《沉思录·卷八·行事与本分》第31条
Augustus' court, wife, daughter, descendants, ancestors, sister, Agrippa, kinsmen, intimates, friends; Areius, Maecenas, physicians, and sacrificing priests,--the whole court is dead. Then turn to the rest, not considering the death of a single man [but of a whole race], as of the Pompeii; and that which is inscribed on the tombs,--The last of his race. Then consider what trouble those before them have had that they might leave a successor; and then, that of necessity some one must be the last. Again, here consider the death of a whole race.
注释摘要
奥勒留在这一段里做的是一个死亡名单式的冥想，只不过他列的名单规模空前。他先从奥古斯都的整个宫廷说起——妻子、女儿、子孙、祖先、姐妹，然后是阿格里帕这样的重臣，再延伸到亲族、密友、朋友，最后是哲学家阿瑞乌斯、宠臣梅塞纳斯、御医和祭司。他把一个皇帝身边所有构成其世界的人全部叫出来，然后一句话收回：整个宫廷都死了。这不是文学修辞，而是一种斯多葛派常用的视觉化训练…