Marcus Aurelius Meditations
Marcus Aurelius: My city and country as I am Antoninus,…
My city and country as I am Antoninus, is Rome; as a man, the whole world. Those things therefore that are expedient and profitable to those cities, are the only things that are good and expedient for me.
The passage follows a public-domain translation of Meditations. The reading beside it is ours.
Marcus held two identities at once: he was a Roman official with obligations to Rome, and he was a human being with obligations to humanity. We have the same double citizenship. You belong to your family, your team, your neighborhood, and your country. But you also belong to a larger human community. That matters when loyalty to a small group asks you to act selfishly, cruelly, or dishonestly. A workplace win that damages customers is not really a win. A political victory purchased by contempt is not good for the people who celebrate it either. The Stoic test is bigger than, “Does this help me?” Ask instead: Does this serve the communities I am part of, from the closest to the widest? Your interest and the common good are less opposed than they first appear. Today, make one decision as a citizen of the whole world.
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