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Meditations
Marcus Aurelius · 180 · Philosophy
Alone in his tent on the Danube frontier, the most powerful man in the world kept a private notebook he never meant anyone to read. In twelve short books, the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius reminds himself how to live: to master his own mind, to do his duty without complaint, to accept what he cannot change, and to remember that life is brief. Two thousand years on, the Meditations endures as the wisest and most consoling handbook ever written on being human.
Inside this edition
Every LitLab edition is illustrated from the text itself — the world of the book mapped, its people drawn, its scenes staged. 19 plates are open to everyone in this book; here are 8 of them.
The Roman World — the Empire and the Danube frontier where the Meditations were written.
The Danube War-CampThe legionary camp on the cold northern frontier, among the Quadi and Marcomanni, where by lamplight in his tent the emperor wrote the Meditations to himself.
A Map of Connections — the emperor at the centre, and the virtue each teacher gave him.
The Characters — the emperor and his teachers, in medallion.
The Characters — Marcus Aurelius and those he thanks, at full length.
Marcus Aurelius — the philosopher-emperor.
Writing by Lamplight — the emperor at his notebook in the camp on the Danube.
The Emperor's Justice — Marcus giving judgement.
This edition
- Title
- Meditations
- Author
- Marcus Aurelius (121–180 AD)
- First published
- 180
- Illustrated plates
- 47 original artworks · 19 open to everyone
- Chapters
- 12 · about 57,605 words
- Reading time
- 3 h 50 min
- Language
- EN
- Formats
- Read online · EPUB and PDF download with a subscription
- Publisher
- LitLab — The Illustrated Classics
- On LitLab since
- August 2026
- Rights
- Text in the public domain. Illustrations and edition © LitLab.
- Source text
- Project Gutenberg #2680
Neighbours in the library
Chosen by what they share with Meditations — the same genre.