ABSTRACT
This chapter examines Marcus Aurelius’s status as a philosopher by considering the biographical evidence for his interest in philosophy and his own education in philosophy under a series of Stoic teachers, including Apollonius of Chalcedon, Sextus of Chaeronea, and Junius Rusticus. It also considers his relationship with Cornelius Fronto and the evidence in Marcus’s correspondence with Fronto that sheds light on Marcus’s interest in philosophy. It then examines Marcus’s debts to previous Stoic philosophers, including Chrysippus, Aristo, Cleanthes, Seneca, and Epictetus. It also considers Galen, whom Marcus knew personally. Although their interactions may have been minimal, Galen’s own therapeutic works add valuable context to the Meditations. The chapter concludes by asking what it meant to be a Stoic in the second century ad.
