Marcus Aurelius
| Marcus Aurelius was a Roman emperor who ruled from the year 161AD until his death in 180AD. He was the fifth and final of what is referred to as the Five Good Emperors. Many historians consider him to be extremely important when comes to stoic philosophy. Rome was engulfed in constant warfare throughout his rule. Many of these wars involved the Parthian Empire and the Germanic tribes that resided near the Danube. In addition to this, Avidius Cassius attempted a revolt in the eastern part of the empire, but this turned out to be a failure. Marcus Aurelius was an accomplished author who wrote the Meditations, a scholarly work that dealt with government and administrative issues. |  |
Marcus Aurelius came from a prominent family, and many of its members had served as consuls. His father was of Spanish extraction, and had achieved the rank of praetor. He died while Marcus Aurelius was only three years of age. Despite this, Marcus Aurelius gave him credit for training him to be a strong and disciplined man. The aunt of his father was an empress of Rome, and was the wife of Hadrian. After the death of his father, Marcus Aurelius was raised by his grandfather. His grandfather raised him until he died at the age of ninety. Emperor Hadrian had made the announcement that his successor would be Lucius Ceionius Commodus. Despite this, Marcus Aurelius had also gained the favour of the emperor.
Commodus would die unexpectedly, and Marcus would marry the daughter of Antoninus. While Hadrian chose Antoninus has the next emperor, this was only done on the condition that he would choose Marcus Aurelius as his own successor. Marcus Aurelius would not become emperor until he was forty years of age. The letters from his time show that Marcus was a serious and intelligent man. He also had an uncanny interest in philosophy. His public life begin to increase as he spent more time with Antoninus. He would go on to marry Annia Galeria Faustina in the year 145AD.
Once Antoninus Pius died in the year 161AD, Marcus Aurelius became emperor on the condition he would share the throne with Verus. This meant that the two of them would be joint rulers. Though they were equal by law, Verus was subordinate because of his age, and his lack of popularity with the people. One reason why two emperors were chosen is because of the difficulties involved with protecting Rome from both the Germanic tribes and the Parthians.
Original Authors: Stephen Palmer
Edit Update Authors: RPN
Updated On: 29/01/2007
