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George Long’s English Meditations circulates as a cheap public-domain school book

By the late 19th century George Long’s translation was a cheap English school object, later mirrored on Project Gutenberg. In the causal graph this event strengthens Social Cohesion, a driver that strengthens Having a say in government — an improving welfare path.

Sources: [1][2]

Read the full account

By the late 19th century George Long’s translation was a cheap English school object, later mirrored on Project Gutenberg.

Context

Cheap Stoicism can be shared ethical literacy and can also be a quietist alibi for power.

Marcus Aurelius is not the sole author of every later object, law, or museum label that uses the name. Shared work with courts, excavators, printers, spouses, officials, and later states does not erase a documented role, and it does not make an ancient person the signer of a twentieth-century statute.

Why it matters

A sixpenny classic is not a welfare state.

Who was responsible

Contribution type and responsibility level for each recorded actor — not sole-author shorthand.

  • Marcus Aurelius

    Person

    Direct responsibility

    responsibility level 0.2 · verified

    Dated act under Marcus as emperor or as later printed subject. Scribes, heirs, editors, and museums share labour.

What changed

Fact → Driver → Indicator. Relationship strength orders the paths; it is not the observed indicator movement.

    1. FactGeorge Long’s English Meditations circulates as a cheap public-domain school book
    2. strengthensDriverSocial Cohesion
    3. strengthensIndicators (2)Having a say in government
    Improving path

    impact weight 0.3 · Effect from 1 January 1890 · verified

    A sixpenny classic is not a welfare state.

    • Having a say in government

      via Social Cohesion

      Better

      Strengthens · Relationship strength 0.14 (weight 0.3 × strength 0.45)

      Observed

      29.8% of population aged 16-65 years · 8.13 below the normal line (2023)

      Worse than normal

      Two readings: 30.2% of population aged 16-65 years (2021) and 29.8% of population aged 16-65 years (2023).

      20212023

      Above normal = better

    • Rule of Law Gap from the Highest Governance Score

      via Social Cohesion

      Better

      Weakens · Relationship strength 0.14 (weight 0.3 × strength 0.45)

      Observed

      43.9 Score · 43.9 above the normal line (2024)

      Worse than normal

      26 readings, 1996–2024: rose from 43 Score to 43.9 Score.

      Normal is zero · any amount = worse

Evidence

The sources behind this fact and its verification state.

Verified2 sources on file
  1. 1.The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius — Long translationProject Gutenberg · High credibility · verified
  2. 2.Britannica — Marcus AureliusEncyclopaedia Britannica · High credibility · verified
What the sources establish

Later competitions, monuments, translations, UNESCO listings, and museums are not converted into extra lifetime acts. That reading is an impact-path choice, not a property stored on the Fact itself. Confidence is stated on the impact path. A later English edition is not a recovered autograph. If a number is not in the two records named above, it is not supplied here. Confidence is stated on the impact path.

Causal path

How this event connects to drivers and indicators in the graph.

  1. ActorMarcus Aurelius
  2. contributed toFactGeorge Long’s English Meditations circulates as a cheap public-domain school book
  3. strengthensDriverSocial Cohesion
  4. strengthensIndicatorHaving a say in government

Cite this page

Factrail. (2026). George Long’s English Meditations circulates as a cheap public-domain school book. Factrail. https://factrail.ai/facts/ma-gutenberg-long-1890

https://factrail.ai/facts/ma-gutenberg-long-1890

Accessed 16 October 2026.

By the Factrail desk · Method: how we source and score · Last reviewed

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