Christian Texts and History • Re: The Attitude of Marcus Aurelius to the Christians

The Interpolated Meditations of Marcus Aurelius

Marcus Aurelius Antoninus' reference to "christian obstinacy" (circa 167 CE) is located at Meditations, 11:3. Here is George Long's English translation:

• "What a soul that is which is ready, if at any moment it must be separated from the body, and ready either to be extinguished or dispersed or continue to exist; but so that this readiness comes from a man's own judgement, not from mere obstinacy, as with the Christians, but considerately and with dignity and in a way to persuade another, without tragic show.

"

Gregory Hays' 2003 translation of Meditations

Hays' endnote for 11.3 says:

• "This ungrammatical phrase [like the Christians]
  is almost certainly a marginal comment by a later reader;
  there is no reason to think Marcus
  had the Christians in mind here."

Maxwell Staniforth's 1964 translation of Meditations

The translation is as follows:

• Happy the soul which, at whatever moment the call comes for release from the body, is equally ready to face extinction, dispersion, or survival. Such preparedness, however, must be the outcome of its own decision; a decision not prompted by mere contumacy, as with the Christians, * but formed with deliberation and gravity and, if it is to be convincing to others, with an absence of heroics.

The corresponding footnote reads as follows:

• * If these words are authentic and not a later insertion,
  they are the only reference which Marcus makes to the Christians.
  C.R. Haines, however, in the Loeb edition of the Meditations,
  points out that the clause is
  'outside the construction, and in fact ungrammatical.
  It is in the very form of a marginal note,
  and has every appearance of being a gloss
  foisted into the text.'

Perhaps this should be added to the discussion:
Why aren't there more interpolations?
viewtopic.php?t=12938

Statistics: Posted by Leucius Charinus — Mon Nov 25, 2024 11:55 pm

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