the external or the in* the general or the peculiar and special ? Clearly founder meant to inveigh broadly against the luxury and complexity of civilized life for there is
ward
the
show that they seriously contemplated what we should call a higher ethical standard, 1 It was a recall to simplicity, and (like most Hellenic systems) a protest against the conventions and tyranny of City-life. 7. But the keynote of all these post-Aristotelian
nothing to
the sense of solitariness, of enforced inaction, The Stoic of subjective and incommunicable perfection. Schools
is
or Epicurean or Sceptic,
"
whether Greek or Kornan,

"
;
is
shut up in the always Athanasius contra Mundum very narrow limits of his own impressions, invalid for
Stoical dogmatism only threw a anyone but himself. veil over this mournful doubt; and even if it was
sincerely
that believed, could only amount to this Nature, Source and Guide of all, was certain in her workings, and inexorable, and out of range of human
:
understanding or sympathy.
The frequency
"
of these
is
assurances, addressed to oneself, that the
Universe
the rigidity of good, and no harm befalls the wise," these formulae learnt off in the School, and held in
readiness in the mental arsenal for
any emergency, seems to show how superficial was their professed contentment with the world as it is.
For example, there is nothing to prove that the School inteifered with ' It may be to-day condemned as /KOS. unnatural," but it was never included in any condemnation of TO, irapa <j>foiv, and was certainly For Aurelius did not owe to practised or allowed by Stoic leaders. Stoicism, but to Antoninus, his resolution "to give up boy-favourites.'' Epictetus (in common with most Cynic and Stoic dogmatists) believed
Hellenic
'
1
that naturally Koival al ywatKes,
MAN AND THE WORLD
161
Gradually the Divine element or Xature retreated

into the region of the unknowable ; though, like the gods of Epicurus, it was still pursued by the voice of
But man was really left eulogy and thanksgiving. alone in a foreign element and in the middle of a
harmony.
which, though of kindred origin, was out of And a new potentate was (illogically) admitted to share the monarchy of the world: Fortune,
society
Aristotle's half -serious impeach" and its uncertainties. sublunary sphere At any rate, the actual " Nature " around the wise man was the realm of a Chance, which appeared now as a
borrowed somehow from

of the
"
ment
result of natural forces, now (in their theatrical It declamation) as a fanciful and malevolent sprite.
mere
was
clear that this domain of fickleness could provide no safe criterion for human behaviour. He was thrown back upon his own resources and there alone could he
;
find help.
8.
Thus the dogmatism
of the
School becomes
in
practice pure sophistic subjectivity, and prepares way for the wonderful discovery of the Imperial age that God could be born in the believer's heart; But or was, unseen and unsuspected, already there.
the
correctors of the ambiguous maxim are and commonplace. Man's special nature " was to be " logical and " social." The workings of the other nature he could never understand, and so must Their encomium accept with the best grace possible.
the earliest
still
sober
of the unity of the world, the solidarity of human brotherhood, never disguised their conviction of aliena" " and we may adtion. They protested too much mire either their unswerving allegiance to erroneous
;
logic, or their
pious resignation
for others with greater
it
62
MARCUS AURELIUS
plausibility had from the to be the devil's work.
same data proved the world Let us examine of what kind was this divine environment, in which the Sage felt It was a complex system of himself so little at home. unalterable law, which had existed from all eternity, or
at least
from a
far-off catastrophe of fire, a
"
Bagnarok,"
The notion which even the gods were reabsorbed. of progress, of advance, was therefore both impious and The moral life of man, on which they inconceivable.
in
laid so
complex of automatic thing apart, strange and uncomfortable. There was no efficacy in virtue, no result at all, except the serene composure in the good man's soul which on
stress, existed in this
much
perfection a
occasion could be exchanged for the defiant hatred of the disillusioned Brutus & rX^/toz/ 'Apery, \6yo$ ap
:
670) Se
ere oi?
epyov
ijcr/covv.
For it is impossible to see what function virtue or moral effort can perform in such a world, divine and
9.
therefore stationary, fire-born
We may
readily expect the truly earnest
and therefore transitory. minds to turn
from the frank materialism of the early School to a more spiritual conception, and to ally themselves with Epicurus is very pregnant and comreligious faith. mendable in his well-known query " What is the use of lidding ourselves of the fear of heaven if we are to bow to natural law ? Better were our former masters for, tyrants though they were, they were at least propitiable, whereas physical fate is inexorable, blind,
:
uniform."
Marcus, as we have seen, continually wavers between the impersonal Nature (fj r&v o\ow <j>v<ri,$) and
the
more comforting personal sense

apportioning to each
of
gods in the
It
universe,
man
his lot.
was
MAN AND THE WORLD
163
assuredly the urgent need in morals of some reinforcement, from tradition and popular sentiment, that led to
this
new
alliance (called Syncretism)
between the exiled

of the universe.
deities
and the new mechanical theory
was the personal finite reason protesting against the " Pure or Speculative cold or immoral dictates of the The former can never be satisfied with Intelligence." an or with of own nothingassurance its general laws, He will seek relief in the most unexpected and ness.
It
Boissier in his Roman Eeligwn unpromising quarters. has well described the revival of Faith in the first
two centuries
spondence in
after Christ.
Scientific
The utter lack
of
corre-
Fatalism, between
the effort
and
the case
recompense, the labour and the success, in of moral action, will surely drive average
to
careless
men
indifference
repetitions
or
pleasure
and no
will
ceaseless Buddhistic
of formulae
save
then,
the sensitive soul from despair.
The outer Nature,
had nothing in common with man's moral and social instinct, and provided no certainty for its exercise or
usefulness.
10,
The "differentia"
of
man, his
olicelov epyov,
the
theoretic
his sense of
contemplation of the laws of being, sympathy with his kindred, was some-
thing utterly distinct and abhorrent from the rest of natural things; it was not in the same plane.
This was never, indeed, divulged in by the Stoics; indeed, the fallacy
so
of
Nature, as prescribing morality, lasts well
many words the Law of into our own
days ; but they were dimly and uneasily conscious of It was Professor Huxley who clearly prothe gulf. his Evolution and Ethics what had been long in pounded
suspected, that there was no affinity whatever between
64
MARCUS AURELIUS
The
"
the two realms. 1
onus probandi
"
rests with those
who,
like Dr.
Drummond,
believe there is only one set
of laws in the universe.
There
may
be pleasant and
;
frequent analogies, or unlooked-for harmonies but these should never obscure the intense initial contrast, on
which depends our European fabric and our personal Only such fantastic anarchists in theory as hope. " Maxim Gorki," M&ejowsky, can afford, or Nietzsche,
perhaps are bold enough, in innocent speculation to follow logically on the lessons of Nature and show that the subservience of a once aristocratic world to demo;
Christianity is one long mistake, and must be rectified by a return to the primitive instinct of rapine,
cratic
All plunder, and the pride of strength and cruelty. this, though happily only a wild theory of a few kindly
individuals, is quite in accordance with The axioms of Nature's advice to the nascent soul.
and gifted
scientific
Naturalism have become wearisomely familiar

"
and (may we add ?) the Devil take the hindNo wonder that a compassionate democratic Socialism, built on the substructure of Christian ethics, feminine, self -forgetting, calls for an end of this ceaseless warfare and carnage, at least in the human family and others desire to include even the animals in the The nineteenth century ends in a general truce.
fittest,"
the struggle for existto us in the past thirty years ; " " the weakest to the wall," the survival of the ence," "
most."
1 He must cordially have approved of one passage in our author, where the discontinuity and essential diversity of natural and moral are recognised with unusual force vi. 17 : *A.vu K&TW *tf/cXopal rQi> <rrot%ew?
; !
'E
68$ $u<7eirivvfynp irpol'owa, e#o5et. (R. : "Upwards, downwards, round and round course the elements. But the motion of virtue is none of these of some diviner mould, it pursues the even tenor of courses unimagined.")
;
& T%S dpenjs
K&^tris Iv otf$e/
rorfrw dXXA 9ei6Tp6v
K.
MAN AND THE WORLD

Dualism.
165
In spite of some laughter at the "water" tight compartments of scientific knowledge and religious faith, this is the normal attitude of the educated mind ;
not, indeed, in the Gnostic or Lactantian sense that the
physical world was created originally, or is now for a time entirely administered, by the evil principle; but
rather in this
conviction
(.
.
.
at
first
negative,
and
then expanding into a very exuberance of postulates and " corollaries that our nature and " differentia is .),
.
.
* essentially distinct from anything else in the world ; that our duty is to attack, control, and subordinate
material forces
to contradict the blind or remorseless
advance of the Cosmic Process, and snatch from its jaws the weaker and even unpromising members of the human
family.
justify this attitude, to encourage this seemingly fruitless endeavour, they appeal, not to reason, but to a common consciousness, and to a moral instinct
To
which they cannot expel, to a personal hope which they find it hard to explain. Secular Science and Christian Democracy are at issue on this point. The former are more concerned for the freedom of truth and discovery, the creation of a more perfect race by selection and adaptation, than for the preservation or enlightenment of the tiresome weaklings who crowd our overgrown
cities.
The twentieth century
will see the fresh varieties
z Read the whole of the Pessimistic conclusion of Book II, , especially the words 6 5 flios, irfacpos ical %frov &riij}dti, for the true home and fatherland of man is the Cosmopolis, and the Sage will ever be a stranger
in the haunts of
men
cf.
xii.
*E<r#
K&rjtou, K. irafoy %fro$ &v r};s nactus es, hanc exorna," in
irarp(ffos.
dvdpwros &%ios TOV vewipfoTos This is no sober advice "Spartam
which the river of patriotism, confined in narrow banks, runs deep and strong but a caU to a worship of Nature, the Actual ; to Aurelius, a pure and holy cult but, from the same premisses, to others a eulogy of brute strength and natural appetite.
:
,*
166
MARCUS AURELIUS
of the age-long contest of logic and abstract speculation, " " with the forces and prejudices of unregenerate human
nature; refusing, in a strong sense of personal value, to be made a tool for the furthering of the kingdom of Science, the advance of the Millennium, or the triumph
of the
" Over-man."
11. What seems most to have impressed the Greeks in their criticism of the Universe was that you could not know its purpose in the same way you could understand the motive of a friend or fellow-citizen, and that you could not foresee or avoid the certainty of its
operations.
is
This humiliating ignorance or impotence concealed beneath hymns to the majesty of thinly or as Mature as Fate ; for it is surely superfluous God,
to
remind the reader that the three terms are inter-
Acquiescence is therefore the sole virtue, changeable. with the workings of unknowable law face face to
and sequence; and the constant rebuke

(8v<rapeffry]<n$} of impiety, partly to
of
discontent
may
be due, partly to a religious sense a more practical dislike of the folly
temper and grumbling at what cannot be helped. It " was a " counsel of utility as well as a " counsel of
of
perfection."
"
any anticipation of the Baconian modern scientific improvements, we look in vain. Clearly, Lucilius and Seneca, to name two instances, believed it was sacrilege either to explore practically the secrets of Nature or to adapt such Both struck across that knowledge to human uses. curious religious feeling which identified God and the world, and that sense of self-suffieingness in simplicity which was the starting-point of the Cynic and Stoic Seneca might, indeed, enjoy and use as a system. wealthy nobleman, but he could not justify as a
for
As
regnum hominis,"
or
MAN AND THE WORLD
167
philosopher, the multiplication of conveniences and comforts. Therefore, in this changeless world, eternal
(at least in relation to us),
effort is of
avail,
conduct.
We
we hope for no advance, no and Quietism remains the sole rule of may add that we shall find the same
depressing consciousness of vanity, of the futility of striving and endeavour, when we come to social relaAs the Universe is in the last resort impenetrable tions.
by knowledge and prayer,

his soul
influence.
so each of our kindred is in
a " windowless
monad," inaccessible to
our
is
An
independent disaggregated Atomism

;
the result of this boasted unity and affinity and it is only the wholesome instinct of the Eoman and the aristocrat that keeps Marcus not only to the passive
tolerance of
men he
cannot understand, but to active enis
deavour in a society which
incurable and unchanging.
(0) INHERENT DIVERSITY OF THE
NATURE or MAN
AND THE WORLD
ANALYSIS
12. (Texts of diversity between man's nature and the worlds.) a law to himself ; he veers round to a complete 13. Each
man
; negative attitude guidance only from within.
subjectivity
to
Nature and men ; positive
14.
; careful "physiology" necessary for mrtue. 15. Stoic creed no real support for his nature (or instinctive) goodness; only a mere appendage; he feels, but he cannot
"Follow
own
constitution
"
communicate or convince.
16.
Marcus errs in believing himself indebted to Stomsm,; Science and System teach him nothing he did not know before. 12.
We may
now examine
is
man's
special nature
the passages in which contrasted with the Universe.
68
ii 9
:
MARCUS AURELIUS
Tovrcov ael Set pefivrjcrdai
efJtf)
rk
v\
r&v
oXa>v
K.
rk
T]
K. 97(39
n /AS/JO?
:
oTTolov TOV
o\ov
avrij rrpos efcewijv e%ovo-a K. QTTOLQV iii. 1. oZcra. speaks of his
He
words carrying conviction only to rdS 77/309 rrjv $vcrt,v K. ra Tavrrjs epya <yv7i<rLa>$ (p/ceico/jievcp (well translated by " Him only who is in harmony with Nature Eendall iii. 4. This class is termed and her sincere familiar "). and almost obsolete in the old phraseology of the earlier r&v iii 9. School OfjLO\oôvfj^VG>^ ry $vcrt, PLOVVTGDV. no Harbour in the Inner Self thought (UTTOA/J?'^) which
:
is
avafc6\ov0o$
rf}
$vcri,
AC.
777
rov
\o<yt,icov
%d>ov fcara-
crfcevrj
which
iv.
e/c
word, used for man's physical and mental conformation about fifteen times, and always in similar contexts).
is
(this is the first technical occurrence of this
25.
The
life of
the good
man
apeo-Kopevov pev
Se
TO&
r&v
ÔXcoi/
Sifcatq
aTrovefJWpevois,
K.
ap/cov/ievov
irpdt*t,
^laQ&aei
evpevet.
Here
ry l&ia note that
Marcus
no active or practical encouragement or advice from the world's course, he is negative in this regard, merely motionless before that which befalls
gets
:
"Beneath the bludgeonings of Chance My head is Moody but unbowed. "
This defiance he restates as pietistic resignation.

life, its
His
positive content, he gets from an inner practical voice calling to works of mercy and fellow-feeling, to which there is no clue outside.
special endowment or equipof ment," the diversity gift," that is to be the guide, iroielv TO Kara rfyv IS Lav Kara<rjcirr)v K. rovrov cm pig eêo-&u. This law of one's being, more cogent severally
So 32
It is
the
"
*'
iv.
than the outer Law, is called o Xoyo9 7% TrapacrKevTjs, 5, where Eendall translates "reason of its con-
MAN AND THE WORLD

stitution,"
169
v. 3.
namely, that of an intelligent being.

for
Think not, trouble not

a/co\ovOtt>v rfj
others
evOeiav
fyvaei rf) ISta K. rfj TLoivy p*La Se

77
a
;
rep&v TQVTCOV
6809.
The way
v. 25.
;
of
both
is
one
here
Marcus may conscientiously

convince the reader.
fault
;
believe,
but
he cannot
"
Let him look to his

his nature.
(77
own
and
to
can't
be troubled
it is
I have
what the
do
"
universe's nature wishes
KOLVTJ $v<ri$),
I do that which
(77 6/67)
my own
special nature wishes
me
<u<7i<?).
13.
vi.
43. Again, "the diversities of
gifts,
and
differences of operation," correcting the old impossible " " ideal of a purely excellence, in a favoured typical
aristocracy
and seeing the value
of the co-operation of
things and faculties essentially diverse, and even anStill, we are veering round to a complete tagonistic.
subjectivity, which cuts the ground from any universal moral judgment, and leaves each man free and un"Does Sun demand to criticized to go his way. Again, each single perform the part of the Eain ?
star
are not all different, yet

"
?
:
all
co-operating to the
Se Trpo? rairrov;).
TTJV
same end
vi
(ou^l Sid<f>opa ftev

Svfjufrepei,
S'
<rwpya
Kara
44
efcdarq> TO
eavrov Kara-
(and my constitution, as I have learned vii. 58 : in the Schools, is both rational and social). Kara rbv \6yov TTJS ays ûcreco? fiiovv ere ouSeis
a-fcevyv K. <f>vcrw
Trapa rov \6yov TT^? KOWTJS $i50-e&>9 ovSev cot. vii. 20. The positive guide always his oivn nature " 55. vii. Look not on Karaa-Kevv) rov av0pa>7rov. 77
others with their Inner Self, but look straight in front : 7ri ri ore 17 $ua*t? 0817766, fj re rov o\ov Sia r&v <TVp-
"
ftawovrcov GQI K. fj crrj Sea r&v TrpaKrecov inro a-ov. Notice the immediate subdivision of the ambiguous term into
7o
MARCUS AURELIUS
which are more or less incompatible, not " in pari materiel"; and note also that the outer Nature viii. 12. "When you rise gives no positive guidance.
its parts,
(a special failing of the sluggishly hi the morning would as it seem), remember that on Kara Emperor,
rrjv Karaa-icevriv <rov
3'
Icm,
K.
Kara
but
is
TTJV av8p^7riicrjv
<f>v<riv
TO 7rpd!;t,$ tcoivcovifcas aTroSiBovat,, whereas the faculty

of sleep is
no
"
differentia,"
:
common
to
man
with
the unreasoning animals
o Se
Kara fyvaw
efcda-rw TOVTO
OLKlOTpOV K. irpOO-(f>V(7TpOV Kal S?? Kal 7TpO<77)Veo-TpOV. For Marcus is struck by the laborious failure of the life of pleasure and self-indulgence, and, in his perfectly
frank search for personal satisfaction, finds in social action alone his peculiar duty, and therefore (so ran the
syllogism of Teleology) his abiding contentment.
14: For
r&
.
. .
(viii.
26)
v<f>poo-vv7j
avdpcowov
TTOLCLV
i$ia avffptaTrov.
ojj,6(f)V\ov
"iSiov Se avOpcovrov, evvoia Trpos TO r&v o\a>v ^v<76ft>9 K. *jri8e<!i)pv}Gt,<s rrj?
T&V
/car avTr\v ywo/jiev&v.
Here
is
man's function, in
double r&le of critic

in the
and
;
smaller world
appraiser of Nature, and agent this corresponds with the deviii.

.
.
finition \oyuebvy TTO^LTLKOV.

efi>
45. Whatever befalls

.
rbv
efJLov
Aaipova
iXewz/
el
eôi
K.
evepyoiij
xara TO e!~fj<> rf) iSia /caraa-fcevf). viii. 52. Knowledge of self and of world (two quite different studies) indispensable for correct moral action
6<rrt Kocr/io?, ov/c olftev OTTOV earLv,
I
C
:
O /JLCV O Se
f
.
p/rj
fj^rj
elSa>$ o
etSob? *irpb$
TL 7T<J>V/CV OVK ol$6V OO*T49 6. OlfBe ri iv TL TOVTCOV anroKviridv ouSe TT/JO? o
K6<TfJt,0$.
'0 Se
rt,
7re<j>v/c6v etiroL.
It
may
wider knowledge (the

really
be questioned whether Marcus found that the <j>vcrio\oyia of the later books)
threw much light on man's social duty. Science has always exerted a benumbing influence on the eager-
MAN AND THE WORLD

ness of
171
common
life
and
it
must be remembered that

:
" " the so-called Stoic theology iv. 29 natural investigation.

aTrcurei,
but a department of 7rot,f)<rov o vvv rj $v<rt,<s

is
the canon,
of
a formula which recalls the old inexactness of " Follow Mature," and gets over the difficulty a reconciling the two duties by confusing them,
trick
fulfils
common
to all Pantheistic systems.
ix.
42.
Man
the purpose of his nature, lives agreeably to his constitution in moral agency among his fellows, and
therefore,
by a
:
certain (optimistic) law,
gains
fullest
satisfaction
rrjv lUav /carao-^v^jv " TO UBiov Kendall Find their (where evepyovvra aireêL O#TO> reward in realising the law of their being"). K. o dv6po)7ro$ ev/xyTwcos he a does ir<j>vKQ>$, when
(limbs of
body) Kara
kindly action,
eavrov.
TreTrowytfe irpos &
Karea-Keva<rrai
K.
lêt TO
from our purpose to doubt the sincerity of the Emperor's experience. Had he been convinced of the fortuitous atomism of the world15. It
is,
of course, far
he would still have found his highest pleasure he never shrinks from hedonistic terms) in " showing " and we should admire him no less. mercy and pity What we want to point out is that hie abstract and logical Monism gives no better support, explanation, encouragement, for the life which (by a somewhat
process,
(for
;
foolish
is called "self-denying" (for eêt TO This civic virtue flourishes independent of his " Antoninus and a philosophic creed, because he is
anomaly)
lauToG).
more because he is " permeated with religious faith in a Providence which Stoicism proper x. 33. That it was ultimately did its best to expel" no School " maxims," but his empiric conviction, which led him to the social life, is clear again (as
Eoman," and
still
i;2
fj
. .
MARCUS AURELIUS
should come natural to you TO inroTrtTrrovar]? V\TJ<; Troiew ra oliceia TTJ rov av
;
rpvfyrf)
.
so
it
eirl
aTrohavcrw
<yap
Set
VTrokapfSdvew irav
Kara
rrjv Ibiav
<f>v<riv
him
his subjective delight (incommunicable to others) sets the stamp of Nature's approval It is only by accident or carelessness on his choice.
love, joy,
"
"
vep<yelv.
Such action
is
to
peace
So the ultimate test is this and everyone else must be left to subjective feeling, For Marcus, though follow his own particular bent.
that he acts
otherwise.
convinced himself of the superiority of the social life, of tolerance and self-denial and concession, cannot conIt may here vince others, and does not attempt to. in all systems, even a that sense be remarked perhaps of the austerest deontology, are in the last resort
"
hedonistic
"
;
for the
only
reason
of
acceptance
is
approbation, and approbation of the good is the highest On this final " hedonistic " standard form of pleasure. there is a very beautiful and acute passage in Seneca, salutem omnium Ep. Ixxvi. "Pro patria moriaris non tantum patienter sed civium tu& redimas
:
.
libentcr.
Si hoc facturus es, nulliun aliud bonum est omnia relinquis ut hoc habeas (' went and sold all that he had for here is the pearl of great price '). Vide, Pro Republic^, morieris quanta vis honesti sit 1 interdum ex re pulcerrima magnum gaudium etiam
J
'
tempore brewi ac e&iguo capitur ; operis peracti nullus ad defunctum

:
et
guamvis fructus
exemptumque rebus
humanis pertineat, ipsa tamen contemplatio futuri operis juvat et vir fortis et Justus quum mortis suse pretia ante se posuit, libertatem patrice, salutem omnium pro
quibus dependit
periculo $uo fruitur"
animam, in summ& wluptate est et x. 36. Man's function is now, by
MAN AND THE WORLD

oft
173
beyond all controversy TO ffiwv The whole position is put very clearly Staa-co&w.) TOVTO Se TT&S /ca\&$ TV? <rov 37 Texitj; dyafloy eivai. Gtc T&V pev TTC/H T?}? TOV o\ov ylverat, r\ 6a>pij/jLdTv $u<7&>? T&V Sfi Trepi -n}? tSta? TOV avdptoirov Karaa-Kevrj? It never seems to occur to him that the lessons of the two seem sometimes to come into conflict that the life of devotion to an ideal, realized not in oneself but in others, is an absolute defiance flung in the face of Natural Law and the Cosmic Process, and not a maxim xii. derived from scientific study. 23. In proving " TOV TOV Death no Bane," opov SiSaxriv % tcaipbv K. " irore pev Kal rj i$ia orav ev VVpa, iravr&s Se fj T&V " Nature sets the right time and limit some(B.
repetition,
;
xi. 5.
>
'
times the individual nature with
bidding of old age, but in any case Nature at large, who by constant changes of the parts keeps the whole Universe ever fresh and vigorous.") While, to conclude, we have in the
its
citation already given above, xii. 32, a good and final distinction between the passivity (quietism) of the first
rule,
the
16.
iroitiv, irdcrxeiy
activity Se .
of
.
.
the
f)
second.
$vcrt5
(^
0-77
<f>foi<$
tcoivr)
<epk)
this
The sum of the whole matter seems to be Marcus finds in himself an eager and unconimpulse,
trollable
born
of
his
temperament,
early
training, and high station, towards charitable and social endeavour (of a somewhat restricted kind, and neither
enthusiastic nor self-forgetting).
He
suffers
much
if
he,
in this daily self-examination, discover opportunities for This sense of failure in the this exercise overlooked.
only sphere of his free agency is the sole thing capable All outward circumstance, even of causing him pain.
the success of his kindly
efforts,
is
quite immaterial.
174
"
MARCUS AURELIUS
can change his character," says Cardinal and Marcus would have been unselfish, in the
Xo one Xewman
same curious desponding way, among savages, and in face of the certain dissolution of souls in an accidental world.
But
his character is a beautiful
and divine
gift,
and
good deed in a naughty world, derived fuel from Stoic tenets. Nay, of any irrespective are latter rather these incapable of obscuring the innate
shines and
like the
bums
kindliness, the religious unction, of the noblest of
Eoman
His devotion gets no confirmation from an Emperors. unprejudiced survey of the world, nor can he make
others think like him, that the
"
Beauty
of Holiness
"
is
the aim of the rational creature.
CHAPTER
III
ABSOLUTE SUBJECTIVITY
(A) COMPLETE ISOLATION OF THE INDIVIDUAL FROM THINGS AND FEOM ms FELLOW-MEN
ANALYSIS
1. (1)
to
Personality, a "windowless monad" impenetrable (later be contrasted with his psychic solidarity); (2) Things
absolutely still
2.
and
lifeless.
Duty
3.
others=negative tolerance; mind and motive of other men beyond reach and understanding. Others cannot help their acts, and it is vain to be indignant or
to
eager to reform.
4.
There must be such people blame or despise? (no
in,
a world of all sorts; why then Standard or Value left except

"
"
(Hegelian) fact of existence).

1.
AFTER the emphasis on the
peculiar
propriety
man's character, duty, and nature, which has in our last series of passages, we must advance emerged still further towards the isolation of the personality, not
(tSiov) of
merely from the rest of creatures, but also from its "Forget also thine own people and especial kindred. And this doctrine of the impenehouse." father's thy
is all the more astounding combined with a genuine belief in the solidarity of all rational beings, and with many phrases
trable solitude of each Soul
because
it
is
175
MARCUS AURELIUS
of the
We may most uncompromising Monopsychisrn. be thankful that Marcus makes no attempt to be conwe are content to find in this sistent or symmetrical
;
very confusion of his thought, assurance of his perfect We must put side by side (1) those sections sincerity. " he where pronounces the Soul (the real or Inner Self ")
of
other
men
to be
inaccessible to
his
influence, or,
strictly,
even to his sympathy,
(We
shall in the next
chapter note those passages in which he theorizes on In the the ultimate unity and identity of all Soul. is the final in the one case, distinction, separateness,
;
In the one, personality the second, it has no existence. fact of is the single irrefragable experience; in the Which of these dogmas is other, it is a pure illusion.
I incline to the real belief of Marcus, I know not think he felt his solitariness too keenly to give more " than " lip service to the hypothesis of a Single Soul or
;
intelligence
common to all men.) shall add (2) those very striking passages in which he shows the absolute stillness of things, the absurdity of the belief
that they have life and movement in even sway or control our consciousness
We
themselves, or
2. On a closer survey, the social duty is attenuated into a negative tolerance of other men ; a duty which is rather to oneself than to others, of never feeling annoy-
ance, anger, indignation at their faults. about one is indifferent, and the wise
What they say man should pay
Sometimes the reason the general Stoic belief that happiness cannot depend on anything external to consciousness (GV rats a\\at,$
is
no attention to report or fame.
sometimes, when ^t/âfc Tide&dai, rrjv evfioiplav, ii. 6) is unable to conceal his contempt, because we realize how worthless is the judgment or the gossip
;
even Marcus
of
177
Other men's wrongdoing, pleasure, inthe like are due to ignorance of the and gratitude, iii. 11 cardinal axioms. crvyyevov? ayvoovvros for of nothing is fj,evroi o Tt avrq> xara $v<nv etrrw Marcus more certain than of the Platonic dictum, " All " But vice is ignorance (ii. 2, iv. 3, vii. 62, 63, xi. 18).
such men.
:
.
his fault has nothing to do with the Sage. afWLpravei, e eavr& a/jLaprdvei,. iv. 2 6 : TI<S ; afJLaprdv&v eavrp 6 aSi/c&v eavrbv aSi/cel. iv. 38. are afjuzprdvei,'
We
invited
to look
at the Inner Self of other
men, ra
avr&v SidfiXeTre, while in the next section we warned not to suppose our evil or our good dwells are ev dXXoTpup rjye/j,ovi,/c& fca/cbv crbv 01% v<f>urra,Tai. there K. ISia v. 3. licelvot, pv yap i8ioi> f][Lp,oviicbv %ova-f, a <rv the Here mind, the prj rrep^\eirov. op/jbfj yjp&vrac motive of others, is beyond our reach and understanding
rjyefjLovi/ca
;
r
the verb here

v.
quite consistent with iv. 38, for it iminterest anxious ; there, a piercing but momentary plies
is
scrutiny.
25
aXXo?
afjiaprdvet,
TI et? e/te;
Siddea-iv IStav Ivepyeiav (so that

ov/c
even
el
uses a
is to
somewhat
opyia-Teov offensive analogy to
ro3 fSKanrrovn, v.
22).
He
show how
fruitless it
quarrel with or seek to alter another person's nature

;
or function.
oZocrTOfHp
v. 28 : r& ypdcr&vi, fjbijTt, opyigy ; pijTi, rip riffoi Trowyeret; TQLOVTOV (Trofia e%et, vi 22. " " Concentration of self and the even tenor (evpoia) of
a consistent
others
:
life
makes
it difficult
to reprove
Trotto'
fj
and correct
oi
*E<y<*>
TO
/MZVTOV
/cadfj/cov
rj
ra\\a pe
TrepiGTra;
(iii.
fJTOi
tc.
yap a^rvâ
:
a\oya
TreTrKawipeva
11)
3*
Tt}v
6Sbv ayvoovvra.
vi 27 ITco? oa/JLov e. pr) eTTLTpeTrew rot? av6, opfiav eTTt ra $awopva avTots oltceta tc. orvêpovra ; and this you don't do, orav ayavajcrrjs on a/jap12
78
MARCUS AURELIUS
$povrat
avrofe.
well,
teach
them
"
yap Trdvr&s o>? em ol/ceia K. " But it isn't so." Very that, and show them the way
cc
without vexation
va/er&v).
t,,
(OVKOVV SiSao-fce
v.
K.
/c.
Selfevve ivq
I
dya-
Similarly
dXX&rpia
Karaa/eevfj.
28:
Seigov, vTro^vrjo-ov
0/77779.
. .
El yap
55: Mr]
or
depairevaeis
ov %peia
.
vii.
rjyfj,ovi,/cd
vii.
You can escape your subjectivity of this moral aim " own evil : other men's you cannot (yekolov e. ryv pev
ibiav
fcaiclav
VI. Complete " :
irpatcreov e/cdo-rq) TO " "
inwardness
prj
(frevyeiv
fcal
Swarov
viii. 4.
rrjv
r&v
chOvcov
(fxvyw
!
oTrep dSvvarov).
You
will never
reform them
Siappayfjs.
viii.
ovSev fjrroy rcb avra 7roi,ij<Tov<ri,, icav cru 14. If he has such principles
if
there
is
nothing surprising
he behaves so
fc.
<7o/ww on
E. : "I shall not be dvay/cderat, ovrco irotelv. at his surprised or shocked doing such and such things ; I shall remember that he cannot do otherwise." (We
perhaps wonder, even if Marcus will not, at this " for his entire system is founded on use of " compulsion the absolute freedom at any given moment of the soul
may
to choose the right.) The relativity of the standard is very clearly put in viii. 43: Evfypaivei <xXXoz> aXXo* ep.e
Se eav vyies ejo> TO rjyefAowtcov. It is natural, then, that he should avow that only certain natures or
characters can see the coyency of his arguments iii. 3 : roiavra ov Travrl rjri9ava povcp Be T$ 77^05 rrjv
;
and (not very
persuasion ; El i*ev Svvdaat, jj*Ta recognize the postulates ? el Se fly, /Aefjwrjo-o on 7r/)O9 TOVTO f) evfjueveia eot,
ix.
The only legitimate instrument of moral reform is but one asks, What if the sinner refuses to
yvTja-iG)?
cj>/ci,Gi)/Avq> t
effective)
11
similarly^ ix.
42
"OX?
&
efeo-r^
o-ot,
pera-
etcel
179
rov 7r7r\av7)pvov In Set Kar<i\nrGlv.

t
Ix.
viii.
20
61
To a\\ov apdp:
Elviivai eh TO
fcd<TTOV 7Ttt)tZ/
K.
TO eavrov
4. "We have only an apparent inconsistency between the earlier contrast SidfiXeTre and 7rpi/3\errov " Let others see your principles, your motives and do you take their measure, and see if their judgThe whole of the ment should carry weight." last paragraph in the Ninth Book is interesting: " "When you stumble on the shamelessness of another,
;
straightway ask yourself Avvavrat, ovv ev rip Kocrfjup ov Svvavrat, (" offences must needs avalo")(vvro(, p#) elvai,;
:
be
").
Mr} ovv
aTratret,
TO aSvvarov,
avdy/cij
el$ <yap
K.
o5T09
T&v
avaia'yyv'r&v,
o&?
ev
TW
Koo-fia)
elvat,.
Apply the same canon

.
in case of the villain, the traitor, and every kind of sinner (TO 76^09 r&v TOIOVTCOV, aSvvarov
diraiSevTo^
fly irjrdpêiv. TO,
. . .
TL Sal
/cafcbv
^ gevov yeyovev
;
el
rov aTracBevrov
7rpd<r<T&, ;)
we must
gently protest against the assumption in the last senIf all these different characters are needed for tence.
the furtherance of the World's Purpose (whatever that " may be), so that, as Burke says, we have that action
and counter-action which in the natural and in the political world, from the reciprocal struggle of discordant powers, draws out the harmony of the Universe/' why, we ask, does Marcus apply a bad and contemptuous
name
place)
to
of these diverse, yet (in their proper It is not as if a final meritorious, units ?
any one
After all, there could standard had been agreed upon. be no standard of merit except the fact of existence. Yet while Marcus here outstrips the proper limits of
indulgent and indifferent
critic,
we may
clearly see his
8o
MARCUS AURELIUS
A
profound conviction of the uselessness of reform, of any mankind. God anticipation of a better state of
cannot
develop;
it
the
universe was divine or indeed
were impious to connect change for the better either with the greater Commonwealth of
God
therefore
Natural Law, or the lesser state of reasonable beings, which, in some unaccountable way, boasted a still closer
affinity
it
with the Source of
Life.
;
is
no use to extirpate abuses
Therefore in a City therefore, the whole
mirage of life is meaningless, and time, instead of mak" ing for some far-off divine event," is mere monotonous
succession of the
same tedious commonplace.
In
x.
we have
which
is
the better side of this tolerant Indifferentism, surely a dangerous virtue in a supreme ruler ;
of
what would our Liberals say to the dethronement

their noble Discontent
?
El
p>ev <r(pd\\eTai,
evftevw; teal TO irapop&fjievov Sewvvvai.
El
Se
if
eeavrbv
curious
alruia-Qat,
rj
/w?Se creavrbv.
is
What
of
chance he
in
here
speaking
the
by some young
Commodus and some boyish

theless
(as
the
escapade, in which, neverrepulsive episode in W. Pater's
"Marius" about the broiled
kitten), plainly emerged the ill-conditioned brutality or the madness of precocious It is noticeable that the Emperor never Csesarism?
It is speaks of the remedial power of punishment. to meditate the strange upon possible consequences to the world of a little well-placed severity in the early
treatment of his son. 1

1 How deeply pathetic is his double repetition of the old tragic line, where he comforts himself for Heaven's desertion el 8' jjpeKJjeijv 8ewv
:
&
ic.
iroud'
/tttJ>
fyet A07ov
/coi
TOVTO
(vii.
41, xi. 6)
(E)
181
MORAL EFFORT
EXPIRES IN TOLERANCE OF EVIL
ANALYSIS
5.
Excuse for sinners earned
to verge
of denying moral obligation
(no spiritual criterion); Absolutism in every age. % 6. Denies reality to Sin as to Evil ; only ignorance (amiability
7.
a fault in a ruler). Cause of failure ; Aurelius has

"slave-morality";
fabric of Empire.
bluff
all the
feminine virtues
soldiers
and sturdy
reconstruct
Excuse for the sinner: erar ri yap which Kendall well "He translates: cannot iTQirivti; " el Svvaa-ai a<f>e\e help himself what else can he do ?
5.
x. 30.
avrov TO
air of
(we have already seen the slight " mystery attaching to this compulsion "). Is it force of habit, or ignorance, or result of bad principles ?
fit,a6/jLevov
(Soyftara).
If
we
follow another series of passages in

is
which man's inalienable freedom
brought out, we
shall decide that it is imaginary, and can be removed at pleasure by the Will. But here it appears to be
a real hindrance.
coeval
Christians,
In some later Platonist sand some

it
would certainly imply daemonic possession, the enslavement of the Will (as in Kom. vii. and the houcovcra a/MLprla). The real and pathetic
remoteness of Marcus, from his
own time, the interval or bridgeless gulf between the Emperor and his courtiers and family, may be discovered in the sad
maxim,
xi.
*O/to0ap,viv pev, (M) ojioSoy/taTeiv
Se,
admirably paraphrased or modernized by Kendall's " one at core if not in creed/' So, ix. 3, So, then, he finds consolation for death in the thought, on OVK
air avdp&Trayv o/JLoSoyfiaTovvT&v ITQI
rj
aTra\\cuyrj
/c.
co-rat,.
Tovro yap p&vov
avffefiueev
&v
fcar&xev lv
r$
82
MARCUS AURELIUS
Nvv
S'
%ijvt el (TV%7jv efalrro rots
fj&vow.
opa?
ocro? o
c'
ra avra Soypara KOTO? ev Ty Sui<f>a)vta
TT}?
<7f/^y8wScrG)9 OHTT
pr) TTOV K,
<f)povijcrt,
elirelv
Qarrov
eX0oi9,
xi. is
& Qavare
13
:
avTo?
7rikd0a>/j*ai
SyfreraL.
epawrov"
(That
myself,
to
Kara-
pov Ti?;
I,
his
business
entirely;
too,
will look
that I be not
found doing or saying aught deserving of contempt)

(and
xi.
ready
to
point
^Fifth
out
of
his
fault
or
omission
r
in
irapop&pevov).
the maxims
laid
down
18 comes
/car'
ovBe el aâprdvovtn Karei\^(pa^' TroXXa
yap Kal
Kal oXo>9 7ro\\d Set oitcovopiav ryiverai. irporepov naQelv iva T69 Trepl aXXorpta? Trpageto? tcaraEendall:
;
"You cannot even be many actions depend " 1 In short, one has much upon some secondary end. to learn before one can make sure and certain about
\7firT LK&S TI diroîrriraL.
if
sure
they are doing wrong
for
another's action."
This tendency is leading slowly but 2 surely to an absolute denial of the moral standard; to the peculiar temper of the philosophers of the
<l
who, determined to reach Unity somewhere, abandon the ethical standpoint as dualistic and imperfect, and perhaps feel enamoured of a speedier route
Absolute
:
"
am inclined myself to
:
connect tils difficult word with, the familiar
adaptation of means to ends, condescension to human capacity, scheme of salvation accompanied by many seemingly incongruous details in the pursuit of the grand aim, all the somewhat misty complex of ideas bound up in the idea of the Divine Stewardship, which
Patristic -usage
(I
"
need scarcely remark), in the Latinized "Dispensation," disappears

2
e.g.
entirely.
what would some people make of

KiP7)fLaai
fj,^
this,
ii.
Tods rots Idtas

?
ifrvxys
irapaKoXovQovrras dv&yKi}
KaKoSaiftovew
Neither
substantive suggests any spiritual criterion ; and while the maxim " might suit the purity of Quakers' Inner Light," it might also condone
the excesses of the Kingdom of Monster.
knowledge than by a process retaining the " of subject and object. ness
to
6.
183
"
other-
Judge not another man's servant," and his insistence on the subjectivity of Ideals, yet never disturbs the grand and broad But Aurelius warping outlines of the moral fabric.
St. Paul's
constant advice,
"
his
"
in a school where all " all and men either wise or equal," or saved where lost," fools, everything is bluntly black and white, and nothing shades off in an indistinct
better
Eoman judgment
offences
are
borderland
goes far towards denying reality to sin
At most, it is but subjective folly, evil altogether. of result poor principles ; try and persuade the sinner,
and
gently remonstrating, and he may mend his ways. In the Ninth, xL 18 7rpa&>9 Trapawy? K. fAeraSiSda-Kps, in words which strongly recall the aged and indulgent
:
(" Seize the moment when he is bent on mischief; " try quietly to convert him to a better frame of mind : " Not so, my son, we are made for other ends ; you cannot
Eli
hurt me, you hurt yourself,

It
is
my
son."
R.).
*E<ya) /JLev
ov
/jur)
Mrj, reicvov j3\aft&, cri) Se
an unanswerable argument
against Plato's "Philosopher-King," that the essential qualities of a Sage are precisely those which are likely
to be mischievous in a Euler.
Let us, as leaders of men, have no cynics, but rather eager and enthusiastic Lewis XVL, strivers for what they believe to be right.
1
In spite of this loving formula, we find Marcus,
v. 20,
In (in a certain aspect) even fellow-men among &5i&<f>opa. ijfuv t. olKCLortLTov &j>6ptaTTo$ 9 inasmuch as we must do good to
"
arranging one sense
them and
bear patiently with them ; /cad* foov 8' &l<rrwTcu. Tires t$ T&, otxeut tpya, %v ri rQy dSiaôpw? jLtot ylverai 6 &y0p<tyjros o#x ^<T<roy ^ i^Xws $ 5ye/toj $
&ijptov
(=
" in
so far as individuals obstruct
my proper
action,
man
falls
into the category of things indi/erent"
R.).
84
MARCUS AURELIUS
"
if
not an incapable, was a yet the philosopher-king success of that unaccountable movement, the French
;
"
Revolution,
was due to
his
(unconscious)
following
Marcus'
point of view so lofty, an outlook so man and his petty passions and struggles that of sublime,
rules.
are but the turmoil of

tolerant that
it
an ant-heap,
a judgment so
finds
are
not
sovereign.
human
surely nothing gained by belittling by depreciating human concerns. ITor does the ascetic advance morality by arousing contempt for The politician or the king who fails is not the body. who takes a side and boldly embraces even his the one
life,
proper There
excuse for every misdoer, these a in statesman or a qualifications

is
proved mistakes but the one who loses faith in himself, has no convictions, and sees everything in one dim and
;
dreary atmosphere of grey. 7. At the end of the section he reaches a climax, and decks his pathetic maxim with a quite Platonic
a gift, so please you, Tenth, and lastly from Apollo, leader of the choir" (et Se j8ot;X,6t, /cal Seicarov irapa, rov Movcrqyerov S&pov Xa/Se, OT& TO fify It is a^LOVv a/Miprdvew pavircov* aSvvdrov yap efylerai). madness to ask that evil should cease, or that the bad should stop sinning. xii 12: TO e??9 T$ $wei (for
poetical trope
:
"
natural consequences), pyre Qeols fiepTrreov ovSev yap KQVT$ fj afcovres dfLaprdvova-t,' pyre avBp&Trois' ovSev
f/
yap ov%i
absolute
afcovres.
J2crT
ovSevl
/-te/x-Trreoz/.
more
suspension of judgment for want either of materials to form a criterion or from lack of
eVo^
or
any standard whatsoever,

Empiricus
!
you
will not find in Sextus
xiL 16: o fwj 6e\cov rov <j>av\ov df

K.
K\av0jj,vpieo-0ai,,
rov vmrov
K.
185
ova aXXa
el
avar/icala.
Ti yap
TrdOy, TTJV efyv
o$v 70/5709 el ravr^v Bepairevvov. ("What TOiavTyv; else can result, his heart being what it is? If it
The sins or shortyou, amend it ") of the are particular comings necessary (avay/eala) and indispensable ; " partial evil is universal good."
aggrieves
!
"
"
viii 50.
An
is
angry
critic,
stung by a bee, or annoyed
that a fig
unripe, or a thorn in the track, asks crossly : Ti Se jcal er/ivero Tavra Iv rp JCoo/i-p ; you will be
laughed at by any student of Nature, (answers Aurelius) o>9 av K. VTTO TKTOVO$ ... if you were to be aggrieved that in his workshop,
ev
T>
epyao-rypiq* êa-para K. TrepiT/Mj/jLara

opas.
r&v
tcara-
<rKva%ofjt,v&v
Nature, divine
though
she be,
must have her
her misfits, her refuse, and no she has place outside herself to put the rubbish. All is "Kismet"; and with God there are no disfailures,
tinctions, for all is perfect.
We
have not the
slightest
wish in the foregoing to
No light underrate the personal character of Marcus. words or settled treatise could destroy the beauty of the man, devoted to the undeviating pursuit of the
right,
or undermine his fair fame.
But he
is
to us
so
of respect and homage, not because, but in The Stoic school nearly spoilt the spite, of his tenets. noblest of the Eomans, and certainly helped to sadden
worthy
his life with a sense of failure

all
and
inefficacy.
He
has
the Christian virtues (except joy), which Nietzsche " His is distinctively a " slave stigmatizes as feminine."
morality."
He
is
weak
as a ruler because he sees too
In his eyes nothing is worth our far as a philosopher. attention, and the faults of others concern themselves.
little
more righteous
indignation,
harder
line
86
MARCUS AURELIUS
" " between essentials and indifferents in behaviour, and the world might perhaps have been spared the sanguinary turbulence of the next hundred years. Truly, when
Diocletian rebuilt the shattered palace of civilization,
the crumbled edifice of the
Eoman
was not
State,
every
maxim
of Marcus.
He
for that
less the Camillus, the
second founder of
he forgot any the the Empire.
(C) SOUL,
THEMSELVES, CAN ASSIMILATE IXTO MATERIAL FOE ITS OWN
WITHOUT EEAL CONTACT WITH THINGS-INAND TRANSMUTE
NUETUEE
ANALYSIS
B.
Absolute independence towards outward things; still they may be transmuted from dross into gold by Soul as in a crumble ;
all
can become tnatenal for Virtue.
9.
10.
World of phenomenon has no substantive existence , a glittering mirage (Porch-Materialism ends in pure Idealistn) , attitude as of Magician to Spirits. None of them really come to us ; it is we who " call them ^n ;
3J
source of ijnpressions unknowable.

11.
Man
in Solitude; spite of a theoretical Citizenship in two worlds; prevalent "inwardness" or mysticism of the age
leaves clear trace
on Marcus.
8. The Sage, in spite of the highest political prerogative, cannot issue forth from the magic circle of " " his own principles, I had almost said impressions ;
but he has the complete mastery and control of these ; he can transform the sense-message at will for TT&VTO, vTroX^t? and his -71-0X77^65 is free and final Now what is his relation to the events, to the " things " of the world? A similar and absolute independence. Each man is accountable to no earthly power save
;
his
187
Self"; and has found the secret of the base metal of outward occasion into transmuting the alchemist's gold of noble choice. Everything is
material,
#A/??,
own "Inner
for
virtuous action.
The
finest
and
clearest passage
on
this subject is at the
opening
of the
Fourth Book
To
evSov /cvpievov orav tcara
<f>vcrw
ej^,
OUTOS e0"n7/ce Trpo? ra <rviiftaivovra &CTTG ael 7r/>09 TO " Svvarov K. &iS6fj[vov prari6ecr9at paStco?. When (K. the Sovereign Power within is true to nature, its attitude towards outward circumstance is that of ready
:
adjustment
to
whatever
is
possible
and
offered
for
acceptance.")
"YXyv yap airoreraypevyv = sets its affections on no determinate material) ( ra r}<yovfjiva peO* irjref;at,pe<rQ)<; ( = " keeps opfjia 737)09 each impulse and preference conditional and subject to To Se avTeia-aôêvov v\yv eavr& reservation "). TO mjp orav eTritcparfj r&p &airep
(vfi
fire
&v av
lays
all
encountered
over
pi/epos TL$ Xu^z/o? eG/Sko-Ori). ("Obstacles it converts into material for itself, just as
hold of accumulations" [?gets the mastery

the fuel flung upon
have it], "which would " To Se \ap,irpov Trvp raôra choked a feebler light ? IJwKeiwcrcK eavrp ra 7Ti<f>opov/j,va K. KaTijvdXaMrev /c. ef avT&v irl fjLei&v tfpdi]. (" For a blaze of fire at once assimilates all that is heaped on it, consumes it, and derives new vigour from the process." Eendall, iv. 1.) So v. 20. ILepurpeiret, yap K. fjuedia-TTfO'i irav TO Trps (" For evepyeias Ka>\vâ r} Aiavoia els TO '7rp07j<yov/jt>evov.
the Understanding modifies and converts every hindrance So that to action into furtherance of its prime aim.
checks to action actually advance it, and obstacles in For Marcus, to whom the way promote progress.") " nothing is in unqualified fashion good but the Good
88
MARCUS AURELIUS
kys no claim
that
to extensive sovereignty. Fichte, in one of his
Will,"
It
may
be remembered
eloquent
popular writings, rests upon this noble feebleness of the will in the exterior world, a supreme argument for human immortality. So vii. 68 ael ydp pot, TO irapov
:
dperfjs
<yap TO (rvpfiaZvov de KeiouTdt (adapts and assimilates to itself).
KT\.
Hav
rj
jap ecm, Trdvra ravra a\\o ifKyv yv/j.vdo-fjLaTa \6yov etopaicoTos d/cpi/3>? K. <pv<7io\6ya)$ rav TO> /3i(p ;
x.
31
ri
Meve
(
ovv
l*>'Xpt>$
iSoiKio5<rjis
<ravT&
a)9
K.
ppa)/jLevo$
(rrofULô^ Trdvra l|oiKtoi,
1) STL av fidtys <f)\6ya e^ avT&v /c. avyrjv TroteZ. " What are they all but exercises for Reason, (Eendall
:
= iv.
ravra, c&9 o TO \a/j,7rpov vrvp
and philosophically facing the facts of life ? Persevere, then, till you make them part of your own being, just as the healthy stomach assimilates its food, or a quick fire burns everything you throw on it into flame and light.") 9. 3S"ow it must be noted that this process entirely In themselves, things are depends upon the Soul* blind and dumb, colourless and immovable. It is we who draw them to ourselves, call them as it were within range of our Reason, and submit them to the alchemical process. In themselves they have no
scientifically
substantive existence:
glittering mirage;
it
is
the world of phenomena
is
mdyd
(or
illusion).
To such
idealism, tending even towards solipsism, has the early materialism of the Porch been forced! iv. 3. Keep " among the weapons most ready, to hand," ev TO?? TT/>O-
these
two
convictions,
lz>
pev
ev&ov
OTI
TO,
al Se 0^X770-649 IK fj,6vt]<t ("Things cannot touch the
T?}?
viro\-
Soul, but stand
without
v.
;
189
it stationary tumult can arise only from views within ourselves." B.) He repeats this with emphasis
19:
Ta
ripdypara
avra
ouS'
OTTGHTTIOVV
Tjrv%f)<s
a/jrrerat,, ou8* Ixci cwroSoi/
Kivfivai ^fuyj]V Svvarat,

povrj,
K.
7rpb$ tyvxfo' ov $ rpeifrai, ovBe Se K. xwel avrrj eavrrjv rpeirei

/carafyc&crr}
OLO>V
eavrfj Trpocruêo-r&ra. ("Things material cannot touch the Soul in any way whatever, nor find entrance there, nor have power to sway or move it.
self -swayed, self -moved; modifying the objects which it plays into accord with the upon judgments which it approves." E.) Thus an outer world, that
is
TTOI&
av ra
tcpip,dra>v
eavrrfv routvra
Soul
unsubstantial fabric of impressions to the creation of which we contribute so much, reading ourselves into
it
rather than yielding to its impress, this Heraclitean of each domain where no other consciousness separate
is a phantom guest or companion can be admitted, called up or exorcized at our will. vL 8 : TO 'Hyepovi/cbv e. TO IctuTo eyelpov K. rpeTrov K. TTQLOVV p*ev eavro olov
av
O&VQ iroiovv Se eavr$ <j>aive<rdcu irav TO trupficuvov avro 6e\et ( = " self - excited and self -swayed, which makes itself just what it wills to be, and all that befalls seem to itself what it wills.") $aivopeva, mere
K.
olov
deceptive semblances, exercising no power or influence at all on our judgments. vL 52 *E%<m Trepl rovrcov
:
fjuq&ev v7ro\afjLJ3dvi,v
K.
JJL^
ofaela-dai, rfj
4>t5<riv
^v^.
r&v
Avra
jap ra ripdynara OUK So ix. 15 fcpia"(ov.
exct
:
irotT|TiK^K
ra Updjpâra
IJ
(stand without the doors obedient servitors, waiting for our call, meaningless congeries of letters expectant of an arrangement into an alphabet, a rational
sentence),
avra
efi
eavr&v
fMjbkv
fitfre
avr&v
fj^r airoâivofj^va.
They have no message
elSora Trepl or ;
9o
MARCUS AURELIUS
rather like ghosts, cannot speak unless first interrogated by a mortal. It is only the craven soul who yields to
the notion that they can tyrannize. "Lupi Mcerim The bold magician confronts the videre priores."
apparition in
own good time, undeterred by the harmless gibbering of the Spectres. disconcerting yet Rather it is he who summons them at pleasure; of themselves, they cannot and dare not burst into hishis
solitude.
Tl
oZv
arjrofyaiverai
irepl
avr&v ;
TO
So once more xi. 11: El pev oZv ofo 'HyepovtKov. <T Ittl ra npdyiLaTa, &v at Suogew pxTcu aXXa Tpoirov TWO, avros eV e/cetva 6opvfBov(ri &,
To yovv
fievci
Kpifjia
TO
7repl
avr&v
rjarvâêrto 9
dTpcjiouyra (not
budging, not stirring a foot inside
and well-disposed Ariels). E. The things it so perturbs you to seek or shun, do not come to you rather you go to them only let your judgment of them holds its peace, and their side will
your magic
"
:
circle, like docile
remain stationary."
10.
xi.
16.
from " indifference
on
ouS*
fairest life (/cd\\i<rTa, Staîjv) comes to all things not under our power : ovSev avr&v inroTwrtyiv *rrepl CLVTOV "
<{)'
The
IpxeTctt
^fjias.
*A\\a ra pev
<7/IV 01 T<X5 7Tp6 CLVT&V Kpt<Tl$

(olov) 7pa^>oin-9
&
yVV&VT$
ypdfaw
fC.
eairrofc, Igbv /tev

l
aXetâ^ imbue us with a particular view about an entrance; things are stationary;
Se fcav TTOV
\d6y evBvs
p/rj
elfbv
"
:
Nothing can
or enforce
is
itself
it
we who
originate judgments regarding them, and, as it were, inscribe them upon our minds, when we need inscribe
any inscription had claimed for the individual the most perfect freedom in assent and
nothing, or can instantaneously efface written there unawares." The Sophists
acceptance
of
191
Sextus
convention;
the
Sceptics
(as
Empiricus shows us throughout his work), while preserving this fundamental subjectivity or relativity in theory, had insisted in practice on the wisdom of " " custom of the country and Lucian following the
;
the
popularizer of this half-agnostic, half-dogmatic reaction in favour of society, rejects with ridicule and
indignation the pretensions of mystical egoism. He lays down the rule that happiness is found only in the " Common Life, and in wise submission to common-
/cowbv aTract, ftiovv a%t&v K. TO4? TToXXofc, OvSeV a\\OKOTOV K. TTV<f>G)fieVOV

place
(/3lov
"
Sermotimus).
Stoic while seeming to canonize the social aim, speaks and writes about it in such a way as to leave a loophole for evading its responsibilities; partly by preaching the claims of the wider TroTu? of Nature with
The
which they supposed themselves in
fuller
sympathy,
"
partly also by advancing the policy of abstention, as G-od in the world, so the Sage in society/* Again, the early Sophists, the "Aufklarung" of ancient Greece,
taught a complete subjective impressionalism and as man in his social life had no real guide or criterion
;
but
utility, so in his
more personal
side
he was alone
in the middle of incommunicable sensations which were

valid only for himself. It is perhaps reserved for Marcus Aurelius to declare that the unknowable source of these
varying feelings and emotions is itself, like the supposed fabric of the moral and Social Law, pure hallucination*
It is true that
he does not commit himself to denying
the existence of phenomena; but they exist purely subjectively, in the terms and at the will and pleasure of the mind, which neglects, estimates, or employs.
92
MARCUS AURELIUS
Seduced by this motionless, yet inviting mirage in life's wilderness, the unwary soul submits itself to a voluntary
slavery; "
subjungere conor," the modern " environment (a phrase which the adaptation as abandoning life's condemned must have Emperor "Te faeimus Fortuna deam Cceloque central truth).
rebus
to
"me
locamus."
creatures,
But the Sage, like Adam amid the lower gives names and values to things which in
themselves have neither meaning nor coherence.

11. Thus, in spite of theoretical citizenship in natural and social commonwealth, the Sage is driven are now approaching the most back into himself.
We
just that part of Marcus' Philosophy, notable point of transition in which the influence of Plato supersedes that of Zeno and Chrysippus. Of
significant
extant authors in that age, Dio Chrysostomus is the last who preserves the somewhat narrow common-sense,
the mental
verities,
balance,
the
acquiescence
in
superficial
which we usually associate with Stoicism. Excluding Lucian, who like Voltaire had no originality, and belonged to no recognized school but that of opulent
"bourgeois" respectability, with mysticism : the sense
meditation
beliefs of
visions,
"
all
the
rest
are
tinged
undreamt-of by the vulgar, to which access was found through

of
worlds
or
orgiastic
Christian Science
that
with the study of nightly borderland of the soul in which two
cult. "
Aristides
unites
the
may be distinguished (see Yon Drel's Philosophy of Mysticism), and the "astral body" be united to its cognate spirit, the Earth-Soul. Appuleius,
consciousnesses
like
some
allegorist
of
"Cinderella"
and "Jack the
Giant-killer," cleverly interweaves with a well-known romance certain significant episodes, as " Cupid and
193
Psyche," with a view to a Platonic moral, and finds in the deliverance from carnal snares the work of Isis
links
on behalf of her votary. Numenius, one of the obscure in the transmission of the Platonic tradition,
the
represents to us rather Trinitarian doctrine; but

his ethical
"
general
we
need not
this
tendency to doubt that

direct
system founded on
was a
and
Inwardness/' or the intrinsic personal illumination. the predominant idea; and of was treasures Soul,
we look
confidently in
Marcus
for further illustration.
Nor are we disappointed.
CHAPTER
IV
HAPPINESS AND DESTINY OF MAN'S SPIRIT

(A) SELF-SUFFICINGNESS OF THE SOUL
ANALYSIS
1.
2.
The impregnable fastness of the Soul. Contentment with Self the supreme End ; a self-centred peace ; "our true and intrinsic good cannot depend on another"
3. Little success
4.
"
man prefers
"
in convincing others of \6yos indwelling ; average to be left to zest and uncertainty of old life.
the
Serenity
unvarying
am
of
the
Schools
(various
synonyms.
1.
WE
of
will first
examine those passages in which

"
" of the conscious he dwells on the Self-suffidngness then we shall notice the unquestionably mystical spirit
;
language
certain
sections,
where we seem to be
reading Plotinus a century before his time ; and conclude the survey of the Doctrine of Man with a
collection of those phrases
which speak
of the
"
Deity
Within," and from the crude materialism of early Stoic
and in God, elevate identification of voepov vrvp in a system, more or less complete, of mystical Theology. " non
Coelum
Man
currunt
"
;
mutant qui trans mare Marcus similarly reproves himself for desirit is
animum
ing artificial seclusion, wypoucias

,
.
.,
when
at
any moment
K. a^ywiXov? /c. opq within our power to
HAPPINESS OF MAN'S SPIRIT

retreat to
195
soul,
the undisturbed fastness of our

find
own
and there
%bv
f}$
a peace which passes understanding:

lOekTJcrrjs els lauroi' a.vax<*pcl
av &pa<s
yap
ovff
y&vxi&TGpov ovr airpaypovecrrepov eh rrjv iavrov *ifvyj\v^ pdXurff oem? rj roiavra ei$ a iyicityas ev iracriQ v/j,apia
E.
"
:
Nowhere can man find retirement more untroubled and than in his own soul specially peaceful he who hath stores within, a glance at which straightway sets him, at perfect ease." For the soul is free if it will but recognise and claim its empire (one of
ytverai.
;
independence rather
ILvyvvrat,
than actual mastery), OVK
eiri-
Xew9
of
f)
current
7ri$clv
ISouo-iav.
life
Tpaêw? Kivovfievcp TrveujLaTi (pneumatic and the vital emotions) j? Aidvoia,

AiroXdpTj
#.
aira^ iaurV vii 28 Els

:
*
yvobpitrg
TTJV
iblw
ejêt
o-auro^ auKciXou.
$v<rw yap
TO \oyi/cbv
Byejiovucbv laurw dpKi<r6ai t,KaiOTTpcvyovvTt> avrb TOVTO yaKijv'rjv eôzm. K. Trap' The verb aptcw " it is enough, it in its impersonal neuter sense ap/eei,
suffices," is
of the
used in a technical sense about a dozen times " of things before us as an occasion sufficiency (afappfy for moral action ; but its chief technical use
"
is
in the passive, in
which
iii.
it
refers to the
contentment
of soul
with
itself.
6.
He
mission to follow the
new
gives himself full perIdeal, if he can discover
anything better (Kpevnov) than justice, truth, temperwhich he sums up as Kaddirag rov ance, courage, iv. 25. Coupled with ApKia6ai laimj rrjv Aiavoiav.
contentment with the apportioned lot is the truer and inward satisfaction of the man, apKoujuyou rg l&ta irpa$M.
iv.
32.
He
pities the foolish strivers
of
yesterday,
" dead and forgotten now, who went after other gods," eiv TO tear a rqv i$ia.v KaTcuTKeri\v K, rovrov
96
MARCUS AURELIUS
the
v. 14 : TOVTCO dpucio-Ocu. Eeason in axe themselves and reasoning process
K.
"
and
their
action
self -sufficing
faculties"
(SvvdfAei,?
elcrw
2. He forgets, perhaps, that the exercise of " its own reward," if it in any intellectual faculty is
the
way
whereas the soul cannot but mourn the Doubt of the former ineffectiveness of moral effort. to a lead but does scepticism which is far from of futility, however comforted a but sense unpleasing act of willing, cannot but lead initial of the by eulogy
attain truth
;
in the other sphere to pessimism.
ask
if
Socrates
T$
Si/catos
vii. 66. We must was then content (el eSvvaro dpiceurOai The word, pregnant with a elvai KT\.
technical meaning, occurs six times in the Eighth Book, of which the more interesting are 7, "ApKetrai irao-a
<j>v<ri$
(already deity within dpicoupôs, "if it can feel the ordering of its own constitution."
lau-nj
evoSofoy.
45
quoted),
the
and act after

E.
48
yiverat,
laurw
ible.
ix.
rb 'Hye/Aovifcbv orav efc eauro The Self-sufficing Soul invinc-
26
*Aver\vi<$
)
pvpia Sia TO
/Jir)
dpiceurflai
r&
cr& *H<yfJWvt,/c& iroivbvn ravra et? a fcarecrfcevcHTTat,. Ovtc dpKL rovTGp on Kara fyvuiv T^V (TTJV rt ix. 42 :
eirpaf;ct$
a\\a rovrov
p,l<r8ov fyjreis
co? el
6 o<j)6a\fj,b$
nothing beyond the performance of the individual act in accordance with eternal "dogmata"; there is no recompense here
is
apoi^y
aTrgrei ore ^SXeTret.
There
is
or elsewhere; but, what is far more dispiriting, there no real assurance that the Eight will ultimately for by the very terms of his creed Marcus prevail ;
cannot put
(to
off to some future time in a gradual process which even his poor actions could contribute) a
197
Perfection which was ever present, here and now. So, for justification of its behaviour, Soul looks within to the peace which arises from a view of life essentially
negative, 11. xi.
self-centred,
and
for
abstentionist.
See
except
;
also
its
Nothing
exists
the Eeason
its
ii.
own
is
.
.
(voluntary) judgments, always under its control. e O iv. 3 (ad Jin.):

.
vTroXiy^?
15
:
and
this
Hav
uin$Xt]4ns
/eooyio?
oXXouwri?*
jS/o? faro\ip|ns (where Kendall's admirable translation perhaps misses a little the sadness of the diction:
"The world
of
"
is
a process of variations;
life,
a process
fiprat
views ").
iv.
*Apov
rrjv
vTrokiftyiv,
TO
"Get rid of the assumption; there/3efi\afjLfjLai" with you get rid of the sense, *I am an injured " C ma,n/ vii. 33 AWLVQIO, ryv laurrjs yaM^" xarci
:
\far6-
E.
"
:
f^rk
The
ov fteipov TO *H<yefwviKbv 76701/6. " " understanding in abstraction (or according

Suurypei
K>
to its
is
view ") maintains

*
its
calm, and the
"
Inner Self
unimpaired." 3. viii. 40. Marcus has but scanty hope that the average man will identify himself, as he advises, with
this abstracted
but impotent Eeason.
Here
is
little
colloquy: "Take away your own view of what you e But of regard as painful, and you stand unassailable.
1
Very noticeable
V.
last
.
is
his subjective usage
and
definition of the objective

f&oipav (rcavrtp a-jrovetâs,
6#/td/>0?,
rb $
eijjioipos,
ayadyv
and the "good fortunes

case,
opfjLal
or lucks "which
most men deem external to
themselves, or to be obtained
&y. vpdi-fis.
else's
not beneath their direct control,
For
it is
propitiating capricious deities, in any are ayaQal rpotral $VXTJS Ay. incredible that our true good could be in
by
Thus Teleology influences ethics, but is not permitted to reconstruct metaphysics ; for purpose without a personal aim is inconceivable. Mere mechanical interaction of parts cannot, without violence to language and prejudice, be termed an end-in-itself.
any one
hands.
ig8
what you
is
MARCUS AURELIUS
this true
'
'
But Reason and 'Of Reason.' I are not the same/ Very good then spare Reason (?) the pain of giving itself pain and if some other part of you is amiss, let it keep that view to itself" (eav
?
;
;
a^\779
e<rn?/cas
"JEcr
rfyv
aty bit&x$w
avrbs ev aaâkecrdr^
'AXX'
lYs auro?;
6 A<5yos
OUK eiju \oyos.
tfrX
Here
is
difficulty
and a new feature
in Stoicism.
real
self
Aurelius, like all mystics, identifies his with an attenuated spiritual and divine
principle which has nothing in

interests.
Now
in
the average
light
of
common with human man refuses to consider
himself
an "organ of impersonal 1 Reason," or as a character in someone else's dream. The whole relation of this IVovs Ovpadev d<rwv to the complex human framework, where it is for a time and to no purpose imprisoned, is beset with We shall have to examine, doubts and problems. when we approach the Universe from the objective side, the passages in which Marcus in theory recognises the monopsychism, which in his practice he so Now, what is this Aoyos in the other clearly rejects. " Perman, of whose veiy presence he is unconscious 1 A divine chance he sleepeth, and must be awaked." indwelling, but solely in potentiality (SiW/êt), and in
the
the vast majority of
men
never reaching
efficiency,
a puzzling and, perhaps, useless belief. The nature of man tends to break up from the popular dualism of soul and body into a number of distinct parts, the
six or seven selves
fjuointcbv,
now we know very

1
of Indian mysticism, the 'Hyethe Dianoea, the ^.0709, the Soul, which every and again have a sharp contrast of outline, though
well they are in the end identical
and
See the last scene in Alice through the Lookwig-Glass.

most
Soul
difficult of all "
199
the constant representation of the as the pious verger of an Idol in an unspotted " without his unreflecting joyousan " Ion Temple,"
ness.
question still remains, What is a particle of God doing in that unpromising dungeon?" Is it true even with the Pantheist that the source of life
The
"
attains
"
that
it
in man ? Is it not true self-comciousness this doubtful only reaches blessing in the rare
"
and infrequent Sage, who then, mouthpiece of the Almighty or his very self, unhesitatingly condemns the Yet for Cosmic Process as cruel and meaningless ?
the average man, happy in his delusion, it retains its The feud between Philosophy and charm and zest.
"
the people of which Plato spoke, in its new phase of Science versus Democracy," bids fair to be perennial.
4.
We
7rovo$ r\Toi
T&
return to simpler topics, viii. 28 'O (Tcb/JULTt, fca/cov ovxovv aTro<f>aw<rda>. fj

:
T 27
^>vXO' #XV
Kpt(rt,<s
efeo-TW avrg
fir}
-ri]v
lSuxi>
alOpiar
#.
YaXqrqK
Sia<j>v\d(rcri,v K.
{nroKa^dveuv
K.
on
KCLKOV.
Uaa-a
yap
K.
op^
xaicbv &8* avafiawei.

a-raa-Lv
ope%v$ tc. e/e/cXicw *v$ov K. ovSev ix. 1 3 : ef$Sa\oz> iracrav irepiefo>
OVK
f}v
%fj\0ov, because (he corrects the words aXh? evbov ev raZ? fiiroX^^Ô' ^ 32
:
'jrepia'cra
irepi\eiv T&V evo')(KovvT&v

uTToXTJ^ci
<TQI
Swacr
is
irl
rfi
<rov
feeifteva.
;
The same
true
of
other men's unkind actions

existence,
they have no real objective
and exist in and harm only their souls, being no concern of ours; xi 18 (7): ov% al vrpdget,? avr&v e. ev rofc l/ceivcov fjyefioviKok, evo%\ov<ri,v rj/uv eiczivai yap aJOC at rjfjLerepcK, OiroX^cts. xii. 8. Among maxims and so definitions, he reminds himself on iravra 671-6X1^1$ Ori Trdwra uiroXtj+is* K. avrvj eVJ <TOL *Apov ofiv 22, 26
;
f/
ore 6e\i$ T^V
uir<5Xtn|/i' J
AC.
200
MARCUS AURELIUS
ye.
yaX^vrj (rradepa Trdvra
KoXiros dicujxwy (a beautiful passage untrue to the experience of most " The view taken is men which Kendall thus translates Disown the with rests and that yourself. everything, headland the behold at and will view rounded, there
though the ore 0e\t,?

;
is
is
calm,
still
Bd\e
The
e|?G>
So 25 : water, and a waveless bay"). (recraxrat, There's K. Trjv fiir6Xi)4rty, nothing

!
outside corresponding to
of
your fears, hopes, anxieties. to words used convey this imperturbable serenity,
equilibrium and permanence, in an are mostly common to unstable and dissolving world,
single point
other Stoic writers, though Marcus inserts some of his own. Above all, he delights to employ the terms of
Hedonism, as
religious writers
sometimes seem to profane
As heavenly raptures by the similes of earthly love. Seneca borrows his texts for the Lucilian sermons from Epicurus, so Marcus takes from the Cyrenaic school of
sensationalism the language of voluptuous enjoyment. One term in very general use, arapa^ta^ he uses once
only (just as avrdpjceia and eibaijjiovLa occur but once) alBpia, ryafajvrj, ahvirla, TO aiTCbiQpiacrai (" gain unclouded
(a Democritean word), and evo&eiv several times, &pov$ and evpoetv, evpvjfcopia (recalling the Psalm " Thou hast set my feet in a large room "), eva-radelv, x. 1. A 6v<rjoXe/, v<f>pocrvvi}, and svfypaiveiv often.
calm,"
ii.
4),
ev&ew,
evdv/uta
evpapeia,
evpoipia,
evoSta,
unique instance, yo-ff'ija'g is used in a good sense, and coupled with apKea-drjo-rj, and in same section where lad sense; for in rjSovrj is used in its invariably
twenty-three places it is that which the good man shuns and the vulgar identify with the Good) OvprjUa while (in good sense), c-&Tr)pLa vyieia, <j>at,8pvvew airo\avew is used now of lower pleasures ; iii. 6
y
:

TOV
apia'TOV
evptcfcofjLevov
201
a'jr6\av
life, Tlore yap diroXadciK TL \ot,7rov and a7rXor^T09 rj TOV fjv (xii. 29), vvvaTTTOvTa aXXo err' aXXp ayaOov Airokava-w yap Bel vTrokapfSdveiv TT&V o rt x. 33 Kara TI\V i&iay <|>uW evepyeiv egea-Tiv (whereas three times in viii. 1 and x. 1 the word has a bad con-
f)ov&v\ now
of delight in the higher

;
diroXauacts, x. 9
notation).
In the same direction points the frequency of the word ei/Sov to express the true life of man, whether
as
epithet
of
Daemon
vii.
(ii.
13,
17,
iii.
another metaphor of the will (TO

"EySov /SXeTre.
K.
&W
16),
or
in
1)
:
rcvptevov, iv.
yap q Tr^y^ TOV 'AyaBov ael avafSKvêiv Swa^vrj eav teal o-KaTrrrj^. ^x. 38 on TO vevpowrraa-Tovv e<rrw efcewo TO
:
59
"EvSoy
eicelvo
0077
eicelvo
(el
Sec
1 That for the Stoics, as for the followers of Epicurus, a felt and experienced satisfaction, and not an outward code, is the final criterion, no one can doubt who reads Marcus carefully (or, for that matter,
As with Socrates in the Memorabilia, virtue either). from the discovery that there are pleasures more intense and " sense" v. 9. To the objector (#rt ^Siw rotfTcop). lasting than those of that sensual gratification is Trpoo-yvfaTepov, he eagerly denies the position it is due to inexperience 6ed<rtu el irpocnrjv&rrcpov fteyaho^vxla, ^XeuEpictetus
results
j
6epla,
a.ir\&Ti]S e'tryiHafj.offfyi}
60-167-175.
Atirifc
ykp
Qpov/iffeas
(which, as
embodying something of speculative knowledge, he puts after the pure moral virtues) rt Trpo<r^y4ffrepov ; STO.V rb AirraiffTov K. etipow tv ira<ri rfy
ir<LpaKo\Qv9Tr)TtKfjs
/c.
^7rc<rrôyifc^j 5vvAfj,etas
^v&vjj/riO^
("Smooth un-
halting flow of its intelligence and apprehension." B.)Again, we shall have to notice later, vii. 13 O#T ere ... cv^paivci rb ejJe/yyeret^, and again ofaraj cis cravrbv e5 irotajj/, where the test of
:
is the pleasure derived from a virtuous aôn ; it is the ^5â, in a perfect accord stage where to the wise ffia are T& <rfobetween objective truth and inner desire ; or Clemens Alexandnmis'
attainment
ascent from wto-ris to yvwa-u v efipes TO
So
.
viii,
*
. ;
TteirelpcuraL
ykp
irepl
Trfoa,
ffiv
vii.
67
iv 6\Lyicrrois Keirat rb
202
avdp<Q7ro$.
MARCUS AURELIUS
(The Will, the Power within which pulls
life's
the wires in
puppet show.)
()
MYSTICAL TENDENCIES AND THE DOCTKINE OF "DEITY WITHIN"
ANALYSIS
5.
Soul as a "self-rounded sphere" ; as an ETnanation from God;

as
5.
a Do&mon within.
issues in
This preoccupation with the interior disposition vague mystical language, like later Platonic
;
:
rhapsodies xi. 1 2 is, perhaps, the most notable passage "The soul becomes a * self -rounded sphere' when it
neither strains outward nor contracts inward
constriction
by
self-
and compression, but shines with the light which it sees all truth without and truth within." by Scfrcupa i^f^s avToeiSijs orav p^jr* sKTeiwriTai eirL rt,
fj*r}T
eve*)
(rvvrpexy ptjre o-Treipyrat,

c5
fiajre
a-vvi^dvy
a\\a
K.
<f>G)rl
\dfjd7rrjT at,
rrjv
viii.
aktfOeiav
opa TTJV IldvTcov
TVJV
avrf).
So
41
"
tcvK\oTepr)<s pevei,
none other
... so long as it abides may aril 2: "God sees 'poised as a sphere self -orbed '"). men's Inner Selves stripped of their material shells
Mind to mind, His mental being touches only the like elements in us derivative C from Him." O Qeb? iravra ra qrye/JLOvi/cfb fyvpva r&v
and husks and impurities.
v\t,K&v o^yyeiW
yelp
K.
(where R: contravene
Orav êvnrai <T<j>aipo$ The freehold of the Mind
f/
<j>\ola)v
T& *EavTov voepS

ravra eppvyKOTav
JJLOVCOV
&
K.
M6vq> T&V e^ 'Eavrov We have aTr&xeTevfJLevav.

KaOappdrdDV opa.
aTrrerat,
K.
now reached
the final stage, when the soul of man is definitely pronounced not merely Divine, but a part of

God's very essence;
203
the remaining passages need no
comment, they speak for themselves; and we may remember that in Marcus' lips these words are no
trivial or
idle
metaphor as in early Stoicism, but the

:
1 ii. Betas cbrofioipas fieTOôs. profoundest 4 Se2 al<rQkaQai TM/O? SWIKOVVTOS TOV K6<r/j,ov diroppota
truth.
:
VTreo-Tys.
elvai.
ii.
13
aptcel irpbs povcp To5 evSov
eavTov
Aaijutoia
12.
Keason's
part
it
is
to
consider
TT&S
deov avOp&Tro? K. Kara TL eavrov p>epos K. orav These Sia/ceyrai, TO TOV avdpoîrov TOVTO fiopiov. reservations are entirely out of place in any monistic
system
still
more
in a scheme of materialistic monism.
touched God, for God was all." "Every The indifferent Gnostic was far more logical in his
part of
of
man
doctrine
divine
the
uncontaminated indwelling
irrespective
of
of of
the
the
spirit
quite
any act
The companionship was never riven animal complex. We can see how the Emperor, for all his theory apart.
of unity
and acquiescence, trembles on the brink
of a
dualism so unabashed that mysticism becomes the only 17: (<j&tXo<7o^ta) ev r^rrjpelv rov ev&ov Aatjxovct remedy. iii. 3 To fjiev yap vov$ AC. AaijjLwi/, TO Se 777 acrwfj.
.
K.
\vdpo$.
K.
iii.
e
:
le/)ei>s
TW
K.
virovpyos
(
ffeS>v }
%/oGo/Aez/o9
rat
ev&ov
i$pv/j,ev<p
avrov
= priest
and
minister of the Gods, using also as some sacred oracular shrine that deity planted in his breast Saint Cadog's " definition of conscience, eye of God in the soul of
,
man."
Tofi
iii.
eV o-oi
debs &TTG> Trpocrrdrijs.

. .
.
iii.
evt^pvfievov ev <rol Aaijioyos.

K.
vovv
AaijioKa
iii. iii.
t)
(
:
o <yap TOV eavTov

.
iii.
3)
...
TTpoeXo/i-ez/o?
ov
o-Tevd&L
rypelv.
12
:
16
Tov eavTov Tbv $e evSov

.
.
.
AaL|xoi/a
fcaSapbv ea-T&Ta
<f>vpew
ev T& (TTqffei, ISpvpevov a\\h l\z<V SiaTijpew. v. 10
204
MARCUS AURELIUS
6 avayfedc-GW TOVTOV Trapaftfjvat, (
rbv
e/jibv
0ebv
K. Aaifjiova).
v.
21
T&V Iv
Se TOVTO
TO
'E/cet,vq>
TO /cpdncrrov ripa' ecrrt v. 2 7 ofMoyeve?.

crol
:
iroLovGCLV 0(ra (3ov\erai, o

(
Aaifjw>i>
ov
/cd<rT
= iii
7
:
5)
f
viii.
H
f
K. fjryefLQva
Zev$
eSa>/cev, dirôTraajjia
eavrov.
Tot?
avdp&Trov
K.
<f>v<ri$
pepo? ZVTIV
viii.
AT.
voepas
Sifcaias.
45
efca
rbv
:
eyu-oz/
t\ea>v (
.
.
.
= satisfied,
TOV eV
jjbolpa.
:
aptcovpevov).
XL
19
TOVTO
arL/j,o-
o-ot
repa
K.
?.
Ovyrr)
xii
deLorepov /tepovs T$ 1 : eav TO GV GOL

. .
.
Qeiov
o-avrov
J>
xiL 2
Souls
T&V e% Eavrov
xii
eppvqfco-
K.
aTT&xerevfievcov.
:
tXeco?
TG>
viii.
/c.
23 Ovrco <yap K. Oeoôp-qros 6 8ia/3i&vai. " ica-ra Tavrh 6e&. vessel of God (cf. 2: Ivovopos 6e<). xii. 26: o e/cd<7Tov *>oOs Ocos
exeidev cppvytcev.
(Cf)
THE PBOBLEM OF MONOPSTCHISM
ANALYSIS
6.
"
Solidarity of Soul-nature ; all " " has inlet at will (Emerson).
"
from voepbv
to
which
man
7.
Averroism and its problems; "how can " fied with this ahen portion of God ?
the true self be identi-
6. We have now to consider (1) the strange problem of Monopsychism already hinted at; and (2) the ultimate destiny of the (so-called) individual soul
after
death.
souls
We
TO
note
set
the
"indifference"
in
viii.
of
other
men's
clearly
forth
56:
T&
TTpoatperiKcp
aid<f>opov
flesh.
60-T6Z/,
Kal yap
TOU TrTvqa-iov nrpoaLperiKov just as his tiny vital force and poor el OTU fjid\i<rTa aXX?}Xo>i/ evetcev yeyo-
DESTINY OF MAN'S SPIRIT

vapev
%et,.
205
0f6G>9
ra
Tjyefjbovifca
Here, as
is
we saw
;
f^M&v eicaarov ryv I8av tcvpicw above, the independence of each
soul
Still,
maintained
iva
eir
aXX> $
TO
/AG
54
My/cert,
t
JAQVOV
cru^velv
T$
iravra
aept,
Nopw.
/c.
aXM 77877 K trvpippovew r& irepieôvri Ov yap fjrrov voepa vvap*is Trdvrri
fj
*ra>
SLaireôirrjKe avaTrvevcat,.
State,
T& vitavai
iv.
Svva/j,evq>
is
iJTrep
f)
29.
from the
TTJV
an offshoot separated IStav tyv)(f]v TTJS T&V "hoyi/c&v

:
He
El TO voepbv qfuv KOII/^K, iv. 4 airocr^L^fov fuas oi5(7^5. fcaO* o %v El . , . TOUTO, K. \o<yi/coi ecrpev KOIÔJ. Xo7o?
K. 6 VOJJLOS
/eowo?' el TOVTO, iro\lrai lo-fiev

e.
...
TOUTO
Koo-fAos &<rdveL iro\^
the
progressive 'E/ceWev Se IK TT)? tcowrjs T<wn?9 TroXeo)?,

ic.
(the intermediate steps of are Syllogism unimportant). .

.
.
K.
avrb TO
Noepbv
\oyiKov
K. VOJJLIKOV
f)fuv
<wo-7re^
y&p TO
TO Qeppov /c. S^ A:. TO Nocp^M
?}fcet,
irodev.
This
doctrine
fojoi/
is
40
Trjv
V29 eV
expressed in general terms, TOV KOO-JJLOV, fniav over Lav K.
iv.
fiiaK
7T%ov, a-vvex&s einvoelv, K. 7769 6/9 aZtrO'qo'lv rovrov irdvra avaSiSoTai, K. TT&$ opjj,fj pia irdvra
.
. .
K. old Tfc9 $ a-vvvrjo'is K. c-vjjbfitfpvcrt,? (" the and concatenation of the web")- Man has thus an "inlet" at pleasure into the rational element, as Emerson might say, into the Over-Soul;
7rpda-<ret,
contexture
but this section implies that the privilege is but rarely How then can we claimed, and but seldom exercised.
reconcile this with the statement of absolute identity ; such as is affirmed in some of the previous citations,
and appears with

example,
ix.
certitude in the later
Books?
"
For
"
What
could well be more
Averroistic
206
than this?
:
MARCUS AURELIUS
ex(to use an inaccurate but convenient ra El? aXo<ya %&a fua î>%?7 SiypyTar pev pression) eh Be ra \o^/ca jua voeph pe/Mep&arai,, axrTrep K. jua 777 e<rrt,v aTravrav r&v <yea>$a>v K. evl $a>rl op&pev
^v^
:
" The Soul distributed (E. depa avaTrveopev. animals is one, and so too the Soul irrational the among instinct with mind, that is portioned out among the
ic.
va
rational
just as earth is one in all things earthly,
the light one by which
we
39
:
see, the
air
one
and which
71-777775
we
breathe.")
Again,
a>5
ix.
^Hroi\
airo fuas
eTrwvpjBaiveL (" [Either] All things spring from a single source possessed of mind, and combine and fit together as for a single
<rd>paTt,
voepas Trdvra
hi
body.")
Although cast in the form
of
Marcus clearly here sets forth his personal faith. another statement of alternatives, ijrot, o-fceSacr^
fj
an alternative, In
. .
.
T/307T97 (x. 7),
is
not clear
he uses absorptionist language but it whether he here wishes to express the

,
resumption of the logical as well as the physical part of his nature; though, as he cannot Delude, he may well be supposed to include &<yre K. ravTa ava\t]^ 6r\vai 66? TQV TOV o\ov Aoôv elVe KCLTCL vrepioSov
eKTTVpovpevov
Similarly
sir*
at&iot,?
ap,oi,f3aZ<s
14,
he
speaks
of
T$
avaveovpevov. Trdvra
7. xii. 2. The souls are, as we saw, spoken of as flowing forth from G-od, like the several channels all owing origin to some fount or lake (ef eavrov 26, e/ceidev -just as eppwjtcora and aTray^revp.eva),
eppvq/ee.
So in
xii.
32 apportionment
of tiny piece
time, substance, soul, to each, TTOO-TOZ/ Se rf)$ 0X779 ovo-ia? (aTro/JtefjbepKrrat, efcd<rrq>) ; TTOCTTOI/ Se TT}^ 0X975
of
;
where he seems
to include the vwific
and the

intelligent principle
;
207
though it might be maintained that he meant the former alone, and that for the z/ofi?, he
reverted
the old legend of a guardian angel, set each by Zeus, a distinct being, /cvpiw ow; but other passages display impartially the other and So it becomes difficult to see how contradictory view.
to
apart to
man, this very 1/01)9, which can be povov Kvplas <rov ; especially (0eo?), find these words at the close of the book 30: we if *Ev <fc>9 r}\iov Kav BtelpyrjraL To/ôts ope<rt,v
(xii.
3) the third element in
is itself
God
M/a
ovcria
pvpioi,?.
piypa<j)aL<;.
KOWT) KOW SieipfyTjrat, !Sio>s Mia ^1^77 K&V <{>va(rt, S. pvpiais
K.
Mta voepa tyv%f) tc&v SiaK6fcpi(r8(U
the rest of things though one in origin are avaia-BijTa and avoucei&r a\\rjKou$ ; they are held together by the Central Principle (TO voovv) and by
Soicfj.
"
Now
7rl ravra f$pWov\ Aiavot,a Se iBtcos gravitation (! TO 7rl TO OfjLO<pv\ov TGivercLi K. (TvviGTaTai K. ov Sieipryercu
TO KOLV&VIKOV TraBos (instinct of association or com-
munity cannot be held
apart)."
But
this is
clearly
a Counsel of Perfection, in a better world; it is not Marcus' concrete experience, which tells him that he
has
nothing in
all.
common with
all
other
men
except
sympathy and compassion,

quited after
on his side and unre-
(D) IMMORTALITY
ANALYSIS
8.
Close
connexion with preceding problem of individ. and Timvers. soul; whether souls survive or not, indifferent to
moral duty.
9.
Soul " capax seterni" but not therefore eternal; world's interest to dissolve and rearrange; extinfaon or transference*
208
MARCUS AURELIUS
would have" (=a
10. (Texts illustrating his doubt of personal survival) 11. Pessimistic scorn of Immortality.
12.
"If
the gods could have bestowed
it,
they
complete justification
13.
and
Theodîcy).
Marcus, however
Powers.
8.
sceptical, feels
himself safe with the Higher
The same problems as
to the relation of indi-
vidual and universal Soul wait around the question of It is interesting to notice that of these Immortality.
ultimate
and
metaphysical
points,
"God,
freedom,
the Stoic pronounced ex cathedrd upon immortality/' the second alone. Certainty, except in the one fact of moral liberty, was no part of the later Stoical develop-
ment. Every question is posited as an alternative; whether the world is ruled by Providence, or whether there is a mere "Welter" (/cv/cecoz/), cannot possibly concern my nature, which as rational and self-determining can only find the end of its being in moral action. 1 So, whether Souls survive or not, affects in no Like degree my principles (SoypaTa) of life's duties. Kant, Seneca Epictetus and Marcus seem to agree
in
subordinating
speculative
certainty;
the
practical
problem was no problem to them. to this was probably the same in all
And
;
the stimulus
a quite personal
or instinctive prejudice in favour of a course of conduct for which the arguments are by no means conclusive.
Kant
preferred to talk loftily of "Duty" (whatever meaning he attached to the idea); while the Eoman philo-
sophers, with Hellenic sobriety

1
and self-centred common

(" All's well with the 14 (quoted in full elsewhere),
ix.
28
Td
& "O\w
dicTj, ftii
efre Q4os,
eff
têt irdvra,
xii.
world")
etre
rb
Kal
<n> efct^.
el 0up/t6s dvTjyefMvevroS) doytejê 8n rototfry /cXi/5ow which may be a sublime defence, ffavrf TWO, vow Tjye/jutviKfo,
&
aMs
ij
^
is
but
very
illogical.
209
sense, preferred to speak of the pleasantness and the peace of this loyalty. But the rejection of Eudaemortism
implies a fallacy
and there
is
speaking,
all
systematizers
of
no doubt schemes
that,
roughly
are
of
" So the convinced that Honesty is the best policy." cogency of the appeal, in favour of conduct devoted to the common good, remains independent, irrespective
of
Duty
is
And that the settlement of speculative questions. for upon this weightiest point of human well
;
immortality, Marcus
indeed, his testimony
makes no definite pronouncement is more than impartial, it is
almost but not quite negative. 9. In one of the very earliest passages on the v. 32, we find its capacity for comprehending Soul " " eternal things and the rfc beginning and the end
;
oZv ^rv^rj evre^xyo^

faithful
K.
K.
îria-njfjuov ;
("
who then
is
that
and wise servant?") ^ "SvZa ap^rjv K. reXo? TOP Si o\i)$ rfj$ overlap Sitf/eovra Aoyov (the Season
K.
that pervades all things)
$ia
"
Travro?
rov
al&vos
Kara vrepioSov? TeTwypivas

it
is
oi/covofiovvra TO Ilav.
Now
the peculiar teaching of all and modern, that the human Soul
;
Averroists," ancient is dignified with the
knowledge of everlasting truth but that this constitutes no argument for believing in the bestowal of an abiding consciousness on the spirit so honoured. Sometimes all
the language of personal immortality is employed with unconscious ambiguity, merely to convey the fact that Soul here has insight into abstract mathematical truth,
Constantly pre(so-called) moral ideas. with the thought of approaching death and occupied the vanity of human life, Marcus is continually reassuring himself that there is nothing terrible in dissolution, as the debt of Nature, in harmony with
into
and
210
MARCUS AURELIUS
it
by altering and rearranging atoms, and thus brings birth of new From this law creatures from the death of others. ? Ti obv v. 33 why should man alone claim exemption en TO evravda /careôv ; sensibles and sense are unreal and fallacious avrb Se TO tyvyapiov avaQvpiadw d<f> Has he forgotten in this materialism the al/jLaro?.
:
the world's interest; as
freshens itself
high
affinity
claimed for
spirit
or
is
this
not to
The include the sublimer element set free by death ? moral is trepîve^v fXe rrjv ewe apâiy elre fiei-dorao-iv
("serenely to await the end, be it extinction or trans3 Death is the great leveller. vi. 24: mutation' ). (Alexander and his stable-boy on a par) tfroi jap
Tov KOG/AOV
el<s
o"7Tep/j> artKov<s
ra<$
aro/jLOv?
the
Stoic and the Epicurean account ; it is difficult to see wherein consists the superiority of first over second.
So vii 3 2
ivGMris, TJTOi o-p^cris
Hepl davdrov r) cr/ceSao-fJio^ el otTo/ôt, el S' ^ jjtcTdoraoris. vii. 50 After quoting

|| ||
with approval Euripides' " Ghrysippus," Growth of earth returns to earth ; Seeds that spring of heavenly birth
To heavenly realms anon revert
-ToOro StaXucrt9
r&v
ev Tat9 aTOjLtot? avrefj,7r\oic&v,-fc. roiovro? Tt9 (r/copTTKr/jibs r&v aTraO&v o-Totê/a)^ (" dissolution of the atomic
combinations and consequent scattering of the impassive Here Marcus is a complete Lucretian elements")for the nonce. vi 28. Death ends not merely sensation
and
appetite, but
is
also
avdiravha
Stavoi]Tiicij<s
"searchings of thought" suggests, perhaps, to a casual reader, rather the ceasing of anxiety than the extinction of conscious thought
SiegoSov,
vii.
where
Bendall's
altogether, which I take to be Marcus' meaning. 10. First let us note Marcus' consistent dualism

of substrate
:
211
and cause (evvkov
amwSe?,
tr
or as here,
Hav
ovarici)
TO evv\ov evafavlêrai, rdîcrra rfj r&v re. irav dinov ei? rov r&v O\&v Aoyov
aTroXapfidveTat,,
r)
and we cannot doubt that
is
included in atria.
the
(R
"
:
every cause
Reason.")
<rov
fj
is
quickly
reassumed into
TO Trveuparlov
Universal
viii.
25
Se?7<ret rjTOL o-KcSao-OTJj/ai

*rj
TO crvyKpifLdnov
/c.
crpcaOfjvai
d\\a%ov tcarara'xjdrjvai. ("Either your mortal compound must be dispersed into its Atoms, or else the breath of life must be extinguished, or be transmuted and enter a new
fjt,6Ta<rTfjvat
1
order.")
10.
We may note
that
it
is
just possible to give

here,
a slightly
more personal and hopeful meaning

;
though, on the whole, I believe Dr. Kendall's translation " transferred to another command, gives the true sense
and be
paring
of
set
life
on duty in another sphere." iii. 3. Comto a voyage, and marvelling at the reluctance
;
passenger to disembark, although he has reached his

rt
destination
$K/37)ffi,.
ravra ;
9
<f>
ev6/3i)$
eTrXeuo-a?
Kar^Q^
icevov
El
Se
pv
ev
eTpoi> PICK, ovSev
Oe&v
. .
ovSe
.
avexpnevo? 58 lends XaTpezW. To this possible interpretation C O rov Qdvarov tyopovpevo?, TJTOI, some countenance
:
eicei*
el
CLvai^Qîa
Travarf
dvaia-Qqa-iav
oft/cert,,
<f>o/3eirai,
f)
a^Qîv
ala-dtfarj
erepoiav.
("
'-4XX' e?T6
ovSe
fcatcov
TWOS
no pain in death,
for it implies extinction of percipience," the teaching eire d\\oiorepav of all the Dissolutionists)
;
Herbert Spencer in his latest work, Facts and Comments: "What becomes of consciousness when it ends* We can only infer that it is a specialized and individualized form of that Infinite and Eternal Energy which transcends both our knowledge and our imaginaCf.
and that at death its elements lapse into the ; Energy whence they were derived."
tion
Infinite
and Eternal
212
MARCUS AURELIUS
a\\oiov %<pov
may mean mere
rov l$v ov Travtry. This vital of the energy into transmigration

e<ry
/c.
;
other animals' bodies
or it
may imply
is
continuance of
the consciousness.
("If sensation
it is
changed in kind,
will not cease to
you
will be a
changed creature,
(with
and
live.")
But though
passage
we have
3) the most decided a survival of someyet encountered,

iii.
thing in another phase of existence,
we may
certainly
wonder that, with his peculiar theories, he chooses the low word cucffijo-f,? to express that in man which rises I will merely quote ix. 36: TO superior to death! with Oasaubon irvevpariov) ctXXo rcuoOjrvevpcLTLKov (? the vital or rov ex Tovratv efc ravra [Mera/3d\\ov from flits to body body, quickening pneumatic current now one, now another of these congeries. That the
:
whole
merely implies the indestructibility, as of matter, so of vital force, receives weighty "Hrot, <yap o-KcSao-fjL&s x. 7 confirmation from our next.
series of passages
:
25) ff Tpo-irf) TOV pev <TTpefj,vLOv 6^9 TO <yea>9 TO) Se Trvevpariicov (here Casaubon is silent) els TO aepeSSe?* &<rre K. ravra faa,\i\$Qr\vcu 6i? rov rov oKov Aoyov (whether it suffer
c'TOL'xeicov
ef
&v
Gvvetcpi6r}v (so viii.
at stated intervals or renew its youth with perpetual change). He continues significantly and in quite a modern spirit. E. " Do not regard the solid or the pneumatic elements as a natal part of being they are but accretions of yesterday or the day Now clearly before, derived from food and respiration." in such a passage he says nothing about the 1/01)9 or
"Ragnarok"
the Aaipav (whether as identical or distinct).

vovs without this material envelope
Perhaps
and
vital current
to which it is strongly attached, loses all and sinks back, mere logical abstract
its definiteness,
truth, into
the

reservoir of Universal Mind.
xi.
213
"
:
for the soul
ready,
when the war

Sep TOV
!
of
dissolution
comes (eav rfa

or dispersal,
crvfAfAelvai).
7]
diroXuMji/ai
crco/taro?), for extinction,

<rpe<r0YJi'cu
97
or survival
xii.
(TITOL
criceSacrOfji/cu
that you near the end, leaving all else alone, you reverence only your Inner Self and the God within, if you will fear, not life sometime
1
:
"
If,
then,
now
coming to an end, but never beginning life at all in accord with Nature's Law," and (/c. ftrj TO TravcreaOac
TTOTe
TOV
^r\v
foPydys, a\\a TO 76 pqîjrore

%fjv)
ap%a<rda,i,
icara
$vaiv
clear
instance
of
the
Kantian
indifference of
Moral Duty
31. E.
:
to speculative certitude,
but without the comfort of the postulates.

11.
existence
sation,
xii.
?
"Why
hanker for
continuous
(re err^Tefc TO
t,a<yive(rQai, ;)
Is it for sen-
desire,
?
growth
or, again, for
speech, utterance,
thought
Which
of these
(TL TOVTCOV Trodov <roi
seems worth the craving ? $otcel If each and all of &%iov ;)
these are of small regard (^vKara^>pov^ra\ address yourself to the final quest, the following of reason and of
aXh>a fjidêrac TO ripav ravra, TO a^decrOai el To honour Sia TOV TeOvqicevai o-Teptfo-eTat, TW avr&v.
God."
these things of earth, and to repine because death deprives 1 us of them, is inconsistent with this true end of life.
In conclusion, I come
in
to
two rather lengthier

is
sections,
iv.
which the problem

approaches
"
:
of souls
considered:
"
21.
"
He
difficulty
If
Scholastic quaint and souls survive death, how is the air
rather
spacious
earth
1
enough
Stafjuevova-w
them from all eternity " at ^vâl KT\.). How," we reply,

to hold
"
?
(el
"
does
hold the bodies of generation after generation
TaOra must refer to the list of human faculties and not to the Adyos and Beds just before, even if the construction were grammatical.
214
MARCUS AURELIUS
Just as on earth, after a committed to the grave? certain term of survival (77^09 ?\vrwa eTTLotapovrjv), change and dissolution of substance makes room for other dead bodies (pGraftoKy K. $t,d\v<ri$) so, too, the of a air after into transmuted survival, period souls, change by processes of diffusion and ignition, and are
;
resumed into the seminal principle

in this
way make room

TTOCTOV
els
for
"
of the universe, and others to take up their
habitation in their stead

. .
(eh rov depa peQwrdpevat,

fiera!3d\\ov(rt, K. ftkovrai
e/
7rl
crujULjuLeâo-ai
/c.
e^dfrrovrai
rov
.
.
r&v
.
O\G>v
crTrep/jLan/cbv
Aoyov
avahap/Savopevat,
"
irapk'xpvari).
%e0paz> rat? 7T/>oo-<n;z/ot/aoêz>a49
Such
is
survival of Souls,
e<f>'
inro0eori,
the natural answer, assuming the rov ra9 ^v%a9 Siaptvew."
and settles with a logical answer a purely logical conundrum but ft may be noted " that even in the more favourable hypothesis," as he
is
He
strictly impartial here,
terms
it,
the souls of the righteous only last a short time,

;
and soon melt and dissolve into the Universal Eeason " here at least Marcus is plainly Averroistic." 12. The final and by far the most important (and
disappointing) passage is xii. 5 gods, who ordered all things well looked this one thing that some
:
"
How
and
is
it
that the
men
lovingly, overelect in virtue
(having
kept
enjoyed intimate
and sacred renew their
the divine, and communion therewith by holy act ministries) should not, when once dead,
close
?
covenant
with
being, but be utterly extinguished

ical
"
(Hw9
Trore Ttavra /ca\&$ K. <iXav0pa>7rG>9 Si,ara!;dvr$ ol Oeol
re.
rovro povov 7rapi8ov, TO evtovs 7r\ei<rra 777)09 TO delov &a"rrep

Trl
Travv xptja-rov?
<rv/jij36\aia
Oe^vov^
/c.
irXeia-rov Si
epyav oai&v
K.
iepovpyi&v <rvvydei? To3

yive<rdat,,
it
215
aX\'
6^9
TO Travrekes
direcrpifjKei/ai;)
"If, indeed,
be sure, had it been better otherwise (erepa>$ Were it fyeiv ISej), the gods would have had it so. would it be likewise it Were possible. right, according
be
so,
to nature, nature
BucaiOK fjv, ?]V
would have brought it to pass " (el <yap av tc. Wct-roy, K. el Kara <f>vcrLV, rjv&yfcev av
9
avrb
not
f]
$vcrt9.
E/c Se TOV
its
it
ouTW9 exet),
so,
"
From
be assured
TO
ovra>9 eêw, eihrep ofy /AT) not being so, if as a fact it is ought not so to be (7ri<rTov<r6a>
"
&ef)crcu KT\.).
Do you
not see that in hazardjustice

"
(ov/c
ing
such questions
?
you arraign the
of
God
av
(Sucat,o\oyfi)
Nay, we
could not thus reason with the
gods but for their perfectness and justice
yp&'rjfj.evov
OVTG) $t,e\6y6fjieda rofc êoi?, el (JLTJ apia'TOc K. 1 El Se TOUTO, OVK av Ti. irepielbov aStrc&s elcriv). " ev
K.
a
this it
r&v
ry
Sia/cocr/jLtf<rt
And from
follows that they never would have allowed any unjust or unreasonable neglect of parts of the great order."
This
is perhaps the most striking passage in the whole book, and demands now some consideration. 13. must not press down Marcus to a dogmatic
We
;
statement
stance.
"
he
is
goodness at
all cost
only concerned to vindicate the Divine and under any condition or circum-
Whatever
may
be, it shall not interfere

it
whether
experience or discovery in life with this belief of mine, be instinctive or a scholastic maxim, learnt
my
by heart
at the beginning of
my
career."
How
nobly
!
irrational is this prejudice in favour of a School thesis There is no foundation for his belief except the formal
1 Implying, I suppose, that we are indebted to them (1) for the faculty of criticizing reason, by which we can ungratefully impeach the Cosmic Process ; (2) for their patience and long-suffering, by which they listen without anger to our murmurs.
2i6
MARCUS AURELIUS
;
syllogism of the Porch, by which you could prove anything and be none the wiser and (here is the really redeeming feature) an unassailable personal conviction
which has come

religious faith,
to
him
in spite of the
"
philosophic reflexion, that
God
is
gloomy issue of his Here is gracious."
very vague and very much entangled in " a whole mass of pantheistic credenda," but sincere, the with vital. And, authentic, right instinct of the
God's almightiness to His goodness ; perhaps the gods could not recall a of This is implicit in the death." man from the gates So J. S. Mill willingly central part of the section.
Christian,
sacrifice
he will at once
"
meaningless dogma of infinite power, because thereby he arouses the strongest emotion, the most redoubtable propaganda in the world of men,
less
abandons the more or
the spirit of chivalrous loyalty to a cause not yet won. Or, again, we may suppose that the gods are but the
subordinate ministers and satellites of the Twiceus, and that Nature antecedes their loving providence by a
stern fiat separating the possible from the impossible. " Whichever it may be, Marcus clearly feels himself " safe in the hands of the higher powers. His reasoning is absurd to the last degree not a single important word in the paragraph could retain its customary sense if he is allowed to argue in that stiff and formal manner every definition evaporates into thin air. But who are we, to
; ;
judge another man's faith, or penetrate into the sacred recesses of the inner temple ? Suffice it that in this last great trial Marcus was tested in the furnace of God's abandonment, and was not found wanting so
;
unshaken was his

character over
philosophic creed.
belief, so
the
triumphant his heart and coldness, the inadequacy, of his
217
(E) BELIEF IN IMMORTALITY ESSENTIAL TO THE LOGICAL THEORY, IF NOT TO THE PURSUIT, OF MORALITY
ANALYSIS
14.
He
preaches the very reverse of

"
;
a,
current belief to-day,
mortahty without Religion

15.
incalculable
" ima effect of scientific
proof of Thanatism. To-day, for half the human race, there is no God, but unquestionable belief in survival (on this morality can be based, not on a barren Theism).
14.
But there
is
another and
still
more interesting
Marcus contemplates question that this section raises. " with calmness, EELIGION WITHOUT IMMORTALITY." Today there is some prospect of the exact reverse,
So Completely has the standpoint changed belief in the survival of the conscious spirit is, I believe, absolutely essential,
!
"IMMORTALITY
WITHOUT EELIGION."
if
of morality.
not to the practice, at least to the reasonable pursuit Morality in the main is instinctive, and
little
depends very
on ethical teaching
indeed, the
ethical teacher feels himself always stepping on the thin " " ice of the sceptical inquiry, must I do right ? or
Why
the volcanic
fires of
passionate anarchy.
But I readily
1 Dr. Rendall has a very interesting sentence, cvii., on Marcus* Thanatism, though, as I have explained, I cannot recognise the parallel ; " Just as the devout Christian will in his cvii. : self-communings face the moral corollaries consequent on a denial of the Resurrection or of a future life ; so, too, Marcus will entertain and test the consequences of postulates to which he himself gives no assent." It seems clear that in " the second case (though not necessarily in the former) the word " moral It would either imply an would cease to bear its Kantian sense. arbitrary law of a tyrant who had called us from animalism to tease and tantalize us with illusions and pains or the convention of society, which might or might not remain binding in practice, though in theory it
;
would be
could measure human
indefensible, in the complete absence of any standard life and its hopes and self-devotion.
which
2i8
MARCUS AURELIUS
allow that morality is independent of a belief in a Moral behaviour, which personal Creator and Judge. 1 resists the solvent of atheism, could not possibly con1
How
completely independent the moral sanction

:
is
of
ph ofiv ^SouXetfany theological presupposition, is seen in vi. 44 travTO vepl tyov K. TWV fyoi trvîjvat. <30eiX6pra> (particular Providence) It is not easy, even for a moment, to imagine a tcaXws ^SovXerfo-apro. 2 god to be (SjSouXos, and for what cause should they want to harm me ... But if their providence was not special, but general^ all follows in the unbending course of things, and I must be content (cL<rird eaOat, K. a-Ttpyew But there is yet a third possibility, the Epicurean hypothesis, <50eXw).
el
Marcus' eye
&
&pa 7Tpl
/MijSfros fiovKevbvrcu. (mffTeteiv
ptv ofy foiov).
B,.
{ *
:
If,
indeed, they take
no thought foi anything at all, an impious creed, then let us have done with sacrifice and prayer and oaths and all other " observances by which we own the presence and the nearness of the gods (ws irpbs irap6vTas K. <7u/xj8towras rods 0eotfs, going in and out amongst But if; after all, they take no thought for any concern of ours, us). then is man thrown back upon himself ; ifiol pkv |e<m irepl tyavrov
t/ju>i 6' <TK^L$ irepl rov ffv/j.QtpovTOs (which, of course, is interpreted in wider sense the weal of smaller or greater commonwealth,
povKetietrBat.
&m
promoted by
?7retra tin
social activity
and
religious quietism).
x. 6.
Bfre
&TOJJ.OL
etre <&tf<ns, irpQrov KelffQw Sri ptpos
dpi rov "OXou
^Trd îJoêws SLOIKOV/JL&OV*
^w
TTWS otKetus irpbs rb, oôyevTJ
/i^pi?.
(R.
" Be the word
atoms, or be it nature's growth, stand assured, first, that I am a part of the whole at nature's disposition (?) , secondly, that I am related to all
my
we
kindred parts.") Certainly 0tf<reaj$ is odd ; an alternative is propounded, and its solution pronounced immaterial, or at least subsequent and secondary to certain immovable axioms ; and yet, on closer survey,
find these reposing
upon acceptance of one hypothesis
(as in the
where the very word under discussion creeps stealthily into its own definition I). Nor does the suggestion SioiKotifievos help us much, though clearly a man might recognise a sort of purpose or end in his own nature, while refusing to see in the world without anything but the play of accidental and unconscious forces. Marcus is not one of such dualists ; in the reason within he sees irrefragable testimony to the ordering mind without, though he carefully fortifies himself against the other contingency. For ethics must be absolutely emancipated from presupposition, must depend solely on a man's consciousness, sense of
Thecetetus,
the fitting, artistic proportion (as in so much of Hellenic morality), exhaustion of all other remedies for the restlessness and pangs of life
(ireirelpcurai irocra. irXavrjOels
').
219
The whole attitude front the certainty of dissolution. to life would be so transformed that a new series of
maxims or suicidal appeals would arise to moral certainty, that man was an animal who had gone astray from Eden, cursed with the last terrible imprecation of a secret but malignant power, that faculty in us which halves our in a word, rational and doubles our pains. The civic code of pleasures and convention reciprocity would struggle respectable conviction this and fanaticism or superin vain against
eudaemonistic
this
meet
stition alone could reconstruct the shattered fabric of
society, or
mount guard over the
security of the
weak
and the rights of private property. Nay, the popular voice, always on the side of conservatism and approved friends, might rise in angry and indignant clamour
against those shorteners of life as they dealt their hope tumult followed the elimination of eleven a deathblow.
days
what might we not expect
to be the fate of the
scientist
of the
who
?
could disprove beyond a doubt the survival
Soul
is the point of interest this is quite regarding the matter in historic probability. The signs of the times, the arguments of the wise, the eager curiosity of society, are all telling the other way.
15.
But here
unlikely,
The massive weight of cumulative democratic testimony heavy in the balance for nearly half the human race there is no God, but the soul is indestructible, creating its own recompense, passing verdict on itself, shaping
is
;
its
It is quite conceivable that man's unending destiny. may be immortal, but that there is no power in the universe (beyond the unknown and unconscious ground) to which the name of God and the attributes A Society founded on of religious worship can apply.
Soul
220
MARCUS AURELIUS
we
see in the Buddhistic
the one hypothesis

of
community
nihilistic or
sympathy and compassion, by no means

;
unethical there is nothing in such tenets to countenBut ance rebellion or the overthrow of the moral law. a Society founded on the sense of the unreality of what
Soul, the illusion of personality, is not only inconceivable, it is contrary to the experience of all
we term
human
his
so but he wrote not have he could to comfort himself; expected that

history.
:
Marcus did not think
arguments could appeal as rational or sober to any His of his contemporaries, or to the average man. subjective resignation comes of strongest faith, which his intellectual scepticism cannot overthrow.
APPENDIX
ANALYSIS
A.
definite pronouncement or even unmistakable tendency; only concerned to show morals ^s indifferent to such speculations. B. No metaphysic, only a doghke fidelity to Duty (he wavers between
No
0.
No
physical fatalism and rehgôri). doubt fas ultimate personal hope; "the soul released would
rejoin the
gods"
A. I cannot, I fear, entirely assent to Dr. Kendall's interpretation of the Emperor's views on Immortality, -which is the ultimate problem. To me lie is not the dogmatist in science
or theology which his translator believes. The sometimes interminable series of "seu" or "sive" in Roman poets, the
heaping-up of possible explanations of phenomena (such as the Nile's rising), without giving any view or opinion priority, seems to point to a wholesome suspension of judgment thus

prevalent,
/cooy*.os,
221
and to find its counterpart in the T/TOI which recurs so often in these commentaries with
tr
its
pendant
<r#cri9
CITC
peracrracris.
I quite agree that
"death, wherever he has occasion to give clear and simple
own thoughts, is always a dissolution of being, the end of action, impulse, will, or thought, that terminates every human activity and bounds our brief span
utterance to his
that
is
of life with an Eternity that contains neither hint nor hope nor dread of further conscious being," ii. 11, 12, ix. 21,
29, xii. 35, with the single reserve that "is always" is I will also grant read, "is represented in many passages." that (1) the Stoic system with its odd and disconnected
x.
that Marcus ; (2) and the exceeding futility and barren domain conferred on the Soul, is, like many mystics and most Asiatics, indifferent to continued But I do not think a definite and dogmatic probeing. nouncement can be elicited from a comparison of passages. I could never endorse statements so sweeping as " His own " belief is that death ends sensation," cvii In his own conviction Marcus nowhere seems to waver," cvi. "The denial of the hope of immortality is settled and complete," cix.
individualism
is
strangely silent on this topic

his contempt of life
himself, with
all
"His
is
attitude to
Atomism
cv.
or to the 'future state
of the Soul
sound and coherent,"

<r/3c'(ns
For
let
us apply the same canon
to the constant hypothesis of alternative
the
17
fLTaoracri$.
KVKWV y KOO-/AOS as to Kendall believes that the belief in
an Ordered Universe is absolute ; though Marcus often plays with the opposite theory, and points it to show that it is If so, the <r/3ecr(.s may indifferent in its effect on morals.
equally (as the most emphatic declaration of Thanatism) represent a possibility which he nevertheless regards with no favour; and //.crao-racris, as I have pointed out, may quite
conceivably imply a new sphere of activity, a new rearrangement, a new part. But my own view is that both these are
in the
same category; they are
really alternatives in
both
222
cases.
MARCUS AURELIUS
His whole concern is to show the independence and autonomy of the moral judgment His scientific or dogmatic knowledge is always cast in this sceptical form. He quite sufficiently guards himself from any definite decision. " B. To use the word " conviction in any context but the
moral sense, is misleading. By all means, his predilection is for an ordered world, the existence of gods, even their provifor a Soul,
dential care, if not of particular, at least of general laws ; and a reassumption into that reservoir of Soul-life
which we connect with the term " Averroism "). But he certainly will not dogmatize , he has passed through and abandoned the phase of eager science ; he grasps in his
(a helief
intellectual survey not the uses
but the vanity of things ; meanness when analysed into their elements ; his <j>v(noXoyia, is moral and reacts on self, not scientific and He has in effect no metaphysic ; only a dog-like objective. allegiance to this inward sense of duty, which has spoilt his life, setting him on a peak of loneliness aloof from earthly pleasures and amiable illusions, away from his fellow-men.
their incredible
And
those one day, gathering round his dying bed, will say, " " Now we have got rid at last of our pedagogue He does not see that his indifference to such questions (if it was not
!
reservedly good,"
assumed), his emphasis on the "good will alone being unplaces him for the ordinary man in a
position utterly illogical. a principle? The "final
unswerving loyalty to of the triumph right," or any "faroff divine event," are meaningless phrases to this apostle of the "Eternal Now." I quite admit the instinctive courage
Why
this
and self-devotion of a martyr to a cause, say, the regenera" in tion of mankind through Nihilism, sure and certain hope,"
as Tourguenieff so pathetically describes, of personal ruin here and extinction hereafter. But idealism (as emotion and
a wager of hardihood or defiance) will do wonders in reinforcing the moral instinct (as the craving for martyrdom); and Marcus had no trace of this. The " good soul " may very

likely vanish,
O7rov&7j 9
223
and be as if it never had been. (ovBap,ov y the invariable loophole of evasion.) And there is no cause at all in the world for men to fight for ; everything is
monotonous, and predestined before
all
at once divine,
the
ages
to struggle is impious in the theologic, useless in the
scientific sphere.
" There remain passages," says Dr. Kendall,
" in which other views are broached, and which some have as a back on hope, inconsistent with his wavering interpreted
philosophic creed." To my eyes this is precisely the significant feature of the book; the contest between this religious and
this materialistic we fatalistic conception of the Universe.
(7.
His profound
belief in
Divine interposition in the
lives
of individuals (see i. 17, "help vouchsafed by dreams") is not only clearly stated in the commentaries, once or twice,
but
all his correspondence with Pronto. sparingly here, because his mind wants reinforcing against the doubts and suspicion of the world and its goodness, creeping in through the "joints of his Stoical harness,"
is
corroborated in
it
He
uses
which assuredly he seems sometimes not "to have proved." His real weapons, his few pebbles for slaying giant Despair, certainly come from no intellectual armoury, but from the early training, the immovable conviction and insight of a I loving and sympathetic nature, great in spite of his creed. conceive that ultimately Marcus believed that the soul of the wise joined the gods, whatever meaning he attached to this
Christians to-day recognize the extreme hazard expression. of defining a future life; some desire eternal rest; some
continued work, to be "ruler over ten cities," or to "sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel"; others
(perhaps a majority of the human race) look upon the extinction of consciousness as a final blessing, too great to be
hastily grasped, but to be patiently won through repeated pangs of rebirth. It is inconceivable that Marcus could have
believed the Kuling Principle, the Inner Self, the God Within, On what could he found the to disperse into thin air.
224
superiority of
MARCUS AURELIUS
Mind
into
man to the beast ? If this colourless absorption again seems but a poor travesty of an immortal He believed hope, let us at least not find fault with Marcus. " " the soul returned to God who gave it ; and not one of us
to-day can say more, rejoined the gods."
"He whom
the gods lent us,
has
CHAPTEK V
THE UNIVERSE, ETERNAL AND DIVINE, AND TRANSIENT AND CONTEMPTIBLE
THE PERPETUAL FLUX AND MONOTONY OF THE
WORLD-PROCESS
1.
Hard
to reconcile his devotion to
of the univetse which embodies
Him
God, and his hate or scorn (how can whole be good
when parts
2.
contemptible
?).
3.
The One Imperishable Nature, loth transient and ever the same } digmty and vanity of the world. His manifold titles (does it betray vacillation from personal
providence
to scientific fatalism
? ).
4.
Texts on the fleeting yet monotonous character of the Cosmic

Process.
1.
DIFFICULT as
is
of
Marcus from
the former
to sever the objective science the subjective survey of his own nature
it is
nevertheless attempt
latter), we must examine with dispassionate detachment his views on the Universe and the Source
(for
but the reflex of the
now
to
see that Marcus, in common with the of Being. greater number of speculators in the second century, is He is only saved by his otiose and at heart a Gnostic. theoretical Monism from the conclusion of St. John
We
(1
John
v.
19
Olâ^v
8e
on
e/c
rov QGOV ea-pev
/c.
226
MARCUS AURELIUS
TO!)
o rco<rpo$ 0X0? ev
Trowripto xeirai)
and
his reverence
for the divine spark,
and
his depreciation of human life nature are distinctly Basilidian or Valentinian,
and
fundamentally
dualistic.
As with man's
soul,
alien
sojourner in a contemptible framework of corruption, It is hard to reconcile so with the Supreme Power.
God with the scorn of the visible Universe In what part of the world, in which embodies Htm. what corner of Nature can He reside, where all is 1 Has he a foothold any more pitiable or disgusting Marcus' consecure in the realm of History or Time 1 is perhaps even more striking than his of Time tempt and yet, by the very terms of his dislike of Matter
the praise of
:
hypothesis,
reigns supreme in both departments, and is so far from merely guiding or superintending a somewhat stubborn and indocile complex, is subMarcus Aurelius is not stantially identical with it. who has thrown the black cloak of first the philosopher a and over militant Monism meaningless array of parThe Canonists of mediaeval times when egoism ticulars. and central was rampant unrestrained, authority or
God
national cohesion
unknown, elevate the pretensions of universal the sovereign of the Christian Republic, or Emperor and the grandeur of their attributes Pope
;
varies in exact proportion to the inefficiency of their control pessimistic disillusion with each fragment
of life
and
to lead
whole
its ideals, love, ambition, knowledge seems surely to an unwarrantable deification of the n the illusion of " Sorites in which at a certain
point the sum of despised particulars becomes somehow Divine. Nothing is more remarkable than the course of that School, which, beginning with rejection of the
"Will-to-live,"
culminates in the mystical resignation
THE UNIVERSE
of
227
Von
Hartmann.
at
instinct
engrained
rebellion
interest
Pietism, like the sympathetic the root of practical morality, is deeply in the heart; while the obvious folly of
lends
to
the
volentem fata
the sanction of utility and personal " creed of acquiescence. Ducunt nolentem trahunt." Only in undis-
1 of the entranced East and ciplined Kussia, borderland are there the stirring West, signs in exceptional natures of
a final
and reasoned rebellion against the Universal order 2. Now Marcus is eloquent alike on the majesty of God and the triviality of the Creature, in the double domain of Time and Space, History and Nature. He enlarges impartially on the transience and the
sameness of the imperishable nature.
He adopts without hesitation the axiom of the early lonians, that the whole process leads to nothing, and is but the ceaseless
arrangement,
original science
combination,
and rearrangement
substrate.
of
an
and
unchanging
With
modern
structible,
he clearly recognizes that matter is indeand that ingredients, whether atoms or some
other primordial unit, after performing their duty in have nothing but one body pass on to other posts.
We
Heraclitus again with his doctrine of the flux of things and the Logos, all pervading, alone the veal ; only tinged with a deeper sadness, an intenser though still re1
We may perhaps here note the extraordinary resemblance of

"Whether
it
Tolstoi
to
Marcus Aurelius.
of evil,
be insistence on moral duty, tolerance ascetic contempt of human love in all its forms, an utter
inability to understand logic or follow an argument, strange and fascinated disgust of the petty details of life, Marcus is but a Tolstoi To the enthroned, Tolstoi a restatement of the inspired pessimist. latter, all forms of legitimate affection are *rap& Qfoiv ; yet the sexual Not for that reason instinct is the tyrant and torturer of the young. does he impugn the order of things, nor examine more closely into the " Nature." redoubtable difficulty of defining
228
strained
MARCUS AURELIUS
of
sympathy with the human, hands groping, the dogmatism of the Schools, after a closer spite and personal relation with the source of all (el apa rye The vanity of things CLVTQV K. evpoiev). tyrj\a$ri<Teiav but we shall attempt is the perpetual theme of Marcus in the following co-ordination of his fragmentary and
;
aphorisms to display how complex is his irreconcilable its parts. how doctrine, 3. The many titles given to this ultimate Being show how confused the Emperor becomes when asked
detached
to
define
devotion
abstract
TTCLVTCL
to
he varies between the extreme limits of a personal God (Zeixt) and the most
Impersonalism.
/COOytO?,
scientific
It
is
TO
yevv&v
97
%&OV, 6 yeW/jCdS
TroXt? At,o$,
TTOXt? K.
TToTUTettt
vrpea-pvTdTri,
0eo9,
0eol,
#007,609
(simply),
Xo<yo9
0X09
or
-97,
#6aY/,05,
generally or with addition \0709 <r7repfjLaTi/c6$, O\T) ov<ria 9 TO 6\oz>, ra o\a, el/jbappevov,
crv<yK\G)0oiJ,evov,
TO
avary/cy,
TO a-vêfjLoipaêvov
y
(expressing itself in
<rvfjL7rvoia,
oifceioT'rjs
8avâa-la
e rjricrvv$ecri<s,
o-vpfJMJpva-ts,
a-vvwrjo-is,
(rvvSeo-is
either absolutely or with KOLVTJ, $
lepa), and T&V o\a*v or
oXov
T&V BG&V irpovoia^ <rvyfc\a)<ri$ K. $V(TI><>, f) T&V irpovoia Sioi/covfiev&v, \6yo$ 6 r& o\a TrdvT&v ^7^, $ TO, o\a Siot/covcra fyvais, fj
,
Atria, TO reKeiov Z&ov, TO wyadov

fca\bv, TO
\d/JL/3avov
SLKCUOV
1
K.
yevv&v
TravTO,
K.
<rvv6%ov
yevetriv
K.
TrepLeôv
K. T-epi,fj
8ia\v6fjLva
6^9
erepcov
o/ioi&v,
i&ova-a K. a7ro\afi/3dvov<ra $vcrw, TO

cbv,
1
TOV
It
"
KO<T/J,OV
is
fj
TOV o\ov Sidvota, TO alTi&Be$.

"
not
Where we wonder vaguely how have crept goodness and justice in as qualifications or attributes of this reservoir of physical life Has he forgotten the wise antithesis of vi. 17 : <f>opal r&i> crrotxefop and
!
THE UNIVERSE
229
permissible to see gradations or stages of divinity ; for the whole hypothesis is that God and the world are At the same one, and that there is but a single cause.
time,
Marcus
(as in
his psychology) is betrayed fre-
He sees visible gods in quently into popular language. the firmament; he recognizes his individual Mentor within as the gift of Zeus ; and he sometimes appears
contemplate, with the possibility of Atomism, a Platonic recession of the Highest from a world which not now in direct relation to Him, but follows is
to
blindly
an immutable sequence. This universe (like God with his two attributes, Thought and Spinoza's one and extension !), though integral as the Parmenidean in reflexion to divide into am&Se$ and sphere, tends vKucov] and we need scarcely add that, like man's
spirit in his body, the higher principle tends to set itself in opposition to the lower, and in the last resort to Indiclaim complete freedom in Transcendentalism.
viduals
in
;
worth
Tw:o9
"
passing soon and little the reality underlying is the ^0709 o-irepfjiaparticular
are
"
which requires consummate powers
of analysis to
be distinguished from the Platonic Idea. The sum of the world is unchanging, and
is
always
new and
1
parts.
1
fresh because of the perpetual shifting of the It is thus a single living being in which each
"
Wordsworth's "Excursion
" The monitor express'd Mysterious union with its native sea. Even such a shell the universe itself
and there are times, ; doubt not, when to you it doth impart Authentic tidings of invisible things Of ebb and flow, and ever-during power ;
Is to the ear of faith I
;
And
central peace, subsisting at the heart
Of endless
agitation."
230
MARCUS AURELIUS
its
part as leaf on tree depends upon the whole and takes meaning and its sustenance from this close con-
To stand aloof and claim independent being is sin, though unhappily (and incomprehensibly) it is possible to man, alone of living creatures. But it is needless and tedious to multiply these obvious corollaries from the Pantheistic hypothesis they are deduced all common to a minds and all ages. 1 by sovereign logic,
nexion,
a gross
For example, Emerson is a more genial Marcus Antoninus, and a but interesting book (the Zevt Q-ewtt by L. Dougall) seems to represent on Canadian soil the same peculiar features of American " Transcendentalism " and Roman Stoicism. In there is a
little
all,
signifi-
cant family likeness quite free from any conscious imitation. Compare Bartholomew Toyner's new vision of the Divine Nature e{ He laughed within himself as he thought what a strange childish notion he had had that God was only a part of things ; that he, Bart. Toyner, could turn away from good ; that God's power was only with him when "With the children and he supposed himself to be obedient to Him
:
'
maidens there were pleasure and hope with the older men and women there were effort and failure, sin and despair. The life that was in all of them, was it partly of God and partly of themselves * He laughed The life that was in them all, was all of God, again at the question His father's cruelty, the irritable selfevery impulse, every act. love, the incapacity to recognize any form of life but his own, it was of God, not a high manifestation the bat is lower than the bird, and yet it is of God. ... He saw that the whole of the Universe goes to " " and the one develop character (Marcus was not so anthropocentnc )j chief heavenly food set within reach of the growing character for its nourishment is the opportunity to embrace malice with love, to gather it in the arms of patience, convert its shame into glory by willing endurance. Man, rising from the mere dominion of physical law (which works out its own obedience) into the Moral Region where a perpetual choice is ordained of God, and the consequences of each
;
. .
Nothing is ever outside of Him ; what happens we have done a thing is just what must happen ... so that we can never hope to escape the good and evil of what we have done ; for the way things must happen is just God's character that never changes. You see the reason we can choose between right and wrong, when a tree can't or a beast, is just because God's power of choice is in us and not in
choice ordained.
.
after
THE UNIVERSE
It only
231
remains to give illustrations of these tenets in the Emperor's own language, and to inquire if any system coherent and compatible with the postulate of
responsible moral action can be therefrom derived.
4. The world as fleeting and yet monotonous. ii. 12: TTW? TrdvTa Taêco? evafavi&Tcu, TO> fcca-pco CLVT&
ra
K.
tc> pvirapa the discovery vcf>0apra part of voepct, &W/U9, thereby set in dualism over against a visible which it despises and cannot control). ii. 14: Kav
crat/jLara
7r&)9
cureX-i}
/c.
evtcarafypovyTa
is
K. veKpa (this
Tpicrîkia
enj
ev
f3ict)<rcr0cu
/c.
fji\\7j<},
etc.
tc.
Trdvra e|
*
a&iov
worepov
ojioeiSf)
eKarov
avaKVK\ovjjiGva, ereaiv fj ev Sta/coa-lois
ovBev
$ia<pepe[,
rj
ev
r&
(This indifference to direipy xpovtp T^ aurc rt? oêrcu. Time or progress is an infallible sign of Mysticism.)
The famous
vTroXrjtyt,?,
(iv.
3)
tc6a-fj,o$
aXXotWir
/3t'o?
which somehow loses its tone of despondency " Ov&ev OVTO> <j>t,\ei 77 r&v iv. 36 in translation. $ycrA9 ft>9 TO ra HVTO, p,GTaf3dXkGiv K. Troielv vea 43 Uora/^09 T69 e/c r&v ywopevcov K. fcGâ
:
:
Al(bv.
^dcrci
v.
T7y9
10
T'
*Ev TOLovrto oZv

K.
o<J>a)
K. K.
pJ
rf)9
K.
oiKTias
r&v
tliem.
rci,vovp,eva)v
(" I
rov %povov can imagine
Kwytre&s
that
K.
nothing
de-
Something of the
secret of all peace
the Mernal
Now
. .
remained with him as long- as the weakness of the injury remained. . His mind was still animated with the conception of God as suffering in the human struggle, but aa the absolute Lord of the struggle ; and the consequent belief that nothing but obedience to the lower motive can be called evil." When returning health forced him to descend from
this lofty air
the
is
God
: came " the soul -bewildering difficulty of believing that of physical law can also be the God of promise ; that He that
within us and beneath us can also be above us with power to lift us ... No one had told him about the Pantheism which obliterates moral distinctions, or told him of the subjective ideal which sweeps
up.
aside material delights."
232
serves
MARCUS AURELIUS
intent
rfjs
high prizing or iro\\dia$ evOvpov TO rdxos
pursuit
K.
").
v.
23:
Trapafopa?
VTregay&yfy
r&v
(
'H
crvve%(ri,
ywo/JLevav (" sweep past and disappear ") re jap ovcria olov 7rora/j,b$ ev Siijvefcei puo-ci jj,eraj3o\ai$ o~%e$ov ovSev eora)?, and the
ovrcov
K.
.
.
customary moral of absolute indifference and contempt. Ildvra rd vTro/cet/jueva rd%t,a-ra perapakeZ, K. vi. 4
:
rjroi
dvaQvfua6r)creraL (efaep fjv&rai 77 ovcria) 97 cr/ceSao-ffycrerat, (in no case any abiding connexion or sym15 Ta /JLCV (rtrevBei, yweaBai TCI, Se cnrGVo'ei, pathy).
:
yeyovevcu (impatient to
come
to the birth, as others too
have done)
K.
/c.
d\\oid>(ri,<;
rov <ywop>ivov Se 97897 TL direo-pif)' pJo-cis dvaveovcri rov Koo-fiov &vqvK&$ &a"jrep
9
rov aireipov al&va

del 7rape%rai. ev
77
rov ^povov d$t,d\i>7rro$ <popd

rovrqi
Trordficp ri
vlov
8fy
r&v Trapadeovrav ifcrâ-eiev ; (Is it " setting one's love on some sparrow that flits past and vi. 46 in an instant is out of sight 1 ") &a-7rep Trpocrio-rarat, (rot, (as it occurs to you) rd ev rq> dfjupiffedrpq) and such like places, o>? del rd avrd opobpeva K. TO o/juoeio'es
:
av ri$ rovrcav not as foolish as
irpocrKopTj rrjv
"
Q*&v Troiel (monotony of tedious repetition makes the spectacle pall ") rovro K. eirl 6\ov rov fitov irdvra ydp dvcb /edra> ret aura A:, eic r&v avr&v.
vi.
59
; (almost a prayer, "0 Lord, how long?"). vii. 1 raêco9 o Alibv irdvra Kakvyfret,. ava> Kara T& aur& ovSev tcaivov, irdvra K,
ovv
o>9
K.
6Xtyoxpovta.
10
Se
Travrb?
:
l^vrj^ri
r& al&vi
|iTapo\TJs
ryevecrdat, ;
18
:
rl <ydp Svvarat,
77
re
vii.
<pi\repov
iravff
oi/ceiorepov ry
r&v O\<DV
0vo-et, ;
77
25
6V
opa$ oo-ov
K.
OVTTG)
rf)<s
rd oXa
SiOL/cova-a
<Pu<rt9,
d\\a
further
e/c
avr&v
(like
iroiriae^ etc.
ipa del cfiapds p
o Kocrj&o?
a thrifty housewife
who has no
stock
THE UNIVERSE
to
:
233
draw upon, turns and adapts the old material). T&V oKwv <J>V<TI<$ eSjco ovSev fyei 77 Similarly, viii. 50 d\\d TO davfiaa-rbv T^}? Te^v^ STL irepiopicracra
.
.
eavrrjv
irdv
TO
evSov
(S(,a<j>deipe(rdai,
K,
^rjpdc-Ketv
K.
tc.
aXpyo'Tov
7rd\t,v
tc.
-
elvau
So/cow)
669
eavrrjv |p,T<x|3eXXei,
Troiel.
. . .
on
o$v
aXXa wapa etc TOVTGW Km K ^V x^P9
dp/ceirat
6flt.
T^XU V rV
artist,
vii.
:
Nature personified as conscious to Sage of self-sufficingness.)
(Here and as examplar 49 'Opoeity yap
irdvT&s 60-rcu (namely, future will be exactly like the past; compare Leopardi's dialogue about the "New
re ejc^vai rov pvOpav r&v vvv the same to chronicle for forty yivojj,vcov (whence Ti yap 7r\eov otyei ; viii. 6 or ten thousand years).
Almanac")
K. 01)% olov
it is
0\0)V $l/(T45 TOVTO CpyOV ^f, T^ peTaTLQevat, juteTa(3cXXi^ aipew evdev K.
U T&V
&&
19
QVTCL
etcel
:
Trdvra
rpoiral
K.
Trdvra
a-w^dy.
ix.
Hdwra
ev fierapoXfj'
at/ro? <rv ev Siijve/cei aXXoicoo-et K. tcard
TL $>0opa K. o Ko<7fjLo$ Be oXo?. " "
(Strictly this is untrue,
corruption
whose sum rd TOV KOO-/JLOV e<yKv/c\t,a 6. altova. 29 Xip.(ppous f} T&V

:
has no meaning in relation to the Cosmos, Tau-r& remains always the same.) be. 28
:
ava>
/cdra)
eg
aZa>i/o9
el<$
o$ov alria' 'jrdvra

r)
<j>epet,.
28
ic.
(iter)
"HSr) Trdvra?
f)/j,a?
7^ Ka\vtyei'
eTre^ra
K.
avrrj
jULCTapaXct*
tcd/celva
et9
aireipov
/AerajSaXet*
7rd\w
e/ceiva et9 aireipov,
Ta9 ydp
("
e*jriKVfJWLT<i)(ret,$
T&V
/Jberal3o\&v K. d\\oui>(Ta)$ evOvpovnevos r*9

7r<xz/T09
OvrjTov tcaTa<f>pov)j<reL
roll
The
/f. TO T<XOS billows of change
and variation
will feel
apace;
and he who ponders them
Cause
E.)
contempt for all things mortal. The Universal is like a winter torrent ; it sweeps all before it."
ix.
35
(/u.6Ta^SoX^)
$uari,$ tcaff fjv
TovT(p Se âLpei $ T&V TrdvTa KO$$ ryiverat K, eg alwvo?
234
eyivero,
K.
MARCUS AURELIUS
et$
cuireipov
roiavd*
erepa
ea-rai,.
(He
betrays an unhellenic passion for "everlasting," "inand from the permanence of Aristotle's limited finite,"
to the perpetual series of in infinite, in which universes scattered corruptible Ionia anticipated modern science not solely in evolution
globular
system reverts
but in astronomy.)
.
x.
11
ITcS?
. .
ek aXX/^Xa irdvra
.
Swyve/ecS?
Trpooê
/Jt,6<ya\o<j)po<7VVT]$
(but
WQ may be allowed
!
to
"
wonder why
Caesar's dust
"
contemplation should elevate the mind

side
of
of the ignoble destiny of
Materialism
x.
is
Spiritualism.)
27:
This dwelling on the sordid the way to encourage 5We%e39 eirivoeiv TTCO? Trdvra
not
roiavra oTrola vvv yiveraL

Soul.
K.
In an eloquent passage on the powers

avrov KGVOV
iraXiYYKcoria'
K.
xi. 1. Trpoadev eyivero. of the Eational
*Ert> Se Trepiepêrai, rov o\ov Kocrjjiov K. TO Trepl
TO
cr^TJfjLa
avrov
K. TTJV frepioîK'rjv
T&V O\GOV
IptTrepLkaptftdvet,
("encompasses
and comprehends the
cyclic regeneration of the UniK. K. verse ") ; TTGpwoel Oecopei ore ovSev vefatpov otyovrat, ol /#' ^/-ta? ovSe TrepiTTQTGpov elSov ol Trpo rj/ji&v' a\\a
Tpoirov TWO, o Tecrcrapa/covTovT^

K.
Travra ra yeyovora
opoetSes (" our fathers had no fuller vision, nor will our children behold any new xii. 21: Mer ov -rroXv ou8ei9 ovbapov ear} thing"). ov& rovrfov TI a vvv /3\7TL<; ovSe TOVTCOV T&V vvv
ea-6fjueva
r
ra
ea>paK Kara ro
ATravra yap
GV)
'iva
:
jierapdcXXeiv
K.
rpeirecrdaL
K.
as he warns us, xi. 34 ov aXV 6^9 TO vvv fir)
irepa ^6^7)9 rylvryrai (though iravra ixerapoXal OVK eh ro py xii. 23. Nature strikes Sv)
the hour for death

fjtTapaXX<5in-WK, rcapos
fj
r&v
K.
O\G>V
...
o
^9 r&v
oêt, ro
ael
a/cpalo^
<7u/A7ra
Siap,evei.
24
8<raici<s
av eâpdys, raurd
THE UNIVERSE
TO
6XiYoxp<5yioi>.
235
TOV
26
(ÊireKadov)
K. is
-
on
irav
TO
ov oura>5 aei e<ylvero

ryiveTat,.
ryevrfaeTat, K.
vvv TravTa,-
The
central idea
rejuvenescence
through Universe stationary in its
never
easy to understand ; the ceasing change

;
total, flickering
and kaleido-
scopic in its parts. physical as they are,
(Upon these conceptions, purely we must feel surprise when an

is
idea of purpose, justice, or love
superinduced.)
()
CEEATION AND PBOVIDENCE,

INTELLIGIBLE
?
HOW FAB
ANALYSIS
5.
Problem,
is all predestined,
interest
6.
and intervention?
or is there room for God's special (will not commit himself).
Everywhere
traces of conflict between scientific and religious interpretation; inclines to belief in Providential governrnent, but leaves morals unaffected by these questions.
" to the question of Creation in Time," and the cessation of a Providential government, there are
5.
As
interesting passages, which prove how much inclined Marcus was to cast his hypothesis into the
two
form o\ov
of
a "Sceptical alternative."
67rt
vii.
75
C
:
H
"
TOV
once Sphere (the " " a stories once the time of impulse upon fairy of Nature" advanced nimbly to the task of world$i!(jt9
TT)V
/coo'/jLOTToUav
:
building).
\ov6rjcriv
Nvv
yiveTat,
Se
r)TOi,
("all
that
"
the train of consequence = fatally), ^7 aXoywrra #. TO e<' a Trotemu Ibiav opjxV TO TOV Koa-pov /cvpitoTaTa else you must deny reason to the sovereign 'Hyefiovi/cbv
.
Trav TO ywbpevov tcaT eiraiconow happens follows in
ends which guide the impulse of the World-Soul. Such is Dr. Eendall's translation; but it puts a dilemma
236
MARCUS AURELIUS
me
in
this
difficult
instead of the sceptical alternative which seems to
lurking ranch the
passage.
it
Now
is
ix.
28 gives
same language, and

:
compare the sense

Aidvoia
*JH
oTrep
el
"Hrot,
(j>
e/caarov
6pjj,a
worth while to 77 rov o\ov

op/JLyrov.
e.
a7roSe%ov
Be
ro
tear
etcelvr)?
aira% wpfirjae, " Either the World-Mind
ra
Xowra
eiraico\ovd^(7Lv.
imparts
each
individual
it
;
impulse
or else
imparts gave the impulse once of all, with all its long " entail of consequence (reading tcarevreivei, a brilliant and plausible emendation for the text ri ev TLVL, and
it
in
which
case, accept the impulse
Coraes'
x. 31).
teal
ri evrelvr},
Now
which is quite in Marcus' manner, the distinction in both these obscure and
is
perhaps corrupt sections
between a
special
and a
fatal or universal Providence.
Marcus
is
is
concerned to
show
in either event, resignation
the fitting attitude
of the Sage. " lars to God
knowledge of particuhe 44, e.g. puts the hypothesis of of Divine the restriction interest (or power) to the
?
Can we allow a
vi.
"
greater laws; to the larger issues of life:
El
Se
/^
o,
7Tpl I/JLOV 7repi ye TCOV KOLV&V ol$ tear 7ra/cdXov97j<riv /c. ravra
<rvfi/3awovTa
Is He not eternally o-repyew oêtXa>. engrossed either in Himself or in contemplation of the Type t Here, it seems to me, Marcus tries to exempt from the operation of this rigid and indefeasible sequence
.
certain
which
latter
important events in the world-order, towards Providence still makes an exceptional and
peculiar
movement
event,
of
interest
and concern.
casualty
is
In the
Divine
passage he goes so far as to say, efi e/cao-rov,

trivial
each
(as
if
circumstance,
In the former, according to Christian teaching). I may extrude the (to me) incomprehensible word
THE UNIVERSE
,
237
of
we
to
see
detailed vigilance
Providence
is
restricted
"great great haps" (as Lucan, "Eumanum paucis vivit genus"; and Caesar's taunt to the mutineers who think the gods care for These he calls TO, Kvpi&raTa and their petty lives).
,
heroes and
in
towards these, not predetermined by course of Fate and unravelled string of destiny, the World-Soul makes
a special and impulsive onslaught. (Could a\6ryi,crra mean "as yet not predestined, still leaving scope for special settlement"; or could we read aXoy/o-rw? 97,
"
In requiring no particular exercise of reason," etc. ?) any case I am clear there is a distinct antithesis
religious
between the more

conception
of
the
world-order;
and the purely scientific and that whatever
private opinion Marcus may hold, he is not going to commit himself either here or elsewhere.
6. ix. 1. (Impiety not to regard pleasure and pain " as $ Koivr) $v(Ti$ does : She treats them indifferently," eWtf^, by which I mean,) TO a-vpfiaivew eWen?? ra TO TO?? ryuvop>&voi<$ K. linyivoîvoi^ oppfj TIVI apâia
^9
rfc npovoia? (" that they befall indifferently all whose existence is consequent upon the original impulse of /cad* TJV OTTO TWOS Providence ") apxfjs &p\Lt\uv eVl T^z>Se
rrjv
SLaicoo'/jwjo'iv
momentum
(" which gave the original to the cosmic ordering of things
and
"),
first
<7tXAa-
6yov<s
r&v eaopevcov
K,
K.
viroo'Tda'eaw re
/jLerafiohwv K.
TOLOVTGOV ("by selecting (?) certain germs of future existences and assigning to them productive capacities
of realisation, change, and The conflict in his mind
scientific
phenomenal succession." E.). between the religious and the

the world appears in every
ii.
explanation of reference to Providence.
Ta r&v 0e&v
npovoias
238
fjL(7rd.
K.
MARCUS AURELIUS
Td
r^5 Tuffls
ov/c
avev
<f>vcrto$
fj
eTTwrXo/rifc
T&V
is
is
Rpoi/oia
Siowov/jLevcov.
("
gods'
work
there
action of chance
providence everywhere. the course of Nature, or the
In the For the
web
and woof of the dispositions of Providence/' which gives the sense admirably, though ov/c avev does not imply
*
identity.)
fcalov,
K.
HOLVTCL
e/ceWev
oX$>
pel,
TT
poo-earn Be TO
A z/oyel.
TO
TO>
K6o~fj,q>
o~v/j,$epov
ov pepo?
"From
flows
providence (the
personal
and
religious
view)
all,
and
"
side
of
by
the
advantage
the
side with it is necessity and Universe" (the scientific and
of which you are a part." Here there impersonal), both views are stated in a parallel ; is a compromise they are neither reconciled nor allowed to quarrel, only
;
held in leash.
ii.
Death,
el fiev deol elcnv
11, in a celebrated vindication of ovSev Seivov (jcaKcp yap <re ov/c

ov/c elcrlv
rj
av
Trept,j3a\ot>evy el Se TJTOI
ov
/jLekei
avrok
rj
peXei avrols r&v v. This is the strongest passage in the book about the gods and their part in human affairs. 1 iv. 3 rb TOI np<5i/ota rj Sieêvyfjuevov v\ 'Avavecocrdpevo?
}
payirei&v, ri JLQL <C{r\v ev ICGV& ; *-4XXa jcal elo~lv
KO&j&cp KSV& 6e&v

K.
K.
OGWV
aTrebefyO'T)
OTL
Koa-ftos
axrdvei,
("
Eecall to
mind the
or
alternative,
either a foreseeing
Providence
blind
atoms,
it is
proofs that the world is as
and all the abounding were a city.") We see

leaning, to the politicoscientific.
here clearly to which side he

religious
1
conception as
opposed to the
vi.
We may remember how closely united

for
in Quintilian's age "were the
two themes
unending discussion: "whether the world was ruled by Providence," and "whether the Wise Man should take office," a
singular instance of the reciprocal influence of metaphysical theory
and conduct,
THE UNIVERSE
239
10. Again, engaged in the contemplation of death, he almost comforts himself with the thought of atomism as a consolation for leaving the world (ii. 11): "Hroi
K. avTefjL7r\QKr) K. cr/ceSaoT-609'
.
77
&o><7t5 K. rd%t,$
K.
(" The world is either a welter of alternate combination and dispersion," cf. Empedocles' famous " El p&> dictum, or a unity of order and Providence.") oZv ra Trporepa, ri /cal eindvjjbw eltcaio> crvyKpifiari
/c.
fyvpiAQ) TQiovrcp
vBiarpi/3ei,v ;
("Why
crave to linger on
. .
in such a
yap eV
random medley and confusion?) rfezi 6 or/eeSao>fc09 o TI av TTOL& (" Do what I will, efjb El Se Oarepd eV, dispersion will overtake me"). OT^CD K. evcrrada K. dappw ro3 Aioifcovvn ("I reverence,
.
I stand steadfast, I find heart in the
poses
all").
In
:
iv.
power that dis27 we have a similar but more

tcvtceobv
JJLGV
hopeful passage
a-VfJLTreôprjfJLeifO^.
KO(7fjLO<s
"Hrot, #007409 Stareray/z-eVo?, 97 '-4XXa [ifa /cocrô?* 77 ev <TQ\

ev Se ra> TIavrl
Tt9
v<f>l<rracr6ai Svvarai,,
K.
K.
ravTa
of
ovro)
irdvrcov BiaKeKpifjiva)v K.
("
o-vfjiTraQcbv.
Either an ordered universe or else a
welter
or
Assuredly, then, a world-order; the order subsisting within yourself is you in the All? and that, too, with disorder compatible
confusion.
think
when
however distributed and diffused, are Here Marcus almost unsympathetically.") the within to the reason reason from answerably argues to from without, objective subjective regularity and In xii. 1 we have a parallel to the Horatian method.
all things,
affected
"permitte
divis
xii.
cetera";
is
TO
fj,e\\ov
e'Trtr/je^?
T$
14
a useful
passage: "Hrou
1
is
absurd
1 accept Rendall's excellent suggestion, for the "textus receptus" but would not or) pty d\X& Kfopos be a simpler correction * ;
(rvftirefivpfAfros is
Ooraes'
also extremely probable.
240
fc.
MARCUS AURELIUS
aTrapdflaTOS raffo
rj
ripoKoux
t\a<rô9,
77
("Either fixed necessity and an inviolable order, or a merciful ProelfcaioryTos
aTrpocrrdr^rof.
vidence, or a
first,
ri
avTireivew
random and ungoverned medley.") If the El Se npwoia, eTrtSeô/^z^ TO ;
ikaeKGedai, a%iov vavrbv Troificrov etc rov delov fforjOeias to be merciful, make yourself (" if a Providence waiting Here again the Divine the of aid," etc.). worthy
religiom conception is uppermost; and for the single occasion in the whole of the volume, efficacy of prayer
and propitiation are brought within range of philosophic thought. But there is no attempt to accommodate these views with scient^fic experience; and in the end
Marcus leaves us in a dualism which

often noted) creditable to his candour
sense,
if
is
(as
and
his
we have common
whole
real
not to his
logic.
Finally,
since his
speculative
philosophy subserves his practice, his
end and aim, he proves (xii. 24) acquiescence right, whatever be the ultimate explanation of the Universe eVl T&V J*co8ev <TvpftawQVTv, on ^TOL fear em:
ivylav, rj Kara npovoiw, ovre Se ry ^Tmv^la ^^riov ovre T% npovoia fyic\7)Teov. (" You cannot quarrel with
chance
you cannot arraign Providence."

world
is
The governand
ment
of the
either accidental,
;
our notice and concern
or Divine,
so beneath and therefore above
our understanding and beyond our criticism.)
CHAPTEE VI
THE ALLEGED CONCILIATION OF THE TWO NATURES
(A) VANITY AND INSIGNIFICANCE OF HUMAN LIFE IN THE MEASURELESS GULF OF TIME
ANALYSIS
1.
This
human hfe out of place in the " vain show dehberate quenching of Will-to-live.
life
'
of the world
2.
Dwelk on
and
intrinsic baseness of hfe , scornful language for body moment (all that is ours) insignificant. , passing
3.
Man contemptible in relation to
Space as
to
Time; quarrelsome
children, snapping puppies, bursting bubbles.

4. Corollary of such preaching,
not resignation; if
man a
bubble,
why
5.
trouble about duty or world-order ?
God (within
etc.)
or without) no support to moral endeavour. (Texts of the vanity of life's pursuits, smoke, dust, leaves, husk,
1.
IT
is clear
that in such a world of successive and
unceasing change, of persistence only through variation, human life must seem strangely out of place, with its
fixed centre of will
and personality and

flux.
its
material
Instead of appearing as to our modern Gnostics an "oasis" in the cruel wilderness of the actual, human society is precisely that
environment in perpetual
sphere in which the Unreason at the root of things 16
is
242
MARCUS AURELIUS
Man
its
is
most justly impeached.

use of will only to feel
personal
born but to die; he

its
wins self-consciousness only to discover
torture
the
negative value.
The whole
philosophy of Marcus is a study of death (peheTTj ffavdrov), a deliberate quenching of the will to live, not merely by appealing to a religious sense (eTrtrpeTreiv ry Upovola), but by dwelling with remorse-
on the sordid details of life, and trying to borrow from such consideration disgust for the whole weary business. I have reserved this as an episode in
less analysis
his
of
our survey of his cosmology because, while a study of own nature convinced him, as we saw, of the value
;
moral and social endeavour, he discovers here nothing but arguments for Quietism and the extinction of motive and desire. The two sides of his philosophy are here in clearest contrast fj xowrj and spy $v<rt,<$ with their The one calls us to passive incompatible impulse.
;
resignation, the other, though fitfully and with no clear object, to activity in the smaller commonwealth; and
although he protests in one place man's duty lies in the energy rather than in receptivity (evepyeia than 7rei<rei), and in another that of the two natures (p>ia
apfyo'ripw % oSo?, v. 3), the path is one and the same, elsewhere he places oaiorvj^ above St/caLoo-vvT}, and canonizes as the first virtue a theology, mystic or
negative.
"
And
this
on examination
is
nothing else but
conviction of the world's vanity and unreality of phenomena as they play in idle illusion above an inscrutable ground. For Marcus and his fellows,
scientific
though one be wise and another foolish, are like children sporting on the steps or in the open vestibule of
a temple, the doors of which are for ever shut. 2. To us it seems a truism that from the Secularist
THE TWO NATURES

or Christian view alike
it
is
243
needful to dwell on the
value and
significance
of
life
even in the humblest
Aurelius believes that a moral attitude surroundings cannot be attained until we are certain of its essential
baseness or turpitude.
He is,
like Lucretius, a " Bealist,"
dwelling with especial and deliberate disgust upon the contemptible origin of man,1 and seeking to stifle
the softer emotions and to tear violently asunder the physical from the sentimental side in that odd and ever
For the body he has no marvellous complex, Love. base Very early he strikes the note, enough. language
or
ii.
rather minor
chord,
which
TQ>I/
is
to
predominate.
ct>9
fc.
r/S??
aTroQvtfcrKCdv
K.
\v6pos
oa-rdpia
crap/dew /ca /cpoKV(f>avTO$ IK vevpcov
dprvjpL&v
irkerypciTiov.
"As with
near
presence
of
this refuse of blood and bones, death, despise poor flesh this web and tissue of nerves and veins and arteries."
ii.
17
Tov avdpcoTrivov
f)
fiiov
fj,ev
Be ovcrla, peovaa'
Be ata-dfjons, a/jLvBpd*
evcryTTTos*
f)
f]
xpovos, Gtvypff $ Be o\ov TOV rj

pofifto?
fj
vyfcpitO-is,
],
Be
^v^,
&
S'
BvtrTeKfjLaprov
Se ^fi'n, atcpLTov.
crco/âro?,
f
^vve\ovrL
elirelv
Travra,
ra
JJ>GV
Trora/ô?'
ra
Be
TT)$
oveipos /c. rv(j>o$ 6 Be ^8/09, Trokepos K. %evov jbia' rj Be va-repo^fiia \tfdrj. (" In man's life, time is but a moment being, a flux sense is dim ; the
W,
material frame, corruptible soul, an eddy of breath In brief, destiny, hard to define fame, ill at appraise.
;
;
vi. 13.
He is the avowed enemy to the spiritualizing of the emotions

its
;
"beggarly elements," its naked truth. This is certainly logical perhaps not unnatural to some fastidious minds who in this matter can never overcome an initial astonishment at the odd yoke-fellows, romance and passion, angel and animal ; but it is as certainly not wise ; &rl r&v /card r^v <rvvov<rlav 9 frTcpLov ira K* fAerd TWOS tnrcwrjfcou pvfaptov t-Kfcpiins,
lie
reduces everything to
244
MARCUS AURELIUS
;
things of the body are but a stream that flows, things of the soul a dream and vapour) life, a warfare and a
an alien land]; "and afterfame, oblivion." is it Leopardi who is talking, and not a professed Surely " and sincere vindicator of the ways of God ? Non tali " of auxilio non def ensoribus istis time is Length equally an illusion from many passages in which he
sojourning"
[?
in
insists that
the present
moment
alone
!),
is
the
inevitable
Cyrenaic
eif
corollary
ours (without single iii. 7

:
7ri TrXeoz/
Sida-Typa ftpovov
T& a-wpa
TO
^v^f)
jj,\i.
f)
\acrcrov %ptf<reT<u, ovo" OTLOVV
10: pbvov
arcapialov
which we yawning on either
irapov TOVTO TO ("the passing minute," this razor-edge on stand with the two gulfs of past and future
e/cao-ro?
side.)
iv.
/3Xe7re
yap
oTria-co
TO
dxarcs TOV ai&vo? 9 K. TO Trpocrco a\\o airsipov (so iv. 3 coupled with TO Taô? 7^79 TTCLVT&V \tf0qs is TO xôs TOV
<' e/cdrepa avrelpov ai&vo$.)
Trapcp'ffl KOTOS K. /4eXXoz/TO$
v.
23
TO aTreipov TOV TG
(The present is two immeasurable oceans

has yet to be.) dxayes Be TO irpb
St,d\v<rw
K
<5)Lto6a)9
irdvTa evtKpavi&Tai. like a narrow isthmus washed by the

dxavcs
of that
&
which has been and

span
TO
is
ix.
32.
How
short a
a>9
K.
life!
Trjv
TT}?
yez/eueee)?
peTa
:
ToO
^xii. 7. Shortness of life, T^V avreipov. OTTMra) K. Trpo&a) ai&vo$. 32 ir6(TTov
TOT)
/cd<rT(p ;
aTreipov
K.
dxai/ous
al&vo?
iv.
aTro/JLe/jLepia-Tcu
(Eendall's
translation of
32
in full will
give the English reader the best idea of Marcus' meaning: "You can get rid (of the agitations that beset
and in so doing, will indeed live at large, by embracing the whole universe in your view, comprehending all eternity and imagining the swiftness of
you),
change in each
particular;
seeing
how
brief
is
the
THE TWO NATURES

;
245
birth, with its unpassage fropa birth to dissolution, fathomable before death, with its infinite hereafter."
3.
Man, contemptible
in relation to
Time,
is
no
less so in
regard to Space] his greatest empire is but a tiny speck in a comer of earth ; and what is earth With this idea we are familiar to the boundless void ? " I where from Scipio's dream," Seipio blunts the keen
edge of earthly ambition by showing the pettiness of its domain; to us a wearisome commonplace, but to
the
the
average
iii.
citizen,
content
State,
with
the
religion
and
tradition of his
sacrilege.
iv.
10
re
fiticpbv
07
a paradox and a wanton TO TT}? 7^9 yw&iw OTTOV $}

GTvyfjLij
/c.
0X^7
yap
777
TO-VT^S irotrrov
ycwSioi'
("The whole earth is but a point, your habitation but a tiny nook thereon.") KariSeiv ael Tavdp&irwa o>9 tyij/jbepa tc. evre\r)' iv. 48 K. eÔes fj,ev p,v%apiov avpwv Se rdpixos TJ r&tpa. (" Look at all human things, behold how fleeting and how sorry
f)
Karoi/cTjo-i,? avri) ;
but yesterday a mucus-clot; to-morrow, dust or ashes

v.
")
29
Kdiri/os
fc.
airepôfia^
K.
tfroi,
33 "O&ov
:
ovSeira)
.
.
<nr<58os
f)
crfee\To$
ovopa
fj
ovSe ovofia.
All the things

K.
we most
value in
K.
life,
tcwa
K.
<rairp&
fjitapa
K.
jcvviBia
St,a8a/ev6fj,eva
Traibia <}>i\oviKa,
evQvs tc\atovra (" empty, rotten, insigniye\&vra ficant, snapping puppies or quarrelsome children, that
elr
laugh and anon

1
fall
to
crying"
2
).
vi.
47. list
of
So Seneca (Nat. Quast. i. prsef.). The Soul amid the stars looks " Hoc est illud in mirth punctum quod inter tot gentes ferro et . Formicarum iste discursus est. Quid illis et igne dividitur ? . Pwictum est istud in quo nobis interest exigui mensura corpusculi? . Contemnit domicilii prioris navigatis, bellatis, regna disponitis.
down
angustias."
2
He might
Bath-Simile,
perhaps have spared us the superfluous nastiness of the viii. 24 : 'Qirotiv <rot <f>alver77<? yKeudcrrai (" who have made man's fateful fleeting life their jest")- 36. Asia and Europe, Y u ^ at T0 ^ Kocrpov, all sea, ardrycov TOV Athos (he is thinking of Xerxes' achievement Koa-jiov
:
as a type of imperial sovereignty at its climax) {-JuXdpiov vii. 68 TOV Kovpov. Sage, calm, and unruffled though
:
wild beasts Staa-Tra ra j*eXu8pia TOV Trepi-TeQpapfJievov TOVTOV fapdpaTos ("material integument of flesh/'
where Dr. Kendall euphemizes the hard bitter sarcasm " this lump of clay hung round me of the original which cries out for food"), viii. 20 TI Se ayaOov T$
;
:
Trofj,4>oXuyi crvvea-TOHrr}
?j
/carcbv
StaXi;0et<777 ;
TO,
opoia Se
K. eirl
\v%yov.
4.
We
are here
not far from getting annoyed

It
is
with Marcus' persistent inconsistency.

purpose to mark off and separate things; his virtue "proceeds by
path, hard to be compassed
of its being,"
his
whole
man from the rest of its own mysterious
and understood, to the goal vL 17, and has nothing to do with mere elemental change. Yet thus severed in life from the innocent and unreflecting pleasure of animals, in the moment of his greatest suspense and anxiety, he is not even animals, but with the suddenly classed with inanimate and mechanical and automatic. That the
corollary of this is resignation, peace, social work, is
ffSwp 7\otoj5es, irefora crtjt%ai'rd
>
due
"We prefer his ffucxfl,lveiv /-tfJSe diravdav of v. 9 ; and we must remember, too, that Marcus here as elsewhere is too sincere to be consistent. For example, how the proud self-possession of iii. 5 'Op8fo oZv elmi xpfy o$xl opBotipevov, gives place to the modesty of vii. 12 : 6p6bs $ dpMpevos, a devrepbs 7rXo?y, indeed, to the complete spontaneity of
the Spirit's choice, a
TOLOVTOV irav ft^pos TOV ftlov K. irav
"law
to itself"
to the sober advice of vii. 7
THE TWO NATURES

to a
it is
247
Emperor;
mere temperamental
peculiarity of tlie
To a more sanguine and fiery certainly not logic. nature, the gladness of fighting and defiance would set
him
in deadly conflict against a power which, though ultimately certain to triumph, it is pure joy so far as
If such a Deity bade me possible to thwart. go to " hell I would to and on the same hell, gladly go
;
"
deep sense of the fitting rests the strange religious Atheism (or rather ir-religion) of Lucretius. If man is a bubble on the ocean of time, by all means let him follow his bent, and not do violence to his inner self.
But the
of
ascetic has nothing to say logically against the voluptuary and to prate about reason, duty, a standard
;
right
and wrong, sympathy with the world-soul,
merely
to leave
good-natured adversary, who is ready with a "higher criterion," if you would you him a similar freedom of choice and inclinaonly grant
irritates a
tion.
on his part has no wish to depreciate or criticize the satisfaction of the Mystic; he will not even call his inner joys, illusion or an imaginary world of pure hallucination; he knows that everything is that, relative, fleeting, uncanonized by any yet discovered for nothing can effectively bridge the gulf standard between two personalities. A man can make of the world what he likes, and no one has the right to say
;
He
him
"
;
f/
nay." Korn. xiv. 5
JS/eao-To<? ev
r&
iStqt vol
irhypofapeio-ffoo,
and although St. Paul is speaking about the unessential, where reasonable divergence and tolerance can be permitted, the maxim can be taken up into This pure subjectivity can a far more serious realm. " only be corrected by the social edict which, making for
the greatest happiness of the greatest number,"
always
248
MARCUS AURELIUS
human
the
"
takes the average of the aim, whether avowed or not, character and aspirations, and decides that, on
whole,
\
man
is
instinctively
(though illogieally)
that a general agreement on T& Trpa/crea fcal pi} can be reached, even apart from religious sanction. But in Marcus' system, the universal moral
moral"
instinct, sign of essential solidarity, lies useless in
the
background, like Anaxagoras' disappointing maxim ; and it is not too much to say that his theology provides no
argument whatever for the endeavour to right. For, viewed as Fate or the Absolute, God has no concern " with such a distinction viewed as the Deity Within/'
;
the divine voice within condones or enjoins the extremest vagaries of subjective impulse.
5. But I am travelling somewhat beyond my immediate task; and Marcus himself might gently remind me that engrossment in the present duty (TO
irdpov
aicapuuov)
is
the
truest
rule.
viii.
37.
In a somewhat hard-hearted passage on mourners, he

ends, rpdcros irav TOVTO
latable indeed.
last."
:
K.
"All comes
\6Qpov ev 0v\d/cq>, intransto stench and refuse at
ix. 24 IlaiSt&v opyal K. iravyviay K. irvevp^dria pao-Taôvra (" children's squabbles, or stage-farce, and poor breath carrying a corpse; is not phantom
yeicpous
land more palpable and solid?").

Se
teal
ix.
29:
o>9
eCrcX-i)
TO,
7ToXm/ec&
ravra
/jbvg&v
K.
o>9
olerat,
<f>i\o<r6<f>a><;
Tpa/cTiKa
aires
avdp&ma !
/jteora.
sooth, are these
pygmies of
politics,
(" How cheap, in these sage doctrin-
in statecraft! Drivellers everyone!") x. 17: Tov okov ai&vos /c. r?}? 0X979 ov<r/a9 (rvve%&$ âvraaia" Kal oru Trdvra r& tcarh pepo? c&9 pv vrpbs ovaiav, iceyxpafjiis- e9 Se wpo? %povov, TpuTrdvou irepiorpo<|>^. (" All
individual
things are but a grain of millet
the
THE TWO NATURES

turn of a screw.")
K.
249
x.
17: Ta avQp&mva are

are leaves (<f>v\\a
te
.
.
TO
//^Sei/.
eapo? eTriyiyverai Spy elra avefMO? tcaTapepXqKev ejreid* v\y Irepa. ... To o SXiyoxpoViov KOIVQV iracnv. 38 M^jBeirore (TVfMTrepiTO TrepLfcetfJLevov dyyeL&Ses, K. TO, opydvta raura <j>avTd%ov
4>uX\cpLa).
:
men Hdvra yap ravra

x. 34.
All
TO,
Trep7re7rXao>tz>a.
("Never confound
:
it
(the
true
power, the will) with the mere containing shell, and xi. 2 the various appended organs." x ) Mefjuvrja-o eirl
Ta
KCLTO,
fjbepo?
Tpeêtv
xii.
K.
TT/
Suupea-et,
2.
CLVT&V
el$
Ka,Ta<J>ponri<nK
levai
and
Various
uncomcrot,
.
.
plimentary names for the body TO TrepiTeQpafj.fjLevov vKiKa a<y<yeia K. <f>\oi& K. Ka0(pjjLara crap/ciScov
. .
.
r<i
Trepuceipeva
tcpedfoa,
("fleshly shell
material
husks
and impurities"). xii. 27: II ov vvv TrdvTa etceiva ; Kawos K. cnroBds K. pvOos r) ov&e (j&Gos. 31
:
El
S^ eKCLGTa
VfcaTa(f)p6vr}Ta
Trpbcndi*
e^rl
TekeuTaiov,
TG!) Ao^/(o K. T& 32. How tiny a e^>. portion of eternity, of substance, of world-soul has been
TO GTrecrdaL
allotted to
1
you
ev 7ro<rr> Se pwXapio) T^? 0X979
insulting diminutives
This contemptuous, semi-gnostical language, and this repetition of * is a fashion of most second century writers ; cf.
.
Maximus
. .
jc.
Tyrius, xiu., where the body is foffxpyvrbv TOVTO ireplpXyjux,. a ^M/uepa, pada foQevy /c. r^-îvo,. . . . /ca/c6v K. &Tr\rjcrroy It votrepbv Opt/Afta,. . . . ffijirdfievov K. 5ta/5/5ôjc TSVXJ.OV defffiarryptov.
x^- a?/t
was certainly not the Christian Churcn, hut th.e fatigued classical spirit, that introduced ascetic anchoritism and a Manichsean contempt for the body. Even the genial Plothms, whose entire aim is antiDualistic, is led
(a spirit
7.
31
away by this fundamental tenet of the new Platonism by no means confined to the School of that name), JSnnead, vi. the fair objects of sense arouse the waking soul, but do not
into supposing they are original
this
;
beguile
it
for
"never would those blessed ideals venture

embarking in
themselves
K.
(jetty
they are but counterfeits ; to defile themselves by
miry clay of bodily vesture, to befoul and destroy y&p &v roXôm $Kwa old ffru> els poppopov
/c.
pwrwai, avrk
250
/
MARCUS AURELIUS
Trdvra ravra evOvfjwufievos,
Aristotle's
e<f>
(contrast
fj^jBev peyk <f>avrdov oaov evSêrac adavarlêtv). The sum of the whole book may be found in the
e
next
^pyrca TO Hyeftovifcbv ; ra Se \onra 77 irpoaiperd e. 77 ev yap Tovr9
eatToS
control or out of
it, is
smoke and dust
of the dead."
() THE
USES .AND METHODS OF PHILOSOPHY; THE SURRENDER OF INTELLECTUALISM
ANALYSIS
6. Settled early
looks ; his style

others'. 7.
in hfe his few (paradoxic) dogmata ; burnt MB and unction all his own ; formal doctrines,
Abandons speculative philosophy (not tending to edification); aims at mere practical goodness and piety ; his " open mind "
ow
6.
all ultimate problems.
:
kind of
(1) what is the method of philosophy which has taught Marcus this theory of the world and man's place in it ? (2) whether it is possible to stand out in self-will and obstruct the eternal order? because it is clear that people not born to patience and devoutness, in whose breast rages the sacred fire of discontent, will be glad
science or
One or two points remain
not quite comfortable about dismissing irpoatpeTa into this it seems too sweeping even for Marcus the ; I would suggest that by this word he conveys a domain pessimist. proper and subordinate to the exercise of the Inner Self, by willing ;
1
am
contemptible category
and therefore really included in it, and not to be distinguished as having an essential value in itself. For to emphasize the mere inner tranquillity,
released from
any willing or
I
striving,
is
surely too Buddhistic for
Marcus
But
only suggest.
THE TWO NATURES

to
251
hear what
measure
of
completeness, distinctness,
individuality, one can attain, even if it be painful, and Who is the character in one of in the end a failure.
Stevenson's
apologues,
"
who,
when he
off to
hears
of
the
"
Odin ? going Eagnarok, says, It is the dull and meaningless omnipotence which rouses us to challenge, even to despise, the tyrant But if he demands sovereign of a world so worthless. our help and our sympathy, waits for, and will not force our loyalty, the whole horizon is changed; the meaning of everyday life becomes clearer little things
I
am
fight for
fit
system, which, sublime, is not "infinite." The very weakness of the power that makes " for righteousness" is the best enlisting sergeant: "Moria-
in
to a
mur
pro rege nostro Maria Theresa."
But
first to
it is
the
Now peculiar method of Marcus' inquiry. that early in life he was much inclined to
student,
to
clear
become a
authors, and to
Hellenic
duties
bygone spend over the refined subtleties of systems a life which was owed to public
read
and
meditate
much
over
essentially speculative dangers, of which he
and the common welfare. His temper, too, and sceptic, had its especial was aware. So, after settling upon a few maxims on which to guide his life, the SorypaTa Trpoêipa, so frequently summoned and paraded, after deciding on the supreme merits of Stoic Monism, he abandoned further search, quenched his curiosity, and burnt, if not his boats, at least his books. What self-devotion there was in this sacrifice of inclination He may have borrowed his technical phrases from others, his doctrine of self-sufficingness from Seneca, " " from Epictetus, his charity of the indwelling Deity and forbearance from the abundant practical examples
!
252
MARCUS AURELIUS
1
in his childhood, from his mother, from Antoninus, the " " but in the very of the drama, old man Cephalus antinomies of his system, the bluntness and vagaries of
his unpractised style, the fervour of his intense sincerity, 2 the richness of his concrete illustration and metaphor,
1
Besides the long section in
Book
I.,
see vi. 30
'
ILdvra,
t!>s
2
<4
Some
of his
more memorable sayings
Do each act, live each day, as if it were to be your last." "The good man is high priest and minister of the gods." " Our human states are houses in the supreme commonwealth." " Do even the smallest thing, mindful of the close connexion of things human and Divine." "The bright flame assimilates all to itself, and only burns the brighter so should a wise man take life's pains."
;
poet of old said, " beloved city of God

'
"A
dear city of Cecrops; and shall I not say,
"Full already
service
is
"
the story of your life; completed your public
"The "In this

as if
\eirovpyta). finest kind of retaliation is not to

TJ
(reXeta
become like."
and, lo
'
flux of things,
he
who
singles out another for his love, is

;
a passing swallow caught his fancy
it is
already out of
sight."
"(Things cannot influence our judgments." " The lover of glory places his good in another's action ; the voluptuary, in his own passivity ; the wise, in his own unfettered activity."
"
Why be
at
ashamed,
if
lame, to
City of Truth
by
another's helping
is
mount the " hand *

all
glittering ramparts of the
"Near
hand
thy forge tfulness of
near, too, forgetfulness of

if
all for thee."
"The
about
fount of the good within will ever give pure water,
you dig
!
it."
"How easy for a man to be divine, and yet be recognized by none " "A mind free from every passion is an Acropolis." "A fountain, if you stand blaspheming it and casting in mud, ceases
not to send forth clear water."
perchance I forget myself." be the one right action in life" " Nothing in life became him as well as the leaving it "). " On the same tree, yes ; not of the same creed,"
quickly,
if
'
"Come
Death
lest
"Even
the leaving
life so
(cf.
THE TWO NATURES
253
the quickness of his eye for realistic detail, we must lament in the interests both of literature and philosophy that he could not enjoy a more ample leisure
In spite of his constant repetitions, in (evpv)(G)pta). of the spite patent fallacy in that philosophic scheme
which he fondly supposed was the foundation of his ethical practice, he always compels attention by the
dignity, the distinction, the
style.
earnest directness of his
his servant the crabbed definitions and phrases of Stoic pedantry and in a certain atmosphere, and an indescribable unction,
;
He commands
and uses as
he foreshadows Plotinus; whose genial mysticism, set free now from "physiology," stands in such marked
contrast to the pessimism of the Emperor.
He
might,
we can easily conceive, have hewn out; a more enduring temple of truth, softened the asperities, and reconciled the inconsistencies of his creed which as it lies before us in detached aphorisms, is but a tumbled heap of bricks in disorder, and with no clue to their combination. But from the solitary meditation, " alone with 1 the Alone," in which lay his deepest joy, public and from this, whether in battle service called him Yet he abandoned or senate-house, he never flinched. He the delights of speculative philosophy with a sigh. needs continually to remind himself that he has not
; ;
time, perhaps not capacity (as he modestly avers), for " " " " becoming a dialectic or a physician ; that others,
if
he challenge comparison with the great minds of pure thought, may despise and laugh at his pretensions
;
:
" But I have not yet Complaint of an actor out short in Ms part " in life your three-fifths mind Never fall allotted part ; spoken my
!
is
the entire plot."

1
iv.
rvjs
#7roxwpij<res rfy
els
TOVTO rk Ayptdiov avroC.
254
MARCUS AURELIUS
but that they cannot do this if, in abandoning all claim to wisdom, he strives to be simply good. 3 7. ii 2 TTJV Se T&V *A$e<$ ra fttf&M. His use of Plf3\ia)v Slâv pfyovl philosophy is of
:
a
ii.
pure moral science, in the sense of Epictetus. 17: Tl oZv TO trapaTcepâi Swapevov ; ev ic. povov
/a.
TOVTO
S'
ev
T&
rypelv TOV evbov
Aaipova
?
v, /CT\.
(" What
then can direct our goings

;
one thing, and one alone, philosophy which is to keep the deity within inviolate and free from scathe.")
vi.
30:
as
'Aycovlcrai,
wa
TOIOVTOS
rj6e\T)o-e
noô-ai,
ipikoa-ofyia.
avpfi&lw)? olov <r "Struggle to remain
such
"
Philosophy
good,
would
have
you,"
= as
Simple,
to
justice,
sincere,
grave,
unaffected,
above, friend
strenuous
fc.
God-fearing, considerate, affectionate, and in duty." So viii. 1 TroXXoZ? r a\\ot,$ avrbs <reavT& 877X09 <ye<yoz>a9 Troppa) <jf>^Xo<ro0/a9, in
:
a purely
/cal
ethical
sense.
So
ix.
29
c
:
Air\ovv
eo-rt,
al&rjfjLov
rb
<f>i\,o<ro<l>ia$
ep<yov.
Such
practical
wisdom and guidance

will
to serenity, the sovereign good,
be embodied in short gnomic maxims, pregnant with meaning, held ready for any emergency. He learnt from Eusticus to "renounce sophistic ambitions and essays on philosophy, discourses provocative to
virtue, or fancy portraitures of the sage or the phil-
anthropist."
e
i 7
pflj
eKTpaTrrjvac efc %r[Kov ao<|>i<mKo>

irepl
TO
(Tvryrypdfaw
T&V
rj
OecoprifjLdT&v
vrpo-
Xoydpia &aX6<ye<7&u,
fj
{fiavTao-WTrT^qfCTcos
TOV
x.
16:
"
No
TOV evepryeTwov avSpa eTTieifcvvo~6ai (cf. more mere talk of what the Good Man
should be.
for
saving
Be him
it!").
i.
17.
He
thanks the gods
from
pedantry:
efc
OTJW
ercxfuorV
eTredvpfja-a
<f>i\o<ro<f)ia?, pr)
ep,TCG<relv
nva
pffi
wiro-
THE TWO NATURES

icadi<raL eirl rov$ a-vyypaêl^
fj
<
255
rj irepl ra jMGTe&poKoiyuca Karcuyivea-Qai. (" Thanks, too, that, in spite of my ardour for philosophy, I did not fall into the hands of any sophist, or sit poring over
essays or syllogisms, or become engrossed in scientific ApiiwTrjTa o-ov OVK eôvo-t, Oavpaa'ai,. speculation. ')
3
("
You have no special keenness of wit," v. 5.) aXX' erepa TroXXa <' &v OVK e^t5 elirelv
Similarly,
K.
"
"'Eara, ov yap
7re<l>v/ca"
vii.
67
Kal
fjurj
cm
a
v.
Sia\KTiKo5
to
<|>u<nKos e<recrOai,
Sid TOVTO
become
free,
"Things
are
so
modest, social, and resigned. wrapped in veils that to
10
philosophers not a few, all certitude is Nay, to the Stoics themselves such attainment seems
precarious
fallible
;
gifted unattainable.
for
and every act where is the

rotavry
Trdaa
.
of
intellectual
assent
is
infallible
.
man ? "
e.
.
(ra pev
. .
.
Trpasy/jLara
ev
l<y/ca\v'fyt>
elvat,.
&(rre
.
eSoge
\rj7rra
TravraTraa-LV
.
aKard^Trra
fj
tc,
TWTO?'
Trot)
yap o
a/A6Ta7TTft)T09
qperepa a-vj/carddea'L^ So much for his ;

of
semi-sceptical
rejection
formal
logic,
of
scientific
study, of dogmatic certitude,
in the interests of the
one
thing
of
value,
moral
or
depends on no
realising
special
For this uprightness. curious lore, but on the

all
of these
few truisms which
men
accept
and no one
practises.
(O) "SCIENTIFIC STUDY AS
A MEDITATION ON DEATH"
ANALYSIS
8.
Though in
9.
piety demolishes reason, still insists on and definition of each thing. knowledge "scientific" One chief rule; distinguish material and cause; know worldeffect this
order before ascertaining
own
duty.
256
MARCUS AURELIUS
a
comfort (even to Epicurus against pain) by showing neces-
10. Universal Decay, the supreme lesson; scientific 'knowledge
sary place of everything in the whole. 11. Shortness of kfe alleviated by its tested emptiness, science leads to indifference and reconciles to Death.
8.
But
at the
same time the

its favourite
Stoic spirit in
"
him
dogma, Redemption Throughout the whole, and with striking frequency in the later books, side by side with this pietistic demolition of reason, he insists on the need of particular and scientific knowledge, as we He is clearly of opinion that without should call it. such rational or intellectual vision no man can see things in their naked truth (or unreality), pierce to the core of things, detect their proportion and co-ordination, discover the links which somehow bind them into a Just as the Platonic dialectician harmonious whole. mounts from particular to universal, and returns " from " the mount of God with fresh faculties and clearer eyes armed with the tables of the Law, so Marcus believes
through Science."
that the prudent
its
gave not up tamely
man
refers each special instance to
general law, and regards every sensible or material circumstance in the light of its definition. Let him " iii 11: Always define and outspeak for himself.
line carefully the object of perception so as to realize
its
naked
e.
substance
rov
icar
(TO
opov
rj
7repi,<ypa<f>r)v
ael
iroiei<rQa(,
viroTrlTrTovros
ova-Lav
QTToiov
avrb fyavraa-rov &crr discriminate its <yvp,vov) y to

its
own
its
totality by aid specific attributes
of
and those
it
surroundings, to mark of the component
elements into which

oXo>z>
SiypTifMevGi)? ySXeVefc^ K.
can be analysed." (oXoi/ &' TO iSwv ovop>a avrov K. ra

OL
e/ceivcov
ef &v
a-vve/cpidi) K, els
THE TWO NATURES

\e<yeiv
257
mind
Trap laurax) "Nothing so emancipates the as the power of systematically and truthfully
testing everything that affects, and looking into in such a way as to infer the kind of order to
them
each
it
belongs
(?
subserves, its and, in particular, to
which world-order), the special use which relation and value to the universe,
man
as a citizen of that
supreme
world-city." KOV rj CO? TO eXeyêtZJ oSc3

ySi'ft)
OvBev
<yap OVTCO fieya\o(f>poarvv^ TTOMJTAK.
a\rjffiqia e/caa-TOv
re.
T&V T>
vTroTTL'rrrovTGW
Sward at,,
)
TO ael oSro)9 efc aura
opav &<TT arvv7rt/3ak\cv 07rot> TLVL TWO, TovTcp *)(peiav irape^pêvov^ riva tf Trpo? TO O\ov riva Se co? Trpb? rov avOpooirov, ovra TToXeo)? TT}? az/o)TaT^9. 9. This process is, very roughly, to be described
as the distinction of cause
and material
e.g.
iv.
21:
T/5 67ri TOVTOV $ io"TOpLa rfj? dXrjffeta? ; Sialpeo-is eh TO V\LKOV K. eZ? TO atTtwSe?. (" How can the truth be " searched out in this case ? namely, the odd problem
of
how
there
v.
is
room
in the air for all the Spirits of
the dead')
cause."
:
between matter and canon to his own e nature amcoSov? K. vKwov avveo-rvj/ca, and to 29: Tvpi<rov TO vii everything that happens. Aieke K. (Tvpfialvov. pepicrov TO vTTOKeêvov et? TO alTL&Ses K. v\t,tc6v. This is the kind of question viiL 1 1 one must ask oneself. TOVTO, ri e. avTo
"By distinguishing 13. He applies this
KOL&
avTO T7] l&iq V\IKOV ; T

TTocrov
/carao-fcevg
T
;
pep TO
;
ov<rt,a)$e?
&
TO alrc&Se^
T( Se iroiel ev
T$
8
:
Be
%povov
off
v<plo'TaTai
So
xii.
T&V
Trpa%ea>v.
(" Strip
the husks and look at the
underlying causes, look at the tendencies of actions.")

17
258
viii.
MARCUS AURELIUS
13
:
diyve/c&s
K.
eVt
Trda-rj^
(el
olov
re) <j>av-
T&vias ûcrioXoyeii' tradoKoyeiv St,a\eKTtKijecrdai,, where " To every impression apply, Eendall very suggestively if possible, the tests of objective character, of subjective
:
effect,
and
of logical relation."
The passage
is
not easy
fao-ioX.oyew (a
word
of significant frequency in later "
books) clearly conveys
equipment," inquiry into composition and parts by scientific and impartial induction, but rather a deductive pronounce-
iSia Karaa-rcevr),
peculiar and special nature or by no means a detailed
ment on
of
its
place in the world, viewed in the light
the
the prescribed teleology; iradoXoyeiv would imply actual experience of such a creature or thing (for <f>v. is ideal and abstract), the particular concrete
of
action
the rest
of
circumstances upon
it
and
its
change under such influence; SiaXe/m/eetW&u the broadest term for reflecting survey, ascending from such experience or inward sensations and emotions to
the more abstract definition or ideal contained in the
term
first.
<j>vcn?;
viii
in
a word, a
combination of
the two
knows
therein.
(a passage already quoted): not the world-order, knows not his
52
"He who
own
(
place
he who knows not for what end he 5e ev exists, knows not himself nor the world." Tt TOVT&V airokiTTGbv, ouS TTpo? 8 Ti avTo$ Trefatccv
etTTo*.
And
of
He uses this canon to reprove his own desire applause from those about him ignorant of their
and destiny.
Alrlov
K. K.
place
TOV
Oiaaac elra
cause
ryv avro TOV jfpovov TrepiopKrov, o&ov

asiro
ix.
25:
*I9t
eVl
TOV
V\LKOV
7r\eio'TOv
v<f)i<rTa<rdai ire^v/ce
rovro TO
iS/tw? TTOÔZ/.
it
"
Get
to the
and its quality; embodiment and survey
isolate
it;
from the material

delimit
then
the
full
THE TWO NATURES

span
for
259
question can Qkavai olav
<?.
which
(Of.
the
individuality
:
in
fc.
subsist."
viii
21
etcvrpefyov
yqpdo-av Se olov rywerai^)

10. study, Marcus always
Full of the practical tendency of objective sees things in the light of a
As to him death is the personal relation to himself. constant theme of his solitary parsenetic, so in all
else
he aims at reducing a thing to its constituent elements, and fixing the utmost limits for its perbe derived.
that the supreme lesson of universal decay To ISla? TTOWV exactly corresponds
sistence,
may
" " with our individuality
; questionable and puzzling in a pantheistic system, and reaching in man a gift
point
most
difficult
of
solution.
He
quotes
with
approval Epicurus, in his resolute contempt of suffer"When I was sick I did not converse ix. 41 ing.
:
about
with
my bodily ailments, nor discuss such matters my visitors; but continued to dwell upon the
of
principles
Natural
Philosophy"
"
(ra
Trpoyyov/Jieva
<f)V(ri,o\o<yS)v
the
and, more particularly, StereXow), understanding, while participating in such

of
how
dis-
turbances
the
flesh,
yet
remains in unperturbed
possession of its proper good" (37 AICUVOLCL, o-vpfieTdXap$avov<ra r&v ev (rapfu&hp TOIOVT&V Kivtfcre&v, arapaicrel Like Seneca, he is tolerant TO ISiov ayaQov Tvjpovara).
of the foe,
"
fas est et ab hoste doeeri,"

of all earnest
;
and seeks the
common ground
(Trao-979
and
"
alpeo-ew KOIVOV) common is to be loyal to philosophy under whatsoever circum-
reflecting thought it to every school
stances,
and not
(ptfSe
join
the
w
babel
of
the
silly
and
or
ignorant"
x,
?$ i$M>Ty
this
K. d<J>ucnoX<tyw
avptywapeiv).
9.
He
unites
scientific
"
knowledge"
"
winnowing and discerning faculty
with simplicity,
260
dignity
re
K.
e.
:
MARCUS AURELIUS
Tlore
;
yap
K.
aTrXor^To?
5
aTroXauo-ets
TTOTC
c-e/w/OTTjTo?
TroVe Se
rfjs
e ^'
etcdcrrov
yv&pla-ew,
ev
/C
ri
fear
ovo-iav,
riva Xfbpav eêi

V(j>icTTaO'dai )
v'Trdpftetv,
K.
Tg>
CTTt
TTCKTOV
K.
TTG^V/CGV
rWCOV
Kpirat,
ricrt,
Svvarat,
K.
K.
rw/e?
Svvavrcu
under("That acfjatpeio-ffaL. each true which apprehends thing's being, standing its position in the world, its term of existence, and which can say to whom it of right its composition, who and can either give it or take it belongs,
avro
SiSovat,
re
true
away.")
11.
x.
18: JE^
avro
efcatrrov
77897
r&v
v7TOKifjiva>v
K.
e<fc-
crrdvra, 67rivoelv
.
St,a\v6(Jivov
ev fjueraftohf}
r)
its
own
tcaOori efcacrrov ire^v/cev &a7rep Bwqo-fcew ("by " appointed mode of death "). This physiology,"
then, comprises a study of ingredients solution ; not only for the Sage's own
and
life,
of fated dis-
but for each
" material object Philosophy is a Meditation on Death." xi. 1. Even the scientific astronomy of the Eational
Soul, on
is
which Seneca expatiates with such luxuriance, but a means to view the monotony and sameness of
the universe, whether in parts or process: "En Be irepiepxerat, rov o\ov Koa-fLov /c. TO irepl avrov icevov
K.
TO
(y^fifjLa
K.
:
avrov,
K.
el<$
rrjv
aireipiav
rov
ala>vo$
eicreiverai,
.
.
Oe&pei
rqv TrepioSifcrjv 7ra\uyryG.veo'iav r&v o\G)v the moral being, not the splendid preroga-
tive of the Soul
who
to
stellar
spheres,
(itself
but the
out of this mortal abyss can rise fragility, the caducity, of
each thing
included); that poor comfort which
consoles the brevity of life by dwelling on its emptixi. 1 6 ness. Indifference, the true philosophic aim,
:
thus to be attained
ffeapfj
*
:
ASiafyopria-ei Se eav efcao-rov

(p,rj
avr&v
Sirjp^fieva)^
A:.
1)
6\t,tc($
("
by contemplating
THE TWO NATURES

1 everything in its elements, and also as a whole").
261
xi. 1
irodev ekrjkvBev efcao-rov K. /c rivaov e/ca&rov vTrofceipGv&v K. eh ri jUbTaj3d\\6L K. olov earai fj,raj3a\bv K. 0*9 ovSev
fcafcbv 7reto-eT<u. The supposed "scientific" interest is thus strictly ancillary to the moral and personal end. The study of things tends to show that they must soon
perish and die, and in this law of nature suffer no hurt. And so for man his duty, to appropriate to himself
:
the general lesson, and learn patience and lowliness. " Consider from whence each thing has come, of what material it is composed, into what it is changing, what it
will be like
to it."
xii.
when changed, and that no harm can come 24. Of three "dogmas" to be always held
is
ready to hand, the second

airb
to
see oirolov e/caarov

-
^rvXc^' 0) ^ K L T v TV V oicov rj tyvj(i)V aTTO&ovvat, K. e K. 69 ola fj XzJ<w. Thus, in a sense, philosophy performs by anticipation the work of death, showing the
L
<
wepharos ^XP
^XP
constituents, unweaving, like Penelope, the texture of 2 daylight in the gloom of an ascetic wisdom.
1
We
;
oXt/cws
Coraes here conjectured the negative ; both would make good sense might be used of vague superficial dismissal of a thing under its
without due disregard to its "differentia." But the word occurs in a good sense just below xi. 18 (9) of pointing out to someone in error a general law ; and I feel sure Rendall is right in a verdict of exile ; for oXiKws corresponds exactly with <t>v<ri.o\oyla,, and 5. to the close inspecclass
tion of iraOoKayla, and analysis into elements. 2 Before dismissing this section I may remark on the three remaining uses of faffioKoyew : (a) Clearly scornfully of the supposed esotenc know-
ledge of Herachtus, which could not save him from an indecorous fate KTrvpdxre<as roerctOra (frtHrioXo-yijcras) ; (j3) in (iii. 3 : irepl r^s rou K<507*ou a doubtful passage, x. 9 : fight, a scramble, a stupor, or a bondage
"A
such
is life
and each day

oti
which you divest of philosophic regard or

86yfJt,a,Ta,
will help to efface the sacred principles " (r& tepA, ^/cefra allegiance
Trapair^tMreis).
birwrk
<|>vcrioX.oYnTws (fxtvrdfa K.
is
Gataker
text,
reads d0wio\oy)7T(3s, which
the same thing.
The Teubner
262
MARCUS AURELIUS
conclude
:
may
tHs section with his own definition TLS oZv ^v^rj cn-cxvos (already quoted above), v. 32 clSuia K. K. reXo9, K. TOV Si 0X979 irurnfjfji)V ; 17 cup^v
rrj?
ov<7ta9
Sirj/covTa
TOV Aoyov,
K,
Sia
TTCLVTOS
TOV
TO
al&vos
Kara
TrepioSov?
TeTwypeva?
olicovoôvvra
Hay. ("What soul is trained and wise? That only which knows the beginning and the end, and the Eeason diffused through all being, which through all
eternity administers the universe in periodic cycles.")
Here, as must always be the case in pantheistic systems, the particular knowledge of details gives place in the
end
to.
a mere consideration of the
"
inbreathing and
of
all
outbreathing of
existences,
Br&hm," the
illusion
several
and the mystic sense of union with the Science, properly so called, alpha and omega of life.
cannot flourish in a mind preoccupied with
sorrowful personality, and centring
its
its
own
thought on the
duty (and the uselessness) of moral endeavour.

(D)
ON REBELLION AND APOSTASIS FEOM THE WOELDOEDEE
HOW
FAR POSSIBLE
ANALYSIS
12.
Has man
slavery
only just so much freedom as to understand Jus Rebellion is possible, but only hurts the rebel.
6 0ucrioAo777Tds, must be in ironical apposition, "which you, the selfdeemed accurate student of things, call up before your minds in array and then dismiss," i.e. without practising. (There is a temptation " (which I shall resist) of reading something like puffed up with mere " words (v. 23 fx,wpt>s 6 & rotfrots (j>v<r6fji,evos) which a scribe, increasingly familiar with <f>v<rio\oyta may have altered.) napaTrfywrei*/ is " " itself a it is i. of absolute li. of
:
used, puzzle ; 8, 17, disregard ; the supreme guidance and "escort" of true wisdom ; viii. 67, of the " transmission " of I feel certain it is used here like 0avrd^7, in light. A depreciatory sense, " carelessly bow out."
THE TWO NATURES

13. (Texts on theme, w ceases to be .)
263
"part or member or limb severed from whole
14. Individual aloofness
and want
of sympathy can do
harm;
yet,
unlike lopped branch, repentant separatist can reunite (but he is never the same).
15.
Appeal based on special affinity and Thought for its kindred and counterpart ; the truly moral one who takes joy in doing
right.
as the foundation
Having now seen the universal law of decay, and perpetual theme of philosophy, " aware that to Marcus " Science meant a prejubeing diced and inaccurate meditation on constant elemental change, we come now to a seemingly different subject, Is man, doomed one, nevertheless, closely connected.
12.
with all else to death, able in any degree to vindicate his freedom in self-will ? Is he a mere machine with
the painful consciousness that it possesses just so much 1 5 x. spontaneity as to understand its slavery ?
"
time
befalls was fore-prepared for you from woof of causation was from all eternity weaving the realization of your being and that which should befall it." *!O TI av croi, o-vâivrj rovro eoi
all
;
Whatever
the
1% al&vos 7rpo/caT6a'Kevd%TO'
rr\v
fcal
77
eTr^TrXo/w;
te.
r&v alruov
rrjv
re o-yv vTrovraa-iv 1% alBiov No wonder Quietism follows

of
:
rovrov
sole
as the
practical
maxim
tinctured, if making a virtue, resignation, of necessity. rebellion of particulars must be fictitious
prudence obedience to fixed law, you like, with a sentimental pietism, or

Clearly all
"
:
for
who
hath resisted His will

1
"
?
There
is
but one force in
h. 16
r^Xos
&
\oyucQv
AC.
TTJS irpeffpvniTTjs
\6ytf
0e07t<
and
the
object, unless religious hwppincssj of obedience.
&&v 9 r6 &reo-0at r<$ TTJS n<S\ew$ K. TLdXtrelas an insurmoujitable Dualism of subject faith come to reinforce the duty, by showing
:
264
MARCUS AURELIUS
the world, whatever its name and character, whether it be mere physical impulse, or (in some way unintelligible " to the ordinary man) moral and making for righteousness/' To oppose this were madness if it were not
Yet Marcus is constantly urging frankly impossible. us not to attempt it he is very anxious, perhaps over anxious, to show that it can only harm the rebel him:
self, and cannot hinder G-od's work, to whom even sin and Satan are contributory and essential. " Man's soul does violence to itself first and foremost when it makes itself so far as it can a kind of tumour and excrescence " rov a. on the universe 16: 'Tfipl&i eavrrjv (ii.
<f)
/j,dXi<rra
fj,ev
orav
dirocmjfia
K.
olov
4>ujjia
rov
against
(oaov !<' avT<) ryevyrai,). "Any the order of things is a rebellion

(dir&rra<ns
chafing
against
Nature
part
rfe
$u<7ea>5).
o>9
For
man
iv.
is
:
a mere
(iv.
14: 'Swireo-Ty?
not
pepo?).
29
"If he
who
recognize what is in the world is a stranger to the universe, none the less is he who does " not recognise what is passing there (%evo$ Koo-pov
does
TO,
ovra
ra
"
<ywop,eva).
He
is
an
;
exile, expatriated
from the Commonwealth of Eeason a blind man with " cataract of the mental eye ($^7^9 6 favyow rov Tro\t,TLfcov \6yov, TV^Xo9 o /caTafjLV&v r& voep& oftpari,) ..." an excrescence who, as it were, excretes and separates himself from the order of nature by discon" tent with his surroundings ('AinScmjjuia KOCTÔV o afyurrdpevo?
K.
..." a
'^topifav eavrov rov r^9 KOLVYI^ <j>v<rco? \6<yov) social outcast who dissevers his individual soul
of reasoning things
"
9
from the one common soul

Xtcrjia 7ro\6Ct>9
( Air<5cr-
jjua?
oi/cri79).
6 TVJV l$lav tyvfflv T&V \oryiKcbv aTrocr^tfct)^, Yet these railers perform a useful function,
each has a contributory function to the service of the
THE TWO NATURES

whole
;
265
none are superfluous. Heraclitus believed be epyaral <rvvpyol r&v ev TG> K6arp,o9, K.
frvrifi
TO, yw6/j,eva.
6 Kocrfjio? ("who finds and undo what is done
Kal yap rov rouovrov fault, and who tries to

;
resist
even of such the world has
need").
13,
viii.
34 :" Have you ever seen a dismembered

.
.
hand
the
or foot, or decapitated head lying severed from . body to which it belonged ? (Ô^KQIL^V^V
aTrorerp'rj/jievTjv).
Such does a
man make
himself (so
far as
and
"
isolates himself, or
"
he can) when he refuses to accept what befalls, when he pursues self-seeking
action
You
"
you
self
(o p/q 6e\a>v TO crvp/SaLVOv K. diroax^wv eavrov). are cast out from the unity of Nature of which are an organic part; you dismember your own
('Air^pi\|/<u
1-779 Kara fyva-w ei/e&crea)?' " Se creavrbv But /otepo?, vvv aTrefco-^ras).
irov TTOTC wiro
evrecfrvfcevs
yap
here
is this
to re-enter the unity
beautiful provision, that it is in your power no other part of the whole doth ;
God
('4XX* c&Se #o//Ajrdi> etceivo OTL eêcrrL <rot, irakw kv&aai, o-eawrov. TOVTO a\\^> pepei ovSevl 0eb$ eirerpefye, " But consider X^picrO^m K. SiaKoir^rri ird\i,v (?vve\6elv).
reunite
privilege, "
when once severed and dismembered,
to
He
the goodness of God with which He has honoured man has put it in his power never to be sundered at all
!
from the whole
"
(aXXa
tr/ceâi
J
TTJV
rov avdpwrrov* Kal jap iva rrjv ap " aTrb TOV oXov, 67T ai)T& eirolvja-e).
And
if
sundered, then to rejoin once more and coalesce and resume his contributory place" (K. faofrpaylm Trd\w 7rave\06iv /c. <rvp,<j>vvai tc. rqv TOV jtepovs rdfyv a?roXa-
266
1
jSetv).
MARCUS AURELIUS
ix. 9. A long and interesting section in which he complains that rational beings alone can interrupt this natural law of sympathy and association between
the cognate parts of kindred whole 'Oaa KOIVOV TWO? /-tT6%e, 7rpo9 TO 6/j,oyve$ <nrevSei,, earth to earth, fire
:
TOLVVV TCCUV TO tcoivrj? voepfc TO Gvyyeves Ofji0ia>$ crirevftei rj ical P,GTO%OV Trpos (So, too, everything that participates in the common mind-nature feels the like impulse towards kind, nay
to
fire,
etc.,
fcal
more
K.
so
"
(oaq*
yap
e.
/cp&rTov Trapa ra d\\a,

ra>
ot/cetco
7rpo9
ra
The higher the nature, the readier the eToiporepov. impulse to combination and fusion with its counterpart
").
.
truyKLpvaa-dai, "
K.
Ev0v$
/c.
<yovv eTrl
A:.
pev r&v akoy&v evpeOt]

epcores'
<riM?}vri
fc.
ayehat,
...
TO
otoi>
^vâl yap
77877
tl<rav
IvravOa
<rwcvyco<yov
Tstvopwov evpiartceTo (" on a mutual attraction asserts

in
tcpeiTTOvi 67T6this higher plane of being

itself,
ev
T&
which
is
not present
Be
plants
(!),
or
stones, or
sticks").
"
'Evrl
T&V
\oync&v
iv
1
%<j>wv Tro\t,Teiai, K. (j>i\ia K. ot/cot,

(j-ovQritcai
/c.
K, (?v\\o<yot, K.
TroXe/i/oi?
avoj(ai.
Among
rational
point is Marcus clearer than on the absolute freedom of any given moment, whatever previous life and habits may have been, whatever the seeming tyranny of circumstance: it is "instantaneous conversion," but the prune mover is not God, but man otidels 6 /cwXiW, li. 9 5 rls 6 K<Mw 4Kpa\etv xii. 8 and 25, viii. 47; rk 6 KuXtiw dtopOQffai; x 32 and 33, ix. 11. In viii. 41, ri rov
choice, at
:
On no
o$8els y&p 6 foayKdffdw vov tdta ovdels <SXXos efaBev g/jLTroStfew. . Trapafiyvai, v. 10 ; iii 12, ofl<Jeis 6 TOVTO (ebfaeLv) /cwXO<rai SwA/twos.
.
lEven Bartholomew Toyner could scarcely express himself more empicturesque)

phatically on this inalienable prerogative (though he may be more : "I tell you it's a love that's awful to think of, that will
go on giving men strength to do wrong, until through the ages of Hell they get sick of it, rather than make them into machines that would " just go when they're wound up, and that no one could love (The Zeit
Geist,
by L. Dougall).
THE TWO NATURES
267
beings there are societies and friendship, homes and communities, and in wars, compacts and armistices."
*E7rl
S&
T&V
en.
fcpeiTTOvav,
real
Btea-TijKOT&v
"
Tpoirov
Tiva evaMris
In the still a<TTp&v> of orders even distant bodies, there higher being, among exists unity of a kind, as among the Stars." O&T&S f\
vTrea-TT) OLO, eirl
T&V
TO fcpelrrov eiravdfiacris a-vp^rddeiav /cal kv Steer <&<rw " So that ascent in the scale of eprydcracrdai, Svvarat,.
7rl
being induces sympathetic action, in spite of distance. See what we come to then. None but things possessed of mind ignore the mutual impulse of attraction here " natural the does only gravitation disappear (pova rd
;
TT}? irpos a\\r)\a TO <rvppovv &$ povov ov " in even act but the of Yes, evasion, men are caught and overtaken ; nature prevails. Watch and you will
voepd vvv eVtXeX^crrat

Gvvvei)creto<$ 9
re.
see; sooner will you find some particle of earth de" tached from other earth, than man isolated from man
>
(/cairoi
97
fyevyovres,
. .
7reptf icaTa\afj,^dvovTac
tcparei
yap
<j>v<7i<i
Gacrarov
evpot,
TW &v
ye&Ses re
TrpoGraTTTo/Aevov iJTrep avffp&Trov avBp&Trov
14. An almost similar reproof of the exceptional obstinacy and frowardness of the intellectual nature xi. 20. All other elements in obedience know how to
keep
their place (ireiQoêva
TTJ
rv
o\cov
rot?
TT}?
apa
civ
teal
rd
o-roiêia viraicovei
e/ceWev 7rd\w
TO evSovijJLov
"persistently retain their appointed place, until the signal for dissolution sounds their release. Fie
on
it
that
desert the post assigned

<rov /juepo?
your mind-element alone should disobey and " (ov Sewbv ovv povov TO voepov aireiQes eivai /c, dyavaKTelv T$ eavTov
268
"
MARCUS AURELIUS
is
Yet no violence
laid
its
upon
of
it,
in accordance with
nature;
nothing but what is yet it breaks away

intemperance,
impatiently.
For motions
injustice,
anger, vexation, fear are simply a rebellion against nature" (ovSev a\\o e. rj d<j>urrajjôu 7^)9 <v<reG>9).
So
ix.
23
"You
necessary to complete the
are part of a social whole, a factor sum (TTO\LTIKOV o-va-TtfpaTo?
Any action of yours that does not crvpTrX'rjpcoTifcos). tend directly or remotely to this social end dislocates
life
TT
and infringes
"
its
unity
(^
eyy
*rrjv
avafyopav ecre
poo-eyas elre Troppcodev em TO KOW&VMCOV reXo9, avTy " Sicwnra rov fiiov K. ovfc ea eva elvai). It is an act of
sedition, and, like some separatist, doing what he can to " break away from civic accord (arraori58i(]s e. &cnrep ev o TO KO>& avrov pepos SuordfjicKos cwro rfj? TOiavri)?
Here we note the convincing appeal to a?). co-operate in a system which is imperilled or impaired by individual aloofness. The fabric, social or natural,
can suffer hurt from such secession, as of the Eoman commonalty to the Aventine but Marcus, true to his " evil harms the perpetrator alone/' insists belief that
;
far
action,
more frequently upon the suicidal folly of such and the superb indifference of the cosmic process to the rebellion of a part (like some aggrandised Chinese Empire !). We are well aware to-day how
feeble
is the appeal to the reason compared with the Social interest rousing of the sympathetic emotion. depends not on fear of a revolution nor on dread of
ignorance, but simply and solely upon a sense of Christian duty or a vaguer sense of compassion. Thirty
" It years ago the generally accepted maxim was, " idle to oppose the march of democracy to-day, it
;
is
is
"
rather,
we
are
wrong
in not using our efforts to raise
THE TWO NATURES

our brother to a better
269
life." Kendall, excellently as " " disaffection always, expresses Marcus' criticism of " it was powerless to the (Ixxxiv.) interrupt or baulk
;
purposes of providence, and in opposing it does but become fuel to the flame, feeding and strengthening
what
it essays to check and counteract." But the moral appeal depends on showing man how much, not how little, influence he exerts for right or wrong. Another picturesque passage (xi. 8) recalls the Pauline
allegory of the wild olive-tree icXaSov diroKoirels ov Svvarcu

f
/cXaSo? rov irpoo-exovs

jj,rj
K.
rov o\ou
evb$
(" a
(pvrov
d-rroKKo4>$cu.
diroaxiffOels
Ovro)
Srj
/ecu
avdpcoTros
avffpc&Trov
0X17? TTJS
its
Koiv&vla$
aTroTreTTTCfl/ce
branch
lopped from
neighbour branch is inevitably lopped also from the main trunk So, too, a man isolated
i
from one
of
his
fellow-beings
is
severed
from the
The only difference is that in general fellowship "), man's case his is the voluntary wrong and hurt, act of K\a8ov pev ovv aXXo? airoKO'jrrei; a. malice prepense.
&e a#T09 eavrov TOV irKricrLov xw p^t jcuoâvz? K diroo-Se ort K. TOV o\ov TroXtreu/iaro? a/Lta rpa<|>eis, ayvoei eavTov. He follows this by a similar reduoTT/jiYi/cF
t
the gracious gift of God which allows this be repaired and annulled in a moment at the wrong to sinner's will IDvrjv eiceivo ye S&pov rov
mark on
egecrrt, yap rrakw THUV TraKw rov o\ov rfi Trpoo-eêi " be to Zeus who knits the But thanks yevevOat,.
rrjv
Kow&viav
At,o<$.
real
bond of fellowship it is in our power to coalesce once more and recomplete the whole." Yet Marcus adds " It becomes more and here a significant epilogue more difficult for the morose and sullen separatist to Here alone, attach himself again to the parent stem."
;
270
MARCUS AURELIUS
perhaps, does our author seem aware of the limits to human freedom of choice in our constitution, our preUXeoz/a/a? past habit. disposition of accumulated
IJ&VTOI
r^v yevofievov TO Kara SV(TVG)TOV K. Sv(ra7roKard(TraTov

constant
repetition
of
TOLCLVT^V
Biaip<ri,v,
TroteZ.
TO
diroxwpouj'
("Yet
the
severance
makes
reunion and restoration difficult for the

re ov% opoio? 6 /cXaSo? o
K.
<7VjJL7rvov$ crv/JLfjbeivas,
separatist/)
ro3
is part of (" ey/cevrpia-devri,. the original growth, and has shared the continuous life of the tree, is not the same as one that has been lopped
avOis
The Branch which
off
and
reingrafted.") 15. After his eulogy of the ordered submission

of the elements in the above passages, we might be if by this time we did not
and loyalty
are startled (or
know Marcus' easy
shifting of emphasis and turn of metaphor) to find that only the rational nature has true inward communion, denied to the world of inani-
mate
"
objects.
"
The other constituents

"
of the various
wholes
(light,
substance, soul)
possess neither sense
Xot?).
nor mutual relationship (avaio-dyra K. avoiiceiu>Ta aXXrJBut thought tends ... to its counterpart
.
and combines with
it,
and the
instinct of
declines disunion" (Aidvoia ISia? eVl TO oô^vXoi/ reiverai K. a-vvlc-raTai" K. ov êipêrai TO tcowtoviKov This series may fittingly be closed xii. 30. 7ra0o?).
&
community
by a quotation (vii. 13) which shows not only the fellowship of the rational natures, but the stages on the " are one body, and he path of its appreciation
;
We
uses of himself the term part (pepos) instead of limb (/ueXos), the more organic connexion, has not yet attained the true inward satisfaction of brotherly love
"
;
who
THE TWO NATURES

he obeys
271
Law
to
harmony
pleasure
e<TTt,v
of the gospel, in
self
as Law, but has no conception of the which duty to others and
are
inextricably
interwoven.
Olov
ev qvcdpevow TO, fj,e\r) TOV <7GOâTo<?, TOVTOV eêi TOV \oyov ev Biea-T&cn, ra \o<ytKa vrpo? piav rwa " As in physical KarGO'/cevao'/jueva (R. crvvepyiav
:
organisms the unity
of separate limbs, so the reason is distributed among among reasoning things for constituted individuals, unity of co-operation. MaXXov Se 001, 97 TOVTOV vorja ^ Trpoa-Trea-eLTat, eav
is
1
made up
creavrov TroXXa/w? \fyy$ ori
MEAD'S
el/u TOV
'
e/c
\ojt/cv
crva-rrifjiaTo^
home if member
This thought will strike more you constantly repeat to yourself, I am a of the sum of reasoning things/") 'Eav 8
("
elvat,
MEP03
part for
heart.")
creavrov
(" If
\<yr}<>
OVTTG> airb /capSias
<j>t>~h>i$
TOII? av6pG>Trov?.
member
Ovira)
T4
CO?
you substitute meros for melos you do not yet love men from your
/caraX^/cTt/cGo?
evtjtpabvei
ere
TO
evep-
7TfcV
TTpeTTOV
cravTov ev
Trotcoz;.
;
^C\OV 7TOt65* Ol57TCO CD? (" You have yet no certitude of joy
aVTO
in doing kindnesses
they are still bare duty, not yet a We add this passage here not deed to yourself.") good it man's shows because power of gradually realizing only
this sense of
community
"
present study, but also because
How
it
(a necessary corollary to our can he set himself against it 1 "),
points out in a profounder spirit
than any other phrase or sentence of Marcus, perhaps of any ancient philosopher, the common root of altruism and egoism, so-called. The perfect man, who is truly blest, is not he who does right from a sense of duty,
but
takes so much pleasure in his benevolence he cannot do otherwise, and will not count the that
who
cost.
GENERAL CONCLUSION
GENERAL SUMMARY
Purpose ; to disclose lurking antiiwmies in any monistic hypothesis ; Aurelius substitutes religion for science, but in every section the undying conflict of the two is brought to light; Plotmus has far
more
logic, conviction, coherence ;
anachronism, impossible
to revive ;
Stoicism (as a creed) an entire Submissiveness and Pietism
uncongenial to modern thought ; nothing more out of date than
a divinizing of the Actual;

thought.
society
and
the universe
run on
distinct lines; defiance, discovery, personality,
note of Western
Aurelius attracts us by his earnest inconsistency; marks the end of moral confidence and moral effort; alleged affinity between man and the world has disappeared (RendaWs excellent appreciation) ;
certain questions raised by the doctrine
Stoic school.
and
experience of the
A FRESH
may
or
volume on the philosophy of Marcus Aurelius well seem superfluous. Few characters in the Imperial age are so well known ; few phases of G-reek
Eoman thought and That complex of curious

scientific
religion
belief,
are
more
familiar.
odd presumption, and
dogmatism called the Stoic School lends itself excellently to eloquent summaries for at first sight its outlines seem remarkably clear and well defined, its doctrines coherent and symmetrical. Every history,
;
either of
Kome,
of ethics, or of
272
pure philosophy, finds
GENERAL CONCLUSION
273
the task of appreciative and sympathetic treatment an It is difficult not to admire, and Marcus' easy one. secret memoirs will never be without interested readers. In Dr. Kendall's recent volume has appeared not merely
by far the finest version of the original in English, but an introductory essay on the tenets of the Porch full of
power, grasp, delicacy of expression, and accuracy of detail. With his kind permission I have made use of this translation to explain the excerpts through the book. It would be presumptuous and impertinent to
attempt to improve
fascinated
it,
by its dependent enough

supersede
it.
style and rhythm to to forget it, or original

is
and almost impossible for one become inenough to

is
What
the
true
of
all
translations
Marcus Aurelius, however beautiful; imperceptibly the emespecially true in

is
case of
a version of
phasis
lost,
the lesson of the repetition of certain
the atmosphere evaporates, and one is astonwords, ished to find how different is the impression of twenty
consecutive lines of the Emperor's actual words and This is the same amount in his English translators. no that can Dr. and be there unavoidable, question Kendall has best appropriated and reproduced the spirit and the temper of the original. But a sense of this has
led
me to adopt the somewhat cumbrous method of verbal quotation, which may deter an impatient reader. Yet it is peculiarly suitable in the case of an author
who, though he writes with preconceived notions and prejudices, never develops his argument in a long series, never advances to a climax, and expresses his thoughts in disconnected aphorisms, all illustrative of an immovable main thesis.
so
much
to
seize
It is the purpose of the volume, not these salient axioms and obvious
274
MARCUS AURELIUS
syllogisms which are taken for granted in every criticism of the Emperor's faith or character, as to show the
lurking antinomies, doubts, anxieties which lay beneath this stern postulate of Monism; to disclose the inner
conflict
between those two ultimate and irreconcilable rivals Science and Faith. The early School, like all Greeks, fascinated into an unwarrantable teleology, had been in a way lazily and or, let us say, avowedly undeductively scientific, " seekers after selfish, objective, impartial, and unbiassed " " while no fact is truth," organs of impersonal reason clearer than the intense preoccupation of reflecting minds with their own salvation and peace, than the subjectivity In Borne the latter side which was then prevalent. increased in prominence with the decay of civic sanction, and the ambitious Egoism which emerged from the nominal subordination of part to whole. The Western Stoics clung with devotion to a theoretical doctrine which in practice they surrendered. Eeligious faith came to the rescue of the unhappy personality which demanded a guarantee and correspondence in the obwhich is the jective world to the moral endeavour standing puzzle not only once upon a time in bygone The antiquity, but of all earnest minds in any age. whole question of science and faith centres round
;
the question of a personal or impersonal hypothesis of the Universe. Stoicism, while accentuating the agonies and acute self-consciousness of the Spirit, maintained
the latter with the strongest resolution.
It retained the
names
men
of deities disguised as physical forces, with which could no longer come into close personal relation.
fashion
Meantime introspection and self-analysis became the and men really desired to attain, not truth, but
;
GENERAL CONCLUSION
a
275
practical
way
of
life,
and guidance in the slender
Balzac's "Peau de chagrin/' was sphere almost daily dwindling. The result might have been foreseen. With ever-
which, like
increasing emphasis the religious aspect of the world is substituted for the scientific, a personal for an impersonal
interpretation of
the facts of life. The Emperor, in in combines belief sincerest the gods with particular, theoretic acceptance of a crude materialism. In the
apparent harmony
ing, there
is
of his system, symmetrical if depressa perpetual conflict of elements which
It is, for example, impossible to cannot be reconciled. is objective and physical, or his Pantheism say whether and whether he deifies or highly idealist subjective
;
denies the external world
whether man's
affinity to
virtue of his fatal place in the inextricable series, or his dim, faint power to protest (standing outside not, indeed, as a new cause, but as a critic, hurried
in.
God was
avoid).
on by the rush which he may estimate but cannot The utter illogicality of moral effort in such a world has in the foregoing pages been exposed in perhaps wearisome iteration. Marcus had many teachers besides Stoicism for the practical duties of social and imperial " and we may blame the " dogmata of the School life if he seems to us to be too ready to acquiesce, too patient of evil and tolerant of faults which it perhaps
;
was
of
in his
a sensitive
power to correct. Stoicism is the refuge and discouraged nature, and the final
a personal deity in
Source
of life takes the features of
The transition to the unsatisfied craving for sympathy. the purer and more genial mysticism of Plotinus is easy and assured: save that in this later system there
is
more coherence, symmetry, and system.
Dualism,
276
MARCUS AURELIUS
inherent in the Porch, almost disappears in the warmer light of Plato's sun, luminary of the two worlds of
intelligence and of nature. It is useless to repeat with tedious repetition
the
apparent commonplace (in truth, a paradox) that this peculiar attitude is a permanent posture of the inquiring Soul, or is likely to reappear to-day as the final creed of
Scientific
Monism.
Nothing
is
more improbable.
The
The so-called reconditions are absolutely reversed. is a vague, misty, and poetic attempt of Stoicism ligion the worship of law (as Epicurus at self-deception
;
acutely reminds)
never likely to take the place of It reposed on two astounding a personal a modern mind (nurtured on for postulates, which
is
relation.
positive
science,
it
yet
prejudiced
in
favour of
moral
behaviour)
cogency Nature;
science
impossible to revive with (1) belief in the beneficent teleology of Pantheism is bad (2) duty of submission.
religion.
would
be
and meaningless
It obscures the im-
passive survey of natural
phenomena with the phantoms
of superstition, and combines a misplaced and unreasoning reverence for the total of things, with an almost While it haunts natural vindictive hatred of its parts.
inquiry with antiquated religious taboo," it extinguishes religious feeling and the higher emotions, or conjures up
"
a semblance of love for a supposed god, who is either in any case, unconscious, and in sleeping or drunken, There is not the any true sense unapproachable.
slightest doubt that Epictetus and Marcus did alike, by this violent clashing of anomalies, find supreme satis-
faction and that for their practical life an intellectual Pantheism (God as Thought), or a dutiful acceptance
;
(outside the study) of the
Boman
c<
Olympus/' provided
GENERAL CONCLUSION
consolation,
277
ment.
and even, in a lethargic way, encourageBut the inconsistencies are too patent and, in
;
the end, theory cannot long be divorced from practice. The moral instinct of man repudiated an alliance with the Porch, and found reinforcement in the sobriety of
the Christian Church, or in the flattering visions of Platonism.

free
To-day we approach the study of an objective world from all religious presupposition. Above all, we have abandoned the precarious assumption of teleology.
The deus ex machind, present at every turn in Stoicism, in spite of its pretension to pure science, is rightly Neither do we study Nature in order to discarded.
obey her, as
followers
of
if
it
was the Divine
will; but, as true
Bacon, by "obeying to overcome and to
employ."
Nothing is further from our designs than any premature deification. The modern spirit is that of St. Christopher and if it be conscious that in the moral realm of effort there is a power distinct from, and in some sense antithetic to, Nature, it will not engross No itself in sentimental devotion to mere blind force. lower substitute will satisfy. The notion of God all is an asylum against the injustice or inreligion To entangle, again, this equalities of the natural order. ideal in the meshes of the visible, or evaporate it in the " fog of the absolute," is an insult to human discernment.
;
The submissive yet defiant Stoic temper is one which, save in rare and unhappily dowered individuals, can never recur in Europe so long as we can preserve an acute- sense of personal value and freedom, imperilled as
it is
by Indian asceticism and absorption, and the

listless
insidious advance of
or scholarly indifference.
278
The ways
MARCUS AURELIUS
of the Social order
and
of the
Universe
lie
on
different planes. Man, as Huxley saw, is far more the child of the former ; he owes comparatively little to the
second
and
it
is
it
certain he will rather use, transform,

for his
and investigate
profess
own purpose and
interest than
readiness to accept all that betides as
God's
mil.
It is affection rather than admiration which is evoked by the character and the self-revelation of Marcus We love him because of the transparent anomalies of his beliefs, his unsuccessful attempts to co-ordinate two 1 Had he entirely opposed theories of the Universe. been less sincere, more academic and symmetrical, less " bold in the wager of faith," he could not have exacted a homage so unwavering from all subsequent times. " First and foremost, a Eoman emperor, a soul naturally
1 Vide Kenan, Averroes and Averroism, p 167 sq. (2nd edit. 1861) the two treatises of Ibn Rosehd, On the Harmony of Relicôn with Philosophy , and, On the Demonstration of Religious Dogmas, Philosophy is the most elevated aim of human nature ; but few can attain it Philosophical disputes are rightly prohibited, because they unsettle the For their happiness, it suffices to understand what they can simple understand. "The special religion of philosophy is to study that which is for the most sublime worship one can render to God is the knowledge of His works which leads us to know Himself in all His The vilest action in the sight of God is to tax with error and reality. vain presumption him who adores Him by the best of all religions.
; :
All positive tenets of religion (angels, prophets, prayers, sacrifice) are rneie expedients to excite to Virtue, which the philosopher alone
He must not despise the simple but interpret them in the best sense. He is a heietic, and justly liable to the penalties prescribed, who inspires the people with doubts on religion, and displays the contrafollows without ulterior inducement.
beliefs in
which he was reared
dictions lurking in the Prophets The wise man does not permit himself a word against the Established Religion . and the Epicurean, seeking at a blow to destroy religion and virtue, merits the sentence of death."
. . .
.
GENERAL CONCLUSION
Christian," he
viction,
is,
279
Stoic
partly by accident, partly by conphilosopher, that is, amalgam of

.
profoundest idealism, mere positive science, and some He is the last interpreter of this popular belief.
peculiar phase of thought. tired of the moral effort (for
Not that men had become we cannot if we would rid ourselves of it), but because they demanded (and obtained ?) a closer correspondence in the life of God
to the aspiration and the hopes of the finite creature. In the close and sympathetic survey of Dr. Eendall,
is much I should like to notice with special attention. admirable is this passage xxvi. : " Belief in Cosmos, not in Chaos, is an intellectual, and
there
How
more, a moral necessity, out of which reason can only argue itself on pain of self -confusion without it, motive and justification, or rather excuse, for continued
still
;
existence
fails." Yet we may add how vague and incomplete was the supposed Cosmic order of the Stoics, and how far remote was it from any moral scheme.
In xxxviii. the " main dogmas of the Cynic School, firmly embedded in the Stoic creed," are clearly defined " The identification of virtue with knowledge, the autocracy and indivisibility of virtue, and the moral in.
The Cynics Again, xl. gave unconditional authority to the criteria of individual These were direct, imperious, and experience and will.
dependence
of the individual/'
:
"
valid.
summary
xlvi.
of
Life in agreement with Nature was the their aim, and was a formula well
calculated at once to attract and to mislead disciples." " : Eeturn to Nature, so far from implying reversion
to animalism,
level of the beasts,
and the reduction of man's needs to the was found to involve fundamental differentiation of reasoning man from the unreason of
280
MARCUS AURELIUS
man on a to summon him and eventually unique spiritual plane, from individual isolation to conscious brotherhood with These are the kind and harmony of will with God. elements of Stoicism which have proved most permanent and universal." It might possibly be fair to add that in this respect the School was but a single manifestation of a cosmopolitan spirit (in the double sense), which prevailed after the conquests of Alexander preparing, half -unconsciously, its theoretical arsenal amid the disappointing turmoil of the Diadochi and issuing, alike " is Christianity and Roman Imperialism," with its two" fold current of justice to the weaker and the slave," and the personal rights of man in the great body of Law. Perhaps, too, Stoicism only threw out halfformed suggestions, which were to be realized in the schools of Plato and the Church for, as we shall see, the true follower of the Porch never surmounted this barrier of isolation, and never issued forth in free and
the brute or the inertia of matter, to place
:
eager enterprise into the larger or the lesser wealth.
common-
How excellently he expresses the line of thought which conducted to this lonely watch-tower (Trepi&Trij) " xlviii Thus the idea of personality of the ultimate of the individual will and conscience, of an JSgo unity distinct from physical organism and environment eventually dawns upon Greek thought and unexpectedly
!
:
reveals
deeper
dualism
new
to
philosophy
that
his
antithesis, namely, of spirit and flesh, of material embodiment, of moral aim and
man and
realized
ex-
which conducts to the baffling problems of Determinism and Free- Will." There is nothing here which contradicts or denies the tendencies of the
perience,
GENERAL CONCLUSION
Platonic
281
is
School;
for
the
contrast
there
more
apparent than real, and the co-ordination of spirit and matter is to be triumphantly achieved in the new School of Alexandria, while beneath the nominal
monism
of
the
is
Porch,
is
the
in
tone
of
alienation
and
:
pessimism
normal and indispensable.

buttressing.
"The
apart,
monistic core
Again, Ix. constant danger of falling
and needs ingenious
The unity
of
the world was only explicable as the expression of a single power, and Zeno ventured to assume that power to be identical with that which declares itself as consciousness in man/'
Here, in a word, is the cause of the unconvincing and incoherent character of Stoic dogma; the attribution of moral aim to the worldprocess the oscillation between a purely physical and a rarefied moral (or intellectual?) Pantheism. If we
;
wish to see the significant and
essential
contrast of
modern thought, we may look at Maeterlinck's essay ("Kingdom of Matter," Gontemp. Eeview, Oct. 1900), where, like the Stoic, man holds to his unique and
moral importance
is
;
and, unlike him., does so because he
profoundly convinced there is no correspondence. "We have learnt at last that the moral world is a world
a world contained in ourselves is alone no relation to matter, and exercises no influence on it unless it be of the most hazardous and But none the less real, therefore, is exceptional kind. Which is the most benethis world, or less infinite." ficial influence on the special realm of man's nature, history has proved whether the arbitrary resemblance of natural and mental law, or an emphasis on their
wherein
man
that bears
intrinsic
unlikeness.
It
is
for
this
reason that I so
often assert that Stoicism can never return as a phase
282
of
MARCUS AURELIUS
;
it depends entirely upon an alleged sense between man and the world, a deification of the concrete which is wholly inconsistent with experience and discovery, and which is probably expelled, more or less consciously, from the thoughts of all reflecting men. How well Dr. Eendall expresses the cogency of the moral fact, which precedes moral theory, and is independent of it; which condemns to mere idle trifling the anti-moral diatribes of Thrasymachus and his
thought
of affinity
" Ixi. The old sanction of civic modern imitators in practice and been expunged obligation had withered
!
in theory, but the survival of morality itself confirmed the existence of a basis, at once individual and uni-
versal
This lay in a common source of energy, not in a mere parity of individual impulse." The empirical base, the influence of Socrates and his dialectic, the
puzzling sense of an integral solidarity which yet could not be realized, the curious fact that the final argument
for morality to the Stoics was the personal character of Epicurus, these points in Stoic dogma cannot be
more
"
NOT could we find more lucidly expressed. striking definition of the "main synthesis" than this, Ixii.
:
The world, a complete and living whole, informed and controlled by one all-pervasive energy which 'knew itself in the consciousness of man the microcosm, and
'
Whether declared all nature one, coherent, rational." the Stoics cordially agreed in this somnambulistic hypothesis of creation,
whether the world-spirit
first attains
consciousness in
disputed
intelligence, has been much it clearly forms an essential part of modern
human
pessimism, with Stoicism has most affinity.

theoretical
which,
of
all
Schools,
No
better
summary than
the following could be found of the ethical result
GENERAL CONCLUSION
Ixxiv.
"
:
283
By suppression of desires the moral ideal could easily be reduced to that hard and narrow selfconsistency towards which the Stoic type habitually or drill itself or decline into the moral apathy leans
'
;
which
secret
results
intellectual
of
from restricting virtue to the sphere of and unimpassioned self-regard. This is the that 'accent of futility* which marks the
of a writer so
thoughts even
and
final
social obligation as
Marcus Aurelius."
keenly alive to altruistic Here is a
passage on the Stoic claim to spiritual autonomy,

:
free-will, on which to attempt to " The inimprove would be an impertinence Ixxxii. dependence of the Will as a true first principle or ap^y is incompatible with its identification with the World;
Determinism, and
If ... the highest consciousness of man repreSoul. sents the most complete and perfect embodiment of the World-Spirit, the saving thought of self-determination
is
towards some transcendent, yet unapprehended, harmony excluded. Not only is man part of the universal
predestination, but the limits of that predestination are known and absolute."
Again,
tion,"
how
true and convincing
is
larger concepcoloured and permeated with Eastern Monotheism, therefore wavering between naive Phenician worship
of the natural process, and the dental Unitananism of the Jews.
Stoic interpretation of the
$vcm
in a
this "
summary
of
moral and transcenIxiv.
(The School,) in ascribing phenomena to the action of mind, attached a moral instead of a merely mechanical interpretation
to
"
Universe: an attempt to and combine the immanent implicit (which tends to be purely physical) with the transcendent and Aristotelian, each
motion
of
the
which
is
then in
its
abstraction conceived of rather
284
as
MARCUS AURELIUS
Dr. Kendall uses the
his strict
Thought than Moral Will/'

Diogenes,
is
happiest terms in describing philosophic idiosyncrasy;

of
xlii.
:
"Towards
the
all
externals,
of
"
:
attitude
nonchalance,
;
charter
his
self-
"
Cynics sufficiency voices of tradition and culture, determined to isolate

the
individual
of
generally, xlv.
Deaf to the
flaunt
from the
to
society,
and
to
the
outer circumstance, the Cynics superiority fell rapidly into the quagmires of ascetic bravado." " Ixxxiv. The stalwart braggadocio of Diogenes
of will
:
hard defiance of acceptant optimism of Epictetus and for our Cato devout resignation of Marcus,"
. .
author himself, how deftly and how truly two analogies of mediaeval and modern date are interwoven in civ.
"
They penned amid the isolation of Khartoum." With only two points in this admirable appreciation do I find myself somewhat diffidently in disagreement. " It was a cardinal assumption of Stoicism, xlix.
:
are a
De
Imitatione, such as might have been
man is identical with the nature of the Universe at large, and on that assumption it is meaningless to ask whether Cleanthes meant to prescribe
that nature in
'
accordance with his
own
individual nature/ or
'
accord-
ance with nature at

;
would have repudiated the distinction and whatever ethical implication might result, at least they would not depend on initial But I cannot help tracing the ambiguity of term." very obvious impotence and unhappiness of the Stoic effort and outlook to a real though unavowed sense of
large.'
He
this contrast.
I cannot read Diogenes Laertius' account
of the Stoics without finding early traces, underneath a rigid dogmatism, of a profound conviction of detach-
ment
or superiority.
Abundant testimony
is
provided
GENERAL CONCLUSION
285
in perhaps the largest series of citations from Marcus in the foregoing pages. To confess this antithesis would
be to abandon the whole monistic scheme of things but to the end the Stoic philosophy hovered disconsolately between a sense that he, the individual, was the All, and a conviction that he was nothing but himself. In the moral realm at least, he derived no encouragement from the oft-repeated assurances of sympathy with Universal order, of conscious unity with the Divine. Nor can I heartily echo his eulogy of the Stoic in;
system of material monism willman's intellectual constitution, permanently satisfy but the Stoic attempt, noble, far-reaching, and on its own lines exhaustive, not merely held for centuries a
fluence.
Ixvii.
:
.
"
No
more active and commanding sway over the minds and hearts of men than the metaphysics of Plato and
Aristotle,
not merely interwove
itself
with Christian
discipline and doctrine, and found philosophic reconstruction in Spinoza but at this day, alike in the poetic
;
and
a wider currency and a more invigorative appeal in the field of natural religion than any other extra-Christian interscientific imagination, enjoys
exercises
pretation of the Universe." This is too large and important a topic to be treated exhaustively here; it involves not only a historic survey
into
over classic and mediaeval times, but a deep insight modern sympathy and tendencies, and a candid
acknowledgment
of
the insurmountable
difference
of
the Christian faith to any proposed philosophic subI will content myself here merely with stitute. inquiring, by no means anticipating of right a certain
answer
(1) whether there are
any
sufficient
arguments
that the Stoic School had any serious effect or became
286
MARCUS AURELIUS
a guide of earnest endeavour, before
its doctrines, empty, into activity in translated were and formal, eristic, Eome? (2) whether the extreme familiarity of the
pantheistic hypothesis, the readiness of all men at certain epochs to accept this, to the Eastern mind, one
and
final interpretation, is not responsible alike for the tendencies of the post-classical and Christian developwhether this School is not rather a very ment,
subordinate episode, one of many manifestations of the sense of human brotherhood and the Divine parentage appearing everywhere with the downfall of national or
civic
barriers? (3) whether in all the attempts to reinforce moral effort, or explain the world's unity and sympathy, the special tenets of the School were not by
far the
most illogical and unsatisfactory ? (4) whether Epictetus and Marcus did not derive all their moral vigour or contented submission from a religious instinct and piety, from an alliance with popular superstitions, if you will, with which the Porch-materialism was strictly incompatible ? (5) whether, except in mere
technical phraseology, such as frequently strikes one in Clement of Alexandria, there could be anything in
common between a system in effect denying personality, human and Divine, and a Church which encouraged
the humblest to believe their efforts in daily life were acceptable and approved before a loving Father's eyes ?
(6) whether the
two interpretations
of the
;
world are
not fundamentally and diametrically opposed as Eenan reminds us in a passage before referred to ? (7) whether
the language used of
modern Pantheism
is
suitable only
to the epoch anterior to the acceptance of Evolution, and is unintelligible to the scientific explorer of a realm in which he can- discern no conscious aim ? (8)
GENERAL CONCLUSION
whether we have not at
of
287
last
got rid of the cloudy

1
science, temper worship and knowledge, surreptitiously introduces a moral purpose into the workings of mechanical law an
;
mind which, confusing veneration and
the laboratory; a vague mysticism into the survey of the starry heavens 2 or the expanse of ocean ? Such questions cannot be finally
thrill into the cold analysis of
emotional
answered here
it
may
this
suffice
now
that I have raised
them
1
tentatively.
may be seen in Seneca (Wat. Qu. vii. 31) on cognata Numini summo, et vicinam sortita oculos nostros et implent et errugiunt ; potentiam, obscura sunt sive illis tanta stibtilitas est quantam consequi acies human a non possit ;
comets: "Multa
.
A good instance of
.
sive in sanctiore secessu majestas tanta delttuit, et regnum swim (id est, " : he is se) regit nee ulli adrium dot nisi ammo clearly wavering between
the objective and physical, and a mystical and inward Pantheism, the one inevitable result of the profound opposition of the "Two Natures," which permeates and confuses the whole Stoic development. "Rerum Natura Sacra sua non simul tradit. Initiates nos credimns ; in vesti-
In his famous definition of God, quod vides totuxn, bulo ejus haeremus quod non vides totum, we see how keenly he feels the antithesis ; how, in spite of his interest in pure science, meteorology, seismology, he is advancing, like Marcus Aurelius, to a more moral and humanitarian
'
"
conception of Godhead. 2 To which Kant, with

stranger.
all
his
cold sobriety,
was not wholly a
APPENDIX
TRANSLATION OF PASSAGES CITED FROM EPICTETUS
CHAPTER
THE
NEW
OYNISM
B. THE GIFT OP FBJEE WILL

(5)
"As
then was
chiefest
fitting,
the gods only placed in our

of
\
power the
Kvptevov),
and sovereign
all
(/cpartcrrov
the right use of impressions
but the rest not in
Was it that they did not wish to ? our power (OVK l<$ ^/uv). For my part, I think, had they been able, they would have placed these, too, under our control \ but this was altogether
beyond their power. For, being on earth and bound to such a body and such partners as we see, how was it possible in these respects not to be thwarted and hindered by things
without 1
P. 2l8.
(TO. e/cros).
From
this substance (ovcria) of the reverent trust-
worthy
fraternal,
who can
to,
Nor indeed did He wish
Not Zeus Himself. eject us? but placed this within my power,
it
and gave it to me as He possessed incapable of constraint or hindrance.

288
Himself, unthwarted,
APPENDIX
289
(310) that in which alone one can feel of good courage, the trustworthy, the unthwarted, of which no man can rob you ;
that
is,
your free
will.
(33) What has God

self-determined?
What
given me to be really my own, and has He left to Himself? He has
placed in my hands all matters of free-choice, unhindered, uncontrolled. But this body of clay, how could He make that free 1 Therefore He ordered beneath the course of the
world (oXov
TrepioSw) all that belongs to
me,
my
estate,
my
home and
its
garnishing,
my
children, rny wife.
men what
power
alone
is
(361) This Zeus Himself could not do ... persuade all are in truth good and evil things. Has this great
of influence
been given to thee ? Ee bestowed on thee, to persuade thyself.
satisfied
that
(396)
But I know
whom
be resigned ... to God
(crweo-'nycrcv)
me
to
whom I must please, to He has commended my own charge, and has set under my
full
well
control alone my free-choice, giving (32) If you ask me what in
me rules for its employment. man is good (dya0ov, not

else,
rayaQov), I cannot tell

of
you ought
but a certain state
Will
(65)
(71-010.
TTpoatpeo-ts).
How
all slavery.
can you ? Zeus my father has set me free from Think you He designed to let His own son go
forth into servitude?
You may be
and use
it at
Sovereign of this dead

will.
body
of
mine ; take
it
your
(13) If any can fully enter into this article of faith and realise it as it deserves, that we are all in pre-eminent degree
the children of God, and
you (pride) will you not be lifted up with pride ? Since these two things in our birth are strangely mingled and compounded together, body in common with the beasts,
reason and judgement with the gods, some turn aside to this lower kinship, ill-starred and corpse-like; and but a few to that other, divine and blessed.
But
if
father of gods and men. recognise that you are child of Zeus,
is
He
290
MARCUS AURELIUS
upon the
(TO.
(33) (seeds) to all things conceived and brought to birth earth, but in chief measure to the reasonable
Aoyi/ca),
companion in familiar converse, knit
because these alone can draw nigh to God as to Him by reason (o-uv-
But
and
shall
not this assurance
lift
us out of our griefs
fears, that
1
we have God
as our master
and father and
guardian "
(49)
" Slave, put up with such vexations 1 will you not bear with your fellow-man, who has Zeus for his father, who like a son comes from the same bearing seeds and
How can one
divine
birth
as
yourself?
not recollect what you are and
Will you (avo>0v KaTapoXfjs). whom you rule? Kinsmen

!
and brothers by nature's law, offspring of God Himself (Ordinance) It is to earth you gaze, to this pit of Tophet (fioipaOpov), to these miserable ordinances of dead men ; but to
the laws of God, not a thought (289) Not mourning, not yearning over them as
t
them orphans.
if he left Well he knew that no man is bereaved of parents, but of all ever and unceasingly is the heavenly Father guardian and protector. After (fc^/ot Aoyou) "Who believed that God was his Father, and so called Him, and performed all his tasks looking up to Him, (reach) but if a man meet with ill-fortune, remember it is
his
own
fault
for
God
. .
has created
.
all
men
for happiness, for
serenity (cuScu/zovelv evorafleTv). (311) Shall God be thus indifferent to His handiwork, to His ministers, to His witnesses? Whom, indeed, alone He
uses as patterns and models to the unlearned, to prove that He is, and well administers the whole world, and is not
careless of
human
affairs
and that
to the
good man, whether
living or dying, there can befall nothing evil. " If you seized hold of something belonging to him, (338)
he would readily renounce
it
rather than follow on
its
account.
APPENDIX
(fatherland)
291
He knew well whence he has ifc and from and on what conditions. Bnt his real ancestors, the gods and his true country, never would he have deserted
whom
these, etc.
God
(Si) Souls, then, are so bound up and closely attached to as being parts and fragments of Him (Iv&rSe/xerac K.
r<3
e<
crvva<^cTs
are avrov ftopta

their every
to
oScrai
K.
airocnracr/jiaTa),
and God feels with kindred and familiar

has
movement and
by the
impulse, as
Himself ;
side of each of us
He set an overseer (emrpoTros), the guardian angel of every man, and set him on watch, and this a sentinel, ever wakeful, that cannot be turned from his duty (Saipova
.
.
you
are alone "; (52) (within) remember never to say, are not alone, but God is inside with you; and your guardian angel is there too.
"We
(122) Have I not my seer within (/XCXVTCS), the substance (OVO-LO) of good and ill 1
who
too,
has told
me
(Thought)
"What
then? are not these,
the works of
Gods ? " Assuredly, but not in paramount degree (fl-po^-youêm), nor as portions of the gods. But you are in special sense, you are a fragment of the divine (dTroWaoywx). In yourself You know not that you nurture there is a particle of Him. and train God, you carry Him about with you, wretched man, and do not know it "... when He Himself is present within,
you do and listening. ^ a ^ which rules within you its due even for Consider what it is you have in this power a brief space. (yyepoviKw), and whence it has come to you. (117) (your own life) But if you deem yourself a part of
surveying
all
(373) Gi ve
some great Whole,

be
for the sake of this
it
behoves
now
to
and be brought to uttermost die even to want, untimely. Why then are you indignant? For what is man? A component part of a (a/yavcwcrets). State, first of the City of gods and men, next of that which
sick, to sail, to be in peril,
MARCUS AURELIUS
is
nearest to the other,
which
is
a tiny copy of the World-
Commonwealth.
and a part of it ; not lead. "What promise then must a citizen make? To have no petty interest for himself alone, to take thought for nothing, as if he were
(131)
are a Citizen of the world
serve,
You
one of those
who
but those who
detached
(aTroAin-ov).
(knowing that)
this is allotted
World
(Siaraf eo>s),
from the ordination of the and the whole has to be considered before
its part,
and the
city before the citizen.
him
if he does, the lord will turn and behold with acting haughty arrogance, and will drag him apart and cut him off. Thus, too, it happens in this greater City of the world ; for here, too, is there one who is master of the
(steward) but
house, setting to each severally his appointed duties. (288) This World is a single State, and the substance of
which
it
has been fashioned
certain revolution in things, place to another.
is one and there is need of a and one must in his season give
(381)
as
" has set his

citizens to the
own
will
and judgment subordinate
to
him who guides and

good
disposes the
Whole
State.
(6 Stot/cwv
ra "OAa),
law of their
(74) It is circumstance that shows what men are made of. When in the future some special crisis befall, remember that God, as some stern master in wrestling, has set you to fight
with a stout and vigorous rival (o>s oXewmys). that you may become an Olympian victor ; and this comes
not to pass without sweat. (272) Is he not fully persuaded that, whatever of these he suffers, God is trying and proving his mettle? When
his tasks
is
Hercules was exercised by Eurystheus, did he perform all with ungrudging cheerfulness ? and when our sage
tested
by Zeus Himself, shall he be ready to cry out in and show indignation 1 pain not in hatred; far be it from that; for what (prison)
APPENDIX
293
master hates the noblest of Ms vassals ? Nor in indifference ; for not the smallest trifle escapes His watchful care, but
exercising them in the arena and using martyr to the rest of mankind. If I
them
as a witness
and
am
posted in such an
life
honourable ministry, shall not my whole devoted to God 1 (oAos rcVa/Aat).

. . .
be loyally
(312)
did
He
He desires me not to lead a life of idle luxury, nor grant this to Hercules His own Son ... but he was
strict
put under
command, and
. . . .
toiled
and was
tried as in a
ruler and governor of all land and sea, wrestling school . cleanser of lawless injustice . and this task he performed,
naked and
(290)
faith,
alone.
What
good
man and
of
true
is
ever unhappy?
In
too,
th(Tgov^mancrat~ this 'worl6T"musT "Be" evil' indeed if

His
Zeus takes not care they may be blessed.
own
Citizens, that like
Him,
(confused) There is but one path to smoothness of life's current ... a steadfast standing-aloof from all that will
cannot control, to think nothing one's own, to resign all earthly things to Heaven's will (irapaftowcLi T<J> A<uju,ovto>) or to Fortune, and without envy leave as their Stewards those
Zeus has appointed ( = the undeserving rich and powerbut oneself to live in unceasing attachment to one thing ful), only the unfettered Will which is alone our own (ro> l&'a>
whom
T<3 (XKtoXlJTO)).
at willingly I may (345) I am * ree an(^ ê fri en(l <rf G O<^ obey Him. (this ?) I have always ordered my impulse conformably to God. Does He will me to have fever? I too am willing ... I wish to die ... to suffer agony on the rack. Lord, been careless of those (fashion) "I have not, opportunities I had from Thee to recognise Thy government I have not disgraced Thee of the world and to follow it. ... or even murmured or repined. That Thou hast begotten me, I give Thee thanks for Thy gifts. It suffices me to have
294
thus far used
MARCUS AURELIUS
Thy benefits.
to
them
me."
What
life
is
All were Thine, and nobler than this?
Thou
gavest
What end
more blessed?
(370)
deem God's
For I I always will thai rather which happens. At His feet will to be preferred to mine.
do I lay myself, His servant and minister; with

desire, I yearn, I will.
Him
CHAPTER
II
is the very law of (65) (subject) This is not selfish ; this the Creature's being; for his own sake he does everything
(yc'yove
yap ovrws
of
Sun
you
in heaven, and Zeus Himself.
to be,
God
Rain
or
For this aim guides the But whenever He desires Harvest and Father of gods and men,
avrov evcKa).
titles
will see
He
cannot attain such functions or such
unless
He
He made
Such, then, the nature of reasonable beings that they cannot
be useful for the
common
interest.
obtain any of their
own good
things, unless
somewhat be
brought forward and applied to the general weal. So to do all for self becomes no longer selfish and ungenerous (d/cotvwvrjTov
...
?
TO -ndvf auTou fyeica
Trotetv).
expect
that a
man
should hold aloof from

.
For what would you self and from his
own advantage ?
then,
life
is
(aTrocrrfj
rov
iS/cos
<n^<e/>ovTos).
How,
there but one and the same beginning and rule of for all creatures, to be friends with self ? (fj rrpos avra
ouceuocris).
and not disregard things there ; for that home) for the sake of which he has wandered far afield, is nought but this ; to study in patience, to remove from his life griefs, and laments, and cries of alas and woe is me " (control ;) Why, then, drag upon yourself things for which you are not accountable ? (awn-evOwos) this is but to give
(17) (go
c
"
'
oneself trouble without cause.
APPENDIX
(71) For
irpds TO
fjibv
295
my
nature
is
to tend to
my own
good
(-n-eûKa
(l6l)
Why
o-vpfapov). are you
miserable
Why
does
one
thing
happen against your will, and another when you desire it not to come to pass Surely this is the strongest proof of unrest and wretchedness. (this) that he must so fit and conform his desire agreeahly
*?
to things that happen, that nothing can take place against our will. . . . From this will arise the great boon, we shall
never be aimless, never distressed, but live our span out without grief or fear or tumult. (158) As set free from slavery's yoke, dare to look up to God and say " Use me, Lord, for what Thou wilt in the time to come. My will is in unison with Thee \ for I am Thine. (335) This i s tne roa d that leads to freedom, this the one riddance of serfdom, to be able from the soul's depths to say
:
" Lead me,

Whitlier
Zeus,
my
and thou, O Pate, portioned lot shall call."
(miserable), trembling at every report, having my ease and happiness hanging balanced on other men's letters (^PT^/ACI/^V
.
.
airaiOeiav).
all
(contempt) Sit there, then, startled and shivering at

this, grieving,
unhappy, luckless, hanging on another. (306) For the contest set before us is not for some boxing but for very happiness and blessedor wrestling match
.
ness
itself.
be in (seek) For what is it that every man seeks ? To steadfast calm, to be happy, to do all as he wishes, not to be controlled or thwarted.
own
(362) Will you not, giving master and pupil ?
up
all
other guides, become your

"
!
But to Ah, how fair is Athens (353) keave all this. be blessed is fairer still, to be*without the disease of passion, to be at rest, to feel that your life and its issues lies in no
other man's control.
"
296
MARCUS AURELIUS
(368) What hinders to live lightly and with slackened rein, awaiting with easy cheerfulness all that can hefall a man?
(KOV<O>S
. . .
evrjvitos
-TT/XXCOS).
(Says) I will something,
and
it
comes not to pass
am
!
indeed luckless.
from the realm of passion and turmoil men, that while you are wallowing in a harass and of perplexity ahout things of little worth, I slough alone have won my discharge from all such tumult. (383) You must will it, and the wished-for result is yours j For within is all peril of loss, and all is set right (Sicoptfcortu).
(Says) I
free
am
Be not unaware,
dwr<6A.ia K. /Jo^tfcta). hope of succour (ecro>0ev " If has God thou desirest This law enacted, and says, (pi) from it thyself. anything good, get
. . .
(158)
Thou
art not Hercules, to cleanse all other

;
men's
ills,
nor even Theseus to rid Attica

(245)
cleanse thine
At once with
hreathless impatience
own things. we want to live
like sages
and do good to mankind. What sort of good? what are you ahout? for have you finished doing good to yourself 1 But you want to exhort and advise them ? have show them in your own you succeeded with yourself ? case what sort of character the study of true wisdom makes, and don't talk nonsense (<f>\vapv). (Help them by silent
. .
.
example) eating, drinking, yielding modestly to all, bearing Help them thus, and do not bespatter patiently with all.
them with thy rheum

.
.
(KaTtgcpav <j>\eyfjia). (266) Recollect I have a mission ; I have been sent as God's . about things good and bad, to show men how herald
have wandered astray, and seek the substance of these two where it cannot be found. (found) For in good sooth the Cynic is a pioneer (who comes to tell men what things are friends, what foes, to
far they
mankind).
(273) The Cynic must not be distracted by divers interests, but must be wholly given up to the ministry which God has
APPENDIX
tied hard
297
entrusted to him, able to pass easily about among men, not and fast to duties of his own, not caught in the
net of relation
(TrpocrScSc/tei/ov
;
KaOrJKovcrw
if
ISicm/cots
or
ovS'
he transgress he can no the of the longer keep up appearance good man and true ; and even if he preserve, he shall spoil his character of God's
e/*7r7rXeyju,ei/ov cr^crâ-iv)
which
pioneer and herald and ambassador, fr henceforth I note carefully what men (347) say, how they are stirred, and this not from spiteful motive
Nw
nor to have material for blame or ridicule ; but I turn back

to
my own
.
.
.
self (eir*
them
ep,auiw Imorrptyw) to see if I too err like once I too was like them but now no longer,
: !
thanks be to God
(354)
he remembered that no man
(provocation) for with exceeding steadfastness is master of another's soul (o\-
he is then careful not to will \orpLov yycpoviKov KvpiVi)' } except that which is really his (TO iSiov).
While they
for their part go

to
things belonging preserve his own nature.
their character,
on their own way and do the he none the less may
(361)
That alone
Tretcrat).
is
granted thee, to convince thyself
(owrov
(preaching) And that you may not think that I draw a picture of a pattern Cynic, as detached and isolated and aloof, having neither wife nor children nor fatherland, or
friends
and kindred, by whom he might be bent and distake Socrates and see him tracted from his single purpose, with wife and children, yet not as truly his own (dXV <J>s
oAAorpia).
How then shall he (so far as he may) preserve " Heaven be and continue the commonwealth of mankind 1
(inquires)
"
Do those who bring into the world merciful to your folly two or three brats with ugly noses to take their place,
!
do these help mankind more than the missionaries who oversee all men according to their power, what they do, how they
298
bespend their
neglect
MARCUS AURELIUS
lives,
what,
contrary to
their
duty,
they
2"
while
it
(animals) who use without reflection the impress of sense wherefore for them we follow cautiously behind
. . .
and the other details (of spontaneous life), but we cannot be content with this; but we shall never attain the end for which we were created, unless we act in set and orderly fashion and agreeably and suitably to the nature and constitution of each (aKoAcwflws TT} iicdtorou fyvaei K. KOLTOLFor those creatures whose constitutions are diverse, o-Kvg). of these, too, the functions and the ends cannot be the same
suffices to eat
(o>v
yap
at
KaraorKCTJai
8ia<o/)Oi
roimov
/cat
TO.
epya
K.
ra
(operations) But man God brought into the world as spectator (0<mjv), of Himself and of His works, and not merely to be a silent witness, but also to extol and declare
His might (l^y^v). (satisfaction) but rather begin where they leave off, and stop only at the highest point where Nature has ceased in
And this is contemplation and attentive following and living agreeably to Kature (KareXy&v IT 0opiW K.
our case.
irapaKoXovdycrw
/c.
cruju,<eovov StcfaycoyJji/ rfj Qvcrei).
Take
care
then
lest
ye die without having obtained a glimpse of these
marvels.
some some few there are who come for the sake of the sight offered them in the assemblage, how it takes place and wherefore, and who they are who arrange it, and for what purpose.
(world)
food.
(148) (spectators) Such then are human affairs as in Most men, some to buy, some to sell ; great concourse.
Some
as brute beasts think of
nought but their
(ambition) few there are

spirit (ot 7rav^yTjptovTs)
0a/4ovs) what this world nature is He and what His manner of governing
who come a fairing in the true men fond of the spectacles (<i\ois ? who guides its courses ? of what
t
and what
APPENDIX
299
kind of creatures we are who have issued from Htm as His offering, and to what purpose framed (TTOIOS ns K. irw Stowcwv ;
.
.
rives ovres
/c.
Trpos ri epyov
;).
whether we have some attachment and kindred relationship with Him or none at all 1 (cTrwrAo/^v crxfow). For the rest, their leisure is in this alone absorbed, how to
(cpyov)
. .
.
closely survey the fair and inquire and then quietly depart and for their pains they are derided by the rabble.
CHAPTEE
III
(104) Death, what is it? an ugly mask to frighten children ; turn it round and see what it really is ; see, it cannofe bite
!
breath, as
it
This poor body must be severed from the little was before, now or some time later on. Why be
. . .
that the world's great period indignant if it be to-day ? may be consummated (Tre/n'oSos avvyraL) ; for it has need of
some
to
be now, others to wait for birth, and others already

(û<r/<ie&w).
spent and done

(179)
What then ^ does this teaching not please you ? See now, how righteousness is nothing, reverence is but folly;
father, son but empty, meaningless names.
(comical)
But when God bestows not on you the barest

life,
needful for
soldiers
;
as a general
He
sounds the
recall to
His
He
sets
the door open and says to you,
Come
to
hence
(death
place
Whither ? not to aught that is terrible, but ?) whence you came, to things friendly and kindred
the
(cts TO.
<iAa
K. orvyyevr}).
As much of fire as was in you will depart to join (us 2). the central flame, of common clay to earth again, etc. There
is
all
no Hell nor Acheron nor Cocytus nor Pyriphlegethon, but " of gods and daemons." things are fulfilled (as Thales said)
(me
1)
fool,
you he cannot
slay,
only your poor corpse
3 oo
MARCUS AURELIUS
is
(266) TMs poor body of mine Death ? let are nothing to me.
of whole or of a limb.
nothing to
me
its
parts
it
come when it
will, either
Exile? and who can banish me from Wheresoever I go there will His sun shine, there moon and stars ; there too holy dreams and auguries and sweet converse with the heavenly ones. (301) As is winter to fig, such is every circumstance from the universal order to the things consumed and destroyed in
God's universe
?
it.
death of the ears of corn, not of the but passing of things that were into other forms of things to be ; not death at all, but a settled and orderly management as of thrifty house-steward.
It signifies the
all
...
world.
For
such
is
(OUK diroSXeicc dAAct rerayêi/^ rts oiKOKOjua
K.
hoiK-ycn?)
Death, a change a shifting

these,
from what
now
1
is to
more intense than any that which will not say
of
is
not,
but into that which
I then cease to be
rei),
" not yet (cts TO vvv p.-fj ov\ shall " asks the anxious inquirer. Yes (ofa
is
but in your place will arise something of which God's order has need. For you, too, came into being not at a moment when you desired, but when the world wanted
you.
(Domitian) Put on no tragic airs about a matter so simple : " now is it the due season for me say what is really the case, to restore the material to the constituents again who provided
it.
What
is
there terrible in that

"
?
what part
of the
world
is
consoled in death by re(so Epictetus on the of matter, and the thought flecting indestructibility that it will all go on just as well without him).
going to perish
is
We are in some sense kindred of the gods above, from thence have we come here. Set us free to return thither again ; let us sometime at least be set clear of these manacles that weigh us down, so closely are they
(34)
and
attached
for
(a<e$ XvOfjvai TTOTC TCOV Secr^v rovrcov).

!
Men
wait
God in patient expectancy When He gives the word of command and releases you from this service, then shall ye go,
APPENDIX
!
301
return again to Him (dTrcXcJowOc Trpos avrov). But for the present time Lear with your lot, dwelling in this spot to which as a sentinel He has assigned you.
(47) (leg) Will you not cheerfully resign
it
*
it
again to
Him who
Will you be sullen and indifferent to the orders of gave Zeus, which He with the Fates present and weaving your line of life into the universal texture, solemnly notified and foreordained? Know you not yet how tiny a fraction of the
whole
(^Xi/cov /xepos
^rpos TO. *OXa).
But
this (he adds or
corrects) only on the side of hody, for in reason are whit inferior or less noble than the gods themselves.
you no For the
grandeur of Eeason
is
not measured by breadth or height, but

/xc'yeflos
. .
by rm
convictions (Xoyov
3oy/x,a<nv).
ordained summer and winter, plenty and scarcity, (46) virtue and evil, and all such like pairs of opposite (IvamoT^ras) to ensure the tuneful
He
harmony
of the
Whole.
(l8) If, then, it was my lot to be deceived, and to learn falsely that of things without, which our will controls not, nothing concerns us at all, I would leave rather this deceit,
from which I should live with calm and even flow of life and turmoil; but do you see for yourselves what you would
prefer.
(89)
In what then
lies
the distinctive
endowment
of
man ?
See
if it
be not in this power of following attentively what

instinct,
?
he
by the generous by sureness, by prudence

does,
by
trustiness,
by reverence,
(end)
Where then
$ia<|>op<).
is
great good or great evil for
man
to
be found?
(OTTOV
Just in his special and distinguishing quality

of the study of
(134)
The beginning
Wisdom with
those
who approach their mistress as they ought, is a bitter selfconsciousness of frailty and helplessness about things most
needful.
of a sage is the consulting-room (285) For the lecture-room not leave the presence with should ; you physician
of a
302
MARCUS AURELIUS
feelings
lost
pleasurable, but with painful
(loneliness)
and Athene
(ctpcu)
Ah wretched that I am Hera have I no son or kinsman have I any longer

! !
!
the less is it right to make preparation beforehand against this peril, to be able to be content with oneself alone (avrbv lavrv dpicety), to live in converse with
None
oneself; just as Zeus communes with his soul in solitary majesty, and is at rest and peace with himself, and bethinks him of his rule and governance what sort it is, and is in deep
thoughts fitting his nature. (251) For ye see that our emperor gives us, as it would appear, peace lasting and secure, because there are no more
wars or
battles,
sea; but a
man may
sail
no great robber-bands or pirates to infest the in any season travel on his way un-
harmed, and
(319)
from
is
east to west.
he may
"
says,
a slave straightway prays to heaven that be released a freeman. " If I be enfranchised," he
One who
at once there shall
on equal terms. leads, I come back at will." (Russia) Then he has been having wherewithal to sustain
to all I speak
be a great calm. I care for nobody, I go wheresoever my fancy

set free:
life,
and forthwith, not he seeks one whom he
may
flatter
itself
death
and fawn upon, and suffers miseries worse than he has fallen into the trap, a fresh slavery far
:
more grievous than the

TJJS
earlier (c/ATreVrcoKev
as SoiAetav
7rpOTpas
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17732

THE WORLD'S EPOCH-MAKERS

PREVIOUS VOLUMES IN THIS SERIES

ORIGEN AND GREEK PATRISTIC THEOLOGY.

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WILLIAM FAIRWEATHER, M.A.

PASCAL AND THE PORT ROYALISTS.

RITCHIE, M.A., LL.D.

By WILLIAM CLARK, LL.D., D.C.L.

HEGEL AND HEGELIANISM.

By THOMAS SMITH, D.D., LL.D.

WYCLIFFE AND THE LOLLARDS. CARDINAL NEWMAN AND

THE WORLD'S EPOCH-MAKERS

of^Biasenose College^ Oxjotd

Charles Scribner's Sons

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MORRISON AND GIBB LIMITED,

&1MPRIN, MARSHALL, HAMILTON, KENT,

NBW YORK CHARLES SCRBNER'S SONS

look will letray

been under consideration by several allusions to

which are now anachronisms.

to leave the text as

some time ago ; and

agrees fairly well with the valuation of a pure

detailed inquiry into tivo or three of the most eminent

"The Roman Emperor"

.,,,.. ..... ....

IV. " The Wise

THE IMMEDIATE INFLUENCE

of the Cosmic Order

A. The RELIGIOUS transfoimation

Providence extending to Particulars Sons of God

or the r61e of Contemplation

A. Modern Conception of Stoicism in error ; the Expediency of Resignation and Abstention

Close Restriction of the Sphere of Missionary Influence

Rejection of Civic or Domestic Duties by the true

The Sage Spectator

rather than Agent in the Universe

The intimate Problems

the Moralistic Standpoint

Futility of meie Technical

Emancipation, etc. Harmony between Epictetiib and Marcus AurelmtJ

THE CREED OF MARCUS AURELIUS ANTONINUS

The Teaching of the Emperor

and his Time

Meditations due to his

Influence of the Conception of A<$7os on Greek

Happiness and the World

A, The two Commonwealths and the

B. The Problem of "Conformity to Natuie"; varying

Inheient Diveisity of the Natuic of

Soul, without real Contact with Things-in-Themselve.s,

can assimilate and transmute into Material for

own Nurture IV. Happiness and Destiny

Self-bufficingness of the Soul

A. The Perpetual Flux and Monotony of the Worldprocess