Authors

Roman emperor from 161 to 180, pupil of Junius Rusticus in Stoicism and of Fronto in rhetoric. *Meditations* (*Eis heauton*, “To Himself”) are private notebooks written in Greek during his military campaigns on the Danube—never meant for publication. In them, Marcus Aurelius engages in self-examination, revisits Stoic principles, and distances himself from the passions of power.

• The Inner Retreat Jun 2 · transversal

Lucius Annaeus Seneca—philosopher, playwright, tutor and later advisor to Nero—was forced to take his own life by the emperor. He wrote the *Letters to Lucilius* (124 moral epistles addressed to a younger friend), the *Dialogues* (on anger, the brevity of life, the tranquility of the soul), and works on natural philosophy (*Natural Questions*). In his hands, Stoicism becomes concrete, practical, conversational.

• The Hollow Hub Jun 3 · transversal

Attributed author of the *Tao Te Ching* (*Dào Dé Jīng*), the foundational text of philosophical Taoism, in eighty-one versified chapters. The historicity of Laozi has been debated since ancient China. The text, whoever its author may be, sets forth the concept of the *tao* as process, of *wu-wei* as effective non-action, and of emptiness as the condition of use.

• The Hollow Hub Jun 3 · transversal

Bio to be completed.

• The Inner Retreat Jun 2 · transversal