47 pages • 1-hour read
Meditations
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Book 6Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Book 6 Summary
A series of short chapters open Book 6. On the nature of the Whole, Marcus reminds himself that all that is begins and ends as the Whole’s reason guides it, that nothing should matter to him other than doing his duty. He should not allow anything worthy to pass unnoticed. Everything changes. He exhorts himself to find comfort in moving “from social act to social act, your mind on god” (46).
Marcus reminds himself to return to philosophy as a man to his mother, to be comforted and made to feel that life can be endured. If he becomes distressed, he must return to his self-directed rhythms as soon as possible. When he feels pain from labor, he must recognize this pain as being in harmony with nature. When he is presented with pleasurable experiences, he must strip them down to their essentials, to “strip away their own boastful account of themselves” (48). A man who values the “rational and political” nature of the soul keeps that soul "in a constant state of rational and social activity” (48). To value or attempt to acquire anything other than being in harmony with others and the gods and living up to his standards will drag him into behaviors like envy and intrigue. Elements move up, down, and around, but active virtue follows a divine path that is “hard to understand” (49).
How to meet others’ undesirable behaviors preoccupies Marcus. Opponents who are perceived as harmful can be avoided good-naturedly, without fomenting “suspicion or enmity” (50). Likewise, if another reveals Marcus’s mistakes, he will change, since the truth, which he seeks, cannot harm anyone, only “self-deception and ignorance” (50). When someone needs assistance, he should give it calmly. When others are wrong, he should correct them without fussing. It would be disgraceful to allow his soul to fail. He reminds himself to remain “a pupil of Antoninus” and the virtues he exhibited—his reason, piety, gentleness, humility, simplicity, firm leadership, avoidance of gossip, fairness, tolerance (51).
Additional concerns Marcus returns to include the fragility of time and inevitability of change, the interconnection of all things and all times (past, present, and future), and accepting his lot and loving “these people among whom destiny has cast you” (53). He repeatedly writes of the importance of living his life “in truth and justice” with tolerance of “those who are neither true nor just” (56).
Book 6 Analysis
A sacred virtue in Roman culture was pietas, a Latin word that can hold many meanings. In its simplest sense, it means duty to the gods, to one’s family, to the Roman Empire. It incorporates a sense of piety, patriotism, and loyalty and was personified as the goddess Pietas. Marcus, however, did not write in Latin but in Greek, which continued to be seen as the language of philosophy. In the ancient Greek world, a supreme value, and philosophical concept, was arete, meaning excellence or virtue of any kind which was connected with fulfilling one’s purpose. As with Pietas in Rome, the concept was personified, in the goddess Arete. In Book 6, Marcus revisits the importance of doing his duty—a very Roman concept—but he seems to approach it more as a Greek philosopher than as a Roman emperor.
Some scholars have expressed surprise that Marcus spends little time in Meditations reflecting on his duties as emperor. Again and again, his primary concern returns to fulfilling his duty but to the cosmic city, the universe, rather than to the city of Rome whose empire he ruled. When Marcus exhorts himself, in Book 6, to do his duty, he is referring to his responsibility to be a virtuous person. This means remaining fixedly on the “straight” path of the gods and not becoming sidetracked by material concerns, whether the praise of his peers or the enjoyment of physical indulgences.
The fate allotted to him is to rule an empire, but Marcus is primarily concerned that this role not become a distraction from what he is meant to be doing: using his reason to pursue virtue, acting for the benefit of all, and exercising his freedom to control his thoughts by using his reason. Always, he urges himself to focus on his philosophical practice, to strip away ephemerals and uncover the essence of truth, unvarnished and unembellished. In this way, he can bring himself into harmony with divine intention.
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