Marcus Aurelius

Imperator Caesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus (April 26, 121Augustan History, "Marcus Aurelius" – March 17, 180) was Roman Emperor from 161 to his death. He was born Marcus Annius Catilius Severus, and at marriage took the name Marcus Annius Verus. When he was named Emperor, he was given the name Marcus Aurelius Antoninus. He was the last of the Five Good Emperors, who governed the Roman Empire from 96 to 180. Marcus Aurelius was one of the most important stoic philosophers.

Life

Marcus Aurelius was the only child to Domitia Lucilla and Marcus Annius Verus. Domitia Lucilla came from a wealthy family who were of consular rank. His father was Marcus Annius Verus served as a praetor and died when Marcus Aurelius was three years old. Marcus Aurelius credits him with teaching him "manliness without ostentation" (1964 Maxwell Staniforth translation).

His father's maternal aunt was Roman Empress Vibia Sabina. Rupilia Faustina (Marcus Aurelius' paternal grandmother) and Vibia Sabina were half-sisters and were daughters to Salonina Matidia (niece of the Roman Emperor Trajan). His father's brother-in-law was Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius (138–161).

Adoption by Antoninus

He was Antoninus Pius' nephew and the grandson of Hadrian's (117–138) brother-in-law. Therefore, on the death of Hadrian's first adopted son Aelius Verus, Hadrian made it a precondition of making Antoninus his successor that Antoninus would adopt Marcus (then called Marcus Annius Verus) and Lucius Verus (Aelius Verus' son), and arrange for them to be next in the line.

This Antoninus did, adopting and designating them as his successors on February 25, 138 when Marcus was only seventeen years of age.

Roman emperor

Joint emperorship

When Antoninus died on March 7 161, Marcus accepted the throne on the condition that he and Verus were made joint emperors (Augusti), with Verus partly subordinateCassius Dio, Roman History, 71.1. This was partly because the two were Antoninus' joint heirs.

The joint succession may have also been motivated by military experiences, since, during his reign, Marcus Aurelius was almost constantly at war with various peoples outside the empire. A highly authoritative figure was needed to command the troops, yet the emperor himself could not defend both the German and Parthian fronts at the same time. Neither could he simply appoint a general to lead the legions; earlier popular military leaders like Julius Caesar and Vespasian had used the military to overthrow the existing government and install themselves as supreme leaders. Marcus Aurelius solved the problem by sending Verus to command the legions in the east. He was authoritative enough to command the full loyalty of the troops, but already powerful enough that he had little incentive to overthrow Marcus. The plan succeeded—Verus remained loyal until his death on campaign in 169.

This joint emperorship was faintly reminiscent of the political system of the Roman Republic, which functioned according to the principle of collegiality and did not allow a single person to hold supreme power. Joint rule was revived by Diocletian's establishment of the Tetrarchy in the late 3rd century.

Wars

Germania and the Danube

Germanic tribes and many people had launched many raids along the Northern border, particularly into Gaul and across the Danube— Germanic Tribes, in turn, may have been under attack from more warlike tribes farther east. His campaigns against them are commemorated on the Column of Marcus Aurelius.

Parthia

In Asia, a revitalized Parthian Empire renewed its assault. Marcus Aurelius sent his joint emperor Verus to command the legions in the east to face this threat. On the return from the victorious campaign, Verus was awarded with a triumph; the parade was unusual because it included Verus, Marcus Aurelius, their sons and unmarried daughters as a big family celebration.

Contacts with China

At the time of Marcus Aurelius, the chronicles of the Han Dynasty say that in 166 AD, Roman representatives met Huan, the emperor of China, in the Chinese capital of Luoyang. According to the chronicles, the Romans stated that they had been sent by Antun. Given the year, this may have been Marcus Aurelius Antoninus. On the other hand, contemporary Roman chronicles make no mention of any attempts to contact the Chinese. (See also the article on Roman embassies to China.)

Death

Marcus Aurelius died on March 17 180 during the expedition against the Marcomanni and Quadi in the city of Vindobona (modern Vienna). His ashes were returned to Rome and rested in Hadrian's mausoleum (modern Castel Sant'Angelo) until the Visigoth sack of the city in 410. He was also commemorated by a column in Rome.

Succession and historical legacy

He was able to secure the succession for his son Commodus, whom he made co-emperor in his own lifetime (in 177), though the choice may have been unknowingly unfortunate. Commodus was a political and military outsider, as well as an extreme egotist. Many historians believe that the decline of Rome began under Commodus. For this reason, Aurelius' death is often held to have been the end of the Pax Romana.

Writings

While on campaign between 170 and 180, Aurelius wrote his Meditations as a source for his own guidance and self-improvement. He had been a priest at the sacrificial altars of Roman service and was an eager patriot. He had a logical mind though his notes were representative of Stoic philosophy and spirituality. Meditations is still revered as a literary monument to a government of service and duty. It has been praised for its "exquisite accent and its infinite tenderness" and "saintliness" being called the "gospel of his life." They have been compared by John Stuart Mill in his Utility of Religion to the Sermon on the Mount.

The book itself was first published in 1558 in Zurich, from a manuscript copy that is now lost. The only other surviving complete copy of the manuscript is in the Vatican library.

The significance of death was very important in the philosophy of Marcus Aurelius. He didn't believe in the afterlife. He wrote: 'We live for an instant, only to be swallowed in "complete foregetfulness and the void of infinite time on this side of us." "Think how many ere now, after passing their life in implacable enmity, suspicion, hatred...are now dead and burnt to ashes." According to Marcus Aurelius everything will be turned in absolute oblivion, even legends. "Of the life of man the duration is but a point, its substance streaming away, its perception dim, the fabric of the entire body prone to decay, and the soul a vortex, and fortune incalculable, and fame uncertain. In a word all things of the body are as a river, and the things of the soul as a dream and a vapour; and life is a warfare and a pilgrim's sojourn, and fame after death is only forgetfulness." 'Everything exisiting "is already disintegrating and changing...everything is by nature made but to die." 'The length of one's life is irrelevant, "for look at the yawning gulf of time behind thee and before thee at another infinity to come. In this eternity the life of a baby of three days and the life of a nestor of three centuries are as one." 'To desire is to be permanently disappointed and disturbed, since everything we desire in this world is "empty and corrupt and paltry." For Marcus Aurelius, death was desirable, because it would make an end to all desires.Jonathan Dollimore, Death, Desire and Loss in Western Culture (London 1998) 32-34.

Despite his thoughts on life and death, Marcus Aurelius was an advocate of rational virtue. According to Jonothan Dollimore, Marcus Aurelius had a kind of indifference towards the brutalities in life. As an emperor, he performed persecution of Christians and went frequently on military campaigns. He justified his deeds by pointing at the insignificance of worldly affairs. In Western culture, this was found increasingly in later centuries.Ibid., 34-35.

Depictions in art and modern popular culture

Appearances in modern literature

Mémoires d'Hadrien (1951), a fictitious but plausible autobiography (in form of a series of letters directed to his adoptive grandson "Marcus") of one of his predecessors, Hadrian, by Marguerite Yourcenar. It is one of the best-selling European novels of the 20th century.
Household Gods (1999 novel), by Judith Tarr and Harry Turtledove. (ISBN 0613351479)

Film

The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964), played by Alec Guinness
Gladiator (2000), played by Richard Harris
The movie The Silence of the Lambs publicized Marcus Aurelius' principle, from Meditations: "For any particular thing, ask, 'What is it in itself? What is its nature?'"

Image:AlecGuinessMarcusAurelius.jpg|Alec Guinness as Marcus Aurelius in The Fall of the Roman Empire Image:rharris.jpg|Richard Harris as Marcus Aurelius in Gladiator

Marriage and issue

Aurelius married Faustina the Younger in 145. During their 30-year marriage Faustina bore thirteen children, most notably, his son Commodus who would become later Emperor, and his daughter Lucilla, who was wed to Lucius Verus to solidify his alliance with Marcus Aurelius.

Trivia

Marcus Aurelius habitually took opium to sleep and to cope with the difficulty of military campaigns.

External links

the Meditations

Online Greek Text of the Meditations

English Translation by George Long (1862)

Latin Version by J. M. Schulz (1802)

Notes

Secondary material

Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry
Marcus Aurelius entry at De Imperatoribus Romanis
Marcus Aurelius entry at Livius.Org
Marcus Aurelius: The Philosopher-Emperor of Rome - Essay looking at Marcus Aurelius from the perspective of his leadership.

Gourt Home::Gourt :: Marcus Aurelius