(121-180) philosopher, Roman emperor
Marcus Antoninus Aurelius was born in Rome. When he was young, he lost his father, and from his earliest years enjoyed the friendship and patronage of Emperor Hadrian, who provided him with special educational privileges. Thus, at age eight Aurelius became a member of the Salian priesthood. He was adopted by Hadrian’s successor, Antoninus Pius (his uncle by marriage), whose daughter he later married.
Aurelius is known as one of the greatest emperors in Roman history (reigned 161-180). In times of plague and famine, he sold many of his own possessions to help the poor. This and other similar acts made him one of the “Five Good Emperors” (an ironic title, given that he also persecuted the Christians as a threat to Roman rule). As a military and civic leader, he won several important wars and successfully dealt with serious internal disasters. His personal life, however, was not as successful. His wife was unfaithful, and his heir (an adopted nephew whom some scholars believe was responsible for Aurelius’s death) was disappointing. In addition, Aurelius was plagued by self-doubts regarding his adequacy as an emperor, for although he was a sound military leader, he was troubled by the nature of war. These doubts and contemplations were perhaps what led him to write Meditations (first published in 1555). Originally written in Greek, the work exists in 12 volumes. It is Aurelius’s interpretation of and “meditations” on Stoic philosophy, specifically those elements of it that extolled reason, virtue, freedom, and morality.
In light of the personal conflicts and military matters that Aurelius dealt with, it is not surprising that he turned to Stoicism to find the moral stamina to deal with adversity. Some critics have gone so far as to suggest that Aurelius’s commitment to Stoicism interfered with his ability to be an effective emperor. His successful campaigns against the Parthians (166) and the Germans (167) as well as his commitment to the welfare of his people suggest otherwise. Aurelius died from the plague on March 17 in what is now Vienna.
Aurelius’s Meditations provide an in-depth look at the man, the emperor, and the philosopher. one of the central ideas of Meditations, and Stoicism, is unity. Stoics believed that all “parts” were part of a “whole,” that all things—even thoughts and emotions—were entwined and could not be logically viewed as separate. In Meditations, Aurelius writes:
All things are implicated with one another, and the bond is holy; and there is hardly anything unconnected with any other things. . . . For there is one universe made up of all things, and one god who pervades all things, and one substance, and one law, and one reason.
According to this theory, Aurelius reasons that people, as a natural part of the universe, must abide by “natural” laws:
We are made for cooperation, like feet, like hands, like eyelids, like the rows of the upper and lower teeth. To act against one another then is contrary to nature.
To Aurelius, harmony is a natural state of being. He believed that happiness can be achieved by anyone, and that external circumstances should not prevent one from finding harmony. This is somewhat characteristic of the Roman ideal of success—to work toward a goal without allowing the possibility of failure to alter action. In Meditations, he says:
If you work at that which is before you, following right reason seriously, vigorously, calmly without allowing anything else to distract you, but keeping your divine part pure . . . you will be happy.
Meditations is not only an invaluable sample of early introspective writing, illuminating the development of Aurelius’s thoughts and ideas; it is also an extensive explanation of Stoic philosophy. The work influenced such later writers as Petrarch, Michel de Montaigne, George Chapman, Matthew Arnold, and others.
English Versions of Works by Marcus Aurelius Antoninus
Marcus Aurelius. Loeb Classical Library. Edited by G. P. Goold. Translated by C. G. Haines. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1988.
The Meditations. Everyman’s Library. Translated by A. S. L. Farquharson. Introduction by D. A. Rees. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2003.
Thoughts of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus. Translated by George Long. Watchung, N.J.: Albert Saifer, 1995.
Works about Marcus Aurelius Antoninus
Birley, Anthony. Marcus Aurelius: A Biography. New York: Barnes and Noble, 1999.
Farquharson, A. S. L. Marcus Aurelius, His Life and His World. Oxford, U.K.: Greenwood Publishing, 1975.
Rutherford, R. B. The Meditations ofMarcus Aurelius: A Study. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989.
