Published by MacMillan And Co Limited: London 1914
"Marius the Epicurean: His Sensations and Ideas by Walter Pater is a philosophical novel set in the intellectual and spiritual ferment of the Roman Empire under Marcus Aurelius. Through the inward life of its sensitive protagonist, Marius, Pater explores the gradual awakening of consciousness as it moves through pagan tradition, Epicurean thought, Stoicism, and the early intimations of Christianity. Rather than a conventional narrative, the work unfolds as a series of finely wrought meditations on art, religion, friendship, and moral perception, written in Pater's distinctive, musical prose that seeks to capture fleeting impressions and the shaping power of experience upon the inner self.
First published in the late nineteenth century and highly influential on aesthetic and modernist writers, Marius the Epicurean stands as one of Pater's most important works, embodying his belief that life is best understood through cultivated sensation and reflective intelligence. This 1914 Macmillan edition of Volume I preserves the contemplative tone and classical learning that made the book a cornerstone of English aesthetic literature, balancing historical imagination with philosophical depth. This book would appeal especially to admirers of Walter Pater, students of Victorian literature, readers interested in classical philosophy and early Christianity, and collectors of literary modernism's formative influences."
