This two-volume work offers a comprehensive interpretation of the philosophy of Marcus Aurelius for the first time. Unlike the few existing interpretations that focus either on form or content, this one presents both formal aspects and the entire range of themes and arguments. The thesis posits that Marcus Aurelius wrote the first preserved self-dialogue with the Meditations. The composition of this primarily self-dialogical text can also be seen as a Stoic philosophical practice. Volume 1 examines general formal characteristics and their philosophical significance, such as language choice, the structure of the text, the formally unique first book, elements of literary genre, stylistic and rhetorical aspects, and particularly intensively the character of the Meditations as a self-dialogue. Volume 2 explores in relation to the...