Stoic manners. Marcus Aurelius 1.7
Marcus Aurelius is famous for being a Stoic. Here we get a glimpse of what Stoicism meant to him, as conveyed by the philosopher who taught him most. You can listen to me read this passage <here>.
Παρὰ Ῥουστίκου τὸ λαβεῖν φαντασίαν τοῦ χρῄζειν διορθώσεως καὶ θεραπείας τοῦ ἤθους· καὶ τὸ μὴ ἐκτραπῆναι εἰς ζῆλον σοφιστικόν, μηδὲ τὸ συγγράφειν περὶ τῶν θεωρημάτων, ἢ προτρεπτικὰ λογάρια διαλέγεσθαι, ἢ φαντασιοπλήκτως τὸν ἀσκητικὸν ἢ τὸν ἐνεργητικὸν ἄνδρα ἐπιδείκνυσθαι· καὶ τὸ ἀποστῆναι ῥητορικῆς καὶ ποιητικῆς καὶ ἀστειολογίας· καὶ τὸ μὴ ἐν στολῇ κατ̓ οἶκον περιπατεῖν μηδὲ τὰ τοιαῦτα ποιεῖν· καὶ τὸ τὰ ἐπιστόλια ἀφελῶς γράφειν, οἷον τὸ ὑπ̓ αὐτοῦ τούτου ἀπὸ Σινοέσσης τῇ μητρί μου γραφέν· καὶ τὸ πρὸς τοὺς χαλεπήναντας καὶ πλημμελήσαντας εὐανακλήτως καὶ εὐδιαλλάκτως, ἐπειδὰν τάχιστα αὐτοὶ ἐπανελθεῖν ἐθελήσωσι, διακεῖσθαι· καὶ τὸ ἀκριβῶς ἀναγινώσκειν καὶ μὴ ἀρκεῖσθαι περινοοῦντα ὁλοσχερῶς μηδὲ τοῖς περιλαλοῦσι ταχέως συγκατατίθεσθαι· καὶ τὸ ἐντυχεῖν τοῖς Ἐπικτητείοις ὑπομνήμασιν, ὧν οἴκοθεν μετέδωκεν.
Παρὰ Ῥουστίκου τὸ λαβεῖν φαντασίαν τοῦ χρῄζειν διορθώσεως καὶ θεραπείας τοῦ ἤθους· καὶ τὸ μὴ ἐκτραπῆναι εἰς ζῆλον σοφιστικόν, μηδὲ τὸ συγγράφειν περὶ τῶν θεωρημάτων, ἢ προτρεπτικὰ λογάρια διαλέγεσθαι, ἢ φαντασιοπλήκτως τὸν ἀσκητικὸν ἢ τὸν ἐνεργητικὸν ἄνδρα ἐπιδείκνυσθαι· καὶ τὸ ἀποστῆναι ῥητορικῆς καὶ ποιητικῆς καὶ ἀστειολογίας· καὶ τὸ μὴ ἐν στολῇ κατ̓ οἶκον περιπατεῖν μηδὲ τὰ τοιαῦτα ποιεῖν· καὶ τὸ τὰ ἐπιστόλια ἀφελῶς γράφειν, οἷον τὸ ὑπ̓ αὐτοῦ τούτου ἀπὸ Σινοέσσης τῇ μητρί μου γραφέν· καὶ τὸ πρὸς τοὺς χαλεπήναντας καὶ πλημμελήσαντας εὐανακλήτως καὶ εὐδιαλλάκτως, ἐπειδὰν τάχιστα αὐτοὶ ἐπανελθεῖν ἐθελήσωσι, διακεῖσθαι· καὶ τὸ ἀκριβῶς ἀναγινώσκειν καὶ μὴ ἀρκεῖσθαι περινοοῦντα ὁλοσχερῶς μηδὲ τοῖς περιλαλοῦσι ταχέως συγκατατίθεσθαι· καὶ τὸ ἐντυχεῖν τοῖς Ἐπικτητείοις ὑπομνήμασιν, ὧν οἴκοθεν μετέδωκεν.
From
Rusticus (†) I learned to accept the idea that my moral behavior requires
correction and amendment. I also learned to avoid giving way to
passionate sophistry. To refrain from writing about theories, giving
hortatory lectures, or making a lavish spectacle of my self-denial or
public sacrifice. To keep a safe distance from rhetoric, poetry, and
wit. Not to walk about at home in fine robes, or do other such
things. To make my letters short and simple, like the one he wrote to my mother from the city of Sinoessa (‡). To be gracious and approachable with difficult and offensive folk, whenever they are willing to repent. To read a situation carefully, considering it from all sides and restraining the impulse to agree swiftly with gossips. He also was responsible for my encounter with the memoirs of Epictetus (*), which he shared with me at home.
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(†) Quintus Junius Rusticus (floruit c. 100-170 CE) appears to have been the grandson of Quintus Junius Arulenus Rusticus (c. 35-95 CE), one of the Roman senators who joined Thrasea Paetus in what historians have called the Stoic Opposition to the Principate. Like his grandfather, Rusticus was a Stoic. The Historia Augusta (§ 3) names him Marcus' favorite living philosopher, with whom the emperor shared all his business, both private and public. Rusticus held several important offices and had public statues authorized by the Senate after his death (Marcus kept several private statues of him, too). While serving as prefect of Rome, Rusticus presided over the trial of the Christian preacher Justin Martyr, whose refusal to sacrifice to the gods earned him a public execution, in keeping with the law.
(‡) Sinoessa or Sinuessa was a city in Latium, near the mouth of the river Vulturnus. To the traveler heading down the Via Appia from Rome to Brundisium, it offered the last port on the Tyrrhenian sea. Some baths nearby (the Aquae Sinuessanae) had a reputation for healing male insanity and female infertility (Pliny, Naturalis historia 31.4).
(*) A well-known Stoic philosopher, whose memoirs or commentaries were written up for posterity by his most famous pupil, Arrian of Nicomedia (Lucius Flavianus Arrianus to Romans). Marcus will be quoting these memoirs later in this treatise. Epictetus was born in Phrygia, in the city of Hierapolis, in the early first century CE. He spent his early life enslaved to Tiberius Claudius Epaphroditus in Rome, where his master allowed him to study philosophy with the Stoic Musonius Rufus. Freed under Nero, he began to teach philosophy himself in Rome. When Domitian banished philosophers from the city, he took his school to Nicopolis, in Greece, where he died an old man in 135 CE.
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(†) Quintus Junius Rusticus (floruit c. 100-170 CE) appears to have been the grandson of Quintus Junius Arulenus Rusticus (c. 35-95 CE), one of the Roman senators who joined Thrasea Paetus in what historians have called the Stoic Opposition to the Principate. Like his grandfather, Rusticus was a Stoic. The Historia Augusta (§ 3) names him Marcus' favorite living philosopher, with whom the emperor shared all his business, both private and public. Rusticus held several important offices and had public statues authorized by the Senate after his death (Marcus kept several private statues of him, too). While serving as prefect of Rome, Rusticus presided over the trial of the Christian preacher Justin Martyr, whose refusal to sacrifice to the gods earned him a public execution, in keeping with the law.
(‡) Sinoessa or Sinuessa was a city in Latium, near the mouth of the river Vulturnus. To the traveler heading down the Via Appia from Rome to Brundisium, it offered the last port on the Tyrrhenian sea. Some baths nearby (the Aquae Sinuessanae) had a reputation for healing male insanity and female infertility (Pliny, Naturalis historia 31.4).
(*) A well-known Stoic philosopher, whose memoirs or commentaries were written up for posterity by his most famous pupil, Arrian of Nicomedia (Lucius Flavianus Arrianus to Romans). Marcus will be quoting these memoirs later in this treatise. Epictetus was born in Phrygia, in the city of Hierapolis, in the early first century CE. He spent his early life enslaved to Tiberius Claudius Epaphroditus in Rome, where his master allowed him to study philosophy with the Stoic Musonius Rufus. Freed under Nero, he began to teach philosophy himself in Rome. When Domitian banished philosophers from the city, he took his school to Nicopolis, in Greece, where he died an old man in 135 CE.