Marius the Epicurean: His Sensations and Ideas

Marius the Epicurean: His Sensations and Ideas is a novel written by Walter Pater. The book follows the life of Marius, a young Roman aristocrat, as he navigates his way through the complex world of ancient Rome. Marius is a thoughtful and sensitive young man who is deeply interested in philosophy and the arts, and the novel explores his intellectual and emotional development as he encounters various people and experiences throughout his life.The book is divided into two parts, with the first part focusing on Marius' childhood and education, and the second part following his adult life as he becomes increasingly disillusioned with the superficiality and corruption of Roman society. Throughout the book, Marius grapples with questions of morality, spirituality, and the meaning of life, and he ultimately finds solace in the philosophy of Epicureanism, which emphasizes the pursuit of pleasure and the avoidance of pain.Pater's writing style is highly poetic and philosophical, and the book is known for its vivid descriptions of ancient Rome and its richly drawn characters. Marius the Epicurean has been praised for its exploration of themes such as beauty, love, and the nature of existence, and it is considered a classic of Victorian literature.1914. This book contains Volumes 1 and 2 of the original work. Less prosperous in fortune than at an earlier day there had been reason to expect, and animating his solitude, as he read eagerly and intelligently, with the traditions of the past, already he lived much in the realm of the imagination, and became betimes, as he was to continue all through life, something of an idealist, constructing the world for himself in great measure from within, by the exercise of meditative power.