The Romanitas of Marcus Aurelius’ "Meditations"

Scholars dealing with the "Meditations" - the famous work of the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius (in a Greek manuscript entitled: To Myself) - usually draw attention to its philosophical and religious dimension. This is fully understandable, since the notes of this of the ruler were in the nature of a private spiritual diary and, according to the rules of Stoic ethics, aimed at finding consolation and happiness. However, the article addresses a slightly different issue from those raised so far: the question of the 'Romanness', that is, the Roman character (Latin Romanitas) of this extraordinary literary monument. The starting point is the observation that this is a work written by a traditionally-minded, and homage to ancient values, Roman who, for nearly 20 years of his life (reigned 161-180 after Christ) held, in addition, the highest position in the Roman empire (Imperium Romanum). This means that, on a par with a philosophical reading of the treatise (and one that dominated scholarly research for many years, especially works on the history of philosophy), a political interpretation of this writing is fully justified. The adjective 'political' should not, of course, be understood here in its modern, narrow sense of the term, but rather in its Greek sense, denoting all the matters relating to the state.