Marcus Aurelius Antoninus: To Himself (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from Marcus Aurelius Antoninus: To HimselfThe Thoughts of Marcus Aurelius are among the surprises of literature. It was little likely that he would write a book, still less that it would command the attention of posterity and live. No hint suggests that their existence was known or suspected by any one of his contemporaries, though in the philosophic circles of Rome they would have been read and quoted with avidity. The historians, who celebrate his virtues, were ignorant of them, and it is useless to surmise what accident of duty or affection preserved this relic of himself among the papers and possessions which he left behind. Nine centuries later, when in Western Europe Greek was a forgotten tongue, a few extracts in a lexicographer show that the manuscript had made its way eastward, but so extinct was all knowledge or tradition of it in the world of learning, that when in 1529 Antonio of Guevara issued his Relax d: Principes, or Dial of Princes, purporting toviii marcus antoninus.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.