The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius. Revised, with an Introduction and Notes, by Alice Zimmern

Winning the favor of Roman emperor Hadrian, Aurelius was nicknamed Verissimus, meaning "most true." Adopted by a Roman emperor, whose daughter Aurelius married, Aurelius took the Roman throne in 161 CE, sharing it with Lucius Verus until Verus' death in 280 C.E. As the last significant exponent of Stoic philosophy, he also went on to write Meditations, which expressed his exemplary capability of living out the vigorous Stoic ethic. No more or less significant than Cicero, he would alongside side few others become one of the better known political figures in Roman history, remembered as the last of the Five Good Emperors of Rome.