Generous Simplicity. Marcus Aurelius 1.3

The next lesson Marcus records comes from his mother (†). You can listen to me read it <here>.

Παρὰ τῆς μητρὸς τὸ θεοσεβὲς καὶ μεταδοτικὸν καὶ ἀφεκτικὸν οὐ μόνον τοῦ κακοποιεῖν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῦ ἐπὶ ἐννοίας γίνεσθαι τοιαύτης· ἔτι δὲ τὸ λιτὸν κατὰ τὴν δίαιταν καὶ πόρρω τῆς πλουσιακῆς διαγωγῆς.

From my mother I learned the kind of piety that is generous and withholds not only from evildoing, but from the very thought of it. I also learned from her how to live simply, beyond the means of the wealthy.


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(†) Marcus' mother was Domitia Lucilla Minor (the Younger, because her mother was Domitia Lucilla Maior: it was not only males in this family who shared names!). She was a Roman, grand-daughter of Lucius Catilius Severus, whose illustrious public career included two consulships and a stint as praefectus urbanus. From her mother, she inherited great wealth, including a factory near Rome where bricks and tiles were manufactured.