Marcus Aurelius Antoninus to Himself - College of Stoic Philosophers

cxvi INTRODUCTION SECT.
mere records of fact and observations of historians
become almost superfluous. His nature contained no
surprises ; he is always his own man ; so that each
record seems, as it were, inevitable, a something of which
we had heard before, something familiar or divined,
though memory had dropped
The chroniclers tell us that '
of a serious cast '
; that his demeanour was that of '
the detail.
from childhood he was
a
courteous gentleman, modest yet strenuous, grave but
affable'; 1 that 'he never changed his countenance for
grief or gladness.' 2 His bodily health was weakly from
the first, and strained by overwork ; notwithstanding
scrupulous care it was a constant source of suffering
and disablement, and in later life power of digestion
and sleep wholly gave way. 3 His private bearing and
menage were of extreme simplicity : as Caesar, he would
receive at his small private house, in ordinary citizen
attire; abroad, he wore plain woollen stuffs, and when
not in attendance on the Emperor would dispense
entirely with suite or outrunners. In family relations
he loved his mother and his children dearly, 4 and
grieved deeply at their loss ; he condoned the faults of
Lucius Verus, 5 and in mourning remembered none of
the mortal frailties of Faustina. 6
Faithful and diligent
1 Cf. i. 10; v. 31 ; vi. 53 ; vii. 4, 30. These and the follow-
ing references note chance coincidences or correspondences occurring
in the Thoughts. On dress and equipage, cf. i. 7, 16, 17.
2 vii. 24, 37, 60.
3
Cf. i. 8, 15, 16, 17 ; iv. 3 ; v. I, 5 vi. 2 ; ; vii. 64 ; viii. 12.
4 i. 3, 11, 13, 17; vi. 12.
5 i. 14, 17.
6 i. 17, his one notice of Faustina, breathes enduring affection
and respect. After her death their statues, wrought in silver,