The common title 'Meditations' is a later scholarly convention; the original Greek Τὰ εἰς ἑαυτόν ('To Himself') underscores its true nature as private jottings.

Marcus Aurelius wrote "Meditations" in Koine Greek, not Latin, because Greek was the established language of philosophical discourse in the Roman Empire at the time.

Aurelius described the Inner Citadel in Meditations as an inviolable mental refuge, always accessible through disciplined reason.