Martin Hammond’s translation of Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations, like his Iliad and Odyssey, is the work of an unusually gifted translator, and one who understands the value added by careful attention to supplementary material. He writes natural English, direct and often eloquent; the text is well supported by effective notes and a characteristically thorough and well-planned index; Diskin Clay supplies a useful introduction. This is a fine volume — Malcolm Heath ― Greece & Rome Journal

Marcus is well served by this new translation. Hammond has a pithy turn of phrase to match the emperor’s own . . . His notes abound in helpful explanation and illuminating cross-reference. Diskin Clay contributes a sparkling and sympathetic introduction. The combination of introduction, translation and notes is as good as they get — John Taylor ― Journal of Classics Teaching

A series of spiritual exercises filled with wisdom, practical guidance, and profound understanding of human behavior, Marcus Aurelius’s “Meditations remains one of the greatest works of spiritual and ethical reflection ever written. Marcus’s insights and advice–on everything from living in the world to coping with adversity and interacting with others–have made the “Meditations required reading for statesmen and philosophers alike, while generations of ordinary readers have responded to the straightforward intimacy of his style.
In Gregory Hays’s new translation–the first in a generation–Marcus’s thoughts speak with a new immediacy: never before have they been so directly and powerfully presented.”From the Trade Paperback edition.