RME"S wicked emperr， Ner， had been dead a hundred years when there came t the thrne a new emperr named Marcus Aurelius. He was just as gd as Ner was bad. Many peple think he wasnef the nblest and greatest men wh ever lived.
At this time mstf the Rmans had very little religinf any srt. They were nt Christians， but neither did they put much faith in theirwn gds- Jupiter and Jun and the rest. They hnred them because they had been brught up t hnr them and because they thught that if they didn"t hnr them， they might have bad luck. S they tk n chances.
But insteadf believing in such gds， manyther Rmans fllwed the teachingsf sme wise man，r philspher， and tried tbey the rules that he had made.
Abut 300 B.C. a Greek philspher named Zen had taught a philsphy called Sticism. His ideas became ppular， and a century later they spread t Rme. Many Rmans liked Sticism because it taught gd behavir， wisdm， and strength t suffer hardship and pain. Seneca， the teacher whm Ner killed， became a Stic and wrte abut Sticism.
A hundred years later， alng came the emperr Marcus Aurelius. He was a Stic， t， and he needed t be， fr he had a hard and difficult life. He wrte dwn his thughts， nw called his Meditatins. He didn"t intend t have his thughts published； he just wrte them dwn t remind himself hw heught t think and behave.
Here are smef the ideas that Marcus Aurelius believed in：
I must calmly endure pain and suffering.
I must put up with everything that happens， n matter hw bad it may seem. Whatever happens has been caused by Gd， and Gd is gd. Therefre everything that happens is gd.
I must always d my duty.
I must nt seek pleasure.
Gd behavir is the best thing in life.
I mustbey the lawsf Gd.
All men are brthers， and I must treat everyne as well as if he were my brther.
Marcus Aurelius was a gd Stic. He fllwed hiswn rules， and he always did what he thught was his duty. He was kind t peple， was gd t the pr， and managed t get ridf muchf the cruelty and brutality in the gladiatrs" shws.
Even tday， peple-thusandsf them-read Marcus Aurelius"s Meditatins. Smef his sayings sund almst as thugh they cme frm the Bible. Even tday， t， peple wh bear pain and hardship withut a murmur are described as stic.
nef Marcus Aurelius"s rules was "Frgive yur enemies." Thugh Marcus Aurelius was nt a Christian， nevertheless he was mre mral in the way he acted than smef the later emperrs wh were Christians！
Like many peple wh are very gd themselves， Marcus Aurelius was unable t bring up his sn t be gd. Cmmdus， his sn， was just as bad as his father was gd. When the sn grew up and was able t chse fr himself and d as he pleased， he frgt all abut ding his duty and behaving well andbeying the lawsf Gd. Instead， Cmmdus"sne thught was pleasure， and the wrst kindf pleasure at that. Cmmdus frgt his father"s ideas abut being kind tthers and treating them like brthers. He thughtnlyf giving himself a gd time.
Cmmdus was an athlete and had beautiful muscles and a handsme figure，f which he was s prud that he had a statue madef himself. The statue shwed him as the strng and muscular gd Hercules. Cmmdus made the peple wrship him as if he were this gd. Just t shwff his muscles and his muscular ability， he himself tk part in prizefights. He pisnedr killed anyne wh fund fault withr criticized him. He led a wild and dissipated life， but at last he met the end that he deserved. Many attempts t kill him failed， but finally he was strangled t death by a wrestler.
Pleasure！ Fr Cmmdus， pleasure meant feasting t much and drinking t much and ging t wild all-night parties. But there arether kindsf pleasure， gd kinds， and Cmmdus had nthing t d with them.
Abut the same time as Zen， there lived anther Greek wise man，r philspher， named Epicurus. His ideas， t， became ppular in Rme， and thusands fllwed his teachings. The Epicureans-the fllwersf Epicurus- thught that the highest gd was pleasure， but the pleasure must bef the right kind.
Here are a fewf the pleasures that the Epicureans cnsidered gd：
Being hnest and truthful
Being just tthers
Friendship with gd peple
Simple， clean living
Freedm frm superstitin
Freedm frm fear
Quiet study
Calmness
Any pleasure that causes pain， thught the Epicureans， is nt really a pleasure-nt at all. Hw much happier Cmmdus wuld have been if he had fllwed the ideasf Epicurus insteadf hiswn wild， selfish ideas！
【中文阅读】
在邪恶的罗马皇帝尼禄死了一百多年后，有个名叫马可 奥勒留的新皇帝登上 了皇位。与尼禄的邪恶正相反，他非常善良。很多人认为他是历史上最高贵、最伟 大的人物之一。
在这个时期，大多数罗马人没有什么宗教信仰。他们不是基督徒，但是对他们 自己的神灵--朱庇特、朱诺和其他神灵也没有多少信仰。罗马人敬奉这些神灵只 是因为他们从小就被家里教育要这样，还有就是因为他们认为如果不敬奉这些神灵， 就会遭厄运。所以，他们只是不想冒险而已。
尽管很多罗马人不信仰神灵，却很听从某位智者或哲学家的教导，并且尽量遵 从他们所定的规则。
大约公元前 300 年，一位名叫芝诺的希腊哲学家讲授的一种哲学叫"斯多葛哲 学"。他的思想逐渐流行起来，一个世纪后传播到了罗马。很多罗马人喜欢斯多葛哲 学，因为它教给人们良好的品行、智慧和承受困苦的力量。尼禄杀死的那个老师塞 内加成了一名斯多葛派人，还写了关于斯多葛哲学的著作。
又过了一百年，马可 奥勒留皇帝出现了。他也是个斯多葛派人，他需要成为 这样的人，因为他过过一段非常艰难困苦的生活。他还把自己的思想写下来，这些 文字现在称为《沉思录》。他本不打算把自己的想法公开发表，写下来只是为了提醒 自己应该怎样去思考和行事。
下面就是马可 奥勒留所信奉的一些思想：
我必须平静地承受痛苦和苦难。
我必须忍受发生的一切，不管它看起来多么糟糕。所有发生的事情都是上帝造成的，而上帝是善的。因此，所有发生的一切都是有益的。
我必须始终如一竭尽己任。
我不能寻欢作乐。
行为端正是生活中最好的事。
我必须遵守上帝的法规。
所有人都是我的兄弟姐妹，我对待他们都要像对待自己的兄弟姐妹一样。
马可 奥勒留真诚地按照斯多葛哲学生活。他凡事都遵循自己的原则，只要他 认为是自己责任的事，他都坚持去做。他对人友善，对穷人仁慈，还设法禁止角斗 士表演中很多残忍和野蛮的行为。
即使今天，人们还在阅读马可 奥勒留的《沉思录》1--它有成千上万的读者。 书中的一些言论听起来几乎像是出自《圣经》。甚至现在，那些承受苦难而毫无怨言 的人还被说成像斯多葛派人那样坚忍克制。
马可 奥勒留的原则之一是"宽恕你的敌人"。尽管马可 奥勒留不是基督徒， 但在待人处世方面他比后来一些"身为"基督徒的皇帝更有道德。
很多人自身都很有修养，却教育不好后代，马可 奥勒留和他们一样，未能把 自己的儿子培养成一个好人。马可 奥勒留善良、隐忍，而他的儿子康茂德却正好相 反，邪恶、放荡。当这个孩子长大成人，有了选择和自主能力的时候，他把什么履 行义务、行为端正和遵从上帝的法规等统统抛在了脑后。相反，康茂德唯一的念头 就是享乐，而且是最堕落的享乐。康茂德忘记了他父亲所持有的要对他人友好、要 像对待亲兄弟那样与他们相处的观念。他一心只想着尽情享乐。
康茂德是个运动健将，有强健的肌肉和优美的体形，对此他非常骄傲，甚至还 让人为自己做了一个雕像。这座雕像展示了他那有如大力神赫拉克勒斯般的强壮身 体。康茂德要人们像崇拜大力神一样崇拜他。为了炫耀肌肉的健美和力量，他去参 加角斗比赛。凡是有人挑他的过错或批评他，他都会把这个人毒死或杀掉。他过着 放荡不羁的生活，不过最终他还是得到了他应得的下场。很多刺杀他的计划都没有 成功，但最后他却被一个摔跤手给勒死了。
啊，快乐！对于康茂德来说，快乐就意味着尽情吃喝，整夜纵情狂欢。但人世 间还有其他快乐，有益身心的快乐，康茂德却一点儿也没体验过。
大约与芝诺同一时期，还有一位希腊的智者，或者说是哲学家，名叫伊壁鸠鲁。 他的思想后来在罗马也广受欢迎，成千上万的人相信并接受他的学说。伊壁鸠鲁的 门徒--那些崇奉伊壁鸠鲁的人--认为，最高的善就是快乐，但是这种快乐必须 符合正确的标准。
下面是伊壁鸠鲁门徒们一些看作善的快乐观：
为人诚实、坦率
1 该书近年由著名翻译家王焕生先生从古希腊语译成中文。
对他人公正
和好人交朋友
过简朴、清白的生活
不迷信盲从
没有恐惧
安静地学习
保持冷静
伊壁鸠鲁的门徒认为，任何造成痛苦的快乐都不是真正的快乐--丝毫不是。 如果康茂德听从伊壁鸠鲁的观念，而不是他自己那种放纵、自私的想法，那他会多 么幸福啊！
