the nature of a reasonable animal, and not contrary to the reason of our constitution." The morality of Marcus Aurelius cannot be said to have been new when it was given to the world. Its charm lies in its exquisite accent and its infinite tenderness. But above all, what gives the sentences of Marcus Aurelius their enduring value and fascination, and renders them superior to the utterances of Epictetus and Seneca, is that they are the gospel of his life. His precepts are simply the records of his practice. To the saintliness of the cloister he added the wisdom of the man of the world; he was constant in misfortune, not elated by prosperity, never "carrying things to the sweating-point," but preserving, in a time of universal corruption, unreality and self-indulgence, a nature sweet, pure, self-denying, unaffected. BIBLIOGRAPHY.--P. B. Watson's _M. Aurelius Antoninus_ (1884) contains a general account--life, character, philosophy, relations with Christianity--as well as a bibliography; see also art. in Pauly-Wissowa, _Realencyclopädie_, s.v. "Annius" (No. 94), col. 2279. For special points see: (1) _Historical:_ Authorities under ROME: _Ancient History_; S. Dill, _Roman Society from Nero to M. Aurelius_ (London, 1904). (2) _Relations to Christianity:_ Sir W. M. Ramsay, _op. cit._; W. Moeller, _History of the Christian Church_, A.D. 1-600 (Eng. trans., A. Rutherford, 1892); W. E. Addis, _Christianity and the Roman Empire_ (1893); E. G. Hardy, _Christianity and the Roman Government_ (1894), pp. 145 sqq., which criticizes both Neumann and Ramsay; Leonard Alston, _Stoic and Christian of the 2nd century_ (1906); J. Dartigue-Peyrou, _Marc-Aurèle dans ses rapports avec le christianisme_ (Paris, 1897). (3) _Philosophical:_ Besides article STOICS, E. Renan, _Marc. Antoninus et la fin du monde antique_ (Paris, 1882; Eng. trans., W. Hutchinson, 1904); W. Pater, _Marius the Epicurean_ (London, 1888); Matthew Arnold's _Essays_; C. H. W. Davis, _Greek and Roman Stoicism_ (1903); editions of the _Meditations_ (5, below). (4) _Military:_ E. Napp, _De rebus imperat. M. Aurel. Anton, in oriente gestis_ (Bonn, 1879); Conrad, _Mark Aurels Markomannenkrieg_ (1889); Th. Mommsen, _Provinces of the Roman Empire_ (Eng. trans., W. P. Dickson, London, 1886); for the Aurelius column, E. Petersen, A. von Domaszewski, and G. Calderini, _Die Marcussäule_ (Munich, 1896), with historical introduction by Th. Mommsen. (5) The _Meditations_ were published by Xylander in 1558; the best critical edition is that of J. Stich in the Teubner series (Leipzig, 1882; 2nd ed., 1903); textual emendations also in _Journal of Philology_, xxiii. 116-160 (G. H. Rendall); _Classical Review_, xix. (1905), pp. 18 sqq. (Herbert Richards), ibid., pp. 301 sqq. (A. J. Kronenberg). Translations exist in almost every language; that of George Long (London, 1862, re-edited 1900) has been superseded by those of G. H.