In the past Marcus Aurelius' Τα ειζ εαντον has often been misinterpreted asremains of a systematic moral treatise or as preparatory notes for a final edition.In our view this might be due to the lack of attention paid by researchersin the past to the literary form of the work. A study of the literary form of theΤα ειζ εαντον soon reveals connections with the work of Epictetus, Seneca,Plutarch, Bion and others, and suggests that the work should be interpretedas moral exercises. In the present contribution we wish to illustrate the aim,the method and the literary form of Marcus' moral exercises by studying twospecific passages from the Τα ειζ εαντον (IV, 48 and 49).
