Marcus Aurelius Antoninus to Himself - College of Stoic Philosophers

PREFACE v
may be, the manner, tone, and accent of the
original. These are a part of idiosyncrasy ; they
give reality and life to this self-revelation of a
soul. And in spite of certain obvious defects and
obscurities of style, the task is not impossible.
That the style is crabbed *
true ; but by no means,
gnomy.' l
is in large measure
that *
it lacks physio-
Marcus wrote in Greek, because
Greek in the second century, as Latin in the
Middle Ages, was the natural medium of philosophy
and the language of his teachers. He
acquired it as a foreign tongue,
after his entrance
upon manhood, and moves in it with some con-
straint and difficulty. Latinisms of syntax as
well as of vocabulary are not infrequent ; and
even the habit of Greek composition strikes one
as newly acquired and practised. As the work
progresses, and as the same trains of thought
recur, utterance becomes readier, and he wields
his instrument with more precision and dexterity.
The heavy cramped vocabulary, the deadness
of expression, the formless monotony of clause,
that characterise the first book, give way to
more natural and simple movements ; language,
1 So M. Arnold.