Marcus Aurelius 121

Marcus Aurelius

Not to be confused with Aurelian.

Marcus Aurelius (/ɑːˈriːliəs/ or /ɑːˈriːljəs/; Latin: Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus; 

Born on Saturday, 26 April 121 – 17 March 180)

was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 and a Stoic philosopher. He was the last of the rulers known as the Five Good Emperors, and the last emperor of the Pax Romana, an age of relative peace and stability for the Roman Empire. He served as Roman consul in 140, 145, and 161.

The son of the praetor Marcus Annius Verus (III) and the wealthy heiress Domitia Lucilla, Marcus was raised by his grandfather, Marcus Annius Verus (II), after his father died. His uncle, Antoninus Pius, adopted him shortly before becoming emperor in 138. Now heir to the throne, Marcus studied Greek and Latin under tutors such as Herodes Atticus and Marcus Cornelius Fronto. He kept in close correspondence with Fronto for many years afterwards. Marcus married Antoninus' daughter Faustina in 145. Antoninus died following an illness in 161.

The reign of Marcus Aurelius was marked by military conflict. In the East, the Roman Empire fought successfully with a revitalized Parthian Empire and the rebel Kingdom of Armenia. Marcus defeated the Marcomanni, Quadi, and Sarmatian Iazyges in the Marcomannic Wars; however, these and other Germanic peoples began to represent a troubling reality for the Empire. He modified the silver purity of the Roman currency, the denarius. The persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire is believed to have increased during his reign. The Antonine Plague broke out in 165 or 166 and devastated the population of the Roman Empire, causing the deaths of five million people.

Unlike some of his predecessors, Marcus chose not to adopt an heir. His children included Lucilla (who married Lucius Verus, co-emperor from 161 to 169) and Commodus, whose succession after Marcus has become a subject of debate among both contemporary and modern historians. The Column and Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius still stand in Rome, where they were erected in celebration of his military victories. Meditations, the writings of "the philosopher" – as contemporary biographers called Marcus – are a significant source of the modern understanding of ancient Stoic philosophy. They have been praised by fellow writers, philosophers, monarchs, and politicians centuries after his death.

Read More: https://www.notablebiographies.com/Lo-Ma/Marcus-Aurelius.html

The major sources depicting the life and rule of Marcus are patchy and frequently unreliable. The most important group of sources, the biographies contained in the Historia Augusta, claim to be written by a group of authors at the turn of the 4th century AD, but were in fact written by a single author (referred to here as 'the biographer') from about 395 AD. The later biographies and the biographies of subordinate emperors and usurpers are unreliable, but the earlier biographies, derived primarily from now-lost earlier sources (Marius Maximus or Ignotus), are much more accurate.^[2] For Marcus' life and rule, the biographies of Hadrian, Antoninus, Marcus, and Lucius are largely reliable, but those of Aelius Verus and Avidius Cassius are not.

A body of correspondence between Marcus' tutor Fronto and various Antonine officials survives in a series of patchy manuscripts, covering the period from c. 138 to 166. Marcus' own Meditations offer a window on his inner life, but are largely undateable and make few specific references to worldly affairs. The main narrative source for the period is Cassius Dio, a Greek senator from Bithynian Nicaea who wrote a history of Rome from its founding to 229 in eighty books. Dio is vital for the military history of the period, but his senatorial prejudices and strong opposition to imperial expansion obscure his perspective. Some other literary sources provide specific details: the writings of the physician Galen on the habits of the Antonine elite, the orations of Aelius Aristides on the temper of the times, and the constitutions preserved in the Digest and Codex Justinianeus on Marcus' legal work. Inscriptions and coin finds supplement the literary sources.

Name

Mar­cus was born in Rome on 26 April 121. His name at birth was sup­pos­edly Mar­cus An­nius Verus, but some sources as­sign this name to him upon his fa­ther's death and un­of­fi­cial adop­tion by his grand­fa­ther, upon his com­ing of age,^[13] or at the time of his marriage. He may have been known as Mar­cus An­nius Catil­ius Severus, at birth or at some point in his youth,^[13] or Mar­cus Catil­ius Severus An­nius Verus. Upon his adop­tion by An­ton­i­nus as heir to the throne, he was known as Mar­cus Aelius Au­re­lius Verus Cae­sar and, upon his as­cen­sion, he was Mar­cus Au­re­lius An­ton­i­nus Au­gus­tus until his death; Epipha­nius of Salamis, in his chronol­ogy of the Roman em­per­ors On Weights and Mea­sures, calls him Mar­cus Au­re­lius Verus.

Family origins

Mar­cus was of Italic and Iber­ian ori­gins, being the son of Domi­tia Lu­cilla (also known as Domi­tia Calvilla) and Mar­cus An­nius Verus (III). His fa­ther traced his leg­endary pedi­gree to Numa Pom­pil­ius (sec­ond King of Rome) and Domi­tia traced hers to Mal­le­nius, prince of the Mes­s­api­ans. Domi­tia was the daugh­ter of the Roman pa­tri­cian P. Calvi­sius Tul­lus and Domi­tia Lu­cilla and had in­her­ited a great for­tune (de­scribed at length in one of Pliny's let­ters) from her par­ents and grand­par­ents. Her in­her­i­tance in­cluded large brick­works on the out­skirts of Rome – a prof­itable en­ter­prise in an era when the city was ex­pe­ri­enc­ing a con­struc­tion boom – and the Horti Domi­tia Calvillae (or Lu­cil­lae), a villa on the Caelian hill of Rome. Mar­cus him­self was born and raised in the Horti and re­ferred to the Caelian hill as 'My Caelian'.

Mar­cus' pa­ter­nal fam­ily orig­i­nated in Ucubi, a small town south east of Córdoba in Iber­ian Baet­ica. The fam­ily rose to promi­nence in the late 1st cen­tury AD. Mar­cus' great-grand­fa­ther Mar­cus An­nius Verus (I) was a sen­a­tor and (ac­cord­ing to the His­to­ria Augusta) ex-prae­tor; his grand­fa­ther Mar­cus An­nius Verus (II) was made a pa­tri­cian in 73–74. Through his grand­mother Rupilia, Mar­cus was a mem­ber of the Nerva-An­to­nine dy­nasty; the em­peror Tra­jan's soro­ral niece Sa­lo­nia Ma­tidia was the mother of Rupilia and her half-sis­ter, Hadrian's wife Sabina.

Childhood

Mar­cus' sis­ter, Annia Corni­fi­cia Faustina, was prob­a­bly born in 122 or 123. His fa­ther prob­a­bly died in 124, dur­ing his prae­tor­ship, when Mar­cus was three years old.^[31] Though he can hardly have known his fa­ther, Mar­cus wrote in his Med­i­ta­tions that he had learnt 'mod­esty and man­li­ness' from his mem­o­ries of his fa­ther and from the man's posthu­mous reputation. His mother Lu­cilla did not remarry^[31] and, fol­low­ing pre­vail­ing aris­to­cratic cus­toms, prob­a­bly did not spend much time with her son. In­stead, Mar­cus was in the care of 'nurses', and was raised after his fa­ther's death by his grand­fa­ther Mar­cus An­nius Verus (II), who had al­ways re­tained the legal au­thor­ity of pa­tria potes­tas over his son and grand­son. Tech­ni­cally this was not an adop­tion, the cre­ation of a new and dif­fer­ent pa­tria potestas. Lu­cius Catil­ius Severus, de­scribed as Mar­cus' ma­ter­nal great-grand­fa­ther, also par­tic­i­pated in his up­bring­ing; he was prob­a­bly the elder Domi­tia Lu­cilla's stepfather.^[13] Mar­cus was raised in his par­ents' home on the Caelian Hill, which he would af­fec­tion­ately refer to as 'my Caelian'. It was an up­scale area with few pub­lic build­ings but many aris­to­cratic vil­las. Mar­cus' grand­fa­ther owned a palace be­side the Lat­eran, where he would spend much of his childhood. Mar­cus thanks his grand­fa­ther for teach­ing him 'good char­ac­ter and avoid­ance of bad temper'. He was less fond of the mis­tress his grand­fa­ther took and lived with after the death of his wife Rupilia.^[38] Mar­cus was grate­ful that he did not have to live with her longer than he did.

Mar­cus was ed­u­cated at home, in line with con­tem­po­rary aris­to­cratic trends; he thanks Catil­ius Severus for en­cour­ag­ing him to avoid pub­lic schools. One of his teach­ers, Dio­gne­tus, a paint­ing mas­ter, proved par­tic­u­larly in­flu­en­tial; he seems to have in­tro­duced Mar­cus Au­re­lius to the philo­sophic way of life. In April 132, at the be­hest of Dio­gne­tus, Mar­cus took up the dress and habits of the philoso­pher: he stud­ied while wear­ing a rough Greek cloak, and would sleep on the ground until his mother con­vinced him to sleep on a bed. A new set of tu­tors – the Home­ric scholar Alexan­der of Co­ti­aeum along with Tro­sius Aper and Tu­ti­cius Procu­lus, teach­ers of Latin – took over Mar­cus' ed­u­ca­tion in about 132 or 133. Mar­cus thanks Alexan­der for his train­ing in lit­er­ary styling. Alexan­der's in­flu­ence – an em­pha­sis on mat­ter over style and care­ful word­ing, with the oc­ca­sional Home­ric quo­ta­tion – has been de­tected in Mar­cus' Med­i­ta­tions.

us (/ɑːˈriːliəs/ or /ɑːˈriːljəs/; Latin: Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 and a Stoic philosopher. He was the last of the rulers known as the Five Good Emperors, and the last emperor of the Pax Romana, an age of relative peace and stability for the Roman Empire. He served as Roman consul in 140, 145, and 161.

The son of the praetor Marcus Annius Verus (III) and the wealthy heiress Domitia Lucilla, Marcus was raised by his grandfather, Marcus Annius Verus (II), after his father died. His uncle, Antoninus Pius, adopted him shortly before becoming emperor in 138. Now heir to the throne, Marcus studied Greek and Latin under tutors such as Herodes Atticus and Marcus Cornelius Fronto. He kept in close correspondence with Fronto for many years afterwards. Marcus married Antoninus' daughter Faustina in 145. Antoninus died following an illness in 161.

The reign of Marcus Aurelius was marked by military conflict. In the East, the Roman Empire fought successfully with a revitalized Parthian Empire and the rebel Kingdom of Armenia. Marcus defeated the Marcomanni, Quadi, and Sarmatian Iazyges in the Marcomannic Wars; however, these and other Germanic peoples began to represent a troubling reality for the Empire. He modified the silver purity of the Roman currency, the denarius. The persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire is believed to have increased during his reign. The Antonine Plague broke out in 165 or 166 and devastated the population of the Roman Empire, causing the deaths of five million people.

Unlike some of his predecessors, Marcus chose not to adopt an heir. His children included Lucilla (who married Lucius Verus, co-emperor from 161 to 169) and Commodus, whose succession after Marcus has become a subject of debate among both contemporary and modern historians. The Column and Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius still stand in Rome, where they were erected in celebration of his military victories. Meditations, the writings of "the philosopher" – as contemporary biographers called Marcus – are a significant source of the modern understanding of ancient Stoic philosophy. They have been praised by fellow writers, philosophers, monarchs, and politicians centuries after his death.

Marcus Aurelius (/ɑːˈriːliəs/ or /ɑːˈriːljəs/; Latin: Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 and a Stoic philosopher. He was the last of the rulers known as the Five Good Emperors, and the last emperor of the Pax Romana, an age of relative peace and stability for the Roman Empire. He served as Roman consul in 140, 145, and 161.

The son of the praetor Marcus Annius Verus (III) and the wealthy heiress Domitia Lucilla, Marcus was raised by his grandfather, Marcus Annius Verus (II), after his father died. His uncle, Antoninus Pius, adopted him shortly before becoming emperor in 138. Now heir to the throne, Marcus studied Greek and Latin under tutors such as Herodes Atticus and Marcus Cornelius Fronto. He kept in close correspondence with Fronto for many years afterwards. Marcus married Antoninus' daughter Faustina in 145. Antoninus died following an illness in 161.

The reign of Marcus Aurelius was marked by military conflict. In the East, the Roman Empire fought successfully with a revitalized Parthian Empire and the rebel Kingdom of Armenia. Marcus defeated the Marcomanni, Quadi, and Sarmatian Iazyges in the Marcomannic Wars; however, these and other Germanic peoples began to represent a troubling reality for the Empire. He modified the silver purity of the Roman currency, the denarius. The persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire is believed to have increased during his reign. The Antonine Plague broke out in 165 or 166 and devastated the population of the Roman Empire, causing the deaths of five million people.

Unlike some of his predecessors, Marcus chose not to adopt an heir. His children included Lucilla (who married Lucius Verus, co-emperor from 161 to 169) and Commodus, whose succession after Marcus has become a subject of debate among both contemporary and modern historians. The Column and Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius still stand in Rome, where they were erected in celebration of his military victories. Meditations, the writings of "the philosopher" – as contemporary biographers called Marcus – are a significant source of the modern understanding of ancient Stoic philosophy. They have been praised by fellow writers, philosophers, monarchs, and politicians centuries after his death.

Marcus Aurelius (/ɑːˈriːliəs/ or /ɑːˈriːljəs/; Latin: Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 and a Stoic philosopher. He was the last of the rulers known as the Five Good Emperors, and the last emperor of the Pax Romana, an age of relative peace and stability for the Roman Empire. He served as Roman consul in 140, 145, and 161.

The son of the praetor Marcus Annius Verus (III) and the wealthy heiress Domitia Lucilla, Marcus was raised by his grandfather, Marcus Annius Verus (II), after his father died. His uncle, Antoninus Pius, adopted him shortly before becoming emperor in 138. Now heir to the throne, Marcus studied Greek and Latin under tutors such as Herodes Atticus and Marcus Cornelius Fronto. He kept in close correspondence with Fronto for many years afterwards. Marcus married Antoninus' daughter Faustina in 145. Antoninus died following an illness in 161.

The reign of Marcus Aurelius was marked by military conflict. In the East, the Roman Empire fought successfully with a revitalized Parthian Empire and the rebel Kingdom of Armenia. Marcus defeated the Marcomanni, Quadi, and Sarmatian Iazyges in the Marcomannic Wars; however, these and other Germanic peoples began to represent a troubling reality for the Empire. He modified the silver purity of the Roman currency, the denarius. The persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire is believed to have increased during his reign. The Antonine Plague broke out in 165 or 166 and devastated the population of the Roman Empire, causing the deaths of five million people.

Unlike some of his predecessors, Marcus chose not to adopt an heir. His children included Lucilla (who married Lucius Verus, co-emperor from 161 to 169) and Commodus, whose succession after Marcus has become a subject of debate among both contemporary and modern historians. The Column and Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius still stand in Rome, where they were erected in celebration of his military victories. Meditations, the writings of "the philosopher" – as contemporary biographers called Marcus – are a significant source of the modern understanding of ancient Stoic philosophy. They have been praised by fellow writers, philosophers, monarchs, and politicians centuries after his death.