Zebrine Dilemma Dilemma itibaren Sanhala, Fildişi Sahili itibaren Sanhala, Fildişi Sahili

This book is on my "read once a year" list. Many reviews of this book are available - I'll give maybe one of the shortest. Marcus Aurelius was one of the last of the "good" Roman emperors - good in terms of moral fiber and actual leadership ability. During his time the Roman Empire was at it's zenith, stretched to its limits and begining to fray at the edges. He spent much of his reign fighting barbarians at the edges of the empire, propping up a people growing increasingly unwilling to make the necessary sacrifices to maintain the strength of the empire (sound familiar?) He was taught from an early age in the Stoic tradition, which he adopted as his philosophical system through out his life. He was an intellectual emperor who recorded his thoughts in what would eventually become "Meditations". One gets the feeling he didn't write it for an audience, but for himself as a way to buttress his strength against the long odds against him. For someone surrounded by riches and adulation, he reminds us in his writings that our life in the grand scheme of time is but an instant, and how adulation and praise by others is of no value. Living a good, clean, moral life is the ultimate goal.