Marcus Aurelius was the son of thepraetorMarcus Annius Verus and his wife,Domitia Calvilla. He was related through marriage to the emperorsTrajan andHadrian. Marcus was three when his father died, and was raised by his mother andpaternal grandfather. After Hadrian'sadoptive son,Aelius Caesar, died in 138, Hadrian adopted Marcus's uncleAntoninus Pius as his new heir. In turn, Antoninus adopted Marcus andLucius, the son of Aelius. Hadrian died that year, and Antoninus became emperor. Now heir to the throne, Marcus studied Greek and Latin under tutors such asHerodes Atticus andMarcus Cornelius Fronto. He married Antoninus's daughterFaustina in 145.
Commodus's succession after Marcus has been a subject of debate among both contemporary and modern historians. TheColumn of Marcus Aurelius andEquestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius still stand in Rome, where they were erected in celebration of his military victories. As a philosopher, his workMeditations 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.
The major sources depicting the life and rule of Marcus Aurelius are patchy and frequently unreliable. The most important group of sources, the biographies contained in theHistoria Augusta, claimed to be written by a group of authors at the turn of the 4th century AD, but it is believed they were in fact written by a single author (referred to here as 'the biographer') from about 395.[4] The later biographies and the biographies of subordinate emperors and usurpers are unreliable, but the earlier biographies, derived primarily from now-lost earlier sources (Marius Maximus or Ignotus), are considered to be more accurate.[5] For Marcus's life and rule, the biographies ofHadrian,Antoninus, Marcus, andLucius are largely reliable, but those ofAelius Verus andAvidius Cassius are not.[6]
A body of correspondence between Marcus's tutorFronto and various Antonine officials survives in a series of patchy manuscripts, covering the period from c. 138 to 166.[7][8] Marcus's ownMeditations offer a window on his inner life, but are largely undateable and make few specific references to worldly affairs.[9] The main narrative source for the period isCassius Dio, a Greek senator fromBithynianNicaea who wrote a history of Rome from its founding to 229 in eighty books. Dio is vital for the military history of the period, but his senatorial prejudices and strong opposition to imperial expansion obscure his perspective.[10] Some other literary sources provide specific details: the writings of the physicianGalen on the habits of the Antonine elite, the orations ofAelius Aristides on the temper of the times, and the constitutions preserved in theDigest andCodex Justinianeus on Marcus's legal work.[11]Inscriptions andcoin finds supplement the literary sources.[12]
Marcus was born inRome on 26 April 121. His birth name is sometimes given as Marcus Annius Verus,[13] but sources assign this name to him upon his father's death and unofficial adoption by his grandfather, upon his coming of age.[14][15][16][17] He may have been known as "Marcus Annius Catilius Severus",[14][15][18] at birth or some point in his youth,[17] or "Marcus Catilius Severus Annius Verus". Upon his adoption by Antoninus as heir to the throne, he was known as "Marcus Aelius Aurelius Verus Caesar" and, upon his ascension, he was "Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus" until his death;[19]Epiphanius of Salamis, in his chronology of the Roman emperors included in hisOn Weights and Measures, calls himMarcus Aurelius Verus.[20]
Marcus's mother,Domitia Lucilla Minor (also known as Domitia Calvilla), was the daughter of the Roman patrician P. Calvisius Tullus and inherited a great fortune (described at length in one ofPliny's letters) from her parents and grandparents. Her inheritance included large brickworks on the outskirts of Rome – a profitable enterprise in an era when the city was experiencing a construction boom – and theHorti Domitia Calvillae (orLucillae), a villa on theCaelian hill of Rome.[31][32] Marcus himself was born and raised in theHorti and referred to the Caelian hill as 'My Caelian'.[33][34][35]
The adoptive family of Marcus was thegens Aurelia, an old Roman gens.[36] His adoptive fatherAntoninus Pius came from the Aurelii Fulvi, a branch of the Aurelii settled in the colony ofNemausus inRoman Gaul.[37]
Marcus's sister,Annia Cornificia Faustina, was probably born in 122 or 123.[38] His father probably died in 125 or 126 when Marcus was three years old during his praetorship.[39][note 2] Though he can hardly have known his father, Marcus wrote in hisMeditations that he had learned 'modesty and manliness' from his memories of his father and the man's posthumous reputation.[41] His mother Lucilla did not remarry[39] and, following prevailing aristocratic customs, probably did not spend much time with her son. Instead, Marcus was in the care of 'nurses',[42] and was raised after his father's death by his grandfather Marcus Annius Verus (II), who had always retained the legal authority ofpatria potestas over his son and grandson. Technically this was not an adoption, the creation of a new and differentpatria potestas.Lucius Catilius Severus, described as Marcus's maternal great-grandfather, also participated in his upbringing; he was probably the elder Domitia Lucilla's stepfather.[17] Marcus was raised in his parents' home on theCaelian Hill, an upscale area with few public buildings but many aristocratic villas. Marcus's grandfather owned a palace beside theLateran, where he would spend much of his childhood.[43] Marcus thanks his grandfather for teaching him 'good character and avoidance of bad temper'.[44] He was less fond of the mistress his grandfather took and lived with after the death of his wife Rupilia.[45] Marcus was grateful that he did not have to live with her longer than he did.[46]
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]
From a young age, Marcus displayed enthusiasm forwrestling andboxing. He trained in wrestling as a youth and into his teenage years, learned to fight in armour and joined theSalii, an order of priests dedicated to the godMars that were responsible for the sacred shields, calledAncilia, and possibly for heralding war season's beginning and end. Marcus was educated at home, in line with contemporary aristocratic trends;[48] he thanks Catilius Severus for encouraging him to avoid public schools.[49] One of his teachers, Diognetus, a painting master, proved particularly influential; he seems to have introduced Marcus Aurelius to the philosophic way of life.[50] In April 132, at the behest of Diognetus, Marcus took up the dress and habits of the philosopher: he studied while wearing a roughGreek cloak, and would sleep on the ground until his mother persuaded him to sleep on a bed.[51] A new set of tutors – theHomeric scholarAlexander of Cotiaeum along withTrosius Aper andTuticius Proculus, teachers ofLatin[52][note 3] – took over Marcus's education in about 132 or 133.[54] Marcus thanks Alexander for his training in literary styling.[55] Alexander's influence – an emphasis on matter over style and careful wording,[clarification needed] with the occasional Homeric quotation – has been detected in Marcus'sMeditations.[56]
In late 136, Hadrian almost died from ahaemorrhage. Convalescent inhis villa atTivoli, he selected Lucius Ceionius Commodus, Marcus's intended father-in-law, as his successor andadopted son,[57] according to the biographer 'against the wishes of everyone'.[58] While his motives are not certain, it would appear that his goal was to eventually place the then-too-young Marcus on the throne.[59] As part of his adoption, Commodus took the name, Lucius Aelius Caesar. His health was so poor that, during a ceremony to mark his becoming heir to the throne, he was too weak to lift a large shield on his own.[60] After a brief stationing on theDanube frontier, Aelius returned to Rome to make an address to the Senate on the first day of 138. However, the night before the scheduled speech, he grew ill and died of a haemorrhage later in the day.[61][note 4]
Coin (AD 136–138) ofHadrian (obverse) and his adoptive son,Lucius Aelius (reverse). Hadrian is wearing thelaurel crown. Inscription: HADRIANVS ... / LVCIVS CAESAR.
On 24 January 138, Hadrian selected Aurelius Antoninus, the husband of Marcus's auntFaustina the Elder, as his new successor.[63] As part of Hadrian's terms, Antoninus, in turn, adopted Marcus and Lucius Commodus, the son of Lucius Aelius.[64] Marcus became M. Aelius Aurelius Verus, and Lucius became L. Aelius Aurelius Commodus. At Hadrian's request, Antoninus's daughter Faustina was betrothed to Lucius.[65] Marcus reportedly greeted the news that 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 to Hadrian's private home.[66]
At some time in 138, Hadrian requested in the Senate that Marcus be exempt from the law barring him from becomingquaestor before his twenty-fourth birthday. The Senate complied, and Marcus served under Antoninus, the consul for 139.[67] Marcus's adoption diverted him from the typical career path of his class. If not for his adoption, he probably would have becometriumvir monetalis, a highly regarded post involving token administration of the state mint; after that, he could have served astribune 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'.[68]
After a series of suicide attempts, all thwarted by Antoninus, Hadrian left forBaiae, a seaside resort on theCampanian coast. 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 10 July 138.[69] His remains were buried quietly atPuteoli.[70] The succession to Antoninus was peaceful and stable: Antoninus kept Hadrian's nominees in office and appeased the senate, respecting its privileges and commuting the death sentences of men charged in Hadrian's last days.[71] For his dutiful behaviour, Antoninus was asked to accept the name 'Pius'.[72]
Sestertius ofAntoninus Pius (AD 140–144). It celebrates the betrothal of Marcus Aurelius andFaustina the Younger in 139, pictured below Antoninus, who is holding a statuette ofConcordia and clasping hands withFaustina 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]
Immediately after Hadrian's death, Antoninus approached Marcus and requested that his marriage arrangements be amended: Marcus's betrothal toCeionia Fabia would be annulled, and he would be betrothed toFaustina, Antoninus's daughter, instead. Faustina's betrothal to Ceionia's brother Lucius Commodus would also have to be annulled. Marcus consented to Antoninus's proposal.[75] He was madeconsul for 140 with Antoninus as his colleague, and was appointed as asevir, one of theknights' six commanders, at the order's annual parade on 15 July 139. As the heir apparent, Marcus becameprinceps iuventutis, head of the equestrian order. He now took the name Marcus Aelius Aurelius Verus Caesar.[76] Marcus would later caution himself against taking the name too seriously: 'See that you do not turn into a Caesar; do not be dipped into thepurple dye – for that can happen'.[77] At the senate's request, Marcus joined all the priestly colleges (pontifices,augures,quindecimviri sacris faciundis,septemviri epulonum, etc.);[78] direct evidence for membership, however, is available only for theArval Brethren.[79]
Antoninus demanded that Marcus reside in the House of Tiberius, the imperial palace on the Palatine, and take up the habits of his new station, theaulicum fastigium or 'pomp of the court', against Marcus's objections.[78] Marcus would struggle to reconcile the life of the court with his philosophic yearnings. He told himself it was an attainable goal – 'Where life is possible, then it is possible to live the right life; life is possible in a palace, so it is possible to live the right life in a palace'[80] – but he found it difficult nonetheless. He would criticise himself in theMeditations for 'abusing court life' in front of company.[81]
As quaestor, Marcus would have had little real administrative work to do. He would read imperial letters to the senate when Antoninus was absent and would do secretarial work for the senators.[82] But he felt drowned in paperwork and complained to his tutor, Marcus Cornelius Fronto: 'I am so out of breath from dictating nearly thirty letters'.[83] He was being 'fitted for ruling the state', in the words of his biographer.[84] He was required to make a speech to the assembled senators as well, making oratorical training essential for the job.[85]
On 1 January 145, Marcus was made consul a second time. Fronto urged him in a letter to have plenty of sleep 'so that you may come into the Senate with a good colour and read your speech with a strong voice'.[86] Marcus had complained of an illness in an earlier letter: 'As far as my strength is concerned, I am beginning to get it back; and there is no trace of the pain in my chest. But that ulcer [...][note 5] I am having treatment and taking care not to do anything that interferes with it'.[87] Never particularly healthy or strong, Marcus was praised by Cassius Dio, writing of his later years, for behaving dutifully in spite of his various illnesses.[88] In April 145, Marcus married Faustina, legally his sister, as had been planned since 138.[89] Little is specifically known of the ceremony, but the biographer calls it 'noteworthy'.[90] Coins were issued with the heads of the couple, and Antoninus, asPontifex Maximus, would have officiated. Marcus makes no apparent reference to the marriage in his surviving letters, and only sparing references to Faustina.[91]
After taking thetoga virilis in 136, Marcus probably began his training inoratory.[92] He had three tutors inGreek (Aninus Macer, Caninius Celer, andHerodes Atticus) and one in Latin (Marcus Cornelius Fronto). The latter two were the most esteemed orators of their time,[93] but probably did not become his tutors until his adoption by Antoninus in 138. The preponderance of Greek tutors indicates the importance of the Greek language to the aristocracy of Rome.[94] This was the age of theSecond Sophistic, a renaissance in Greek letters. Although educated in Rome, in hisMeditations Marcus would write his inmost thoughts in Greek.[95]
Atticus was controversial: an enormously rich Athenian (probably the richest man in the eastern half of the empire), he was quick to anger and resented by his fellow Athenians for his patronising manner.[96] Atticus was an inveterate opponent ofStoicism and philosophic pretensions.[97] He thought the Stoics' desire forapatheia was foolish: they would live a 'sluggish, enervated life', he said.[98] In spite of the influence of Atticus, Marcus would later become a Stoic. He would not mention Herodes at all in hisMeditations, in spite of the fact that they would come into contact many times over the following decades.[99]
Fronto was highly esteemed: in the self-consciously antiquarian world of Latin letters,[100] he was thought of as second only toCicero, perhaps even an alternative to him.[101][note 6] He did not care much for Atticus, though Marcus was eventually to put the pair on speaking terms. Fronto exercised a complete mastery of Latin, capable of tracing expressions through the literature, producing obscuresynonyms, and challenging minor improprieties in word choice.[101]
A significant amount of the correspondence between Fronto and Marcus has survived.[105] The pair were very close, using intimate language such as 'Farewell my Fronto, wherever you are, my most sweet love and delight. How is it between you and me? I love you and you are not here' in their correspondence.[106] Marcus spent time with Fronto's wife and daughter, both named Cratia, and they enjoyed light conversation.[107]
He wrote Fronto a letter on his birthday, claiming to love him as he loved himself, and calling on the gods to ensure that every word he learnt of literature, he would learn 'from the lips of Fronto'.[108] His prayers for Fronto's health were more than conventional, because Fronto was frequently ill; at times, he seems to be an almost constant invalid, always suffering[109] – about one-quarter of the surviving letters deal with the man's sicknesses.[110] Marcus asks that Fronto's pain be inflicted on himself, 'of my own accord with every kind of discomfort'.[111]
Fronto never became Marcus's full-time teacher and continued his career as an advocate. One notorious case brought him into conflict with Atticus.[112] Marcus pleaded with Fronto, first with 'advice', then as a 'favour', not to attack Atticus; he had already asked Atticus to refrain from making the first blows.[113] Fronto replied that he was surprised to discover Marcus counted Atticus as a friend (perhaps Atticus was not yet Marcus's tutor), and allowed that Marcus might be correct,[114] but nonetheless affirmed his intent to win the case by any means necessary: '[T]he charges are frightful and must be spoken of as frightful. Those in particular that refer to the beating and robbing I will describe so that they savour of gall and bile. If I happen to call him an uneducated little Greek it will not mean war to the death'.[115] The outcome of the trial is unknown.[116]
By the age of twenty-five (between April 146 and April 147), Marcus had grown disaffected with his studies injurisprudence, and showed some signs of generalmalaise. His master, he writes to Fronto, was an unpleasant blowhard, and had made 'a hit at' him: 'It is easy to sit yawning next to a judge, he says, but tobe a judge is noble work'.[117] Marcus had grown tired of his exercises, of taking positions in imaginary debates. When he criticised the insincerity of conventional language, Fronto took to defend it.[118] In any case, Marcus's formal education was now over. He had kept his teachers on good terms, following them devotedly. It 'affected his health adversely', his biographer writes, to have devoted so much effort to his studies. It was the only thing the biographer could find fault with in Marcus's entire boyhood.[119]
Fronto had warned Marcus against the study of philosophy early on: "It is better never to have touched the teaching of philosophy [...] than to have tasted it superficially, with the edge of the lips, as the saying is".[120] He disdained philosophy and philosophers and looked down on Marcus's sessions withApollonius of Chalcedon and others in this circle.[105] Fronto put an uncharitable interpretation of Marcus's 'conversion to philosophy': 'In the fashion of the young, tired of boring work', Marcus had turned to philosophy to escape the constant exercises of oratorical training.[121] Marcus kept in close touch with Fronto, but would ignore Fronto's scruples.[122]
Apollonius may have introduced Marcus to Stoic philosophy, butQuintus Junius Rusticus would have the strongest influence on the boy.[123][note 7] He was the man Fronto recognised as having 'wooed Marcus away' from oratory.[125] He was older than Fronto and twenty years older than Marcus. As the grandson ofArulenus Rusticus, one of the martyrs to the tyranny ofDomitian (r. 81–96), he was heir to the tradition of 'Stoic Opposition' to the 'bad emperors' of the 1st century;[126] the true successor ofSeneca (as opposed to Fronto, the false one).[127] Marcus thanks Rusticus for teaching him "not to be led astray into enthusiasm for rhetoric, for writing on speculative themes, for discoursing on moralising texts ... To avoid oratory, poetry, and 'fine writing'".[128]
Philostratus describes how even when Marcus was an old man, in the latter part of his reign, he studied underSextus of Chaeronea:
The Emperor Marcus was an eager disciple of Sextus theBoeotian philosopher, being often in his company and frequenting his house. Lucius, who had just come to Rome, asked the Emperor, whom he met on his way, where he was going to and on what errand, and Marcus answered, 'it is good even for an old man to learn; I am now on my way to Sextus the philosopher to learn what I do not yet know.' And Lucius, raising his hand to heaven, said, ' O Zeus, the king of the Romans in his old age takes up histablets and goes to school.'[129]
On 30 November 147, Faustina gave birth to a girl named Domitia Faustina. She was the first of at least thirteen children (including two sets of twins) that Faustina would bear over the next twenty-three years. The next day, 1 December, Antoninus gave Marcus thetribunician power and theimperium – authority over the armies and provinces of the emperor. As tribune, he had the right to bring one measure before the senate after the four Antoninus could introduce. His tribunician powers would be renewed with Antoninus's on 10 December 147.[130] The first mention of Domitia in Marcus's letters reveals her as a sickly infant. 'Caesar to Fronto. If the gods are willing we seem to have a hope of recovery. The diarrhoea has stopped, the little attacks of fever have been driven away. But the emaciation is still extreme and there is still quite a bit of coughing'. He and Faustina, Marcus wrote, had been 'pretty occupied' with the girl's care.[131] Domitia would die in 151.[132]
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 legendtemporum felicitas, 'the happiness of the times'. They did not survive long. Before the end of the year, another family coin was issued: it shows only a tiny girl, Domitia Faustina, and one boy baby. Then another: the girl alone. The infants were buried in theMausoleum of Hadrian, where their epitaphs survive. They were called Titus Aurelius Antoninus and Tiberius Aelius Aurelius.[133] Marcus steadied himself: 'One man prays: 'How I may not lose my little child', but you must pray: 'How I may not be afraid to lose him'.[134] He quoted from theIliad what he called the "briefest and most familiar saying [...] enough to dispel sorrow and fear":[135]
leaves, the wind scatters some on the face of the ground; like unto them are the children of men.
Another daughter was born on 7 March 150,Annia Aurelia Galeria Lucilla. At some time between 155 and 161, probably soon after 155, Marcus's mother Domitia Lucilla died.[136] Faustina probably had another daughter in 151, but the child,Annia Galeria Aurelia Faustina, might not have been born until 153.[137] Another son, Tiberius Aelius Antoninus, was born in 152. A coin issue celebratesfecunditati Augustae, 'to Augusta's fertility', depicting two girls and an infant. The boy did not survive long, as evidenced by coins from 156, only depicting the two girls. He might have died in 152, the same year as Marcus's sister Cornificia.[138] By 28 March 158, when Marcus replied, another of his children was dead. Marcus thanked the temple synod, 'even though this turned out otherwise'. The child's name is unknown.[139] In 159 and 160, Faustina gave birth to daughters: Fadilla and Cornificia, named respectively after Faustina's and Marcus's dead sisters.[140]
Lucius started his political career as a quaestor in 153. He was consul in 154,[141] and was consul again with Marcus in 161.[142] Lucius had no other titles, except that of 'son of Augustus'. Lucius had a markedly different personality from Marcus: he enjoyed sports of all kinds, but especially hunting and wrestling; he took obvious pleasure in the circus games and gladiatorial fights.[143][note 8] He did not marry until 164.[147]
In 156, Antoninus turned 70. He found it difficult to keep himself upright withoutstays. He started nibbling on dry bread to give him the strength to stay awake through his morning receptions. As Antoninus aged, Marcus would take on more administrative duties, more still when he became thepraetorian prefect (an office that was as much secretarial as military) when Marcus Gavius Maximus died in 156 or 157.[148] In 160, Marcus and Lucius were designated joint consuls for the following year. Antoninus may have already been ill.[140]
Two days before his death, the biographer reports, Antoninus was at his ancestral estate atLorium, inEtruria,[149] about 19 kilometres (12 mi) from Rome.[150] He ate Alpine cheese at dinner quite greedily. In the night he vomited; he had a fever the next day. The day after that, 7 March 161,[151] he summoned the imperial council, and passed the state and his daughter to Marcus. The emperor gave the keynote to his life in the last word that he uttered when the tribune of the night-watch came to ask the password – 'aequanimitas' (equanimity).[152] He then turned over, as if going to sleep, and died.[153] His death closed out the longest reign since Augustus, surpassingTiberius by a couple of months.[154]
After Antoninus died in 161, Marcus was effectively sole ruler of the Empire. The formalities of the position would follow. The Senate would soon grant him the name Augustus and the titleimperator, and he would soon be formally elected aspontifex maximus, chief priest of the official cults. Marcus made some show of resistance: the biographer writes that he was 'compelled' to take imperial power.[155] This may have been a genuinehorror imperii, 'fear of imperial power'. Marcus, with his preference for the philosophic life, found the imperial office unappealing. His training as aStoic however, had made the choice clear to him that it was his duty.[156]
Although Marcus showed no personal affection forHadrian (significantly, he does not thank him in the first book of hisMeditations), he presumably believed it his duty to enact the man's succession plans.[157] Thus, although the Senate planned to confirm Marcus alone, he refused to take office unless Lucius received equal powers.[158] The Senate accepted, granting Lucius theimperium, the tribunician power, and the titleAugustus.[159] Marcus became, in official titulature, Imperator Caesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus; Lucius, forgoing his name Commodus and taking Marcus's family name Verus, became Imperator Caesar Lucius Aurelius Verus Augustus.[160][note 9] It was the first time that Rome was ruled by two emperors.[163][note 10]
In spite of their nominal equality, Marcus held moreauctoritas, or 'authority', than Lucius. He had been consul once more than Lucius, he had shared in Antoninus's rule, and he alone waspontifex maximus.[164] It would have been clear to the public which emperor was the more senior.[163] As the biographer wrote: "Verus obeyed Marcus [...] as a lieutenant obeys a proconsul or a governor obeys the emperor".[165]
Immediately after their Senate confirmation, the emperors proceeded to theCastra Praetoria, the camp of thePraetorian Guard. Lucius addressed the assembled troops, which then acclaimed the pair asimperatores. Then, like every new emperor sinceClaudius, Lucius promised the troops a specialdonativum.[166] Thisdonative, however, was twice the size of those past: 20,000sesterces (5,000denarii) per capita, with more to officers. In return for this bounty, equivalent to several years' pay, the troops swore an oath to protect the emperors.[167] The ceremony was perhaps not entirely necessary, given that Marcus's accession had been peaceful and unopposed, but it was good insurance against later military troubles.[168] Upon his accession he also devalued theRoman currency. He decreased the silver purity of the denarius from 83.5% to 79% – the silver weight dropping from 2.68 g (0.095 oz) to 2.57 g (0.091 oz).[169]
Antoninus's funeral ceremonies were, in the words of the biographer, 'elaborate'.[170] If his funeral followed those of his predecessors, his body would have been cremated on a pyre at theCampus Martius, and his spirit would have been seen as ascending to the gods' home in the heavens. Marcus and Lucius nominated their father for deification. In contrast to their behaviour during Antoninus's campaign to deify Hadrian, the Senate did not oppose the emperors' wishes. Aflamen, or cultic priest, was appointed to minister the cult of the deified Divus Antoninus. Antoninus's remains were laid to rest inHadrian's mausoleum, beside the remains of Marcus's children and of Hadrian himself.[171] The temple he had dedicated to his wife, Diva Faustina, became theTemple of Antoninus and Faustina. It survives as the church of San Lorenzo in Miranda.[168]
In accordance with his will, Antoninus's fortune passed on to Faustina.[172] (Marcus had little need of his wife's fortune. Indeed, at his accession, Marcus transferred part of his mother's estate to his nephew,Ummius Quadratus.[173]) Faustina was three months pregnant at her husband's accession. During the pregnancy she dreamed of giving birth to two serpents, one fiercer than the other.[174] On 31 August, she gave birth atLanuvium to twins: T. Aurelius Fulvus Antoninus and Lucius Aurelius Commodus.[175][note 11] Aside from the fact that the twins sharedCaligula's birthday, the omens were favourable, and the astrologers drew positive horoscopes for the children.[177] The births were celebrated on the imperial coinage.[178]
Soon after the emperor's accession, Marcus's eleven-year-old daughter, Annia Lucilla, was betrothed to Lucius (in spite of the fact that he was, formally, her uncle).[179] At the ceremonies commemorating the event, new provisions were made for the support of poor children, along the lines of earlier imperial foundations.[180] Marcus and Lucius proved popular with the people of Rome, who strongly approved of theirciviliter ("lacking pomp") behaviour. The emperors permitted free speech, evidenced by the fact that the comedy writer Marullus was able to criticise them without suffering retribution. As the biographer wrote, "No one missed the lenient ways of Pius".[181]
Marcus replaced a number of the empire's major officials. Theab epistulis Sextus Caecilius Crescens Volusianus, in charge of the imperial correspondence, was replaced with Titus Varius Clemens. Clemens was from the frontier province ofPannonia and had served in the war inMauretania. Recently, he had served as procurator of five provinces. He was a man suited for a time of military crisis.[182] Lucius Volusius Maecianus, Marcus's former tutor, had beenprefectural governor ofEgypt at Marcus's accession. Maecianus was recalled, made senator, and appointed prefect of the treasury (aerarium Saturni). He was made consul soon after.[183] Fronto's son-in-law,Gaius Aufidius Victorinus, was appointed governor ofGermania Superior.[184]
Fronto returned to his Roman townhouse at dawn on 28 March, having left his home inCirta as soon as news of his pupils' accession reached him. He sent a note to the imperial freedman Charilas, asking if he could call on the emperors. Fronto would later explain that he had not dared to write the emperors directly.[185] The tutor was immensely proud of his students. Reflecting on the speech he had written on taking his consulship in 143, when he had praised the young Marcus, Fronto was ebullient: "There was then an outstanding natural ability in you; there is now perfected excellence. There was then a crop of growing corn; there is now a ripe, gathered harvest. What I was hoping for then, I have now. The hope has become a reality".[186] Fronto called on Marcus alone; neither thought to invite Lucius.[187]
Lucius was less esteemed by Fronto than his brother, as his interests were on a lower level. Lucius asked Fronto to adjudicate in a dispute he and his friend Calpurnius were having on the relative merits of two actors.[188] Marcus told Fronto of his reading –Coelius and a little Cicero – and his family. His daughters were in Rome with their great-great-aunt Matidia; Marcus thought the evening air of the country was too cold for them. He asked Fronto for 'some particularly eloquent reading matter, something of your own, or Cato, or Cicero, or Sallust or Gracchus – or some poet, for I need distraction, especially in this kind of way, by reading something that will uplift and diffuse my pressing anxieties.'[189] Marcus's early reign proceeded smoothly; he was able to give himself wholly to philosophy and the pursuit of popular affection.[190] Soon, however, he would find he had many anxieties. It would mean the end of thefelicitas temporum ('happy times') that the coinage of 161 had proclaimed.[191]
Tiber Island seen at a forty-year high-water mark of theTiber, December 2008
In either autumn 161 or spring 162,[note 12] theTiber overflowed its banks, flooding much of Rome. It drowned many animals, leaving the city in famine. Marcus and Lucius gave the crisis their personal attention.[193][note 13] In other times of famine, the emperors are said to have provided for the Italian communities out of the Roman granaries.[195]
Fronto's letters continued through Marcus's early reign. Fronto felt that, because of Marcus's prominence and public duties, lessons were more important now than they had ever been before. He believed Marcus was 'beginning to feel the wish to be eloquent once more, in spite of having for a time lost interest in eloquence'.[196] Fronto would again remind his pupil of the tension between his role and his philosophic pretensions: 'Suppose, Caesar, that you can attain to the wisdom ofCleanthes andZeno, yet, against your will, not the philosopher's woolen cape'.[197]
The early days of Marcus's reign were the happiest of Fronto's life: Marcus was beloved by the people of Rome, an excellent emperor, a fond pupil, and perhaps most importantly, as eloquent as could be wished.[198] Marcus had displayed rhetorical skill in his speech to the senate after an earthquake atCyzicus. It had conveyed the drama of the disaster, and the Senate had been awed: "Not more suddenly or violently was the city stirred by the earthquake than the minds of your hearers by your speech". Fronto was hugely pleased.[199]
Coin ofVologases IV of Parthia. Inscription: above ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΝ ΔΟΥ, right ΑΡΣΑΚΟΥ ΒΟΛΑΓΑΣΟΥ, left ΕΠΙΦΑΝΟΥΣ ΦΙΛΕΛΛΗΝΟΣ, below ΔΙΟΥ (Greek inscription for KING OF KINGS – ARSAKIS VOLAGASES – ILLUSTRIUS PHILELLENE). Year ΔΟΥ = ΥΟΔ΄ = 474 = 162–163.
On his deathbed, Antoninus spoke of nothing but the state and the foreign kings who had wronged him.[200] One of those kings,Vologases IV of Parthia, made his move in late summer or early autumn 161.[201] Vologases entered theKingdom of Armenia (then a Roman client state), expelled its king and installed his own –Pacorus, anArsacid like himself.[202] The governor of Cappadocia, the frontline in all Armenian conflicts, wasMarcus Sedatius Severianus, a Gaul with much experience in military matters.[203]
Convinced by the prophetAlexander of Abonoteichus that he could defeat the Parthians easily and win glory for himself,[204] Severianus led a legion (perhaps theIX Hispana[205]) into Armenia, but was trapped by the Parthian generalChosrhoes atElegeia, a town just beyond the Cappadocian frontiers, high up past the headwaters of the Euphrates. After Severianus made some unsuccessful efforts to engage Chosrhoes, he committed suicide, and his legion was massacred. The campaign had lasted only three days.[206]
There was threat of war on other frontiers as well – in Britain, and inRaetia and Upper Germany, where theChatti of theTaunus mountains had recently crossed over thelimes.[207] Marcus was unprepared. Antoninus seems to have given him no military experience; the biographer writes that Marcus spent the whole of Antoninus's twenty-three-year reign at his emperor's side and not in the provinces, where most previous emperors had spent their early careers.[208][note 14]
More bad news arrived: the Syrian governor's army had been defeated by the Parthians, and retreated in disarray.[210] Reinforcements were dispatched for the Parthian frontier. P. Julius Geminius Marcianus, an African senator commandingX Gemina atVindobona (Vienna), left for Cappadocia with detachments from the Danubian legions.[211] Three full legions were also sent east:I Minervia from Bonn in Upper Germany,[212]II Adiutrix from Aquincum,[213] andV Macedonica from Troesmis.[214]
The northern frontiers were strategically weakened; frontier governors were told to avoid conflict wherever possible.[215]M. Annius Libo, Marcus's first cousin, was sent to replace the Syrian governor. His first consulship was in 161, so he was probably in his early thirties,[216] and as a patrician, he lacked military experience. Marcus had chosen a reliable man rather than a talented one.[217]
Aureus of Marcus Aurelius (AD 166). On the reverse,Victoria is holding a shield inscribed 'VIC(toria) PAR(thica)', referring to his victory against the Parthians. Inscription: M. ANTONINVS AVG. / TR. P. XX, IMP. IIII, CO[N]S. III.[218]
Marcus took a four-day public holiday atAlsium, a resort town on the coast of Etruria. He was too anxious to relax. Writing to Fronto, he declared that he would not speak about his holiday.[219] Fronto replied: 'What? Do I not know that you went to Alsium with the intention of devoting yourself to games, joking, and complete leisure for four whole days?'[220] He encouraged Marcus to rest, calling on the example of his predecessors (Antoninus had enjoyed exercise in thepalaestra, fishing, and comedy),[221] going so far as to write up a fable about the gods' division of the day between morning and evening – Marcus had apparently been spending most of his evenings on judicial matters instead of at leisure.[222] Marcus could not take Fronto's advice. 'I have duties hanging over me that can hardly be begged off', he wrote back.[223] Marcus Aurelius put on Fronto's voice to chastise himself: ''Much good has my advice done you', you will say!' He had rested, and would rest often, but 'this devotion to duty! Who knows better than you how demanding it is!'[224]
The dissolute Syrian army spent more time inAntioch's open-air taverns than with their units[225] (engraving byWilliam Miller after a drawing by H. Warren from a sketch by CaptainByam Martin, R.N., 1866).
Fronto sent Marcus a selection of reading material,[226] and, to settle his unease over the course of the Parthian war, a long and considered letter, full of historical references. In modern editions of Fronto's works, it is labelledDe bello Parthico (On the Parthian War). There had been reverses in Rome's past, Fronto writes,[227] but in the end, Romans had always prevailed over their enemies: 'Always and everywhere [Mars] has changed our troubles into successes and our terrors into triumphs'.[228]
Over the winter of 161–162, news that a rebellion was brewing in Syria arrived and it was decided that Lucius should direct the Parthian war in person. He was stronger and healthier than Marcus, the argument went, and thus more suited to military activity.[229] Lucius's biographer suggests ulterior motives: to restrain Lucius's debaucheries, to make him thrifty, to reform his morals by the terror of war, and to realise that he was an emperor.[230][note 15] Whatever the case, the senate gave its assent, and, in the summer of 162, Lucius left. Marcus would remain in Rome, as the city 'demanded the presence of an emperor'.[232]
Lucius spent most of the campaign in Antioch, though he wintered atLaodicea and summered at Daphne, a resort just outside Antioch.[233] Critics decried Lucius's luxurious lifestyle,[234] saying that he had taken to gambling, would 'dice the whole night through',[235] and enjoyed the company of actors.[236][note 16] Libo died early in the war; perhaps Lucius had murdered him.[238]
In the middle of the war, perhaps in autumn 163 or early 164, Lucius made a trip toEphesus to be married to Marcus's daughter Lucilla.[239] Marcus moved up the date; perhaps he had already heard of Lucius's mistress Panthea.[240] Lucilla's thirteenth birthday was in March 163; whatever the date of her marriage, she was not yet fifteen.[241] Lucilla was accompanied by her mother Faustina and Lucius's uncle (his father's half-brother) M. Vettulenus Civica Barbarus,[242] who was madecomes Augusti, 'companion of the emperors'. Marcus may have wanted Civica to watch over Lucius, the job Libo had failed at.[243] Marcus may have planned to accompany them all the way to Smyrna (the biographer says he told the senate he would), but this did not happen.[244] He only accompanied the group as far asBrundisium, where they boarded a ship for the east.[245] He returned to Rome immediately thereafter, and sent out special instructions to his proconsuls not to give the group any official reception.[246]
The Armenian capitalArtaxata was captured in 163.[247] At the end of the year, Lucius took the titleArmeniacus, despite having never seen combat; Marcus declined to accept the title until the following year.[248] When Lucius was hailed asimperator again, however, Marcus did not hesitate to take theImperator II with him.[249]
Occupied Armenia was reconstructed on Roman terms. In 164, a new capital, Kaine Polis ('New City'), replaced Artaxata.[250] A new king was installed: a Roman senator of consular rank and Arsacid descent,Gaius Julius Sohaemus. He may not even have been crowned in Armenia; the ceremony may have taken place in Antioch, or even Ephesus.[251] Sohaemus was hailed on the imperial coinage of 164 under the legendRex armeniis Datus: Lucius sat on a throne with his staff while Sohaemus stood before him, saluting the emperor.[252]
In 163, the Parthians intervened inOsroene, a Roman client in upper Mesopotamia centred onEdessa, and installed their own king on its throne.[253] In response, Roman forces were moved downstream, to cross theEuphrates at a more southerly point.[254] Before the end of 163, however, Roman forces had moved north to occupy Dausara and Nicephorium on the northern, Parthian bank.[255] Soon after the conquest of the north bank of the Euphrates, other Roman forces moved on Osroene from Armenia, taking Anthemusia, a town southwest of Edessa.[256]
In 165, Roman forces moved on Mesopotamia. Edessa was re-occupied, and Mannus, the king deposed by the Parthians, was re-installed.[257] The Parthians retreated to Nisibis, but this too was besieged and captured. The Parthian army dispersed in theTigris.[258] A second force, under Avidius Cassius and the III Gallica, moved down the Euphrates, and fought a major battle at Dura.[259]
By the end of the year, Cassius's army had reached the twin metropolises of Mesopotamia:Seleucia on the right bank of the Tigris andCtesiphon on the left. Ctesiphon was taken and its royal palace set to flame. The citizens of Seleucia, still largely Greek (the city had been commissioned and settled as a capital of theSeleucid Empire, one ofAlexander the Great'ssuccessor kingdoms), opened its gates to the invaders. The city was sacked nonetheless, leaving a black mark on Lucius's reputation. Excuses were sought, or invented: the official version had it that the Seleucids broke faith first.[260]
Cassius's army, although suffering from a shortage of supplies and the effects of a plague contracted in Seleucia, made it back to Roman territory safely.[261] Lucius took the title Parthicus Maximus, and he and Marcus were hailed asimperatores again, earning the title 'imp. III'.[262] Cassius's army returned to the field in 166, crossing over the Tigris intoMedia. Lucius took the title 'Medicus',[263] and the emperors were again hailed asimperatores, becoming 'imp. IV' in imperial titulature. Marcus took the Parthicus Maximus now, after another tactful delay.[264] On 12 October of that year, Marcus proclaimed two of his sons,Annius andCommodus, ashis heirs.[265]
Marcus Aurelius receiving the submission of the vanquished, with raisedvexillum standards
Marcus Aurelius celebratinghis triumph over Rome's enemies in 176, riding in aquadriga chariot
During the early 160s, Fronto's son-in-law Victorinus was stationed as a legate in Germany. He was there with his wife and children (another child had stayed with Fronto and his wife in Rome).[266] The condition on the northern frontier looked grave. A frontier post had been destroyed, and it looked like all the peoples of central and northern Europe were in turmoil. There was corruption among the officers: Victorinus had to ask for the resignation of alegionary legate who was taking bribes.[267]
Experienced governors had been replaced by friends and relatives of the imperial family.Lucius Dasumius Tullius Tuscus, a distant relative of Hadrian, was in Upper Pannonia, succeeding the experiencedMarcus Nonius Macrinus. Lower Pannonia was under the obscureTiberius Haterius Saturnius.Marcus Servilius Fabianus Maximus was shuffled from Lower Moesia to Upper Moesia whenMarcus Iallius Bassus had joined Lucius in Antioch. Lower Moesia was filled by Pontius Laelianus' son. The Dacias were still divided in three, governed by a praetorian senator and two procurators. The peace could not hold long; Lower Pannonia did not even have a legion.[268]
Starting in the 160s,Germanic tribes, and other nomadic people launched raids along thenorthern border, particularly intoGaul and across theDanube. This new impetus westwards was probably due to attacks from tribes further east. A first invasion by the Chatti in the province of Germania Superior was repulsed in 162.[269]
Bronze medallion of Marcus Aurelius (AD 168). The reverse depictsJupiter, flanked by Marcus andLucius Verus. Inscription: M. ANTONINVS AVG. ARM. PARTH. MAX. / TR. P. XXII, IMP. IIII, COS III.[270]Aureus of Marcus (176–177). The pile of trophies on the reverse celebrates the end of the Marcomannic Wars. Inscription: M. ANTONINVS AVG. GERM. SARM. / TR. P. XXXI, IMP. VIII, CO[N]S. III, P. P.[271]
Far more dangerous was the invasion of 166, when theMarcomanni of Bohemia, clients of the Roman Empire since AD 19, crossed the Danube together with theLombards and other Germanic tribes.[272] Soon thereafter, the IranianSarmatianIazyges attacked between the Danube and theTheiss rivers.[273]
TheCostoboci, coming from theCarpathian area, invadedMoesia,Macedonia, and Greece. After a long struggle, Marcus managed to push back the invaders. Numerous members of Germanic tribes settled in frontier regions likeDacia, Pannonia, Germany, and Italy itself. This was not a new thing, but this time the numbers of settlers required the creation of two new frontier provinces on the left shore of the Danube, Sarmatia andMarcomannia, including today'sCzech Republic,Slovakia, andHungary. Some Germanic tribes who settled inRavenna revolted and managed to seize possession of the city. For this reason, Marcus decided not only against bringing more barbarians into Italy, but even banished those who had previously been brought there.[274] In 168, the two emperors embarked on a new military campaign, expelling the invading Marcomanni andQuadi fromAquileia. Lucius Verus fell ill and died on his way back to Rome, probably due to the plague, in January or February 169.[275]
Like many emperors, Marcus spent most of his time addressing matters of law such as petitions and hearing disputes,[276] but unlike many of his predecessors, he was already proficient in imperial administration when he assumed power.[277] He took great care in the theory and practice of legislation. Professional jurists called him "an emperor most skilled in the law"[278] and "a most prudent and conscientiously just emperor".[279] He showed marked interest in three areas of the law: themanumission of slaves, the guardianship of orphans and minors, and the choice of city councillors (decuriones).[280]
Marcus showed a great deal of respect to the Roman Senate and routinely asked them for permission to spend money even though he did not need to do so as the absolute ruler of the Empire.[281] In one speech, Marcus himself reminded the Senate that the imperial palace where he lived was not truly his possession but theirs.[282] In 168, he revalued the denarius, increasing the silver purity from 79% to 82% – the actual silver weight increasing from 2.57–2.67 g (0.091–0.094 oz). However, two years later he reverted to the previous values because of the military crises facing the empire.[169]
TheAntonine Plague started inMesopotamia in 165 or 166 at the end of Lucius's campaign against the Parthians. It may have continued into the reign ofCommodus.Galen, who was in Rome when the plague spread to the city in 166,[289] mentioned that "fever, diarrhoea, and inflammation of the pharynx, along with dry or pustular eruptions of the skin after nine days" were among the symptoms.[290] It is believed that the plague wassmallpox.[289] In the view of historianRafe de Crespigny, the plagues afflicting theEastern Han empire of China during the reigns ofEmperor Huan of Han (r. 146–168) andEmperor Ling of Han (r. 168–189), which struck in 151, 161, 171, 173, 179, 182, and 185, were perhaps connected to the plague in Rome.[291] Raoul McLaughlin writes that the travel of Roman subjects to the Han court in 166 may have started a new era of Roman–Far East trade. However, it was also a "harbinger of something much more ominous". According to McLaughlin, the disease caused "irreparable" damage to the Roman maritime trade in the Indian Ocean as proven by the archaeological record spanning fromEgypt toIndia, as well as significantly decreasedRoman commercial activity in Southeast Asia.[292]
TheRoman Empire at the death of Marcus Aurelius in 180, represented in purple. His annexation of lands of the Marcomanni and the Jazyges – perhaps to be provincially calledMarcomannia and Sarmatia[296] – was cut short in 175 by the revolt ofAvidius Cassius and by his death.[297] The light pink territory represents Roman dependencies:Armenia,Colchis,Iberia, andAlbania.
Marcus was succeeded by his sonCommodus, whom he had named Caesar in 166 and with whom he had jointly ruled since 177.[298] Biological sons of the emperor, if there were any, were considered heirs;[299] however, it was only the second time that a "non-adoptive" son had succeeded his father, the only other having been a century earlier whenVespasian was succeeded by his sonTitus. Historians have criticised the succession to Commodus, citing Commodus' erratic behaviour and lack of political and military acumen.[298] At the end of his history of Marcus's reign, Cassius Dio wrote anencomium to the emperor, and described the transition to Commodus in his own lifetime with sorrow:[300]
[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.
Dio adds that from Marcus's first days as counsellor to Antoninus to his final days as emperor of Rome, "he remained the same [person] and did not change in the least."[301]
The youth turned out to be very erratic, or at least so anti-traditional that disaster was inevitable. But whether or not Marcus ought to have known this to be so, the rejections of his son's claims in favour of someone else would almost certainly have involved one of the civil wars which were to proliferate so disastrously around future successions.[302]
In the first two centuries of the Christian era, local Roman officials were largely responsible for thepersecution of Christians. In the second century, the emperors treated Christianity as a local problem to be dealt with by their subordinates.[303] The number and severity of persecutions of Christians in various locations of the empire seemingly increased during the reign of Marcus Aurelius. The extent to which the emperor himself directed, encouraged, or was aware of these persecutions is unclear and much debated by historians.[304]
Marcus Aurelius mentions Christians only once in his personal writings, theMeditations. In Book XI.3, he criticizes what he perceives as their theatrical approach to martyrdom, writing that readiness for death "must spring from a man's inner judgment, and not be the result of mere opposition [as is the case with the Christians]. It must be associated with deliberation and dignity and, if others too are to be convinced, with nothing like stage-heroics."[305][306]
A letter purportedly from Marcus Aurelius to the Roman Senate, included inJustin Martyr'sFirst Apology, describes a battlefield incident where Marcus allegedly credited Christian prayer with saving his army when "water poured from heaven," and subsequently requested that the Senate cease persecution of Christians.[307] However, modern scholars widely consider this letter to be inauthentic, likely composed by Justin Martyr or another Christian author rather than by Marcus Aurelius himself.[308] Contemporary non-Christian sources, including the historianCassius Dio, attribute the same "rain miracle" to an Egyptian magician named Harnuphis who accompanied the Roman legions.[309]
Bust of Faustina the Younger, AD 161-170,Altes Museum, Berlin
Marcus and his wifeFaustina had at least 14 children[310] during their 30-year marriage,[130][311] including two sets of twins.[130] One son and four daughters outlived their father.[312] Their children included:
^The epitomator of Cassius Dio (72.22) gives the story that Faustina the Elder promised to marry Avidius Cassius. This is also echoed inHA"Marcus Aurelius" 24.
Giacosa, Giorgio (1977).Women of the Caesars: Their Lives and Portraits on Coins. Translated by R. Ross Holloway. Milan: Edizioni Arte e Moneta.ISBN0-8390-0193-2.
Lambert, Royston (1984).Beloved and God: The Story of Hadrian and Antinous. New York: Viking.ISBN0-670-15708-2.
First page of the 1811 English translation byRichard Graves
While on campaign between 170 and 180, Marcus wrote hisMeditations in Greek as a source for his own guidance and self-improvement. The original title of this work, if it had one, is unknown. 'Meditations' – as well as other titles including 'To Himself' – were adopted later. According to Hays, the book was a favourite ofFrederick the Great,John Stuart Mill,Matthew Arnold, andGoethe.[320] It has been considered by many commentators to be one of the greatest works of philosophy.[321]Meditations sold 16,000 copies in 2012. In 2019, 100,000 copies were sold.[322]
It is not known how widely Marcus's writings were circulated after his death. There are stray references in the ancient literature to the popularity of his precepts, andJulian the Apostate was well aware of his reputation as a philosopher, though he does not specifically mentionMeditations.[323] It survived in the scholarly traditions of the Eastern Church, and the first surviving quotes of the book, as well as the first known reference to it by name ('Marcus's writings to himself') are fromArethas of Caesarea in the 10th century and in the ByzantineSuda (perhaps inserted by Arethas himself). It wasfirst published in 1558 in Zurich byWilhelm Xylander (né Holzmann), from a manuscript reportedly lost shortly afterwards.[324] The oldest surviving complete manuscript copy is in theVatican library and dates to the 14th century.[325]
Marcus acquired the reputation of aphilosopher king within his lifetime, and the title would remain after his death; both Dio and the biographer call him "the philosopher".[326][327] Christians such asJustin Martyr,Athenagoras, andEusebius also gave him the title.[328] The last went so far as to call him "more philanthropic and philosophic" than Antoninus and Hadrian, and set him against the persecuting emperors Domitian and Nero to make the contrast bolder.[329]
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.[330]
[The emperor's] Stoic philosophy – which is about self-restraint, duty, and respect for others – was so abjectly abandoned by the imperial line he anointed on his death.[331]
The Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius in Rome is the only Roman equestrian statue which has survived into the modern period.[332] Crafted of bronze inc. 175, it stands 11.6 ft (3.5 m) and is now located in theCapitoline Museums of Rome. The emperor's hand is outstretched in an act of clemency offered to a bested enemy, while his weary facial expression due to the stress of leading Rome into nearly constant battles perhaps represents a break with theclassical tradition ofsculpture.[333]
Aureus of Marcus Aurelius (AD December 173 – June 174), with his equestrian statue on the reverse. inscription: M. ANTONINVS AVG. TR. P. XXVIII / IMP. VI, CO[N]S III.[334]
Marcus'svictory column, established in Rome either in his last few years of life or after his reign and completed in 193, was built to commemorate his victory over the Sarmatians and Germanic tribes in 176. A spiral of carvedreliefs wraps around the column, showing scenes from his military campaigns. A statue of Marcus had stood atop the column but disappeared during theMiddle Ages. It was replaced with a statue ofSaint Paul in 1589 byPope Sixtus V.[335] The column of Marcus and thecolumn of Trajan are often compared by scholars given how they are bothDoric in style, had a pedestal at the base, had sculptedfriezes depicting their respective military victories, and a statue on top.[336]
^Dio asserts that the Annii were near-kin of Hadrian, and that it was to these familial ties that they owed their rise to power.[27] The precise nature of these kinship ties is nowhere stated, but is believed thatRupilia Faustina was the daughter of the consular senatorLibo Rupilius Frugi andVitellia, daughter of emperorVitellius.[28][29][30]
^Farquharson dates his death to 130 when Marcus was nine.[40]
^Birley amends the text of theHA Marcus from 'Eutychius' to 'Tuticius'.[53]
^Commodus was a known consumptive at the time of his adoption, so Hadrian may have intended Marcus's eventual succession anyway.[62]
^Modern scholars have not offered as positive an assessment. His second modern editor,Niebhur, thought him stupid and frivolous; his third editor,Naber, found him contemptible.[102] Historians have seen him as a 'pedant and a bore', his letters offering neither the running political analysis of a Cicero or the conscientious reportage of a Pliny.[103] Recent prosopographic research has rehabilitated his reputation, though not by much.[104]
^Champlin notes that Marcus's praise of Rusticus in theMeditations is out of order (he is praised immediately after Diognetus, who had introduced Marcus to philosophy), giving him special emphasis.[124]
^Although part of the biographer's account of Lucius is fictionalised (probably to mimic Nero, whose birthday Lucius shared[144]) and another part poorly compiled from a better biographical source,[145] scholars have accepted these biographical details as accurate.[146]
^These name-swaps have proven so confusing that even theHistoria Augusta, our main source for the period, cannot keep them straight.[161] The 4th-century ecclesiastical historianEusebius of Caesarea shows even more confusion.[162] The mistaken belief that Lucius had the name 'Verus' before becoming emperor has proven especially popular.[163]
^There was, however, much precedent. The consulate was a twin magistracy, and earlier emperors had often had a subordinate lieutenant with many imperial offices (under Antoninus, the lieutenant had been Marcus). Many emperors had planned a joint succession in the past:Augustus planned to leaveGaius andLucius Caesar as joint emperors on his death; Tiberius wished to haveGaius Caligula andTiberius Gemellus do so as well;Claudius left the empire toNero andBritannicus, imagining that they would accept equal rank. All of these arrangements had ended in failure, either through premature death (Gaius and Lucius Caesar) or judicial murder (Gemellus by Caligula and Britannicus by Nero).[163]
^The biographer relates the scurrilous (and, in the judgement of Anthony Birley, untrue) rumour that Commodus was an illegitimate child born of a union between Faustina and a gladiator.[176]
^Because both Lucius and Marcus are said to have taken active part in the recovery (HA Marcus viii. 4–5), the flood must have happened before Lucius's departure for the east in 162; because it appears in the biographer's narrative after Antoninus's funeral has finished and the emperors have settled into their offices, it must not have occurred in the spring of 161. A date in autumn 161 or spring 162 is probable, and, given the normal seasonal distribution of Tiber flooding, the most probable date is in spring 162.[192] (Birley dates the flood to autumn 161.[187])
^Since AD 15, the river had been administered by a Tiber Conservancy Board, with a consular senator at its head and a permanent staff. In 161, thecurator alevi Tiberis et riparum et cloacarum urbis ('Curator of the Tiber Bed and Banks and the City Sewers') was A. Platorius Nepos, son or grandson ofthe builder ofHadrian's Wall, whose name he shares. He probably had not been particularly incompetent. A more likely candidate for that incompetence is Nepos's likely predecessor,M. Statius Priscus. A military man and consul for 159, Priscus probably looked on the office as little more than 'paid leave'.[194]
^Alan Cameron adduces the 5th-century writerSidonius Apollinaris's comment that Marcus commanded 'countless legions'vivente Pio (while Antoninus was alive) while contesting Birley's contention that Marcus had no military experience. (Neither Apollinaris nor theHistoria Augusta (Birley's source) are particularly reliable on 2nd-century history.[209])
^Birley believes there is some truth in these considerations.[231]
^The whole section of thevita dealing with Lucius's debaucheries (HA Verus iv. 4–6.6), however, is an insertion into a narrative otherwise entirely cribbed from an earlier source. Most of the details are fabricated by the biographer himself, relying on nothing better than his own imagination.[237]
^Vindobona as Marc Aurel's death place is mentioned byAurelius Victor in hisDe Caesaribus (16.14), Sirmium on the other hand inTertullian'sApologeticum (25)
All citations to theHistoria Augusta are to individual biographies, and are marked with a'HA'. Citations to the works of Fronto are cross-referenced to C.R. Haines's Loeb edition.
^Henry Albert Fischel,Rabbinic Literature and Greco-Roman Philosophy: A Study of Epicurea and Rhetorica in Early Midrashic Writings, E. J. Brill, 1973, p. 95.
^Birley,Marcus Aurelius, pp. 229–230. The thesis of single authorship was first proposed in H. Dessau's 'Über Zeit und Persönlichkeit derScriptores Historiae Augustae' (in German),Hermes 24 (1889), pp. 337ff.
^Birley,Marcus Aurelius, p. 230. On theHA Verus, see Barnes, 'Hadrian and Lucius Verus', pp. 65–74.
^Fleury, P. 2012. "Marcus Aurelius' Letters." In A Companion to Marcus Aurelius. Edited by M. van Ackeren, 62–76. Oxford and Malden, MA: Blackwell.
^Freisenbruch, A. 2007. "Back to Fronto: Doctor and Patient in His Correspondence with an Emperor." In Ancient Letters: Classical and Late Antique Epistolography. Edited by R. Morello and A. D. Morrison, 235–256. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press.
^abCassius Dio,Book 69,21.1.Archived 29 March 2020 at theWayback Machine "Marcus Annius Verus [...] This Marcus Annius, earlier named Catilius, was a grandson ofAnnius Verus [...] He preferred Verus on account of his kinship and his age and because he was already giving indication of exceptional strength of character. This led Hadrian to apply to the young man the nameVerissimus, thus playing upon the meaning of the Latin word."
^abHistoria Augusta,Marcus Antoninus I.9–10. "At the beginning of his life Marcus Antoninus was named Catilius Severus after hismother's grand-father. After the death of his real father, however, Hadrian called him Annius Verissimus, and, after he assumed thetoga virilis, Annius Verus."
^Settipani, Christian (2000).Continuité gentilice et continuité familiale dans les familles sénatoriales romaines à l'époque impériale: mythe et réalité. Prosopographica et genealogica (in Italian). Vol. 2 (illustrated ed.). Unit for Prosopographical Research, Linacre College, University of Oxford. p. 278.ISBN978-1900934022.
^Codex Inscriptionum Latinarum 14.3579"Epigraphik-Datenbank Clauss/Slaby". Archived fromthe original on 29 April 2012. Retrieved15 November 2011.; Birley,Marcus Aurelius, p. 29; McLynn,Marcus Aurelius: Warrior, Philosopher, Emperor, pp. 14, 575 n. 53, citing Ronald Syme,Roman Papers 1.244.
^Birley,Marcus Aurelius, p. 29, citing Pliny,Epistulae 8.18.
^Meditations 1.4; McLynn,Marcus Aurelius: Warrior, Philosopher, Emperor, p. 20.
^HA Marcus ii. 2, iv. 9;Meditations i. 3; Birley,Marcus Aurelius, p. 37; McLynn,Marcus Aurelius: Warrior, Philosopher, Emperor, pp. 21–22.
^HA Marcus ii. 6; Birley,Marcus Aurelius, p. 38; McLynn,Marcus Aurelius: Warrior, Philosopher, Emperor, p. 21.
^Birley,Marcus Aurelius, p. 40, citing Aristides,Oratio 32 K; McLynn,Marcus Aurelius: Warrior, Philosopher, Emperor, p. 21.
^Magie & Birley,Lives of the later Caesars, pp. 109, 109 n.8;Marcus Aurelius, pp. 40, 270 n.27, citingBonner Historia-Augusta Colloquia 1966/7, pp. 39ff.
^HA Marcus ii. 3; Birley,Marcus Aurelius, pp. 40, 270 n.27.
^Meditations i. 10; Birley,Marcus Aurelius, p. 40; McLynn,Marcus Aurelius: Warrior, Philosopher, Emperor, p. 22.
^Birley,Marcus Aurelius, pp. 40, 270 n.28, citing A. S. L. Farquharson,The Meditations of Marcus Antoninus (Oxford, 1944) ii. 453.
^HA Hadrian xiii. 10, qtd. in Birley,Marcus Aurelius, p. 42.
^Birley,Marcus Aurelius, p. 42. Van Ackeren, 142. On the succession to Hadrian, see also: T.D. Barnes, 'Hadrian and Lucius Verus',Journal of Roman Studies 57:1–2 (1967): 65–79; J. VanderLeest, 'Hadrian, Lucius Verus, and the Arco di Portogallo',Phoenix 49:4 (1995): pp. 319–330.
^Ad Marcum Caesarem v. 74 ( =Haines 2.52ff), qtd. and tr. Birley,Marcus Aurelius, p. 73.
^Birley,Marcus Aurelius, p. 77. On the date, see Champlin, 'Chronology of Fronto', p. 142, who (with Bowersock,Greek Sophists in the Roman Empire (1964), 93ff) argues for a date in the 150s; Birley,Marcus Aurelius, pp. 78–79, 273 n.17 (with Ameling,Herodes Atticus (1983), 1.61ff, 2.30ff) argues for 140.
^Ad Marcum Caesarem iii. 2 (= Haines 1.58ff), qtd. and tr. Birley,Marcus Aurelius, pp. 77–78.
^Ad Marcum Caesarem iii. 3 (= Haines 1.62ff); Birley,Marcus Aurelius, p. 78.
^Ad Marcum Caesarem iii. 3 (= Haines 1.62ff), qtd. and tr. Birley,Marcus Aurelius, p. 79.
^Ad Marcum Caesarem iv. 13 (= Haines 1.214ff), qtd. and tr. Birley,Marcus Aurelius, p. 93.
^Ad Marcum Caesarem iv. 3.1 (= Haines 1.2ff); Birley,Marcus Aurelius, p. 94.
^HA Marcus iii. 5–8, qtd. and tr. Birley,Marcus Aurelius, p. 94.
^Ad Marcum Caesarem iv. 3, qtd. and tr. Birley,Marcus Aurelius, p. 69.
^De Eloquentia iv. 5 (= Haines 2.74), qtd. and tr. Birley,Marcus Aurelius, p. 95. Alan Cameron, in his review of Birley's biography (The Classical Review 17:3 (1967): p. 347), suggests a reference to chapter 11 of Arthur Darby Nock'sConversion (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1933, rept. 1961): 'Conversion to Philosophy'.
^HA Verus 2.9–11; 3.4–7; Birley,Marcus Aurelius, p. 108.
^Suetonius,Nero 6.1;HA Verus 1.8; Barnes, 'Hadrian and Lucius Verus', 67; Birley,Marcus Aurelius, p. 158. See also: Barnes, 'Hadrian and Lucius Verus', pp. 69–70; Pierre Lambrechts, 'L'empereur Lucius Verus. Essai de réhabilitation' (in French),Antiquité Classique 3 (1934), pp. 173ff.
^Barnes, 'Hadrian and Lucius Verus', p. 66. Poorly compiled: e.g. Barnes, 'Hadrian and Lucius Verus', p. 68.
^HA Marcus xix. 1–2; Birley,Marcus Aurelius, p. 278 n.9.
^HA Commodus. i.4, x.2; Birley,Marcus Aurelius, p. 119.
^Birley,Marcus Aurelius, p. 119, citing H. Mattingly,Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum IV: Antoninus Pius to Commodus (London, 1940), Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus, nos. 155ff.; 949ff.
^HA Marcus vii. 7; Birley,Marcus Aurelius, p. 118.
^Birley,Marcus Aurelius, p. 118, citing Werner Eck,Die Organization Italiens (1979), pp. 146ff.
^HA Marcus viii. 1, qtd. and tr. Birley,Marcus Aurelius, p. 119; 'Hadrian to the Antonines', p. 157.
^Birley,Marcus Aurelius, pp. 122–123, citing H.G. Pfalum,Les carrières procuratoriennes équestres sous le Haut-Empire romain I–III (Paris, 1960–61);Supplément (Paris, 1982), nos. 142; 156; Eric Birley,Roman Britain and the Roman Army (1953), pp. 142ff., 151ff.
^Birley,Marcus Aurelius, p. 123, citing H.G. Pfalum,Les carrières procuratoriennes équestres sous le Haut-Empire romain I–III (Paris, 1960–61);Supplément (Paris, 1982), no. 141.
^HA Marcus viii. 8; Birley,Marcus Aurelius, p. 123, citing W. Eck,Die Satthalter der germ. Provinzen (1985), pp. 65ff.
^Birley,Marcus Aurelius, p. 120, citingAd Verum Imperatorem i.3.2 (= Haines 1.298ff).
^Ad Antoninum Imperatorem iv.2.3 (= Haines 1.302ff), qtd. and tr. Birley,Marcus Aurelius, p. 119.
^Birley,Marcus Aurelius, p. 120, citingAd Verum Imperatorem i.1 (= Haines 1.305).
^Ad Antoninum Imperatorem iv.1 (= Haines 1.300ff), qtd. and tr. Birley,Marcus Aurelius, p. 120.
^HA Marcus viii. 3–4; Birley,Marcus Aurelius, p. 120.
^Birley,Marcus Aurelius, p. 120, citing H. Mattingly,Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum IV: Antoninus Pius to Commodus (London, 1940), Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus, nos. 841; 845.
^Gregory S. Aldrete,Floods of the Tiber in ancient Rome (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007), pp. 30–31.
^HA Marcus viii. 4–5; Birley,Marcus Aurelius, p. 120.
^Inscriptiones Latinae Selectae5932 (Nepos),1092 (Priscus); Birley,Marcus Aurelius, p. 121.
^HA Marcus xi. 3, cited in Birley,Marcus Aurelius, p. 278 n.16.
^Ad Antoninum Imperatorem 1.2.2 (= Haines 2.35), qtd. and tr. Birley,Marcus Aurelius, p. 128.
^De eloquentia 1.12 (= Haines 2.63–65), qtd. and tr. Birley,Marcus Aurelius, p. 128.
^Ad Antoninum Imperatorem 1.2.2 (= Haines 2.35); Birley,Marcus Aurelius, pp. 127–128.
^Ad Antoninum Imperatorem 1.2.4 (= Haines 2.41–43), tr. Haines; Birley,Marcus Aurelius, p. 128.
^HA Antoninus Pius xii.7; Birley,Marcus Aurelius, pp. 114, 121.
^Event:HA Marcus viii. 6; Birley,Marcus Aurelius, p. 121. Date: Jaap-Jan Flinterman, 'The Date of Lucian's Visit to Abonuteichos,'Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 119 (1997): p. 281.
^HA Marcus viii. 6; Birley,Marcus Aurelius, p. 121.
^Lucian,Alexander 27; Birley,Marcus Aurelius, p. 121.
^Lucian,Alexander 27; Birley,Marcus Aurelius, pp. 121–122. On Alexander, see: Robin Lane Fox,Pagans and Christians (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1986), pp. 241–250.
^HA Marcus viii. 9, tr. Magie; Birley,Marcus Aurelius, pp. 123–126. On Lucius's voyage, see:HA Verus vi. 7–9;HA Marcus viii. 10–11; Birley,Marcus Aurelius, pp. 125–126.
^HA Verus ix. 2;Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum 3.199"Epigraphik-Datenbank Clauss/Slaby". Archived fromthe original on 29 April 2012. Retrieved15 November 2011.; Birley,Marcus Aurelius, pp. 130–131.
^HA Verus vii. 7;Marcus ix. 4; Barnes, 'Hadrian and Lucius Verus', p. 72; Birley, 'Hadrian to the Antonines', p. 163; cf. also Barnes, 'Legislation against the Christians', p. 39; 'Some Persons in the Historia Augusta', p. 142, citing theVita Abercii 44ff.
^HA Marcus ix. 5–6; Birley,Marcus Aurelius, p. 131.
^HA Marcus ix. 1; Birley, 'Hadrian to the Antonines', p. 162.
^HA Marcus ix. 1;HA Verus vii. 1–2;Ad Verum Imperatorem 2.3 (= Haines 2.133); Birley,Marcus Aurelius, p. 129; 'Hadrian to the Antonines', p. 162.
^Birley,Marcus Aurelius, p. 129; 'Hadrian to the Antonines', p. 162, citing H. Mattingly,Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum IV: Antoninus Pius to Commodus (London, 1940), Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus, nos. 233ff.
^Dio, lxxi.3.1; Birley,Marcus Aurelius, 131; 'Hadrian to the Antonines', p. 162; Millar,Near East, p. 113.
^Birley,Marcus Aurelius, p. 280 n. 42; 'Hadrian to the Antonines', p. 162.
^Birley,Marcus Aurelius, p. 131; 'Hadrian to the Antonines', p. 162, citing H. Mattingly,Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum IV: Antoninus Pius to Commodus (London, 1940), Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus, nos. 261ff.; 300 ff.
^Birley,Marcus Aurelius, pp. 130, 279 n. 38; 'Hadrian to the Antonines', p. 163, citingProsopographia Imperii Romani2 M 169; Millar,Near East, p. 112.
^Birley,Marcus Aurelius, p. 130; 'Hadrian to the Antonines', p. 162.
^Fronto,Ad Verum Imperatorem ii.1.3 (= Haines 2.133); Astarita, 41; Birley,Marcus Aurelius, p. 130; 'Hadrian to the Antonines', p. 162.
^Inscriptiones Latinae Selectae1098; Birley,Marcus Aurelius, p. 130.
^Birley, 'Hadrian to the Antonines', p. 163, citingProsopographia Imperii Romani2 M 169.
^Lucian,Historia Quomodo Conscribenda 15, 19; Birley, 'Hadrian to the Antonines', p. 163.
^Lucian,Historia Quomodo Conscribenda 20, 28; Birley, 'Hadrian to the Antonines', p. 163, citing Syme,Roman Papers, 5.689ff.
^HA Verus 8.3–4; Birley, 'Hadrian to the Antonines', 163. Birley cites R. H. McDowell,Coins from Seleucia on the Tigris (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1935), pp. 124ff., on the date.
^Birley, 'Hadrian to the Antonines', p. 164, citing H. Mattingly,Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum IV: Antoninus Pius to Commodus (London, 1940), Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus, nos. 384 ff., 1248 ff., 1271 ff.
^Birley, 'Hadrian to the Antonines', p. 164, citing P. Kneissl,Die Siegestitulatur der römischen Kaiser. Untersuchungen zu den Siegerbeinamen des 1. und 2. Jahrhunderts (Göttingen, 1969), pp. 99 ff.
^Birley, 'Hadrian to the Antonines', p. 164, citing H. Mattingly,Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum IV: Antoninus Pius to Commodus (London, 1940), Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus, nos. 401ff.
^Dio, lxxii. 11.3–4; Birley,Marcus Aurelius, p. 132, citingDe nepote amisso ii (= Haines 2.222);Ad Verum Imperatorem ii. 9–10 (= Haines 2.232ff.).
^Birley,Marcus Aurelius, p. 133, citing Geza Alföldy,Konsulat und Senatorenstand (1977), Moesia Inferior: pp. 232ff.; Moesia Superior: pp. 234ff.; Pannonia Superior: pp. 236ff.; Dacia: pp. 245ff.; Pannonia Inferior: p. 251.
^Fergus Millar,The Emperor in the Roman World, 31 BC – AD 337 (London: Duckworth, 1977), 6 andpassim. See also: idem. 'Emperors at Work',Journal of Roman Studies 57:1/2 (1967): 9–19.
^'Thinkers At War – Marcus Aurelius'Archived 9 September 2017 at theWayback Machine.Military History MonthlyArchived 27 October 2014 at theWayback Machine, published 2014. (This is the conclusion ofIain King's biography of Marcus Aurelius.) 'Pius, one of longest-serving emperors, became infirm in his last years, so Marcus Aurelius gradually assumed the imperial duties. By the time he succeeded in 161, he was already well-practised in public administration.'
^Codex Justinianeus 7.2.6, qtd. and tr. Birley,Marcus Aurelius, 133.
^Digest 31.67.10, qtd. and tr. Birley,Marcus Aurelius, p. 133.
^HA Marcus i. 1, xxvii. 7; Dio lxxi. 1.1; James Francis,Subversive Virtue: Asceticism and Authority in the Second-Century Pagan World (University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1995), 21 n. 1.
Fronto, Marcus Cornelius.The Correspondence of Marcus Cornelius Fronto: With Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, Lucius Verus, Antoninus Pius, and Various Friends (in Latin).
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Echols, Edward C., trans.Herodian of Antioch's History of the Roman empire: From the death of Marcus Aurelius to the accession of Gordian III. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1961.OCLC463202486. Online atTertullianArchived 20 June 2010 at theWayback Machine andLiviusArchived 29 December 2019 at theWayback Machine.
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