Marcus Aurelius

The Roman Emperor and philosopher Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus was born in AD 121 in Rome to an aristocratic family. Having lost his father at three years old, he was brought up jointly by several family members, and educated at home. Hadrian, who was Emperor at the time, was quite taken with young Marcus Aurelius, and took responsibility for his education by the best teachers. The Emperor also had him trained as a priest, and the boy showed great dedication to the Roman religion and priestly duty. Marcus Aurelius found that he loved philosophy more than any other discipline, especially Stoicism, which he began studying when he was merely 11 years old. In 138, Emperor Antoninus Pius adopted Marcus Aurelius, who proved to be a powerful leader in his own right, and helpful to his adopted father. During this time Aurelius was married to Pius' daughter, and began the first books of his famous philosophical work, the Meditations, which are his thoughts on living a good life according to Stoic principles. Although fortune seemed to have favored Aurelius, his elevation from aristocrat to the side of the Emperor was something he struggled with, since he preferred studying philosophy to imperial court life.

In 161 Aurelius became Emperor, and was honored for his leadership and justice. His reign began in peacetime, and he allowed great freedom to the people, inlcuding freedom of speech. He was a conservative and conducted himself well, although his reign is also marked by his dogged and rather ruthless persecution of Christians. However, Aurelius showed strength in governing his empire through all kinds of natural disasters as well as threat of barbarian invasion and revolt. The barbarians were getting stronger at this time, regardless of Aurelius' constant defense, and he slowly withdrew into Stoicism in order to deal with the dissolving borders of the empire. The Meditations are an integral part of this project. In this work Aurelius explored Plato's ideal of the philosopher king, which clearly had great impact on him. As Aurelius studied Stoic philosophy, he rigorously adopted the Stoic position on obtaining inner freedom through 'apatheia', or being without passion. He attempted to detach himself from the things of the world, especially that which he knew he could not control. Aurelius worked on accepting the possibility of invasion and disaster with inner peace, as he had earlier in his life with the deaths of several of his fourteen children. This was also a method of coping with the depression of ruling, and his desire to retire in the country rather than lead an empire, believing in the superiority of a simple life over life in a palace.

The end of Aurelius' reign was marked by many wars with Germanic tribes in the North. After several victories for the empire, he became very ill. Marcus Aurelius died on March 17, AD 180.

Written in Greek, the Meditations show an insightful scholarship in philosophy that is still highly influential today.