application of the favourite Greek virtue of moderation,
(swfrosuum) and has also its parallel in Christian ethics.
The second point is a strong insistence on the unity of
the universe, and on man's duty as part of a great whole.
Public spirit was the most splendid political virtue
of the ancient world, and it is here made cosmopolitan.
It is again instructive to note that Christian sages insisted
on the same thing. Christians are taught that they are
members of a worldwide brotherhood, where is neither Greek
nor Hebrew, bond nor free and that they live their lives
as fellow-workers with God.

Such is the system which underlies the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius.
Some knowledge of it is necessary to the right understanding
of the book, but for us the chief interest lies elsewhere.
We do not come to Marcus Aurelius for a treatise on Stoicism.
He is no head of a school to lay down a body of doctrine for students;
he does not even contemplate that others should read what he writes.
His philosophy is not an eager intellectual inquiry, but more
what we should call religious feeling. The uncompromising
stiffness of Zeno or Chrysippus is softened and transformed
by passing through a nature reverent and tolerant, gentle and
free from guile; the grim resignation which made life possible
to the Stoic sage becomes in him almost a mood of aspiration.
His book records the innermost thoughts of his heart, set down
to ease it, with such moral maxims and reflections as may help
him to bear the burden of duty and the countless annoyances
of a busy life.

It is instructive to compare the Meditations with another