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'Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus' (Rome, April 26, 121''Augustan History'', "Marcus Aurelius" – Vindobona or Sirmium, March 17, 180) was Roman Emperor from 161 to his death in 180 . He was the last of the "Five Good Emperors", and is also considered one of the most important stoic philosophers.
His tenure was marked by wars in Asia against a revitalized Parthian Empire, and with Germanic tribes along the ''Limes Germanicus'' into Gaul and across the Danube. A revolt in the East, led by Avidius Cassius, failed.
Marcus Aurelius' work ''Meditations'', written on campaign between 170–180, is still revered as a literary monument to a government of service and duty and has been praised for its "exquisite accent and its infinite tenderness."
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Contents

Biography

Early life

Roman emperor

Joint emperorship

Wars

Parthia

Germania and the Danube

Death and succession

Marriage and issue

Writings

Antonine Plague

Depictions in art and modern popular culture

Appearances in modern literature

Film

See also

Notes

References

Primary sources

Further reading

External links

Biography

Early life

He was originally named 'Marcus Annius Catilius Severus', at marriage took the name 'Marcus Annius Verus'. When he was named Emperor, he was given the name 'Marcus Aurelius Antoninus'.
Marcus Aurelius was the only son to Domitia Lucilla and Marcus Annius Verus. His only natural sibling was his younger sister Annia Cornificia Faustina, who was about 2 years younger than he. Domitia Lucilla came from a wealthy family who were of consular rank. Marcus Aurelius' father was of Hispanian origin, and served as a praetor and died when Marcus was three years old. Marcus Aurelius credits him with teaching him "manliness without ostentation".^[3]
His father's maternal aunt was Vibia Sabina, wife of Roman Emperor Hadrian. Rupilia Faustina (Marcus Aurelius' paternal grandmother) and Vibia Sabina were half-sisters and were to Salonina Matidia (niece of the Roman Emperor Trajan). His father's sister was Faustina the Elder a Roman Empress who married the Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius.
After his father's death, Aurelius was adopted and raised by his mother and paternal grandfather Marcus Annius Verus. His paternal grandfather died in 138; he was almost ninety years old.
In 136, Hadrian had announced that his eventual successor would be a certain Lucius Ceionius Commodus, renamed L. Aelius Caesar. Marcus had already attracted the attention of Hadrian (who had nicknamed him ''verissimus'', which translates as "truest"): he was subsequently engaged to Ceionia Fabia, Commodus' daughter. The engagement, however, was annulled later after the death of Commodus, as Marcus was betrothed to Antoninus' daughter.
Therefore, on the death of Hadrian's first adopted son L. Aelius Verus, Hadrian made it a precondition of making Antoninus his successor that Antoninus would adopt Marcus (then called Marcus Aelius Aurelius Verus) and Lucius Ceionius Commodus (Lucius Aelius' son, ten years junior than Marcus, renamed Lucius Aurelius Verus), and arrange for them to be next in the line.
This Antoninus did, adopting and designating them as his successors on February 25 138, when Marcus was only seventeen years of age. He would become emperor at 40. It has been suggested that Commodus and Antoninus Pius were designed by Hadrian only as "place warmers" for the young Marcus and Verus.
The years of Marcus' life during the reign of Antoninus are known through his correspondence with one of the teachers assigned him by Hadrian, Fronto, a relevant figure in the culture of the time. Through these letters Marcus appears as an intelligent, serious-minded and hardworking youth. They also show the growing importance of philosophy for the future emperor: showing impatience for the unending exercises with Greek and Latin declamations, he later became fond of the ''Diatribai'' ("Discourses") of Epictetus, an important moral philosopher of the Stoic school. Marcus also started to have an increasing public role at the side of Antoninus, holding the place of consul in 140, 145 and 161 and increasing collaboration in decisions. In 147 he received the proconsular ''imperium'' outside Rome and the ''tribunicia potestas'', the main formal powers of emperorship. In 145, Marcus married Annia Galeria Faustina or Faustina the Younger, who was Antoninus' daughter and his paternal cousin.

Roman emperor

Joint emperorship

When Antoninus Pius died (March 7 161), Marcus accepted the throne on the condition that he and Verus were made joint emperors (''Augusti''). Though formally equal from the constitutional point of view, Verus, younger and probably less popular, looks to have been subordinate in practice^[4].
Marcus' insistence to have Verus elected with him was motivated by his loyalty towards the will of their adoptive father. The joint succession may have also been motivated by military experiences, since, during his reign, Marcus Aurelius was almost constantly at war with various peoples outside the empire. A highly authoritative figure was needed to command the troops, yet the emperor himself could not defend both the German and Parthian fronts at the same time. Neither could he simply appoint a general to lead the legions; earlier popular military leaders like Julius Caesar and Vespasian had used the military to overthrow the existing government and install themselves as supreme leaders. Marcus Aurelius solved the problem by sending Verus to command the legions in the east. Verus was authoritative enough to command the full loyalty of the troops, but already powerful enough that he had little incentive to overthrow Marcus. Verus remained loyal until his death on campaign in 169.
This joint emperorship was faintly reminiscent of the political system of the Roman Republic, which functioned according to the principle of collegiality and did not allow a single person to hold supreme power. Joint rule was revived by Diocletian's establishment of the Tetrarchy in the late 3rd century.
Immediately at the beginning of his reign, Marcus continued on the path of his predecessors by issuing numerous law reforms, mainly to clear away abuses and anomalies in the civil jurisprudence. In particular he promoted favourable measures towards categories like slaves, widows and minors; recognition to blood relationships in the field of succession was given. In the criminal law a distinction of class, with different punishments, was made between ''honestiores'' and ''humiliores'' ("The more distinguished" and "the more lowly", respectively).
Under Marcus' reign, the status of Christians remained the same since the time of Trajan. They were legally punishable, though in fact rarely persecuted. In 177 a group of Christians were executed at Lyon, for example, but the act is mainly attributable to the initiative of the local governor.

Wars

Parthia

In Asia, a revitalized Parthian Empire renewed its assault in 161, defeating two Roman armies and invading Armenia and Syria. Marcus Aurelius sent his joint emperor Verus to command the legions in the east to face this threat. The war ended successfully in 166, although the merit must be mostly ascribed to subordinate generals like Gaius Avidius Cassius. On the return from the campaign, Verus was awarded with a triumph; the parade was unusual because it included the two emperors, their sons and unmarried daughters as a big family celebration. Marcus Aurelius' two sons, Commodus five years old and Annius Verus of three, were elevated to the status of Caesar for the occasion. The returning army carried with them a plague which spread in the whole empire for several years.

Germania and the Danube

Starting from the 160s, Germanic tribes and other nomadic people launched raids along the Northern border, particularly into Gaul and across the Danube. This new impetus westwards was probably due to attacks from tribes farther east. A first invasion of the Catti in the province of Germania Superior was repulsed in 162. Far more dangerous was the invasion of 166, when the Marcomanni of Bohemia, clients of the Roman Empire since 19, crossed the Danube together with the Lombards and other German tribes. At the same time, the Iranian Sarmatians attacked between the Danube and the Theiss rivers.
Due to the situation in East, only a punitive expedition could be launched in 167. Both Marcus and Verus led the troops. After the death of Verus (169), Marcus led personally the struggle against the Germans for the great part of his remaining life. The Romans suffered at least two serious defeats by the Quadi and Marcomanni, who could cross the Alps, ravage ''Opitergium'' (Oderzo) and besiege Aquileia, the Roman main city of north-east Italy. At the same time the Costoboci, coming from the Carpathian area, invaded Moesia, Macedonia and Greece. After a long struggle, Marcus Aurelius managed to push back the invaders. Numerous Germans settled in frontier regions like Dacia, Pannonia, Germany and Italy itself. This was not a new thing, but this time the numbers of settlers required the creation of two new frontier provinces on the left shore of the Danube, Sarmatia and Marcomannia, including today's Bohemia and Hungary.
The emperor's plans were, however, prevented by a revolt in East, led by Avidius Cassius, which was prompted by false news of the death of Marcus after an illness. Of the eastern provinces, only Cappadocia and Bithynia did not side with the rebels. When it became clear that Marcus Aurelius was still alive, Cassius' fortunes declined quickly and he was killed by his troops after only 100 days of power.
Together with his wife Faustina, Marcus Aurelius toured the eastern provinces until 173. He visited Athens, declaring himself a protector of philosophy. After a triumph in Rome, the following year he marched again to the Danubian frontier. After a decisive victory in 178, the plan to annex Bohemia seemed poised for success but was abandoned after Marcus Aurelius again fell ill in 180.

Death and succession

Marcus Aurelius died on March 17 180 in the city of Vindobona (modern Vienna), his son and successor Commodus accompanying him. He was immediately deified and his ashes were returned to Rome, and rested in Hadrian's mausoleum (modern Castel Sant'Angelo) until the Visigoth sack of the city in 410. His campaigns against Germans and Sarmatians were also commemorated by a column in Rome.
Marcus Aurelius was able to secure the succession for Commodus, whom he had named Caesar in 166 and made co-emperor in 177, though the choice may have been unknowingly unfortunate. This decision, which put an end to the fortunate series of "adoptive emperors", was highly criticized by later historians since Commodus was a political and military outsider, as well as an extreme egotist with neurotic problems. For this reason, Marcus Aurelius' death is often held to have been the end of the ''Pax Romana''. It is possible that he chose Commodus simply in the absence of other candidates, or as a result of the fear of succession issues and the possibility of civil war.

Marriage and issue

Aurelius married Faustina the Younger in 145. During their 30-year marriage Faustina bore 13 children, only one son and four daughters of which outlived their father:

★ Annia Aurelia Galeria Faustina (147–after 165)

★ Gemellus Lucillae (died around 150) and his younger twin sister Annia Aurelia Galeria Lucilla (148/50–182), married her father's co-ruler Lucius Verus

★ Titus Aelius Antoninus (born after 150, died before 7 March 161)

★ Titus Aelius Aurelius (born after 150, died before 7 March 161)

★ Hadrianus (born 152, died before 7 March 161)

★ Domitia Faustina (born after 150, died before 7 March 161)

★ Fadilla (born 159, died after 192)

★ Annia Cornificia Faustina Minor (born 160, died during the reign of Emperor Caracalla reigned 211–217)

★ Titus Aurelius Fulvus Antoninus (161–165) and his twin brother Commodus, later emperor (161–192)

★ Marcus Annius Verus Caesar (162–169)

★ Vibia Aurelia Sabina (170–died before 217)

Writings

While on campaign between 170 and 180, Aurelius wrote his ''Meditations'' as a source for his own guidance and self-improvement. He had been a priest at the sacrificial altars of Roman service and was an eager patriot. He had a logical mind and his notes were representative of Stoic philosophy and spirituality. ''Meditations'' is still revered as a literary monument to a government of service and duty. It has been praised for its "exquisite accent and its infinite tenderness" and "saintliness", and has also been called the "gospel of his life." John Stuart Mill, in his ''Utility of Religion'', compared the ''Meditations'' to the Sermon on the Mount.
The book itself was first published in 1558 in Zurich, from a manuscript copy that is now lost. The only other surviving complete copy of the manuscript is in the Vatican library.

The significance of death was very important in the philosophy of Marcus Aurelius. He didn't believe in the afterlife. He wrote: 'We live for an instant, only to be swallowed in "complete forgetfulness and the void of infinite time on this side of us." "Think how many ere now, after passing their life in implacable enmity, suspicion, hatred... are now dead and burnt to ashes." According to Marcus Aurelius everything will be turned in absolute oblivion, even legends. "Of the life of man the duration is but a point, its substance streaming away, its perception dim, the fabric of the entire body prone to decay, and the soul a vortex, and fortune incalculable, and fame uncertain. In a word all things of the body are as a river, and the things of the soul as a dream and a vapour; and life is a warfare and a pilgrim's sojourn, and fame after death is only forgetfulness." 'Everything existing "is already disintegrating and changing... everything is by nature made but to die." 'The length of one's life is irrelevant, "for look at the yawning gulf of time behind thee and before thee at another infinity to come. In this eternity the life of a baby of three days and the life of a nestor of three centuries are as one." 'To desire is to be permanently disappointed and disturbed, since everything we desire in this world is "empty and corrupt and paltry." For Marcus Aurelius, death was desirable, because it would make an end to all desires.^[5]
Despite these thoughts on life and death, Marcus Aurelius was an advocate of rational virtue. According to Jonathan Dollimore, Marcus Aurelius had a kind of indifference towards the brutalities in life. As an emperor, he persecuted Christians and went frequently on military campaigns. He justified his deeds by pointing at the insignificance of worldly affairs.^[6]

Antonine Plague

The Antonine Plague, 165–180 C.E., also known as the Plague of Galen, was a pandemic, either of smallpox or measles, brought back to the Roman Empire by troops returning from campaigns in the Seleucia. The pandemic claimed the lives of two Roman emperors — Lucius Verus, who died in 169, and Marcus Aurelius, whose family name, Antoninus, was given to the epidemic. The disease broke out again nine years later, according to the Roman historian Dio Cassius, and caused up to 2,000 deaths a day at Rome, one quarter of those infected. Total deaths have been estimated at five million.

Depictions in art and modern popular culture

Appearances in modern literature

★ In William Black's novel, ''A Princess of Thule'' (1874), Caroline Lavender, and her equivalent character, Harriet Holcomb in L. Frank Baum's stage adaptation, ''The Maid of Arran'' (1882), is described as "a devotee of Marcus Aurelius Antonius".


★ ''Mémoires d'Hadrien'' (1951), a fictitious but plausible autobiography (in form of a series of letters directed to his adoptive grandson "Marcus") of one of his predecessors, Hadrian, by Marguerite Yourcenar. It is one of the best-selling European novels of the 20th century.

★ The character of Lee in John Steinbeck's East of Eden is an avid reader of classic literature and imparts the wisdom of Marcus Aurelius in the later chapters of the book.

★ A quote from Meditations prefaces an early chapter in Gavin de Becker's ''The Gift of Fear'', a book about harnessing fears to protect ourselves against violent predators.

★ ''Household Gods'', a 1999 novel by Judith Tarr and Harry Turtledove.

★ "The Most Dangerous Game", the original "master-hunter hunts a man" short story by Richard Connell published in 1924. The allusion, at the end of the story, adds a curious ironic dimension to the narrative.

★ ''Mercy Among The Children'', a 2000 novel by David Adam Richards. Allusion with the main character, Sydney, comparing his philosophy of living.

★ ''A House for Mr. Biswas'', a 1961 novel by V. S. Naipaul. The main character, Mohun Biswas, often reads Marcus Aurelius' ''Meditations'' throughout his life.

Film

★ ''The Fall of the Roman Empire'' (1964), played by Alec Guinness

★ ''Gladiator'' (2000), played by Richard Harris

★ The movie ''The Silence of the Lambs'' (1991) showed a scene in which the imprisoned Hannibal Lecter tells FBI agent Clarice Starling to "Read Marcus Aurelius" in order to understand the nature of the killer (Buffalo Bill) she is chasing, going on to enunciate on Marcus Aurelius' principle, from ''Meditations'': "Of each particular thing, ask, 'What is it in itself? What is its nature?'"

See also

★ Epictetus

★ Stoicism

★ Socrates

★ Zeno

Notes

1. Marcus Aurelius
2. John Stuart Mill in his ''Utility of Religion'', compared ''Meditations'' to the Sermon on the Mount.
3. 1964 Maxwell Staniforth translation.
4. Cassius Dio, Roman History, 71.1
5. Jonathan Dollimore, ''Death, Desire and Loss in Western Culture'' (London 1998) 32–34.
6. Ibid., 34–35.

References

Primary sources

★ Cassius Dio, ''Roman History''. See original text on LacusCurtius.

★ Marcus Aurelius, ''Meditations''.

★ Scriptores Historiae Augustae, ''Augustan History''. See original text on LacusCurtius.

Further reading

★ Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry

★ Marcus Aurelius entry at De Imperatoribus Romanis

★ Marcus Aurelius entry at livius.org

★ A Man in Full: The Teachings of Marcus Aurelius and Epictetus A discussion and comparison of Mediations and its influence on Tom Wolfe and modern culture.

★ Marcus Aurelius: The Philosopher-Emperor of Rome — Essay looking at Marcus Aurelius from the perspective of his leadership.

External links

★

★ Online Greek Text of the Meditations

★ English Translation by George Long (1862)

★ Latin Version by J. M. Schulz (1802)

★ Biography resources dedicated to Marcus Aurelius

★ Academic lectures on Marcus Aurelius(Under Review)