# Is Marcus Aurelius's Meditations worth reading today?

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Section: Books & ideas · Updated: 2026-10-13 · Publisher: Zestasy

Yes, as long as you read it for what it is: the private notebook of a Roman emperor, written in Greek around 170-180 AD, in which he reminds himself how he wants to think and behave. It is not a self-help book or a system, but its short entries on judgement, perspective and what is in your control still speak clearly to modern readers.

Marcus Aurelius ruled the Roman Empire from 161 to 180 AD. Much of the later part of his reign was taken up with military campaigns, and it was then, probably at Sirmium, where he planned them, and partly in the field, that he wrote the notes we now call the Meditations. He almost certainly never meant anyone else to read them. That is exactly what makes them interesting.

## What the book actually is

The Meditations has no official title. Its Greek name is usually rendered as something like Things to Himself, and that is an accurate description. It was written in Koine Greek, not Latin, and is divided into twelve books of short passages, some a single line, some a page, not necessarily in the order they were written. The style is simple and straightforward. At least part of it was written on campaign: the first book is noted as written in the land of the Quadi, near the Hron river in modern Slovakia.

What follows is not an argument but a practice. Marcus writes to himself, repeatedly, about the same handful of themes, because, like the rest of us, he kept forgetting them.

## The ideas running through it

The notes are reflections on Stoic philosophy. You do not need to know its technicalities to read him, but a few themes recur constantly:

- **Judging accurately.** Seeing things as they are, rather than as our fears or vanity colour them.
- **Perspective.** Zooming out, sometimes to the scale of the cosmos, to put irritations and ambitions in proportion.
- **What is in your control.** Separating what you can affect, mainly your own judgements and actions, from what you cannot.
- **Indifferents.** Fame and wealth, for example, treated as neither good nor bad in themselves.
- **Managing emotion.** Not suppressing feeling, but not letting passing reactions run the show.

## Why it still lands

- **It is honest.** This is a powerful man arguing with himself, not lecturing others. You see the effort, the repetition and the occasional exasperation.
- **It is portable.** Short entries make it ideal for reading a page at a time.
- **It is calm without being smug.** Marcus is trying, not preaching, which is a rare tone in writing about how to live.

Where it may disappoint: it circles the same themes again and again, it has no argument to follow from start to finish, and some passages assume an ancient view of an ordered, rational universe that will feel distant to many modern readers. Take what helps and leave the rest.

## Which translation?

Translation matters a lot here, because the original is compressed and sometimes obscure. Well-known English versions include Maxwell Staniforth's (1964, later in Penguin), Gregory Hays's (2002), Martin Hammond's (2006) and Robin Hard's with Christopher Gill (2011, Oxford University Press), which includes selected correspondence. If you can, read a page of two different versions in a bookshop and choose the voice you can live with.

## How to read it

Don't read it cover to cover like a novel. Start at the beginning to get his voice, then dip in: a few entries in the morning or before bed. Underline what strikes you. Come back to it in a year and see what has changed, in you rather than the book.

## FAQ

### Do you need to know about Stoicism first?
No. The book is self-explanatory at the level most readers need. If it hooks you, there is plenty to read about Stoicism afterwards.

### Was it meant to be published?
Probably not. The notes were written as guidance for himself, which is why they read like reminders rather than lessons, and why they repeat.

### Is it a book about leadership?
Not directly. It is about how one man tried to govern himself. Readers in demanding jobs often find that the more useful lesson.

### How long does it take to read?
It is short, but it is not meant to be rushed. Many readers keep it for years and return to it a few pages at a time.

## Sources

- [Wikipedia: Meditations](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meditations)

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