Thanks very much for your review. We actually have more biographical information for Marcus Aurelius than we do for most figures from the ancient world. Nevertheless, that's far less than we have for most modern biographical subjects. Most of the available information was incorporated in this book. For instance, we do not have enough information on Marcus' relationship with Christianity or the education of Commodus for a full chapter each. We'd be lucky if those filled a couple of pages each, in fact. The book could have been made longer by including more historical context but the size is dictated by the YUP series format for Ancient Lives. There's are not many more details to add about his life, though.
You felt somewhat misled by the introduction's comment that the Meditations is cited over 100 times, and note feeling that, on the contrary, it was "very rarely mentioned". I just checked the manuscript, though, and it does seem that the Meditations was indeed referenced about a hundred times, which is, as far as I recall, more frequently than in any previously published biography of Marcus Aurelius. Although, as the introduction stresses, this is a biography and it is not intended as a guide to Stoic philosophy.
You felt somewhat misled by the introduction's comment that the Meditations is cited over 100 times, and note feeling that, on the contrary, it was "very rarely mentioned". I just checked the manuscript, though, and it does seem that the Meditations was indeed referenced about a hundred times, which is, as far as I recall, more frequently than in any previously published biography of Marcus Aurelius. Although, as the introduction stresses, this is a biography and it is not intended as a guide to Stoic philosophy.