Meditations: What It's About & Best Translation
The translation you choose shapes what kind of book this is
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Meditations is a series of personal writings by Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor, reflecting on Stoic philosophy and how to live a virtuous life. It is a collection of spiritual exercises and personal reflections, emphasizing self-improvement, duty, and the transience of life.
Translation Comparison at a Glance
| Translation | Readability | Accuracy | Tone | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hays (2002) | Very high | Very good | Direct, unornamented, conversational | First-time readers, daily use |
| Waterfield (2021) | Moderate | Excellent | Literal, philosophical, scholarly | Serious study, Stoic context |
| Long (1862) | Moderate | Good | Victorian, formal, weighty | Historical comparison, free editions |
#1 — Meditations — trans. Gregory Hays (2002)
- Readability: Direct, unornamented modern prose that feels like a private journal.
- Accuracy: Very good; prioritizes accessibility while preserving philosophical precision.
- Tone: Conversational and urgent, as if Marcus is speaking to himself.
- Accessibility: Excellent entry point for readers without classical training.
Duncan Steen's clear and measured narration complements Hays's modern and accessible translation, making Marcus Aurelius's timeless wisdom both engaging and easy to follow.
Listen on Audible →Which translation is right for you?
- Choose Hays if you want the most readable modern version that feels like a private journal and are encountering Marcus for the first time.
- Choose Waterfield if you already know Hays and want a more literal, scholarly translation with extensive notes on Stoic philosophy.
- Choose Long if you want the classic Victorian translation, prefer a free public-domain edition, or wish to compare historical approaches.
#2 — Meditations — trans. Robin Waterfield (2021)
- Readability: More literal and demanding than Hays; rewards careful reading.
- Accuracy: Excellent; most attentive to Stoic technical vocabulary and Greek text.
- Tone: Philosophical and rigorous, with substantial scholarly notes.
- Accessibility: Best after an initial reading; ideal for deeper study.
#3 — Meditations — trans. George Long (1862)
- Readability: Formal Victorian prose that can feel remote to modern ears.
- Accuracy: Good for its era; some Stoic terms now rendered differently by scholars.
- Tone: Weighty, formal, and grave, suited to the subject.
- Accessibility: Widely available free; useful for historical comparison.
About the Translators
Gregory Hays is a classicist and associate professor of classics at the University of Virginia. His 2002 Modern Library translation won the PEN/Martha Albrand Award for First Book of Nonfiction and is largely responsible for the contemporary revival of interest in Marcus Aurelius. Hays came to Meditations as a scholar of late antique Latin literature and made a deliberate choice to render Marcus in unadorned, modern prose — a departure from the Victorian gravity of earlier translations. His version is now the most widely read English Meditations by a significant margin.
Robin Waterfield is a British classical scholar who has produced acclaimed translations of Plato, Herodotus, Xenophon, Thucydides, and Plutarch for Oxford World's Classics and Basic Books. His 2021 Meditations is distinguished by its scholarly apparatus — substantial notes explaining the Stoic technical vocabulary Marcus is drawing on, particularly in relation to Epictetus. Waterfield's approach is more literal than Hays's, reflecting a preference for philosophical precision over stylistic elegance.
George Long (1800–1879) was a Victorian classicist who taught at University College London and University College, Bristol. His 1862 translation was the standard English Meditations for nearly a century — the version through which most Victorian and Edwardian readers first encountered Marcus Aurelius. Long translated in the tradition of Victorian scholarship: formal, weighty, and precise. His rendering of key Stoic terms reflects philological priorities that modern scholars have since revised.
Themes
The central argument of Meditations is that the only things within our control are our own judgments and responses — not events, not the behavior of others, not death. Marcus returns to this position obsessively across all twelve books, not because he has resolved it but because he has not. The repetition is evidence that he is still arguing himself into something he has not yet fully believed. Understanding this — that Meditations is a practice log, not a finished philosophy — changes how you read every entry.
The intellectual context is Stoicism as Marcus inherited it from Epictetus, a former slave who taught that external circumstances are neither good nor bad in themselves; only our response to them can be. Marcus was not theorizing but applying, under conditions of extreme difficulty: military campaigns on the Danube frontier, court intrigue, plague, the deaths of children. The philosopher Pierre Hadot argued in Philosophy as a Way of Life (1995) that Meditations is best understood not as a philosophical treatise but as a collection of spiritual exercises — philosophy practiced rather than argued.
The question of how to live within a role you did not choose runs through every book. Marcus was adopted as heir and trained for rule; he did not ask for the position. His repeated exhortations to himself — to perform his role without complaint, without attachment to praise or blame — are not the reflections of a man at ease. They are the notes of someone who has found a framework for endurance and is testing it against daily reality.
Key Figures
Marcus Aurelius — Roman Emperor from 161 to 180 CE, the last of the Five Good Emperors, and in Meditations entirely a private person: a man holding himself to account. He addresses himself throughout in the second person ("you"), in exhortations, reminders, and self-recriminations. The public emperor is almost absent from the text; the private struggle is everything. He died in 180 CE during a campaign on the Danube, and the notebook was never prepared for publication — which is part of what makes it feel so unguarded.
Epictetus — The Stoic teacher whose influence pervades almost every page of Meditations, though Marcus rarely names him directly. A former slave who taught Stoic philosophy in Nicopolis in the late first and early second century CE, Epictetus articulated the distinction between what is "up to us" and what is not — the central principle on which Marcus's notebook is built. His Discourses, recorded by the student Arrian, are the essential companion text to Meditations.
The Book I figures — In the first book, Marcus catalogs the teachers and family members who shaped him, naming what each gave him: from his grandfather, gentleness and serenity of temper; from Rusticus, the habit of reading attentively and not being satisfied with a superficial understanding; from Sextus, the example of a man of gravity who was also kind. These are the only named individuals in the book. Everyone else — courtiers, flatterers, the ungrateful, the dying — appears unnamed and generic, as illustration rather than character. Meditations is a soliloquy.
Recommended Sources
Classical Quarterly — Published by Cambridge University Press since 1907, one of the leading peer-reviewed journals for classical scholarship in the English-speaking world. It regularly publishes work on Marcus Aurelius, Stoic philosophy, and translation from the Greek philosophical tradition. Back issues are available through JSTOR.
Bryn Mawr Classical Review (bmcr.brynmawr.edu) — An open-access, peer-reviewed journal of reviews of new scholarship in classical studies. A reliable index of current academic opinion on translations and editions of ancient texts, including new editions of Meditations as they appear. Free to access.
The Cambridge Companion to Marcus Aurelius (ed. Marcel van Ackeren, Cambridge University Press, 2012) — A collected volume of essays by specialists covering Marcus's philosophy, his reign, the Greek text of Meditations, and its reception from antiquity to the present. The standard academic entry point for serious study of the text.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Meditations about?
Meditations is a series of personal writings by Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor, reflecting on Stoic philosophy and how to live a virtuous life. It is a collection of spiritual exercises and personal reflections, emphasizing self-improvement, duty, and the transience of life.
Is Meditations hard to read?
Meditations can be challenging due to its philosophical content and historical context. The Hays translation is the most accessible, offering modern prose, while Waterfield provides a more literal and scholarly approach.
Which Meditations translation is best?
The Gregory Hays translation is the best starting point for most readers. It is the most readable modern English version and the one responsible for the book's contemporary revival.
Hays vs Waterfield — which should I choose?
Choose Hays for a direct, conversational first encounter. Choose Waterfield if you already know Hays and want a more literal, scholarly version with extensive notes on Stoic philosophy.
Which translation is easiest to read?
Gregory Hays's Modern Library translation is the easiest to read. It renders Marcus in unadorned, modern prose that feels like a private journal rather than a historical document.
Which translation is most accurate?
Robin Waterfield's 2021 translation is the most accurate for serious study. It is more literal than Hays and includes substantial notes on the Stoic technical vocabulary Marcus draws on.
Should I read the public-domain George Long translation?
Long's 1862 version is worth reading for its Victorian gravity and to compare historical approaches, but it feels dated compared with Hays or Waterfield. For a first encounter, Hays is the better choice.
This guide is based on reading all 3 translations and reviewing scholarly commentary. Last reviewed: June 2026.
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