Biography of Marcus Aurelius, Stoic Philosopher and Roman Emperor

One of our most popular videos asks these questions:
Did Marcus Aurelius persecute Christians? Was
Marcus Aurelius a friend, or a foe, of Christianity?
To better answer these questions, we are reflecting
on the biographies of Marcus Aurelius to become
better acquainted with this Roman Emperor and
Stoic Philosopher. A preliminary observation is that
history, like relationships, is complicated.

Because his Meditations contains so many Stoic
sayings that parallel the Scriptures and teachings
of Christianity, modern Christians deeply desire
that he was a friend to Christians. What we have
discovered of the writings attributed to and
surrounding St Justin the Martyr, is that ancient
Christians also want to bring Marcus Aurelius
into the Christian camp.

Please, we welcome interesting questions in the
comments. Let us learn and reflect together!
At the end of our talk, we will discuss the sources
used for this video.
Please feel free to follow along in the PowerPoint
script we uploaded to SlideShare.

Biographies of Marcus Aurelius
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Marcus Aurelius was the last of the Five Good
Emperors of Rome. We have reflected on the prior
emperors of Rome, in particular these five good
emperors. Marcus Aurelius and the provincial
governors mainly followed the precedents set by
prior emperors when conducting the Christian
Persecutions. Will also examine the history of the
Christian persecutions through the reign of Marcus
Aurelius, and the Mediations of Marcus Aurelius.

https://youtu.be/6i--hVIpg1k https://youtu.be/0qHpReZYhv4

The biographies of Marcus Aurelius also contain
valuable information on the ordinary life of Romans,
and the ancient warrior culture in Rome. We will also
reflect on the biography of his son and successor,
Commodus.

https://youtu.be/7QAZ_s6zw4E https://youtu.be/9xKxqAbJ2qY
https://youtu.be/9hgSbcgbCJw

Verus, the father of Marcus, died when he was three. His mother did not remarry.
In his Meditations he praised “her reverence for the divine, her generosity, her
inability not only to do wrong but even to conceive of doing it. And the simple way
she lived, not in the least like the rich.” He was raised by his rich grandfather, but
the Emperor Hadrian was a frequent visitor and became fond of the young Marcus,
taking interest both in his education and involving him in the Roman priesthood.
Since Hadrian had no heirs, he adopted as his successor Marcus Aurelius. But soon
before his death, he decided to also adopt a relative, Antoninus Pius, as his son and
immediate successor. Hadrian insisted that Antoninus Pius would, in turn, adopt as
his sons both young Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Versus, and Marcus Aurelius would
succeed him as emperor, guaranteeing a smooth succession for two generations.
Marcus likely moved into the palace sometime in his youth, likely after Hadrian had
put him in the line of succession. The Roman Empire under these good emperors
was at its peak, ranging from Syria to Spain, and from England to Egypt.

Roman Ruins, with Arch of Constantine, Trajan’s Column,
the Colosseum, and the Statue of Marcus Aurelius, 1751
THE FIVE GOOD EMPERORS REIGN
The Five Good Emperors selected for adoption by ability.
Nerva, died of natural causes 96-98 AD
Trajan, Roman Empire at its peak 98-117 AD
Hadrian, pulled back and consolidated 117-138 AD
Hadrian picked next two sets of emperors through adoption
Antoninus Pius, not ambitious, competent 138-161 AD
Marcus Aurelius, last of the good emperors 161-180 AD
Lucius Verus, co-emperor 161-169 AD

Roman
Empire at
117 AD,
beginning of
rule of
Hadrian

The historian Will Durant states,
“Never was a boy so persistently
educated. He was attached in
boyhood to the service of temples
and priests; he committed to memory
every word of the ancient and
unintelligible liturgy;” and this may be
overstated, “and though philosophy
later shook his faith, it never
diminished his sedulous performance
of the old exacting ritual.” Marcus
studied under seventeen tutors,
including Stoic philosophers, jurists,
grammarians, and rhetoricians.

From an early age, Marcus was a
serious Stoic philosopher, as Will
Durant says, “at the age of twelve
he took on the rude cloak of a
philosopher, slept on a little straw
strewn over the floor, and long
resisted the entreaties of his
mother to use a couch. He was a
Stoic before he became a man.”
Bust of young Marcus Aurelius from Capitoline Museum

The historian McLynn recorded some Stoic
lessons Marcus learned from his tutors.
“Apollonius taught that nothing mattered
except the purity of Stoic doctrine, and that a
man should be the same in all circumstances,
indifferent both to worldly success and to pain,
illness, or the loss of a child.”
“Severus believed in the freedom of speech,
equality before the law and enlightened rulers.
He preached the love of family, truth and
justice, the value of helping others, the joys of
sharing and the merits of optimism.”
Imaginary portrait of Epictetus, 1715

Marcus Aurelius was inspired by the Stoic
philosopher Epictetus, but he did not read the works
of the Stoic philosopher Seneca, according to our
historians.

https://youtu.be/Dhd543kov-E https://youtu.be/zAAal5p8AX8
https://youtu.be/wgD8skYi3I0 https://youtu.be/m4mcP2F9c4w

“Maximus taught these lessons:
You must master yourself, keep
your personality in balance and
combine dignity and grace; you
should be cheerful in all
circumstances, particularly when
ill, and do your job without
complaining; you should be
generous, charitable, honest,
sincere and forgiving.”
Epictetus

“Marcus said that Maximus was a
man who always spoke without
malice, but who said exactly what he
thought. He was imperturbable and
unshockable, was never
apprehensive and never taken
aback; he was never rash, hesitant,
bewildered or at a loss, never hung
back from a task, was never
downcast or fawningly hypocritical,
never obsequious, but not
aggressive or paranoid either.”
Epictetus

His teacher Rusticus taught him, in
the words of McLynn, that “to live
the life of a philosopher was not a
matter of showy austerity, wearing
hair shirts, sleeping rough or wearing
a philosopher’s cloak,” “but simply
knowing how to live well; in theory
an emperor could do that as well as a
shepherd.” He would later preside
over the martyrdom of St Justin.
Diogenes of Sinope, by John William Waterhouse, 1882

Marcus Aurelius and Pius, Co-Rulers

Emperor Antoninus Pius persuaded Marcus to break his current
engagement to marry his daughter Faustina in the year 145 AD.
Although Faustina gained a reputation for infidelity, Marcus never
complained, thanking the gods for a wife who was “so obedient,
so warm-hearted, so artless.” She bore him fifteen children,
although only six survived to adulthood.
Marcus was a virtual co-emperor with Antoninus Pius for the final
thirteen and a half years of his reign. He served as consul and
actively participated in drafting legislation for the Senate,
ensuring a smooth transition on the passing of Antoninus.

Statue and bust
of Faustina,
daughter of
Antoninus Pius,
wife of Marcus
Aurelius

Did Marcus Aurelius or Antoninus Pius read a remarkable
Apology to the Emperor addressed and delivered to them from St
Justin the Martyr? He sought to show how both the Old
Testament and the Greco-Roman moral philosophers point to and
are fulfilled by the coming of Christ into the world. He may have
gone too far by attacking the moral bankruptcy of the myths
surrounding the gods and the deification of emperors, by Roman
standards. History is silent on whether either emperor saw this
apology. We do know that Fronto, a tutor of Marcus, criticized
the incestuous banquets of the Christians, showing a
misunderstanding of the Christianity.

St Justin Martyr traveled to Rome during the reign of
Antoninus Pius and started a school, Tatian was one of his
students. During the reign of Marcus Aurelius, after a
debate with the Cynic philosopher Crescens, he was
denounced to the authorities. He and his companions
were martyred when they refused to sacrifice to the gods.
Since the prosecutor of the case, Rusticus, was an old
friend and mentor of Marcus Aurelius, it is likely he was
informed about the case.

Marcus Aurelius was only absent from the palace for
two nights during the reign of Antoninus Pius.

Roman generals and emperors, National Galleries of Scotland, by William Brassey Hole, 1897

Roman generals and emperors, National Galleries of Scotland, by William Brassey Hole, 1897
Will Durant stated that when Emperor Pius, in declining health, “desired a
colleague to share the government with him, he named Marcus only, and left
to Lucius the empire of love. On the death of Antoninus, Marcus became sole
emperor; but remembering Hadrian’s wish, he at once made Lucius Verus his
full colleague and gave him his daughter Lucilla in marriage. At the outset of
his reign, as at the end, the philosopher erred through kindness.”

Last Good Emperor: Marcus Aurelius
Marcus Aurelius began his reign
auspiciously, with acclaim. Will
Durant noted that “he paid the
Senate every courtesy.” “All Italy
and all the provinces acclaimed
him as Plato’s dream come true:
the philosopher was king.”
Although he insisted that Lucius
Verus be named co-emperor,
Marcus had the greater
authority since he was chief
priest of Rome.

But Will Durant also
criticized his rule: “Marcus
Aurelius was not a great
statesman: he spent too
much of the public funds in
cash gifts to the people and
the army,” gave free corn to
more citizens, “provided
frequent and costly games,
and remitted large sums in
unpaid taxes and tributes.”

In hindsight, Durant can say this, but the truth is our Emperor
faced far more serious challenges than did most emperors before
him. Early in his reign, Marcus Aurelius faced major military
attacks, first in Parthian Persia, then from formerly friendly
German tribes that rebelled, and some invaded Northern Italy,
which had not happened since Hannibal’s elephants crossed the
Alps many centuries ago. When the army returned from Parthia,
they brought with them the plague, which scholars estimate
decimated ten percent of the population in the empire. At its
worst, the plague was killing two thousand people a day in Rome,
including many of the aristocracy. The cities and the Roman army
suffered the most.

Marcus Aurelius faced these major
challenges during his reign:
• Major invasion from Parthian Persia.
• Major rebellion in Germania. The
German tribesmen crossed the Alps,
as Hannibal had done many
centuries before.
• Outbreak of devastating Antonine
Plague, 10% mortality rate.

The angel of death
striking a door
during the plague
of Rome.
Engraving by
Levasseur after J.
Delaunay.

Who was to blame for the plague? We remember how, in the
Iliad, the priest Chryses prayed to Apollo to send a plague upon
the Greeks for refusing to release his daughter Chryseis. Likewise,
many Romans, fearful of the plague, suspected the Christians,
who not only refused to sacrifice to the gods, but also were
rather hostile towards the gods. Many Romans thought the
Christians may have caused the plague by angering the gods.
Although the most vigorous persecutions were in the provinces,
there were persecutions in Rome as well, including the
martyrdom of St Justin the Martyr.

What challenges did Marcus Aurelius face in the first year
of his reign? First was one of the worst floodings of the
Tiber River in Rome, destroying many buildings, drowning
many animals, leaving famine in its wake. Second, Parthia
in Persia opened hostilities against Rome. And third,
though it was seen as a blessing at the time, Marcus’ wife
Faustina gave birth to twins. Although the omens were
favorable, she dreamed she was giving birth to serpents,
and their birthday was the same as the murderous
Emperor Caligula. Commodus was the twin who survived.

These are miniature figures of Roman auxiliary cavalry. Auxiliary soldiers, including the cavalry,
were the ones stationed on Hadrian's Wall and its associated forts.

Trouble in Persia, Parthia Rebels

In prior conflicts, Roman Emperors had invaded Persia to defeat Parthia. Emperor
Trajan had invaded, making the kingdom of Armenia a Roman province. But his
successor Hadrian decided to retreat to more defensible borders, granting Armenia
independence, making them a client kingdom that paid Rome tribute. While
Hadrian visited the provinces, the aging Antoninus Pius ruled from Rome, also
maintaining the status quo. Then Marcus Aurelius, praised as a philosopher king,
assumed the duties of emperor.
The aggressive King Vologases IV of Persia was not impressed, a decade earlier he
had seized the Roman client states of Mesena in lower Mesopotamia. He conquered
the Roman client state of Armenia, massacring a Roman legion. Then the Parthians
invaded Syria, defeating the Roman governor, who fled. Simultaneously, there was
also trouble in Britain and Germania.

Roman soldier reenactors in Great Britain, on the Wall of Hadrian

Since Antoninus Pius wanted to keep Marcus Aurelius under his
thumb, possibly to assure his security as ruler, neither he nor
Verus, for all their education, had any military training. Also, you
cannot gain battlefield experience in a peaceful empire. Since
Lucius Verus was younger and in better health, he was sent to the
East to command the troops in person, he was assigned the crack
legions and the best equipment available.
But Lucius took his time, hunting and carousing as he went, at
last finding his way into Antioch which would be the Roman
military base for the next four years.

Historical Roman re-enactors: Testudo formation / Christian Chi-Rho standard / Roman Cavalry

Will Durant notes that in
Antioch Lucius met an oriental
beauty named Panthea. “Lucius
saw her, and, like Gilgamesh,
forgot when he was born. He
abandoned himself to pleasure,
to hunting, at last to
debauchery, while the Parthians
rode into terror-stricken Syria.”
Birth of Venus, by William-Adolphe Bouguereau, 1879

Fortunately, Verus had one strength, he was a good delegator, he allowed the
Roman army to fight and win the war. In Rome, Marcus Aurelius monitored the
situation and decided on a two-front strategy. On one front, he sent the best
generals of the Roman army to Syria, and on the other front, he sent his daughter
Lucilla, who had been promised to Lucius Verus in marriage, to the east, where they
were married in pomp and ceremony in Ephesus. She had recently turned fourteen
and was eligible for marriage.
Both fronts of this struggle were a success. The invasion of Parthia in 164 AD was
meticulously planned. The army discipline had grown lax, they were put through a
boot camp and retrained. Verus did participate in the planning of the invasion but
left the execution to the generals of the two invading Roman legions. On the second
front, Lucilla acquired the title Augusta, and the couple soon bore three children in
succession, although history is silent on whether she banished Panthea.

Lucilla, wife of Roman emperor Lucius Verus, as goddess Ceres / Possible bust of Lucilla, 180 AD / Lucilla on coin

Will Durant summarizes the war: “Marcus made
no comment on Lucius, but sent to Avidius
Cassius, second in charge to Lucius’ army, a
planned campaign whose military excellence
helped the general’s own ability not only to drive
the Parthians back across Mesopotamia, but to
plant the Roman standards once more in Seleucia
and Ctesiphon,” which are cities near Babylon on
the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. “This time the two
cities were burned to the ground.” “Lucius
returned from Antioch to Rome and was awarded
a triumph, which he magnanimously insisted that
Marcus should share.”
Co-emperors Marcus Aurelius and
Lucius Verus, British Museum,170 AD

Marcus Aurelius, Emperor In Rome

In a prior reflection, I was hoping that the reason Christians were
persecuted in Rome during the reign of Marcus Aurelius was that he was
distracted fighting the Germanic tribes. But unfortunately, including
when he was de facto emperor in the last years of the reign of Antoninus
Pius, Marcus Aurelius ruled as residing emperor in Rome for about two
decades.
During his time in Rome, Marcus Aurelius was an able administrator and
ruler. Marcus attended the Senate sessions, sometimes suggesting
legislation. He decreed that the Senate hear appeals from decisions of
the consuls. He was prudent in state expenditures and discouraged false
accusations. Sometimes he was personally involved in hearing cases and
appeals.

Marcus Aurelius distributing
bread to the people, by
Joseph-Marie Vien, 1765

Marcus Aurelius, living up to his Stoic
ideals, had these three interests,
according to Anthony Birley:
• Manumission or liberation of slaves.
• Appointment of guardians for orphans
and minors.
• Selection of councilors to administer
local communities in the provinces.

Antoninus Pius had made a master liable for the murder of
his slave, which was remarkable for the ancient world. The
law was interpreted liberally to free slaves when possible.
Sometimes Marcus Aurelius forced a cruel master to sell
his slave to another kinder master.
Over the centuries and millennia, the Old Testament
prophets, rabbis, Christian fathers, and Stoics, in particular
Seneca and Marcus Aurelius, slowly improved the lot of
the lowest class of laborers, which were the slaves in the
ancient world.

Marcus Aurelius was not fond of gladiatorial
contests. They were quite popular with the populace,
so the rulers dared not abolish them. Even St
Augustine was complaining about these bloody
contests centuries later, long after the Roman Empire
became Christian.

Will Durant said that Marcus
Aurelius “forbade extravagant
renumeration to actors and
gladiators, restricted” “the
expenditures of cities on games,
required the use of foiled
weapons in gladiatorial contests,
and did all that sanguinary
custom would allow to banish
death from the arena.”

An unintended consequence of a decree to reduce
the cost of these gladiatorial games, reducing the
number of gladiators by reducing for their fees, was
the substitution of other condemned men, such as
Christians, to die in the arena in their place.

Ave Imperator,
morituri te
salutant (Hail,
Cesar, those who
will die salute
you), by Jean-
Léon Gérôme,
1859

German Tribes Rebel and Invade Italy

Soon after the victory over Parthia, the Germanic
tribes on the northern frontier put aside their
differences, formed a secret alliance, and rebelled
against Rome. Perhaps they wanted to take
advantage of Roman losses from the plague.

Historical re-enactors: one wearing replica equipment of a Roman legionary, AD 75; one dressed as a Praetorian
vexillarius, one replica equipment of a late 1st-century centurion

Will Durant summarizes the start of the
conflict: the Germanic tribes
“overwhelmed a Roman garrison of
twenty-thousand men.” “Some made
their way over the Alps, had defeated
every army sent against them, were
besieging Aquileia, near Venice, and
were threatening Verona, and were
laying waste the rich fields of northern
Italy. Never before had the German
tribes moved with such unity or so
closely threatened Rome.”
Trajan's Justice, by Eugène Delacroix, 1840

But the historian Anthony Birley comments that part
of their motivation was pressure from wilder
Germanic tribesmen to the far north, and that many
of them invaded merely to settle, not to raid and
plunder.

Roman sarcophagus with a relief of the submission of the Sarmatians, Museo Pio-Clementino of the Vatican Museums.

Durant continues, “Marcus acted with
surprising decisiveness. He put away
the pleasures of philosophy and
determined to take the field in what he
foresaw would be the most momentous
of Roman wars since Hannibal. He
shocked Italy by enrolling policemen,
gladiators, slaves, brigands, and
barbarian mercenaries into legions
depleted by war and pestilence. Even
the gods were conscripted” with
sacrifices to protect Rome.
Germanic warriors submit to Marcus Aurelius

When both Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus
departed for the front, Lucius fell ill from food
poisoning, dying a few days later. Some scholars
debate whether he died from smallpox or plague.
Despite their differences, Marcus gave him a state
funeral, deifying him.

Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus, and Lucius Verus, British Museum, and Diomede with the head of Lucius Verus.

Will Durant summarizes this military
struggle: “Despite a hundred defeats, the
fertile barbarians were growing stronger,
the barren Romans weaker.” Perhaps
Durant here is revealing to us more about
his sensibilities than he reveals Roman
history. But he correctly states that
“Marcus saw that it was now a war to the
death, that one side must destroy the
other or go under. Only a man schooled in
the Roman and Stoic sense of duty could
have transformed himself so completely
from a mystic philosopher into a
competent and successful emperor.”
Marcus Aurelius and Imperial family offer sacrifice
in gratitude for success against Germanic tribes

This war with the initially unified Germanic tribes lasted a long,
bloody seven years. This war was fought on a front from the
Danube to the Black Sea. The war was brutal, Marcus built a
column in Rome celebrating his victory showing captured
warriors being beheaded, the torching of villages, rape of
women, seizures of cattle, and killing of infants. But these brutal
reprisals were only exacted against the most recalcitrant foes,
Marcus Aurelius preferred to treat surrendering tribes with
magnanimity, sometimes resettling them, sometimes permitting
the warriors to serve in Roman legions in other theaters of war.

https://omniatlas.com/maps/europe/1700827/

Calling this a battle against barbarians oversimplifies the
struggle, these Germanic tribes had become more and
more Romanized as they interacted with Rome ever since
Emperor Augustus campaigned there. Marcus Aurelius and
the army played the long game, striking only when
advantageous, defeating the tribes one by one. Although
the Germanic tribes fought more effectively by adopting
some Roman tactics, their warrior culture demanded that
their armies attack the strongest part of the Roman line,
making them easier to defeat.

Detail from
Column of
Marcus
Aurelius in
Rome,
erected to
celebrate
victory in
Germania.

What is an Aborted Coup Among Friends?

One of the most bizarre and puzzling episodes in
ancient history was the attempted coup by Marcus’
trusted general Avidius Cassius, whom he posted in
the East while he was busy fighting the Germanic
tribes. He heard of the coup while arranging the final
peace settlement with a major Germanic tribe, and
had to hurry the negotiations, to Rome’s detriment,
to deal with this crisis.

Avidius Cassius did not respect Marcus Aurelius.
As the historian McLynn puts it, “Although
claiming to find Marcus the best of men, Avidius
appears to have despised him for weakness. In
his view, Marcus tried to make a virtue of being
merciful in the wrong contexts: he habitually
pardoned the unpardonable. As for his Stoic
philosophy, that was at best an eccentricity and
at worst an abomination. Who needed an
emperor who meditated on philosophical
principles instead of the interests of the state?
It was not philosophy Rome needed, but
practical wisdom and, above all, the sword.”

Does this condemnation of stoicism ring true? Perhaps there is a
grain of truth in this, and perhaps Marcus wanted to be too
lenient with Cassius, but what we do know is because of his
magnanimity and his living his Stoic virtues in practice, Marcus
had very few enemies in the Senate and in the army, but perhaps
he had one in his army and one enemy in his household.
Since we care as much about learning his Stoic virtues as his
history, we will let Cassius Dio tell this story, and both of our
modern historians, McLynn and Birley, use this account as a
primary source for this fantastic history.

Cassius Dio tells us that his trusted general
Cassius was “an excellent man and the sort
one would desire to have as an emperor.”
But Cassius was “deceived by Faustina” who,
seeing that her husband had fallen ill and”
was near death,” was afraid that the throne
might fall to some outsider, as Commodus
was both too young and also rather simple-
minded.” Our modern historians claim she
sought to protect the throne for her son, but
we must ask ourselves, Was she concerned
about her son’s fitness for the throne?

Cassius Dio continues, “Faustina secretly
induced Cassius to make his preparations
so that, if anything should happen to her
husband, he might obtain both her and
the imperial power.” Just then “a
message came that Marcus was dead,”
“and immediately, without waiting to
confirm the rumor, he laid claim to the
throne.” Although “he soon learned the
whole truth, he did not change his
course,” “and was preparing to seize the
throne.”

Marcus, on being informed of his uprising, to
dispel rumors, addressed his troops:
"Fellow-soldiers: I have come before you, not
to express indignation, but to bewail my fate.
For why become angry at Heaven, which is all-
powerful? But it is necessary, perhaps, for
those who meet with undeserved misfortune
to indulge in lamentations; and that is now
my case. Is it not dreadful that we become
engaged in war after war? Is it not horrible
that we are even involved in civil war? And
are not both these evils surpassed in
dreadfulness and horror by the discovery that
there is no such thing as loyalty among men?”

Marcus continues his speech: "There is only one
thing I fear, fellow soldiers, for you shall be told
the whole truth, and that is, that either Cassius
will kill himself because ashamed to come into
our presence or that someone else will do so
upon learning that I am already setting out
against him.” “For then I should be deprived of a
great prize both of war and of victory, a prize
such as no human being has ever yet obtained.
And what is this prize? To forgive a man who has
wronged one, to remain a friend to one who has
transgressed friendship, to continue faithful to
one who has broken faith.”

Marcus Aurelius continues, Hopefully,
I can “settle this affair and show to all
mankind that there is a right way to
deal even with civil wars.”
“This is what Marcus both said to the
soldiers and wrote to the senate,
never abusing Cassius in any way save
that he constantly termed him
ungrateful. Nor, indeed, did Cassius
ever utter or write anything insulting
to Marcus.”

“While Marcus was preparing for
the civil war, the death of Cassius
was reported to him at the same
time with the news of many
victories over various barbarians.
Cassius” “had encountered
Antonius, a centurion, who
suddenly wounded him in the
neck.” When he died, “they cut
off Cassius' head and sent it to
the emperor.”

Cassius Dio continues, “Marcus, upon
reaching the provinces that had joined in
Cassius' uprising, treated them all very
leniently and did not put anyone to death,
whether obscure or prominent.” “This same
emperor neither slew nor imprisoned nor put
under guard any of the senators who had
been associated with Cassius. Indeed, he did
not so much as bring them before his own
court, but merely sent them before the
senate, as though charged with some other
offense, and set a definite day for their trial.
Of the others, he executed a very few.”

What about Faustina, the empress who was involved
in the coup against her husband? Cassius Dio tells
us, “About this time Faustina also died, either of the
gout, from which she suffered, or in some other
manner,” perhaps suicide, “in order to avoid being
convicted of her compact with Cassius. And yet
Marcus destroyed all the papers that were found in
her chests without reading any of them, in order
that he might not learn even the name of any of the
conspirators who had written anything against him
and so be reluctantly forced to hate them. Verus”
“found papers among the effects of Cassius and
destroyed them, remarking that this course would
probably be most agreeable to the emperor.”

Cassius Dio then says, “In his great
grief over the death of Faustina,
Marcus wrote to the Senate asking
that no one of those who had co-
operated with Cassius should be
put to death.” He said: “May it
never happen, that any one of you
should be slain during my reign
either by my vote or by yours.”
Bas relief from Arch of Marcus Aurelius
triumph, Capitoline Museum in Rome.

Cassius Dio concludes, “So pure
and excellent and god-fearing did
he show himself from first to last;
and nothing could force him to do
anything inconsistent with his
character, neither the wickedness
of their rash course nor the
expectation of similar uprisings as
the result of his pardoning these
rebels.”
Marcus Aurelius showing his clemency to
barbarians, Capitoline Museum in Rome.

“So far, indeed, was he from inventing
any imaginary conspiracy or concocting
any tragedy that had not really
occurred, that he actually released
those who had, in the most open
manner, risen against him and taken up
arms both against him and against his
son,” “and he put none of them to
death.” “Hence, I verily believe that if he
had captured Cassius himself alive, he
would certainly have spared his life.”
Marcus Aurelius showing his clemency to
barbarians, Capitoline Museum in Rome.

Last Words of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius, by Eugène Delacroix, 1844
Last Days of Marcus Aurelius

Marcus Aurelius returned to Rome triumphantly.
Historians criticize him for not attempting to
expand the frontiers of the Roman Empire, but
that was what he was planning to do when he
once again embarked with his armies to the
northern frontiers, he was going to expand the
northern borders to make the Empire more
defensible over the long run.

Summarizing his life, Cassius Dio
tells us that Marcus Aurelius “did
not display many feats of physical
prowess; yet he had developed
his body from a very weak one to
one capable of the greatest
endurance. Most of his life he
devoted to beneficence, and that
was the reason, perhaps, for his
erecting a temple to Beneficence
on the Capitol.”

Cassius Dio continues, “He himself, then, refrained
from all offenses and did nothing amiss whether
voluntarily or involuntarily; but the offenses of the
others, particularly those of his wife, he tolerated,
and neither inquired into them nor punished
them. So long as a person did anything good, he
would praise him and use him for the service in
which he excelled, but to his other conduct he
paid no attention; for he declared that it is
impossible for one to create such men as one
desires to have, and so it is fitting to employ those
who are already in existence for whatever service
each of them may be able to render to the State.”

In the latter days of his reign, Marcus Aurelius attempted to provide his
son Commodus with as good a Stoic education as he had received, but
his son was the worst student imaginable. However, he still appointed
him as co-regent in the last years of his reign, rather than adopting a
more competent colleague to succeed him. Upon his father’s death,
Commodus called off the Germanic Wars, quickly negotiated a peace
settlement, and returned to Rome to carouse, torment senators and
ordinary Romans, and fight with gladiators in the arena. Like Nero, he
was eventually assassinated by a conspiracy of both his Praetorian Guard
and several senators. Like Nero, his reign was followed by another year of
six emperors, destabilizing the Roman Empire. Commodus destroyed the
Senate, he came close to destroying the Roman Empire, he destroyed his
father’s legacy.

Death of
Emperor
Commodus,
by Fernand
Pelez, 1879

We will conclude with our video, Did Emperor
Marcus Aurelius Actively Persecute the Christians?

Many lecturers on the Five Good Roman Emperors complain about the
lack of ancient historians and biographers who are the equal of Plutarch,
but that does not mean that historical sources do not exist, but that they
are less reliable, and must be cross-checked and verified as much as
possible by modern historians.
The biography by Frank McLynn is over five hundred pages long, and half
of his book is on extensive background discussions. We are also using this
biography for our videos on the Roman Emperors preceding Marcus
Aurelius, videos on Christian Persecutions, Ordinary Life in Roman times,
the Ancient Warrior Cultures in Roman times, and a biography of his son
and cruel successor, Commodus. He also discusses the historical
background of the struggles in Parthia and Germania.

The biography by Anthony Birley is also informative, he has a different
perspective. He has excellent appendices extensively discussing the
ancient sources used to reconstruct the life of Marcus Aurelius and the
Christian persecutions, which is the source for this our ending discussion.
Although it is dated, written in 1944, Will Durant’s history, Caesar and
Christ, also is a rich source of history and background, plus he is very
quotable, an excellent writer. Like the ancient historians, he draws moral
lessons from history.
Marcus Aurelius wrote his Meditations while fighting the Marcomannic
Wars in Germania. We liked the translation in the Dover Thrift Edition, we
found the translation in the Stoic Six-Pack on Amazon to be unintelligible.
The Meditations is one of the classic texts of ancient stoicism and
contains several references to Christianity.

The most treasured ancient source is Cassius Dio, who was a
Roman Senator, he had access to the official records of the
Senate. He wrote an eighty-volume history of Rome, starting
from its founding and the years of the Roman Republic, though
Emperor Severus, shortly after Marcus Aurelius.
Unfortunately, for the last twenty books in the series, there
remain only fragments and the meager abridgement of John
Xiphilinus, a Byzantine monk from the eleventh century. His
histories are available online, they are more complete for the
period during and after the Marcomannic Wars in Germania.

https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/home.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassius_Dio

There is also the ambitious Historia Augusta, where multiple ancient
authors recount Roman history starting with Emperor Hadrian. Much of
this history is fabricated and should be cross-checked with other sources
when possible.
One quirky source is the two-way correspondence between Marcus
Aurelius and his tutor Fronto, which continued into his years as emperor.
Although he was not Marcus’ most influential tutor, they are another
direct mirror into the mind of Marcus Aurelius, they take up two volumes
in the classical Loeb library.
Other minor sources are legal compilations such as the Code of Justinian,
works by the orator Aelius Aristides, comments by the physician Galen,
Herodian, and of course, coins, inscriptions, and papyri.

The Great Courses, now Wondrium, has many lecture series on Roman history. The
late historian Rufus Fears has an inspiring modern oral history of the Great Romans.
He agrees with me that whatever praises history may shower on perhaps the only
philosopher king in history, they are overshadowed by Marcus Aurelius’ un-Stoic
failure to prevent that monster who was his son, Commodus, from ascending to the
throne on his death.
The lectures on the Greco-Roman moral philosophers by Luke Timothy Johnson,
which were not migrated to Wondrium, were life changing to me, they are what led
me to read the Stoic philosophers, realizing their deep influence on both the
Western and Christian traditions, and also Platonism and philosophy in general.
In addition, we will be discussing the other sources used for the history of Christian
Persecutions in our video pondering: Did the Stoic Emperor Marcus Aurelius
Actively Persecute Christians?

To find the source of any direct
quotes in this blog, please type in
the phrase to the search box in
my blog to see the referenced
footnote.
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Biography of Marcus Aurelius, Stoic Philosopher and Roman Emperor

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