![]() ![]() The classes were conducted in Greek and Latin, so he was fluent in both languages. However, Hays believes the real goal of his education was rhetoric, “the key to an active political career under the empire.” Unlike young students today, Marcus Aurelius trained in the art of the argument, forced to take one side or the other of the issues current in his day. Marcus Aurelius was most likely first educated in reading and writing by slaves before being “handed over to private tutors to be introduced to literature…especially Vergil’s great epic, the Aeneid. “He would have claimed to be, at best, a diligent student and a very imperfect practitioner of a philosophy developed by others.” ![]() “He never thought of himself as a philosopher,” Hays writes. It seems Marcus Aurelius was fond of quoting Plato, and in Hays’ view, we could not find a better ruler who fit the description of a philosopher-king. ![]() So begins Gregory Hays’ Introduction to his translation of Marcus Aurelius’ words. ![]()
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