Marcus Aurelius Biography and List of Works

"Nothing happens to any man that he is not formed by nature to bear."

Roman Emperor and Stoic, the author of Meditations of Writings to Himself in twelve books. Its first printing appeared in English in 1634. During the reign of Marcus Aurelius the celebrated Pax Romana collapsed - perhaps this made the emperor the most impressive of all Stoics. An important feature of the philosophy was that everything will recur: the whole universe becomes fire and then repeats itself.

Marcus Aurelius was born in Rome as a descendent of Roman ancestors. When only a small child, he attracted the attention of the Emperor Hadrian (r. 117-138) - a paedophile. He was appointed by the Emperor to the priesthood in 129, and Hadrian also supervised his education. Marcus Aurelius was taught by the most able teachers of the time. The Emperor Antonius, who succeeded Hadrian, adopted Marcus Aurelius as his son. He was admitted to the Senate, and then twice the consulship. In 147 he shared tribunician power with Antonius. During this time he began composition of his Meditations.

In 161 Marcus Aurelius ascended the throne and shared his imperial power with his adopted brother Lucius Aurelius Verus. Useless and lazy, Verus was regarded as a kind of junior emperor, but he died in 169. After Verus's death he ruled alone, until he admitted his own son, Commodus, to full participation in the government in 177.

As an emperor Marcus Aurelius was conservative and just by Roman standards. He was beset by internal disturbances - famines and plagues - and by the external threat posed by the Germans in the north and the Parthians in the east. Toward the end of his reign he was faced with a revolt by Avidius Cassius, whom he praised and attempted to accommodate. Faustina, Marcus Aurelius's wife, may have been involved in this conspiracy. As, year after year, he witnessed the gradual crumbling of the Roman frontiers, he turned more and more to study of Stoic philosophy.

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, valuable primarily as a personal document, and what it is to be a Stoic. His opinions on central philosophical questions are very much similar to Epictetus' (c. 55-135 AD) teachings. Epictetus stressed that inner freedom is to be attained through submission to providence, and rigorous detachment from everything not in our power.

Marcus Aurelius's writings reveal that the public duties depressed him and he wanted to retire to live a simple country life. After his death in Vindobona (now Vienna, Austria) on March 17, 180 the emperor's only son Commodus became Emperor and turned out to be the worst of bad rulers. Marcus Aurelius's reputation is shadowed by his persecution of Christians, whom he considered superstitious and immoral. The fierce cruelty, with which the persecution was carried out in Gaul, was not consistent with his writings. However, Stoics had a profound influence upon both Neoplatonism and Christianity.

Note: in some sources Marcus Aurelius's birth date is April 16, 121 (Lexicon der Weltliteratur, ed. by Gero von Wilpert, 1988).

Stoicism - a philosophy named after the Stoa Poikile, a hall in Athens where it was first formulated around 300 BC by Zeno of Citium. All Zeno's writings are lost. The philosophy was developed by Cleanthes (331-232) and Chrysippus (280-207), who organized it into a system. Marcus Aurelius based his views in part on the later version, which was developed by the freed slave Epictetus (55-135). The Stoics were the first thoroughgoing pantheists: God is the universe, the universe is God. The wise and virtuous learns one's place in the scheme. According to Stoic Ethics, the goal of human existence is to live consistently with Nature, which means "consistently with Reason".

Meditations - first printed in 1559 in Zurich by Andreas Gesner with a Latin translation by William Xylander. Thereafter it has enjoyed a wide readership from poets to statesmen. Meditations contains 12 books, but while Book I offers a clear organization and unity, the others do not. Marcus Aurelius worked on his philosophical summary or pensées during the last years of his life while on campaign along the marshlands of the Danube. Among the central themes is man's fate to die and be forgotten. "What should be valued?" he asks, but sees not the answer in the rewards of glory.

For further reading: Marcus Aurelius: His Life and His Works by A.S.L. Farquharson (1951); Marcus Aurelius by Anthony Birley (1987, original edition 1966); The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius by R.B. Rutheford (1989); The Therapy of Desire by Martha C. Nussbaum (1994); The Roman Empire in Transition by Michael Grant (1994).

Books by Marcus Aurelius