Political Thinkers

Marcus Aurelius (AD 121-180)

One of the Five Good Emperors and a proponent of the philosophy of Stoicism, Marcus Aurelius was chosen at an early age to be the succeeding ruler of the Roman Empire. The only son of a wealthy family in Rome, Marcus was three years old when his father died. Marcus was favored by Emperor Hadrian (some say he was a distant relative), who arranged for Marcus to study Greek, Latin, literature, rhetoric, and philosophy under the best educators in Rome; and he was appointed a Roman priest. Marcus took an interest in philosophy, and – some note – an even greater interest in Stoicism.

Hadrian’s successor, Antoninus Pius, was required to adopt Marcus (and Lucius Aurelius Verus) as his sons and subsequent successors as emperors of the Roman Empire. In 139, Marcus was admitted to the Senate, and became consul twice. In 145, he married Antoninus’ daughter and by 147, Marcus shared some duties with Antoninus. When Antoninus died in 161, Marcus became co-Emperor with Verus, and upon Verus’ death in 169, Marcus was sole Emperor of the Roman Empire.

Marcus ruled the Roman Empire through its battles with Germany and the Parthians, and through a plague. Around 167, he began to write Meditations, his personal journal that applied logic, and not emotion, to the events that shaped his life. In 176, while in Greece, Marcus created the Four Chairs of Philosophy – Platonic, Aristotelian, Stoic, and Epicurean. The following year, after a false report that Marcus was dead and another was hailed as Emperor, Marcus appointed his son, Lucius Aurelius Commodus, co-Emperor; and in 180 Commodus succeeded Marcus as Emperor of the Roman Empire.

LINKS:

Emperor Marcus Aurelius

Meditations

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Written by Janice Mancuso

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