occasionally split up a single entry into two (sometimes
following earlier editors, sometimes not).
- There are some striking omissions, which may or may not
be significant. Antoninus’s predecessor, Hadrian, is not
mentioned, for example. It may be that Marcus
disapproved of him, or simply that he had little contact
with him before his death in 138. Perhaps more surprising
is the lack of any reference to Herodes Atticus, from
whom Marcus learned Greek rhetoric. Does this point to
personal tensions that arose between the two in later
years? Or does the omission stem from Marcus’s move
away from rhetoric toward philosophy? (It is noteworthy
that the Latin rhetorician Fronto, with whom Marcus seems
to have been close, is allotted only a very brief entry in
comparison with Marcus’s philosophical preceptors.)
- The openings of Books 2 and 3 differ from those that
follow in including a brief note to identify (presumably)
the place of composition. We do not know whether these
notes go back to Marcus himself, or why the other books
lack them. The average length of the entries in these two
books is perhaps slightly longer than in the later books, but
there are few differences otherwise. Attempts to find a
thematic thread within Books 2 and 3 as a whole are not
convincing.
- I have noted the most egregious instances in the notes,
