Description and Objectives

The closest thing the Romans ever got to a philosopher-king took notes for himself (Τὰ εἰς ἑαυτόν) that were later compiled into twelve books. Now known in English as The Meditations, this work serves as a foundational source for understanding Roman Stoicism and contains many perennial insights into human nature.

Textbooks

Meditations – Text to be determined.

We will probably also compare and contrast the style of Marcus Aurelius with the style of another Marcus, that of the gospel writer.

Course Requirements

We will have a quiz every week on the most common vocabulary in Greek, followed by quizzes on the most common words in Marcus Aurelius.

Weekly quizzes will also be given (usually on Mondays) of the material we covered the previous week. Weekends are best spent reviewing and re-reading.

When any English reading is assigned, the assumption should be that the quiz will be the next school day unless otherwise stated.

Successful Students

Successful students reread the Greek and work on their own particular weaknesses in vocabulary and syntax. A prepared student comes not only with translation notes, but with intelligent questions about the text, its genre, and its author.