“I myself am not yet harmed, unless I judge this occurrence something bad: and I can refuse to do so.” Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations is perhaps the most intimate ancient text I’ve ever experienced. Reading it can at times feel almost intrusive, in particular in the moments when it feels most like a private journal thatContinue reading “Some meditations on Meditations”
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Calling Roman texts ‘derivative’ makes me cringe
There’s no shortage of memes that poke fun at Roman texts for being derivative. As is often the case when one thing is either elevated or mocked at the expense of another, it’s an oversimplification. A case of extrapolating a kernel of truth to a degree that misleadingly glosses over a more complex dynamic thatContinue reading “Calling Roman texts ‘derivative’ makes me cringe”