Marcus Aurelius

Roman emperor (r. 161-180 c.e.)

• Born: April 26, 0121
• Birthplace: Rome (now in Italy)
• Died: March 17, 0180
• Place of death: Sirmium, Pannonia (now in Serbia) or Vindobona (now Vienna, Austria)

Although renowned as the last of Rome’s “good emperors,” Marcus Aurelius is also remembered for his simply written private notes that reflect the emperor’s daily efforts to achieve the Platonic ideal of the philosopher-king and are the last great literary statement of Stoicism.

Early Life

Marcus Aurelius (MAHR-kuhs oh-REHL-yuhs) Antoninus was born Marcus Annius Verus in Rome. His father was Annius Verus, a magistrate, and his mother was Domitia Calvilla, also known as Lucilla. The emperor Antoninus Pius was, by virtue of his marriage to Annia Galeria Faustina, the sister of Annius Verus, the boy’s uncle. The emperor, who had himself been adopted and named successor by Hadrian, eventually adopted Marcus Annius Verus. The young man then took the name Marcus Aelius Aurelius Verus. The name Aelius came from Hadrian’s family, and Aurelius was the name of Antoninus Pius. The young man took the title of Caesar in 139 and, on becoming emperor, replaced his original name of Verus with Antoninus. Hence, he is known to history as Marcus Aurelius Antoninus.

Marcus Aurelius was well brought up and well educated. Later, he would write of what a virtuous man and prudent ruler his uncle and adoptive father had been. To the fine example set by the emperor was added the dedicated teaching of excellent masters. Letters exist that attest the boy’s industry and the great expectations engendered by his performance as a student. He studied eloquence and rhetoric, and he tried his hand at poetry. He was also trained in the law as a preparation for high office. Above all, Marcus Aurelius’s interest was in philosophy. When only eleven years of age, he adopted the plain, coarse dress of the philosophers and undertook a spartan regimen of hard study and self-denial. In fact, he drove himself so relentlessly that for a time his health was affected. He was influenced by Stoicism, a sect founded by the Greek philosopher Zeno of Citium in the fourth century b.c.e.

Life’s Work

Antoninus Pius became emperor on the death of Hadrian in July, 138. He adopted not only Marcus Aurelius but also Lucius Ceionius Commodus, who came to be called Lucius Aurelius Verus. The adoptive brothers could scarcely have been more different. Verus was destined to rule alongside Marcus Aurelius for a time, despite his manifest unworthiness. He was an indolent, pleasure-loving man, whereas Marcus Aurelius was proving himself worthy of more and more responsibility. The year 146 was a highly significant one, for it was at about that time that Antoninus Pius began to share with him the government of the Empire. Further, the emperor gave him Faustina, his daughter and the young man’s cousin, in marriage. A daughter was born to Marcus Aurelius and Faustina in 147.

At the death of Antoninus Pius in March, 161, the senate asked Marcus Aurelius to assume sole governance of the Empire. However, he chose to rule jointly with Verus, the other adopted son. For the first time in its history, Rome had two emperors. Apparently, and fortunately for the Empire, Verus was not blind to his inadequacies. He deferred to Marcus Aurelius, who was in turn tolerant of him. Marcus Aurelius cemented their relationship by giving his daughter Lucilla to Verus as wife. That their joint rule lasted for eight years was really a credit to them both.

The first major problem to be faced by the joint rulers was the war with Parthia. Verus was sent to command the Roman forces but proved ineffectual. Fortunately, his generals were able, thus achieving victories in Armenia and along the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. The war was concluded in 165, but as soon as Marcus Aurelius and Verus received their triumph—a huge public ceremony honoring the victors in war—Rome was struck by a virulent pestilence. As the plague spread throughout Italy and beyond, the loss of life was great.

At this time, barbarians from beyond the Alps were threatening to invade northern Italy. Although Marcus Aurelius was able to contain them, they would periodically renew their efforts. For the rest of the emperor’s life, much of his time and effort was spent in holding these warlike people at bay.

Verus died suddenly in 169, and Marcus Aurelius became the sole emperor of Rome. His reign continued as it had begun, beset by difficulties on every front. He was almost constantly in the field, campaigning against one enemy or another. He was on the Danube River for three years, prosecuting the German wars, and by 174 he had gained a series of impressive victories.

In 175, Avidius Cassius, who commanded the Roman legions in Asia, led a revolt against the emperor. Up to that time, Cassius had been a fine general, but when he declared himself augustus, the emperor marched east to meet the threat. Before the emperor arrived, however, Cassius was assassinated by some of his officers. Marcus Aurelius’s treatment of the family and followers of Cassius was magnanimous. His letter to the senate asking mercy for them has survived. During this time, Marcus Aurelius suffered a severe personal tragedy. The empress, Faustina, who had accompanied her husband on the Asian march, abruptly died. Some historians have written that she was scandalously unfaithful and promiscuous, but their reports are contradicted by her husband’s pronouncements. He was grief-stricken at her death, and his references to her are loving and laudatory.

It was during this decade of constant warfare, rebellion, and personal grief that Marcus Aurelius began to write the lofty, dignified contemplative notes that were originally known as Tōn eis heauton (c. 171-180 c.e.; Meditations, 1634). They were meant for no eyes but the emperor’s, and their survival down through the centuries is a mystery (although scholars have no doubts as to their authenticity). They reflect his sense of duty, his high-mindedness, and his apparent inner peace. Two themes dominate the Meditations: that man, to the utmost of his ability to do so, should harmonize himself with nature and that it is not the circumstances of one’s life that produce happiness but one’s perception of those circumstances. According to the emperor, happiness always comes from within, never from without. The Meditations are also marked by their author’s common sense. He observes that when one is seduced by fame and flattered by others, one should remember their want of judgment on other occasions and remain humble. A great emperor might be expected to be self-assured, perhaps even self-centered and self-satisfied; Marcus Aurelius strikes the reader as self-composed and self-contented.

Although the emperor’s campaigns were generally successful (one victory, in which a fortuitous storm threw the enemy into a panic, was even viewed as a miracle), his reign was not unblemished. He was often forced to make concessions that allowed large numbers of barbarians to remain in Roman territory and that eventually resulted in a proliferation of barbarians within his own armies. (Some of his legions were already identifiably Christian in makeup.) He also seems to have been blind to the vices of Commodus, his son and successor. It is the persecution of the Christians, however, which brings his record into question.

The constant state of war, aggravated by widespread pestilence, caused the populace to demand a scapegoat. The Christians were a natural target, as their repudiation of the ancient gods was thought to have brought divine retribution on Rome. An ardent persecution was begun, especially in the provinces. At first, the persecutions seem to have progressed ad hoc. Eventually, however, a provincial governor appealed to the emperor for guidance. His directions were, by contemporary standards, severe. If the Christians would deny their faith, they should be released. Otherwise, they must be punished. Those unrepentant Christians who were Roman citizens were beheaded. The others were put to death in a variety of imaginative ways. Apologists for Marcus Aurelius have maintained that he had little to do with these persecutions, and they do seem out of character for the author of the Meditations. Still, in order to argue that Marcus Aurelius was in no way culpable, one must read history quite selectively. In 180, the emperor was conducting yet another successful, though somewhat inconclusive, campaign, this time along the upper Danube. He fell ill with the plague or some other contagious malady and died on March 17 of that year.

Significance

The commemorative bust of Marcus Aurelius features a noble head indeed. Framed by a full head of curly hair and neat chin whiskers, the countenance is strong, honest, and handsome. Any idealization of the likeness is appropriate, for the emperor’s demeanor as well as his words set one of the greatest examples in history. When his ashes were returned to Rome, he was honored with deification and, for long afterward, he was numbered by many Romans among their household gods. Commodus erected in his father’s memory the Antonine column in Rome’s Piazza Colonna. The emperor’s statue was placed at the top of the column and remained there until Pope Sixtus V caused it to be replaced by a bronze statue of Saint Paul. The substitution is symbolic, as it was meant to be.

Throughout the Christian era, attempts have been made to associate the Meditations with Christian thought. Such efforts are understandable, for the emperor’s self-admonitions to virtuous conduct for its own sake, steadfastness, magnanimity, and forbearance are congenial to the mind of the Christian apologist. The weight of evidence, however, indicates otherwise. Marcus Aurelius seems to have known little about the Christians, and what he knew he did not like. Even granting that he was not deeply involved in their persecution, he clearly regarded them as fanatical troublemakers. He should be viewed, then, not as an incipient Christian but as the voice of paganism’s last great moral pronouncements.

The emperor was an able but not a great military figure. He was an intelligent but not a brilliant thinker. As a writer, he was a competent but not a formidable stylist. In short, Marcus Aurelius was great because he brought a human quality to his leadership and made optimal use of his limited talents.

Bibliography

Arnold, E. Vernon. Roman Stoicism. Reprint. Freeport, N.Y.: Books for Libraries Press, 1971. A series of lectures by a classical scholar, arranged in seventeen chapters. The thought of Marcus Aurelius receives ample treatment, as he is discussed in four chapters.

Aurelius Antoninus, Marcus. The “Meditations” of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus. Translated by R. Graves. London: Robinson, 1792. Graves was a clergyman and an Oxford don. His assessment of Marcus Aurelius, written toward the end of the Enlightenment, is of historical interest. Accompanied by a biography and notes.

Aurelius Antoninus, Marcus. The Emperor’s Handbook: A New Translation of the “Meditations.” Translated by C. Scot Hicks and David V. Hicks. New York: Scribner, 2002. A lucid translation. Includes index.

Birley, Anthony Richard. Marcus Aurelius: A Biography. New York: Routledge, 2000. An engagingly written yet scholarly review of the life and times.

Hadot, Pierre. The Inner Citadel: The “Meditations” of Marcus Aurelius. Translated by Michael Chase. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2001. This analysis of the main themes in the Meditations also provides background to the work.

Morford, Mark P. O. The Roman Philosophers: From the Time of Cato the Censor to the Death of Marcus Aurelius. New York: Routledge, 2002. Places the philosopher in context.

Wenley, R. M. Stoicism and Its Influence. New York: Cooper Square, 1963. A defense of the importance of Stoicism against historians of philosophy who have tended to dismiss it lightly. Discussions of Marcus Aurelius are liberally sprinkled throughout the text.