In this video we take you to Carnuntum, a Roman military camp near Vienna (Austria) where Marcus Aurelius stayed for three years defending the borders of the Roman empire and, en passant, writing his famous „Meditations“ (Τὰ εἰς ἑαυτόν).
Video
Transcript
Ἰ· χαίρετε. σήμερόν ἐσμεν ἐν τῷ Καρνούντῳ. τὸ δὲ Καρνοῦντον ῥωμαϊκόν ἐστι στρατόπεδον. ἐνταῦθα ἔμεινε τρία ἔτη ὁ μέγας αὐτοκράτωρ τῶν ‘Ρωμαίων, ὁ Μάρκος Αὐρήλιος. οἱ γὰρ βάρβαροι, οἱ Γερμανοί, τότε εἰσέβαλλον εἰς τὴν ῥωμαϊκὴν ἐπαρχίαν ἣ καλεῖται Παννονία· ὁ δὲ Μάρκος μένων ἐνταῦθα οὐ μόνον εὐτύχησεν ἐκβαλὼν τοὺς Γερμανούς, ἀλλὰ καὶ δὴ καὶ ἔγραψε τοῦτο τὸ ἐνδοξότατον βιβλίον. [J. holds up the „Meditations“]
Hi! Today we are in Carnuntum. Carnuntum is a Roman military camp. In this camp was staying for three years the great Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius. For back then the barbarians, the Germans, were trying to invade the Roman province which is called „Pannonia“. Marcus, staying here, was not only successful in expelling the Germans but, most importantly, he also wrote this very famous book.
‘Ρ· εἶτα πολεμικὰ συνέγραψε ἱστοριῶν τὰ ἑαυτῷ πεπραγμένα;
So he wrote about the war, narrating the things done by him?
Ἰ· οὐδαμῶς· θαυμαστὸν μέν ἐστιν ἀλλὰ οὐδέποτε ἐν τῷ βιβλίῳ μνήμην ποιεῖται τοῦ πολέμου.
Not at all. It is surprising but in the book he never mentions the war.
‘Ρ· περὶ τίνος οὖν συνέγραψε τὸ βιβλίον;
About what then did he write the book?
Ἰ· περὶ τῆς φιλοσοφίας· μέγας γὰρ ἦν φιλόσοφος.
About philosophy: For he was a great philosopher.
‘Ρ· νῦν αὐτὸν φιλόσοφον καλεῖς ἀλλὰ πρότερον εἶπες αὐτὸν αὐτοκράτορα τῶν Ῥωμαίων εἶναι.
Now you call him a philosopher but before you said that he was an emperor of the Romans.
Ἰ· ναί. ἔστι γὰρ ἀμφότερα, καὶ φιλόσοφος καὶ αὐτοκράτωρ. ὁ γὰρ Μάρκος ἐνόμισε τὴν φιλοσοφίαν οὐ θεωρητικὴν εἶναι ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον πρακτικὴν καὶ ἐπειρᾶτο ἄρχειν „οἰκειωθεὶς τῇ φιλοσοφίᾳ“, ὡς λέγει αὐτός· καὶ διὰ τοῦτο πολλοὶ νομίζουσιν αὐτὸν καλὸν γενέσθαι αὐτοκράτορα.
Yes, for he is both: a philosopher as well as an emperor. For Marcus did consider philosophy not to be something theoretical but rather practical, and he tried to rule „well acquainted with philosophy“, as he himself says. And because of this many think that he was a good emperor.
‘Ρ· εἶκός γε· δεῖ γὰρ τοὺς φιλοσόφους βασιλεῦειν ἤτοι τοὺς βασιλεύοντας φιλοσοφεῖν, ὥσπερ λέγει ἡμῖν ὁ Πλάτων. ἔγωγε μάλα χαίρω ἀκούων ὅτι ὁ Μάρκος Πλατωνικός τις ἦν ἀνήρ.
Of course! Since the philosophers need to rule or the rulers need to philosophize, as Plato tells us. I am really glad to hear that Marcus was a Platonist!
Ἰ· ἀλλὰ τί λέγεις; ὁ Μάρκος οὐκ ἦν Πλατωνικός, ἀλλὰ Στωϊκός.
But what do you say? Marcus was not a Platonist but a Stoic!
‘Ρ· οὖκ ἦν; ἀποσφάλλομαι οὖν τῶν ἐλπίδων…
He was not? How disappointing…
[in a dining room]
ἰδού, ἡ τράπεζα τοῦ Μάρκου. σήμερον, τί ἐσθίει; ἄρτον. τί ἄλλο; ἴσως, μῆλα, ῥοιάς.
Look, the table of Marcus. Today, what does he eat? Bread. What else? Maybe, apples, pomegranates.
κυάμους.
Beans.
κυάμους. οὐκ ἔστι Πυθαγορικὸς ὁ Μάρκος.
Beans. Marcus is no Pythagorean.
τίνα ἄλλα; δακτύλους καὶ ἐσθίει. ἀπὸ τῆς Ἀραβίας.
What else? He also eats dates. From Arabia.
καλῶς, ναί.
Good, yes.
σῦκα.
Figs.
ἀρέσκει.
Nice.
καὶ τὸ… τὸ καλούμενον πορτοκάλι. ἀπὸ τῆς Ἀμερικῆς.
And the… the so called „Orange“ (πορτοκάλι in modern Greek 😉 ). From America.
μεγάλη γὰρ ἦν ἡ ἐπαρχία τῶν Ῥωμαίων.
The Roman province was really big.
ἀλλ’εἶεν· περὶ τίνος οὖν φιλοσοφῶν ἐβασίλευε ὁ Μάρκος;
Anyhow, about what did Marcus, as an emperor, philosophize?
Ἰ· μάλιστα περὶ τῶν ἠθικῶν· ἀεὶ γὰρ ὁ Μάρκος σκοπεῖ ὅπως δύναται ἀγαθὸς γενέσθαι ἀνὴρ καὶ ὅπως τοὺς ἄλλους ἀνθρώπους δύναται ἀνέχεσθαι.
Mostly about ethics: Marcus is always considering how he can become a good man and how he can bear other humans.
‘Ρ· τοῦτο δὲ τὸ ἔσχατον ὅτι μάλιστα ἐπείγει με· ἆρα ἔχεις παράδειγμά τι ἐκ τοῦ βιβλίου αὐτοῦ παρέχειν;
This last one I find especially interesting: Could you give an example directly from the book?
Ἰ· ἀλλὰ ἔχω. ἄκουε δή·
Ἕωθεν προλέγειν ἑαυτῷ· συντεύξομαι περιέργῳ, ἀχαρίστῳ, ὑβριστῇ, δολερῷ, βασκάνῳ, ἀκοινωνήτῳ· πάντα ταῦτα συμβέβηκεν ἐκείνοις παρὰ τὴν ἄγνοιαν τῶν ἀγαθῶν καὶ κακῶν. ἐγὼ δὲ τεθεωρηκὼς τὴν φύσιν τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ ὅτι καλόν, καὶ τοῦ κακοῦ ὅτι αἰσχρόν, καὶ τὴν αὐτοῦ τοῦ ἁμαρτάνοντος φύσιν ὅτι μοι συγγενής, οὐχὶ αἵματος ἢ σπέρματος τοῦ αὐτοῦ ἀλλὰ νοῦ καὶ θείας ἀπομοίρας μέτοχος, οὔτε βλαβῆναι ὑπό τινος αὐτῶν δύναμαι, οὔτε ὀργίζεσθαι οὔτε ἀπέχθεσθαι αὐτῷ. γεγόναμεν γὰρ πρὸς συνεργίαν ὡς πόδες, ὡς χεῖρες, ὡς βλέφαρα, ὡς οἱ στοῖχοι τῶν ἄνω καὶ τῶν κάτω ὀδόντων. τὸ οὖν ἀντιπράσσειν ἀλλήλοις παρὰ φύσιν· ἀντιπρακτικὸν δὲ τὸ ἀγανακτεῖν καὶ ἀποστρέφεσθαι.
ἑνὶ λόγῳ οὖν ὁ Μάρκος βούλεται ἡμᾶς φιλικῶς ἔχειν πρὸς τοὺς ἄλλους ἀνθρώπους, καὶ εἰ ἐνοχλοῦσιν ἡμᾶς.
Yes, I can. So listen!
„First thing in the morning, tell yourself: I will meet somebody who is meddlesome, ungrateful, arrogant, deceitful, who is badmouthing others, who is antisocial. All of this has happened to them because of their ignorance of good and evil. I, however, having recognized that the nature of the good is beautiful and that the nature of the evil is ugly and that the nature of the wrongdoer himself is my kin, not as part of the same blood or seed but of the same mind and divine providence, I can neither get hurt by one of them nor can I be angry or hateful. For we are here to work together, like feet, like hands, like eyelids, like the rows of the upper and lower teeth. Working against each other is contrary to our nature: And we work against each other when we get angry and turn away.“
So, to summarize, Marcus wants us to be nice towards other humans even if they annoy us.
‘Ρ· συνίημι. τοῖς δὲ ἐνταῦθα οὐχ οὕτως φιλικῶς ἐχρῆτο.
I understand. But towards the natives here he was not so nice.
Ἰ· ἐποίησε ἃ ἐνόμισε καθῆκειν αὐτοκράτορι Ῥωμαίῳ· τοῦτο γὰρ τὸ „καθῆκον“ μέγα τι ἦν παρὰ τοῖς Στωϊκοῖς.
He did what he thought is the duty of a Roman emperor: This „duty“ (καθῆκον) was quite important for the Stoics.
Ῥ· συνῆκα.
OK.
Ῥ· περὶ δὲ τίνων ἄλλων συγγράφει ὁ Μάρκος;
About what else does Marcus write?
Ἰ· γέρων ὢν γράφει καὶ πολλὰ περὶ τοῦ θανάτου καὶ περὶ τῆς κενοδοξίας· καίπερ γὰρ ἄρχων μεγάλης ἀρχῆς εἶδεν ὁ Μάρκος ὅτι οὐδὲν μένει ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ, ἀλλὰ πάντα ἀεὶ μεταβάλλεται. οἷον· πᾶν ἐφήμερον, καὶ τὸ μνημονεῦον καὶ τὸ μνημονευόμενον.
Being an old man he writes also a lot about death and vanity. For even though he was ruling over a huge empire, Marcus saw that nothing is permanent in the world but everything is always changing. For example: „Everything is ephemeral, the one who remembers as well as the one who is remembered.“
Ῥ· ὀρθῶς. ὀρθῶς δοκεῖ μοι λέγειν. τίνα δὲ τῶν βροτῶν ὅτι μάλιστα ἐβούλετο νουθετεῖν τούτοις τοῖς λόγοις;
Right. He seems to me to say this right. But whom of the mortals did he want to admonish with these words?
Ἰ· ἑαυτόν· ὡς γὰρ δοκεῖ, πάντα ταῦτα [points towards the books in the shelf] ἑαυτῷ μόνον ἔγραψε ἵνα μεμνημένος τῶν Στωϊκῶν δογμάτων βελτίων γένοιτο ἀνὴρ καὶ ἄρχων· δι’ἣν δὲ αἰτίαν ταῦτα τὰ βιβλία οὕτως καλεῖται· τὰ εἰς ἑαυτόν.
Himself. For as it seems, he wrote all this just for himself so that he, being reminded of the Stoic doctrines, might become a better man and ruler. For this reason these books are called like this: „To Himself“.
‘Ρ· ἀξιόλογα δή. δύναιο ἄν μοι καὶ δοῦναι τὸ βιβλίον;
Interesting! Could you maybe also give me the book?
Ἰ· ναί, δῆλον.
Yes, sure.
[R. reads]
Ῥ· τοῦτό μοι ἀρέσκει· [reads from the book] „ἄφες τὰ βιβλία· μηκέτι σπῶ· οὐ δέδοται.“
I like this one: „Throw away the books! Don’t get distracted anymore! That’s not allowed!“
Ἰ· εὖ, ἀφῶμεν οὖν τὰ βιβλία, εἰ καὶ σοὶ δοκεῖ, καὶ διέλθωμεν τὰ λείψανα τοῦ Καρνούντου.
Great! So let’s throw away the books and lets walk through the ruins of Carnuntum.
‘Ρ· ἄγε δή, διέλθωμεν.
Yes, let’s go!