A new translation of the philosophical journey that has inspired luminaries from Matthew Arnold to Bill Clinton Written by an intellectual Roman emperor, the "Meditations" offer a wide range of spiritual reflections developed as the leader struggled to understand himself and the universe. Marcus Aurelius covers topics as diverse as the question of virtue, human rationality, the nature of the gods, and his own emotions, spanning from doubt and despair to conviction and exaltation. * Includes an introduction, chronology, explanatory notes, general index, index of quotations, and index of names