Marcus Aurelius
16th Roman Emperor from 161 to 180 and Stoic philosopher · Italy · Historical Figures · Lived 121 to 180 · aged 58
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Something wrong?A Roman emperor who ruled during plague, war, and the empire's slow turn toward chaos - but endures because he kept private notebooks on how to endure it all. The Meditations weren't meant for publication; they're the working philosophy of a man trying to stay decent while the world burned.
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![A bust of young Marcus Aurelius (Capitoline Museum). Anthony Birley, his modern biographer, writes of the bust: 'This is certainly a grave young man'.[47]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/46/CapitoliniMAurelioGiovane3.jpg/500px-CapitoliniMAurelioGiovane3.jpg)
A bust of young Marcus Aurelius (Capitoline Museum). Anthony Birley, his modern biographer, writes of the bust: 'This is certainly a grave young man'.[47]
Coin (AD 136-138) of Hadrian (obverse) and his adoptive son, Lucius Aelius (reverse). Hadrian is wearing the laurel crown. Inscription: HADRIANVS ... / LVCIVS CAESAR.![Sestertius of Antoninus Pius (AD 140-144). It celebrates the betrothal of Marcus Aurelius and Faustina the Younger in 139, pictured below Antoninus, who is holding a statuette of Concordia and clasping hands with Faustina the Elder. Inscription: ANTONINVS AVG. PIVS P. P., TR. P., CO[N]S. III / CONCORDIAE S.C.[73]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1b/Antoninus_Pius%2C_sestertius%2C_AD_140-144%2C_RIC_III_601.jpg/500px-Antoninus_Pius%2C_sestertius%2C_AD_140-144%2C_RIC_III_601.jpg)
Sestertius of Antoninus Pius (AD 140-144). It celebrates the betrothal of Marcus Aurelius and Faustina the Younger in 139, pictured below Antoninus, who is holding a statuette of Concordia and clasping hands with Faustina the Elder. Inscription: ANTONINVS AVG. PIVS P. P., TR. P., CO[N]S. III / CONCORDIAE S.C.[73]![Denarius of Antoninus Pius (AD 139), with a portrait of Marcus Aurelius on the reverse. Inscription: ANTONINVS AVG. PIVS P. P. / AVRELIVS CAES. AVG. PII F. CO[N]S. DES.[74]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2c/Antoninus_Pius%2C_with_Marcus_Aurelius_Caesar%2C_denarius%2C_AD_139%2C_RIC_III_412a.jpg/500px-Antoninus_Pius%2C_with_Marcus_Aurelius_Caesar%2C_denarius%2C_AD_139%2C_RIC_III_412a.jpg)
Denarius of Antoninus Pius (AD 139), with a portrait of Marcus Aurelius on the reverse. Inscription: ANTONINVS AVG. PIVS P. P. / AVRELIVS CAES. AVG. PII F. CO[N]S. DES.[74]
The Mausoleum of Hadrian, where the children of Marcus and Faustina were buriedIn their own words 10
, Of my grandfather Verus I have learned to be gentle and meek, and to refrain from all anger and passion... I have learned both shamefastness and manlike behaviour.
Her reverence for the divine, her generosity, her inability not only to do wrong but even to conceive of doing it. And the simple way she lived - not in the least like the rich.
Of Fronto, to how much envy and fraud and hypocrisy the state of a tyrannous king is subject unto, and how they who are commonly called [Eupatridas Gk.], i.e.
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Marcus Aurelius was born 26 April 121, son of a praetor who died when the boy was three. Raised by his mother and grandfather, he was pulled into the imperial succession when Hadrian adopted his uncle Antoninus Pius in 138, who in turn adopted Marcus. He studied Greek and Latin under notable tutors, married Antoninus's daughter Faustina in 145, and became emperor in 161 alongside his adoptive brother Lucius Verus. The reign brought relentless military conflict: a revitalised Parthian Empire in the East, the Marcomannic Wars against Germanic tribes pressing the frontier. The Antonine Plague broke out around 165, killing five to ten million across the empire; Lucius likely died of it in 169. Marcus debased the currency, and persecution of Christians appears to have increased, though no Christian sources blamed him directly. He died 17 March 180 and was succeeded by his son Commodus, a choice that has troubled historians ever since.
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