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2. On the River Gran, Among the Quadi:: The notation is transmitted at the end of
Book 1, but is more likely to belong here. The Gran (or Hron) is a tributary of the
Danube flowing through modern-day Slovakia. The Quadi were a Suebian tribe in the
Morava River valley, subdued during the Marcomannic Wars of the early 170s.
2.2 Throw away . . . right now:: These words are deleted or transposed elsewhere
by some editors.
2.10 the ones committed out of desire are worse:: Strictly speaking, this assessment
is in conflict with Stoic doctrine, which holds that there are no degrees of wrongness; all
wrong actions are equally wrong and it makes no sense to speak of one as being
“worse” than another.
2.13 “delving into . . .”:: A line from the lyric poet Pindar (frg. 282), quoted also
by Plato, Theaetetus 173e.
3. In Carnuntum:: Transmitted at the end of Book 2, but probably meant to head
Book 3. Carnuntum was a fortress on the Danube which housed the Legio XIV Gemina
and served as the seat of the governor of Upper Pannonia. Marcus is known to have
been in the area in 172 and 173.
3.3 Chaldaeans:: The Chaldaeans (Babylonians) had a special reputation as
astrologers.
Democritus:: Apparently an error for another pre-Socratic philosopher, Pherecydes, who was
said to have been eaten by worms. (Democritus’s name was often coupled with that of Heraclitus,
which may explain Marcus’s slip here.)
Socrates:: The “vermin” who killed Socrates are the Athenians who prosecuted and condemned
him.
3.6 as Socrates used to say:: It is not clear whether Marcus is alluding to a specific
passage (perhaps Plato, Phaedo 83a–b) or merely to a general impression of Socratic
doctrine.
3.14 your Brief Comments:: Evidently collections of anecdotes and/or quotations
put together by Marcus himself for his own use, like parts of the extant Meditations.
3.15 They don’t realize . . . :: The significance of this entry (particularly the last
phrase) is unclear.
3.16 people who do < . . . >:: It seems clear that something is missing from the text,
perhaps deliberately omitted by a prudish copyist.
4.3 to ward off all < . . . >:: The missing word must be something like “anxiety.”
“The world is nothing but change . . .”:: Democritus frg. B 115.
4.18 < . . . > not to be distracted:: The text as transmitted includes the words
“good,” “black character,” and “suspicion,” but no coherent sense can be made of them.
4.19 You’re out of step . . . :: The text of this sentence is disturbed and the
translation correspondingly uncertain.
4.23 The poet:: Aristophanes frg. 112.
4.24 “If you seek tranquillity . . .”:: Democritus frg. B 3.
4.30 A philosopher without clothes . . . :: If the text is sound it is not easy to
interpret convincingly. The rendering here (which differs from most previous versions)
represents my best guess at the sense, but is far from certain.
4.33 Camillus, Caeso, Volesus, Dentatus:: Heroes of the Roman Republic (see the
Index of Persons). Only Camillus was well known; the others may have been purposely
chosen for their obscurity.
“unknown, unasked-for”:: Homer, Odyssey 1.242.
4.41 “A little wisp of soul . . .”:: Epictetus frg. 26 (presumably from one of the lost
books of the Discourses).
4.46 “When earth dies . . .”:: Heraclitus frg. B 76.