Marcus Aurelius · 121–180 CE
Meditations 6.24 — Marcus Aurelius
Translation by George Long (1862)
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 6.24
Alexander the Macedonian and his groom by death were brought to the same state; for either they were received among the same seminal principles of the universe, or they were alike dispersed among the atoms.
Cite this passage
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 6.24, tr. George Long (1862)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/meditations/6.24
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, tr. George Long (1862). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesEven Alexander the Great and his stable hand ended up in the same place at death: either absorbed into the universe's generative principles or scattered into atoms. Rank and glory do not survive it.
Older wording
- “seminal principles”
- — the generative seeds or forces of the universe in Stoic thought
Themes and situations
- Death and mortality
- Pride and humility
- Change and impermanence
- Fear of death
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