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Marcus Aurelius
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Marcus Aurelius was the only son to Domitia Lucilla and Marcus Annius Verus. His only natural sibling was his younger sister Annia Cornificia Faustina, who was about 2 years younger than him. Domitia Lucilla came from a wealthy family who were of consular rank. Marcus Aurelius' father was of Spanish origin, and served as a praetor and died when Marcus was three years old. Marcus Aurelius credits him with teaching him "manliness without ostentation".[6]
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The Latin writings of Marcus Aurelius, letters to a teacher, Fronto, are not interesting, but the "Writings to Himself", called Meditations, are remarkable. They are personal reflections and aphorisms, written for his own edification during a long career of public service, after marching or battle in the remote Danube. Meditations are valuable primarily as a personal document, what it is to be a Stoic. His opinions in central philosophical questions are very much similar to Epictetus's (c. 55-135 AD) teachings. Epictetus's two basic principles were: Endure and Abstain.
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Marcus Aurelius had an extraordinary education. Among his tutors was Diognetus, a painter and Stoic philosopher. Marcus studied subjects such as poetry and law, and generally was an excellent student. But philosophy was Marcus's main interest. Under Diognetus's influence, young Marcus became a Stoic at the age of eleven and remained a dedicated follower of stoicism for the rest of his life.
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Marcus Aurelius had an excellent education, numbering among his tutors M. Cornelius Fronto, the rhetorician; the very wealthy Herodes Atticus, whose Odeon still stands in Athens; Plutarch's grandson Sextus of Chaeronea; and Diognetus, the painter and Stoic philosopher. Under Diognetus's influence young Marcus became a precocious Stoic at the age of 11 and remained a devoted follower of stoicism for the rest of his life.
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From the reign of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius comes a series of panels which well illustrate many of the the conventions of Roman Imperial iconography. The panels probably commemorate the Emperor's victories over the Sarmatian and German tribes and the triumph of 176 AD. Of the eleven extant panels, eight were later incorporated into the attic of the Arch of Constantine at the beginning of the fourth century, while the remaining three are now embedded in the walls of the Museo del Palazzo dei Conservatori. The heads of the Emperor in the panels incorporated into the Arch of Constantine were recarved to present the likeness of Constantine. These were later changed in the eighteenth century to the likeness of Trajan, while the Conservatori panels still bear the likeness of Marcus Aurelius. There is no certainty about the original use of these panels.
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Marcus Aurelius died on March 17, 180 during the expedition against the Marcomanni in the city of Vindobona (modern Vienna). His ashes were returned to Rome and rest in Hadrian's mausoleum (modern Castel Sant'Angelo). 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 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.
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Marcus Aurelius