The Emperors Handbook, Marcus Aurelius
The Emperors Handbook, Marcus Aurelius
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The Emperor's Handbook
A New Translation of The Meditations

Author: Marcus Aurelius, C. Scot Hicks, David V. Hicks

Narrator: Stephen Graybill, Aden Hakimi, Sarah Naughton, Jaime Lincoln Smith, Eunice Wong

Unabridged: 5 hr 40 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 12/13/2022

Synopsis

NATIONAL BESTSELLER

A powerful and accessible translation of Marcus Aurelius’s timeless book on character, what it takes to be a good leader, and how to live a fulfilling life.

Marcus Aurelius ruled the Roman Empire at its height, yet he remained untainted by the immense wealth and absolute power that had corrupted many of his predecessors. He knew the secret of how to live the good life amid trying and often catastrophic circumstances, of how to find happiness and peace when surrounded by misery and turmoil, and how to make the right choices—even if they are more difficult—without regard for self-interest.

Offering a vivid and fresh translation of this important piece of ancient literature, Meditations brings Marcus’s inspiring words to life and shows his wisdom to be as relevant today as it was in the second century. This book speaks to the soul of anyone who has ever faced adversity or believed in a better day.

*Previously published as The Emperor’s Handbook

About Marcus Aurelius

Marcus Aurelius ruled the Roman Empire from 161 to 180 AD. Born to an upper-class Roman family in 121, Aurelius was adopted by his uncle, the emperor Antoninus Pius, in 138. Aurelius studied Greek and Latin literature, philosophy, and law, and was especially influenced by the Stoic thinker Epictetus. After Pius’s death, Aurelius succeeded the throne alongside his adoptive brother, Lucius Verus. His reign was marked by plague, numerous military conflicts, and the deaths of friends and family—including Lucius Verus in 169. Despite these struggles, the Empire flourished under Marcus’s rule as the last emperor of the Pax Romana, an era from 27 to 180 of relative peace and prosperity for the Roman Empire. Aurelius wrote his Meditations as spiritual exercises never intended for publication, and died at fifty-eight while on campaign against the Germanic tribes.

About C. Scot Hicks

Scot Hicks headed schools in Greece, France, and the United States and for over twenty years taught Latin and Greek in Europe and America. His translation of Sophocles’s Antigone was performed at schools and at the Aspen Institute in Colorado. His other translations from Greek include Plutarch’s Parallel Lives, and translations of Latin, Italian, French and English poetry have appeared in reviews in France, where he lives with his family in Brittany. Scot and David Hicks are brothers.

About David V. Hicks

David Hicks spent decades heading independent schools in the United States while speaking and writing in defense of classical learning in the modern academy. In 1982 his book Norms & Nobility, a treatise on education, won the American Library Association’s Outstanding Book Award for education. He was President of Darlington School in Rome, Georgia, and he and his family make their permanent home at West of the Moon, a ranch in Montana’s Madison Valley. David and Scot Hicks are brothers.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Glenn on August 02, 2021

In many important ways, the reflections of Marcus Aurelius (121 AD-180 AD) crystallize the philosophical wisdom of the Greco-Roman world. This little book was written as a diary to himself while emperor fighting a war out on the boarder of the Roman Empire and today this book is known to us as The M......more

Goodreads review by Alexandra on December 29, 2014

This basically consists of Marcus Aurelius repeating, "Get it together, Marcus" to himself over and over again over the course of 12 chapters. SPOILER ALERT: -The time during which you are alive is very very brief compared to the time during which you did not exist and will not exist. -People who wro......more

Goodreads review by Sean Barrs on September 27, 2020

Look within: do not allow the special quality or worth of anything to pass you by. I love this quote and I love the wisdom that runs through this book. It’s such a simple idea and it is also a very true one. Make the most of everything and everyone, of every situation and chance that life......more

Goodreads review by Maru on May 10, 2015

Marcus gives us wise advice about using the Internet, particularly social networking sites: “...because most of what we say and do is not essential. If you can eliminate it, you'll have more time and more tranquillity. Ask yourself at every moment, is this necessary…” He shares his opinions on the wor......more

Goodreads review by Always on February 14, 2020

Someone lent me this because they thought it might help me feel better/change my thinking. I was like sure I'll give it a chance but like sorry to say it did nothing. I feel as though many of the things in there that might be helpful are things I've already gotten elsewhere by this point or attitude......more

Quotes

“A must read for business leaders. This is a fantastic achievement.” –Steve Forbes

“This new, accessible translation by Scot and David Hicks of the emperor's famous Stoic handbook reflects far better the flavor of Marcus Aurelius's own style. Americans should read Marcus – and this new edition now makes it a joy.” –Victor Davis Hanson, Professor of Classics at California State University

“Timeless, magnificent, simple: the essential book on character, leadership, duty. No translation does the Emperor's Meditations better or nobler justice.” –Josiah Bunting II Superintendent, Virginia Military Institute

“The Meditations is a work I disliked for its flaccid piety and self-concern from the time I read it years ago. But a look for curiosity's sake into this new translation has led me to read it all with genuine pleasure. The philosophical observations are the same but the tone is manly and there is a subtle and agreeable variety as the subject changes from self to the world and to the gods.” –Jacques Barzun, author of From Dawn to Decadence

“The wisdom contained in this handbook has been admired through the ages. The Hicks brothers' excellently clear translation happily now makes it accessible.” –Donald Kagan Hillhouse, Professor of History and Classics at Yale University

“David and Scot Hicks have endowed serious readers with a marvelous new translation of a text that still challenges any society that hopes to understand what it means to be civilized.Kenneth L. Woodward author of The Book of Miracles David and Scot Hicks have endowed serious readers with a marvelous new translation of a text that still challenges any society that hopes to understand what it means to be civilized.” –Kenneth L. Woodward author of The Book of Miracles

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