Caesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus

Caesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus

Marcus Aurelius was the Roman emperor from 161 to 180.

He is renowned for his work Ta eis Eauton (Meditations, 1974), written in Greek and influenced by Stoic philosophy. He became a symbol of the Golden Age of the Roman Empire.

Marcus was related to some prominent families of Rome’s new ruling class, which had consolidated its social and political power during the Flavian dynasty. Emperor Hadrian, after Commodus, adopted Titus Aurelius Antoninus and declared him the future emperor under the name Antoninus Pius. Following Hadrian’s command, Antoninus adopted Lucius Ceionius Commodus’ son and Marcus. Marcus’ name was later changed to Marcus Aelius Aurelius Verus. Thus, Marcus was chosen as the future co-emperor before reaching the age of 17, but he did not ascend to the throne until he was 40. Hardworking, intelligent, and dignified, Marcus was not content with traditional education in Greek and Latin rhetoric. Instead, he devoted himself wholeheartedly to the Diatribai (Discourses) of the Stoic philosopher Epictetus. From then on, philosophy became Marcus’ primary field of interest.

Marcus was elected consul in 140, 145, and 161. In 145, he married Annia Galeria Faustina, the daughter of the emperor and his cousin. In 147, the emperor granted Marcus the key official powers of imperium and tribunicia potestas. On March 7, 161, during Marcus Aurelius’ third and his stepbrother Lucius Verus’ second consulship, Antoninus Pius passed away. Holding the principal imperial powers, Marcus became emperor under the title Caesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus and declared his stepbrother as co-emperor with the title Caesar Lucius Aurelius Verus Augustus. Thus, for the first time in Roman history, two emperors with equal constitutional authority and status ascended the throne. However, Marcus was the dominant figure in governance compared to Lucius Verus.

One of Marcus’ key areas of interest was law. During his reign, various changes were made to civil law through new legislation and judicial decisions. However, the period of Antoninus Pius and Marcus also marked a decline in the relationship between law and society. During Pius’ rule, the distinction in criminal law between the honestiores (upper class) and humiliores (lower class) became more pronounced, with harsher punishments imposed on the humiliores.

Marcus and Verus set out in 167 or 168 to quell the uprisings along the Danube. Taking advantage of this situation, Germanic tribes launched a powerful attack on Italy and besieged Aquileia, a strategic juncture in the Adriatic Sea. In the face of this extraordinary crisis, the inadequacy of the empire’s military and financial power became glaringly evident. Extraordinary measures were taken to replenish the disbanded troops, and the empire’s properties were sold to secure funds. Marcus and Verus successfully repelled the Germans; however, in 169, Verus suddenly died. Marcus was forced to fight for three more years to suppress the uprisings along the Danube. Subsequently, a three-year campaign in Bohemia established a temporary peace with the tribes on the opposite bank of the Danube.

In 177, Marcus declared his 16-year-old son Commodus as co-emperor, and together they once again set out on campaign along the Danube. Marcus was determined to switch from a defensive stance to an offensive one and to redraw Rome’s northern borders with an expansionist policy. Just as this determination seemed poised for success, he died in his headquarters in 180. 

Ta eis Eauton (Meditations), comprises the political and philosophical reflections that Marcus recorded daily. Written in a somewhat unstructured manner and interspersed with witty notes, this work appears to have been composed as a means of finding solace in the face of endless responsibilities. Marcus continually set himself unattainable goals, deeply contemplating the insignificance and transience of the physical world and human life. He was indifferent to this world, yet he did not believe in the existence of another. He devoted himself to duty without expecting any recompense, not even lasting fame.

Ta eis Eauton has been regarded by many generations as one of the greatest works of all time. However, although the ideas expressed in the work are attributed to Marcus, they were not original; they were based on the moral principles of Stoicism, particularly those derived from Epictetus. According to this philosophy, the universe was a unified whole governed by a single mind, and the human soul was part of that mind. Some of Marcus’ thoughts, perhaps due to misinterpretations, diverged from Stoic philosophy and veered towards Neoplatonism, which at that time was the prevailing trend among all pagan philosophies aside from Epicureanism.

Meditations reflects Marcus’s deeply personal and philosophical musings, recorded as a form of self-examination. These writings reveal a man striving to reconcile the transience of life and the imperfections of human nature with his Stoic ideals. He grappled with questions of mortality, humility, and the fleeting nature of worldly accomplishments. Though deeply committed to his role as emperor, Marcus often viewed himself as an ephemeral presence in a vast, rational cosmos.

While Meditations is widely regarded as one of the greatest works of philosophy, much of its content builds upon earlier Stoic principles, particularly those of Epictetus. The Stoics believed in a unified universe governed by reason, with the human soul as a fragment of the divine rational mind. Some of Marcus’s reflections, however, diverge slightly from traditional Stoicism, displaying influences from Neo-Platonism.

Meditations:

• "If you end your perceptions, desires, and instincts, your soul is free."
• "You must stand erect; let others not keep you upright."
• "Power is in your mind, not outside it. When you understand this, you will also find your strength."
• "Our life is what our thoughts make it."
• "Your own happiness depends on yourself."