Marcus Aurelius Antoninus: April 26, 121- March 17, 180 AD

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✪ Marcus Aurelius Antoninus was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 and a Stoic philosopher. He was a member of the Nerva–Antonine Dynasty, the last of the Roman rulers later known as the Five Good Emperors and the last emperor of the Pax Romana; an age of relative peace, calm, and stability for the Roman Empire which lasted from 27 BC to 180 AD.

Marcus Aurelius was the son of the praetor Marcus Annius Verus and his wife Domitia Calvilla. He was related through marriage to the emperors Trajan and Hadrian. Marcus was only three when his father died; and he was raised by his mother and paternal grandfather. In 138, Hadrian adopted Marcus’s uncle Antoninus Pius as his new heir; and in turn, Antoninus adopted Marcus.

When Hadrian died later that year, Antoninus became emperor. Now a direct heir to the throne, Marcus studied Greek and Latin under royal tutors. He married Antoninus’s daughter Faustina (his half sister) in 145.

When Antoninus died in 161, Marcus acceded to the throne alongside his adoptive brother, who took the regnal name Lucius Aurelius Verus. Under the reign of Marcus Aurelius, the Roman Empire witnessed much warfare and many foreign, military conquests. 

Marcus defeated the Marcomanni, Quadi, and Iazyges in the Marcomannic Wars. These and other Germanic peoples began to represent a troubling reality for the Roman Empire. Marcus reduced the silver purity of the Roman currency, the Denarius. in an attempt to reduce debt resulting from all these wars. The persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire also appears to have increased during his reign; although his direct involvement is unlikely since there are no historical Christian sources ascribing him any blame.

The Antonine Plague which broke out in 165 or 166 devastated the population of the Roman Empire, resulting in the deaths of five to ten million people. Marcus’ own brother, Lucius Verus is believed to have died from the plague in 169. When Marcus himself died in 180, he was succeeded by his son Commodus.

The column and equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius still stand in Rome, where they were erected in celebration of his military victories. As a philosopher, his work Meditations is one of the most important sources for the modern understanding of ancient Stoic Philosophy. These writings have been praised by fellow writers, philosophers, monarchs, and politicians centuries after his death.

Marcus was born in Rome on April 26, 121. His birth name is sometimes given as Marcus Annius Verus, but sources assign this name to him upon his father’s death and unofficial adoption by his grandfather Antoninus, upon his coming of age.

Upon his adoption by Antoninus as heir to the throne, he became known as “Marcus Aelius Aurelius Verus Caesar” and, upon his ascension, he was called “Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus” until his death.

The father of Marcus Aurelius was Marcus Annius Verus (III) and probably died in 125 or 126 when Marcus was only three years old. Marcus’s mother, Domitia Lucilla Minor, was the daughter of the Roman patrician P. Calvisius Tullus and inherited a great fortune from her parents and grandparents. Her inheritance included large brickworks on the outskirts of Rome; an extremely profitable enterprise in an era when the city was experiencing a construction boom.

Though he hardly could have known his father, Marcus wrote in his Meditations he learned ‘modesty and manliness’ from his memories of his father and the man’s posthumous reputation. His mother Lucilla did not remarry and, following prevailing aristocratic customs, probably also did not spend much time with her son. Instead, Marcus was placed in the care of ‘nurses,’ and raised after his father’s death mostly by his grandfather Marcus Annius Verus.

Marcus grew up in his parents’ home on the Caelian Hill; an upscale area of ancient Rome with few public buildings but many aristocratic villas. Marcus was educated at home, in line with contemporary aristocratic trends. In his writings, Marcus thanks his grandfather for teaching him “good character and avoidance of a bad temper.”

From a young age, Marcus displayed enthusiasm for wrestling and boxing. He trained in wrestling as a youth and into his teenage years, learning to fight in armor. He joined the Salii, an order of priests dedicated to the god Mars who were responsible for the stewardship of sacred shields, called Ancilia, and possibly for heralding the war season’s beginning and end.

Marcus also thanks Catilius Severus for encouraging him to avoid public schools. One of his teachers, Diognetus, a painting master, proved particularly influential; having introduced young 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: attending his studies wearing a rough Greek cloak, and sleeping on the ground until his mother persuaded him to use a bed.

On January 24, 138, Hadrian selected Aurelius Antoninus, the husband of Marcus’s aunt Faustina the Elder, as his new successor. As part of Hadrian’s terms, Antoninus, in turn, then adopted Marcus. However, Marcus reportedly greeted the news Hadrian had become his adoptive grandfather with sadness, instead of joy. Only with reluctance did he move from his mother’s house on the Caelian and into Hadrian’s private home.

Marcus’s adoption diverted him from the typical career path of his class. If not for his adoption, he probably would have become triumvir monetalis, a highly regarded post involving token administration of the state mint. After that, he could have served as tribune with a legion, becoming the legion’s nominal second-in-command.

Marcus probably would have opted for travel and further education instead. As it was, Marcus was set apart from his fellow citizens. Nonetheless, his biographer attests that his character remained unaffected:

“He still showed the same respect to his relations as he had when he was an ordinary citizen, and he was as thrifty and careful of his possessions as he had been when he lived in a private household.”

After a series of suicide attempts, all thwarted by Antoninus, Hadrian left for Baiae, a seaside resort on the Campanian Coast. There, his condition did not improve, and he abandoned the diet prescribed by his doctors, indulging himself in food and drink. He sent for Antoninus, who was at his side when he died on July 10, 138.

Marcus now took the name Marcus Aelius Aurelius Verus Caesar. Marcus would later caution himself against taking that name too seriously, writing: “See that you do not turn into a Caesar; do not be dipped into the purple dye – for that can happen.”

In April 145, Marcus married Faustina, legally his half sister; as had been planned since 138. Little is specifically known of their ceremony, but his biographer describes it as “noteworthy.” Coins were issued featuring the heads of the couple. Marcus makes no apparent reference to the marriage in his surviving letters, and only sparing references to Faustina.

On November 30, 147, Faustina gave birth to a girl named Domitia Faustina. She was the first of at least thirteen children (including two sets of twins) Faustina would bear over the next twenty-three years. The next day, Antoninus gave Marcus the tribunician power and the imperium ; authority over the Roman armies and provinces of the Emperor.

In 149, Faustina gave birth again, to twin sons. Contemporary coinage commemorates the event, with crossed cornucopiae beneath portrait busts of the two small boys; and the legend temporum felicitas, “the happiness of the times.” However, these twins did not survive for long. Before the end of the year, another family coin was issued: showing only a tiny girl, Domitia Faustina, and one baby boy. Then finally another: with only the girl alone. The infants were buried in the Mausoleum of Hadrian, where their epitaphs survive.

After Antoninus died in 161, Marcus effectively became the sole ruler of the Roman Empire. The formalities of the position would soon follow. The Senate would soon grant him the name Augustus and the title imperator. He was soon formally elected as pontifex maximus, chief priest of the official cults.

Marcus made considerable show of resistance to all of this pomp and his biographer writes he had to be “compelled” to take imperial power. This may have been a genuine case of horror imperii, or “fear of imperial power.” Marcus, with his preference for the philosophic life, found the imperial office unappealing. His training as a Stoic however, had made it clear to him this was his duty.

Upon his accession to the throne he also devalued the Roman currency deceasing the silver purity of the Denarius from 83.5% to 79%. The actual silver weight of each coin dropping from 2.68 gm to 2.57 gm.

Marcus was beloved as an excellent Emperor by the people of Rome and also heralded as a fond pupil; and perhaps most importantly, as eloquent as could be wished. Marcus displayed great rhetorical skills in his speech to the Senate after an earthquake at Cyzicus in which he conveyed the drama and urgency of the disaster. The Senate was awed: “Not more suddenly or violently was the city stirred by the earthquake than the minds of your hearers by your speech.”

Like many emperors, Marcus spent most of his time addressing important matters of law such as petitions and hearing disputes. However, unlike many of his predecessors, he was already proficient in imperial administration by the time he assumed power. He took great care in the theory and practice of legislation. Professional jurists called him “an emperor most skilled in the law” and “a most prudent and conscientiously just emperor.” He showed marked interest in three areas of the law: the manumission of slaves, the guardianship of orphans and minors, and the choice of city councillors (decuriones)

In the first two centuries of the Christian Era, local Roman officials were largely responsible for the persecution of Christians. In the second century, Roman emperors regarded Christianity as a local problem to be dealt with by their regional subordinates. The number and severity of Christian persecutions in various parts of the empire seemingly increased during the reign of Marcus Aurelius. Yet, the extent to which the emperor himself directed, encouraged, or was aware and involved in these persecutions is unclear and highly debated by historians.

A letter purportedly from Marcus Aurelius to the Roman Senate, included in Justin Martyr’s First Apology, describes a battlefield incident where Marcus allegedly credited Christian prayer with saving his entire army when “water poured from heaven,” and subsequently he requested the Senate to cease persecution of Christians.

While on campaign between 170 and 180, Marcus wrote his now widely known Meditations in Greek as a source for his own guidance and self-improvement. The original title of this work, if it had one, remains unknown; and it is not known how widely Marcus’s writings were circulated after his death. His Meditations survived more than a millennium guarded within the scholarly traditions of the Eastern Church.

Meditations was first published in 1558 in Zurich by Wilhelm Xylander, from a manuscript which was reportedly lost shortly afterwards. The oldest surviving complete manuscript copy is in now the Vatican Library and dates to the 14th Century. The historian Herodian wrote:

“Alone of the emperors, he gave proof of his learning not by mere words or knowledge of philosophical doctrines but by his blameless character and temperate way of life.”

The Final Words Of Marcus Aurelius by Eugene Delacroix 1877

Marcus Aurelius died at the age of 58 on March 17, 180 of unknown causes in his military quarters either in the city of Vindobona (today Vienna). He was cremated and immediately deified. His ashes were returned to Rome, where they rested in Hadrian’s mausoleum (modern Castel Sant’Angelo) until the Visigoths sacked the city in 410. Many scholars consider his death to herald the end of the Pax Romana.

Marcus was succeeded by his son Commodus, whom he had named Caesar in 166 and with whom he had jointly ruled since 177. Historians have criticized the succession to Commodus, citing Commodus’ erratic behavior and lack of political and military acumen. At the end of his history of Marcus’s reign, Cassius Dio wrote an encomium to the emperor, and described the transition to Commodus in his own lifetime with sorrow:

“Marcus did not meet with the good fortune that he deserved, for he was not strong in body and was involved in a multitude of troubles throughout practically his entire reign. But for my part, I admire him all the more for this very reason, that amid unusual and extraordinary difficulties he both survived himself and preserved the empire. Just one thing prevented him from being completely happy, namely, that after rearing and educating his son in the best possible way he was vastly disappointed in him. This matter must be our next topic; for our history now descends from a kingdom of gold to one of iron and rust, as affairs did for the Romans of that day.”

The equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius in Rome is the only Roman equestrian statue of the ancient period which has survived into modern times. Crafted of soild bronze in 175 AD, it stands 11.6 ft tall and is now located in the Capitoline Museums of Rome. The emperor’s hand is outstretched in an act of clemency offered to a defeated enemy, wearing a facial expression of weariness due to the stress of leading Rome into nearly numerous, constant battles.

Dio adds from Marcus’s first days as counsellor to Antoninus to his final days as emperor of Rome, “he remained true and the same person and did not change in the least.”✪