Marcus Aurelius's dream

Publisher's presentation

Through the enduring success of Meditations, a work that has helped millions of readers through life, the figure of the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius (121-180), popularized by Ridley Scott's cult film Gladiator, challenges us: how did the ruler of one of the world's greatest empires manage to maintain his composure amidst the turmoil of wars, betrayals, epidemics, and natural disasters that shook his reign for nearly two decades? The answer lies in the philosophy in which he was educated from a young age and for which he felt a deep passion: Stoicism. Frédéric Lenoir paints a portrait of Marcus Aurelius that is both moving and unflinching, an emperor who was sometimes inflexible but also a sensitive and tormented man, who aspired to become a better person and to be of service to the world. He also reveals to us the great keys of Stoic thought and Meditations: the universe is like a great living being where everything is interdependent; good and evil exist only in moral intention and not in external events; freedom and joy reside in the loving acceptance of our destiny; it is not reality that makes us happy or unhappy, but the representation we have of it; the pursuit of individual happiness must always be linked to concern for the common good… So many themes that answer the essential questions we ask ourselves about the meaning of life and the possibility of maintaining inner peace in a troubled world.

Flammarion, November 13, 2024 – 288 pages
EAN: 9782080422095
ISBN: 208042209X