Marcus Aurelius: biography of this Roman emperor and philosopher

Marcus Aurelius has been one of the greatest emperors of Rome. Not only was he a great military strategy and political manager, but he was also a profound philosopher, heir to Stoic doctrines.

Since he was little he managed to gain the confidence of Emperor Hadrian, who wanted him to be his successor after Antonino Pío. With Marco Aurelio it seemed that the ideal of Plato was fulfilled, who predicted that the happiness of the peoples would be achieved with philosopher kings.

But the mandate of Marcus Aurelius was not a bed of roses. Although Rome could not have been more excellent, it also had its problems. In addition, his direct relatives were not up to the standard of what an imperial family should be. Let's see the story of him through a biography of Marcus Aurelius.

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Brief biography of Marcus Aurelius

The life of Marcus Aurelius is that of a great emperor, who knew how to handle the reins of the most powerful civilization of his time, Rome. But it is also the life of

an avid reader, interested in the philosophical doctrines of his time. He also practiced it, writing his meditations and expressing the stoic nature of him. Marcus Aurelius accepted reality as a natural dictate to which humans must submit. For this reason, from an early age, the philosopher-emperor accepted the fate that awaited him without complaint.

early years

Marcus Aurelius, (born Marcus Annius Verus), he was born in Rome in 121, within a Hispanic gens in the city of Rome. His mother was Domitia Lucilla, and he was fatherless, his paternal grandfather, the prefect Roma Annio Vero, playing that role for a while. From a very young age he drew attention for his naive frankness and intelligence, something that aroused the interest of Emperor Hadrian who, when he was only six years old, elevated him to the equestrian order.

Having obtained such an honor, a truly important aristocratic rank, Marcus Aurelius was forced to appear at all kinds of ceremonies from a very young age. He didn't like that, since he had to distance himself from his playmates and, as time went by, the boy became more taciturn.

At the age of eight she was admitted to the priestly college of the salios, which together with the arvales, the lupercos and the feciales made up the four brotherhoods in charge of the ceremonial tasks in the college of pontiffs. These religious executed the rites of war and alliance in the name of the Roman people.

It was a truly overwhelming time for Marcus Aurelius. She even her clothing was something that she surpassed, since she had to wear a thick crimson robe, she accompanied by a heavy bronze cuirass and helmet, which she had to wear to perform complicated dances priestly. In addition, she had to endure exaggerated banquets, feasts that made him dislike such excesses, causing him to end up developing a taste for sobriety.

During his first years, Marco Aurelio lived under the protection of his paternal grandfather, but after his death, all that work was left to his mother, Domitia Lucilla.. She was an affectionate but demanding woman, devoted to the task of taking care of Marcus Aurelius, even more knowing that the emperor was interested in him as a possible successor. Domitia was a cultured woman who insisted on Marco to practice Greek, since it was Plato's language, suitable for culture, thought and philosophy.

At this time he went to live in the house of his maternal great-grandfather Catalino Severo, on Monte Celio, a neighborhood of aptrician mansions that rivaled the palatine imperial villas. Catalino Severo knew how to see the virtues of his descendant and granted her exemption from school so that he could study at home. In his home he would receive the teachings of renowned followers of Seneca and the Stoic school, known as El Pórtico. They taught him mostly Latin literature.

To complete the formation of him, his mother called Diogneto, another teacher of the Portico with whom the young aristocrats learned the art of painting, singing and dancing. It was this sage more than any other who initiated the young Marcus Aurelius into philosophical reflection. However, in this pleasant youth surrounded by philosophers he had no experience or first contact with the art of war, something that he would manage to make up for several years later.

philosopher in practice

Philosophical influences made Marcus Aurelius want to behave like a true philosopher in his adolescence, putting it into practice. He considered that what was good for a simple shepherd did not have to be bad for him, so he he decides to wear coarse robes and lie on the boards on the floor, behaving as poorly as possible. He wanted to show that an apprentice philosopher born into a wealthy gens was capable of practicing his philosophy and not just limiting himself to the theoretical.

With the passage of time new thinkers will pass through his life. Among them, Junio ​​Rústico stands out, a philosopher who makes Marco Aurelio contact the work of Epictetus.. Specifically, he tells her about the Enchiridion, a manual of moral maxims that serves as a guide and literary inspiration for the young man. However, the most important of those who cross his path is undoubtedly Cornelio Frontón, teacher, confidant and, over time, dear friend with whom he will maintain a brotherly bond that will last for many years. years.

Inspired by his Stoic principles, Marcus Aurelius tried to give everything its fair value.. However, as time went by, he began to consider that nothing, no matter how unfair, should be reformed. Everything had to be accepted as an expression of nature and the cosmos. Even slavery, something he considered a disgusting social scourge, should not be abolished. It was the correct order of things. Some have seen in this acceptance the precursor of Christian resignation.

Marcus Aurelius he thought that, although the great Epictetus had been a slave and the terrible Nero emperor, the world was well, balanced. The cruelty of the emperor was balanced by the wisdom of the freed philosopher. He was of the opinion that since Epictetus had been wise he ended up being highly respected, while the emperor Nero ended up being the enemy of all his subjects. Fate, one way or another, ended up putting everyone in their place.

In the spring of 136 Marcus Aurelius turns fifteen and takes the manly toga. He is already considered a full-fledged adult and can attend audiences, rituals and banquets as such. It is a very important moment, because in these religious ceremonies allusions and omens of the great future that awaited him were revealed to him.

In a salutation to Mars, the saliare priests each had to throw their garland at the statue of the god of war. When it was Marcus Aurelius' turn, unlike the garlands of the rest of the attendees who had fallen at the feet of the god, his fell on his head. admired, the priests interpreted this as a sign of his greatness, especially in warfare, and they recognized him as a future consul bathed in victories.

These predictions attracted courtiers, who tried to curry favor with him. Knowing that Marcus Aurelius would be an illustrious figure for the empire, he agreed to win his friendship so that he would be generous once he was in power. However, the young man, as long as he was free of ceremonial obligations, fled in terror from any company other than a good book.

It is then that Adriano calls him to Rome, to take a walk with him through his villa on the outskirts of the city. With this Adriano wanted to get to know Marcus Aurelius more thoroughly, see what he was made of and how he had matured.. He wanted to know if, seeing how he behaved, he could be trusted to take the reins of the almighty Roman Empire.

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Hadrian's successor

When Hadrian designates Antoninus Pius as his direct successor, he asks him to adopt Marcus Aurelius as his successor.. At this time the young man was already 18 years old and, before his designation as the new Caesar associated with the throne, he moved together with his mother Domicai to the Imperial Palace on the Palatine, despite the fact that he did not want it. The world begins to see him and not Antoninus Pius as the true heir, since Antoninus had He was already 50 years old and his health was fragile, with which it was expected that his government would be no more than a interregnum.

138 arrives and Adriano is satisfied with his management of his empire. He had brought peace and prosperity to an Empire he had inherited from Trajan with serious warfare and economic instability. He was calm knowing that he had found a good successor, not in the figure of Antoninus Pius, but in that of Marcus Aurelius. However, the plan did not turn out as he had foreseen since, by putting on the imperial diadem, Antoninus Pius, far from living just a few years, managed to reign for twenty-three.

So that Marcus Aurelius is named Caesar in 139 and, already being consul, in 145 he marries Faustina, daughter of Antonino Pío himself.. The main reason for this was to be able to establish stronger dynastic ties. He loved her but not passionately, since the empress-to-be did not measure up to her position. Faustina lacked any decorum and that quality gave her a bad name, especially considering that his relations with strong gladiators were public, something that the imperial court gossiped day and day evening.

Antoninus Pius was not a bad ruler. He continued with the reforms proposed by Adriano, knew how to maintain the status quo and created several works. His reign was beneficial to Marcus Aurelius since he was able to continue learning from him without having to leave Rome, well attached to the heart of the Empire. He was not yet interested in adventuring in faraway lands nor in waging war, since he was still very attached to his books and the Gateway masters who had taught him so much.

Emperor Marcus Aurelius

In the year 161, Marcus Aurelius finally accedes to the imperial throne.. Rome and her empire have reached their greatest expansion. The Roman Empire is the greatest civilization in the Mediterranean, having conquered its shores and owning key territories such as Hispania, Anatolia and Britain. The Romans see themselves as the boundary between the civilized and grand and the barbaric and primitive, and their frontier is always a place under constant threat.

Already being known as Marcus Elius Aurelius Verus Antoninus Imperor, Marcus Aurelius is aware of the power he wields. He is in command of an empire that is in its golden age and he must do everything possible to preserve and defend it. Rome had managed to unify East and West, trying to impose her lifestyle on the rest of European, Asian and African cultures., whether through reason and progress or weapons.

Marcus Aurelius prefers to keep the territories and during the twenty years that his reign lasts he chooses not to risk conquests. He chooses to establish diplomatic contact with other cultures since, contrary to what his contemporaries thought, Marcus Aurelius did not believe that Rome was the only seat of culture. There must be more great civilizations, which could offer new knowledge to the Roman world. Although not without difficulty, he managed to send ambassadors to places like China and India.

From philosophizing to battling

Despite the fact that the priests had predicted a promising future for him and his political management was full of excellent intentions and good intentions, problems arose. Wars, diseases and revolts became commonplace, forcing the ruler to go from end to end of the empire to reduce tensions. He did not want to expand, but the war with the barbarian tribes was inevitable..

As a tenacious and wise man, Marcus Aurelius, who was already well known as the philosopher emperor, knew how to control the empire. In his travels throughout the empire he found the time to devote himself to writing his Meditations, his best known work. It is a compendium of stoicism in which he tries to forget his military role and seeks the dignity of human nature.

Marcus Aurelius liked Rome, and as much as he could, he tried to stay. However, military campaigns required his presence to lead the army, so he spent little time in the capital. Despite the fact that in his youth he had not been trained in the art of war he served as a great military strategist, leading the army to many victories, just as the priests of Mars had predicted. He showed that Hadrian had chosen him wisely.

Although it was not the same as the city, the military life ended up liking him. It was a life of sobriety, without women or luxuries, just as he had wanted since he was a teenager. At this stage his best friends were not philosophers, but the generals of the General Staff, among which we can highlight Claudio Pompeyano and Helvetio Pertinax. It was truly quite a change of scenery and he was not bad at defeating the barbarian hordes that threatened the frontier. Some saw him as the reincarnation of Alexander the Great..

The military Marcus Aurelius awakens the conscience of Empress Faustina. Whether it was out of regret for her behavior or because her husband had become a virile soldier, Faustina decided to appear in the Sirmium camp in early 175 along with two of her daughters, to accompany her husband who, at the time, was sick.

Since her husband was indisposed, Faustina took over her duties at military ceremonies and led the army on behalf of the emperor when Marcus Aurelius could not get out of bed. The bad reputation of the daughter of Antonino Pío was disappearing, giving way to a very good reputation among the military, who gave her the title of Mater Castrorum, that is, the Mother of lso camps. This name would begin to appear on coins with her effigy.

Journey through Asia and return to Rome

Having pacified the lands of Asia, the emperor spent the winter of 175-176 in the city of Alexandria. He could not pass by such a magnificent city, a city full of culture, especially in his library where Marcus Aurelius spent many hours before leaving. Later, he decided to return to Europe, crossing Palestine and Syria, lands where he would be shocked by how primitive the desert tribes were.

This trip ended up being bittersweet since, Despite having enjoyed the magnificence of Alexandria, he had to experience the sudden death of his wife Faustina upon reaching Halala., Cappadocia. Legend has it that Faustina had not completely abandoned her sexual habits and that the Emperor, fed up with his debauchery, suggested that out of decorum he take his own life, following the stoic tradition.

After this, Marcus Aurelius stopped in Smyrna where he was able to enjoy seeing dozens of palaces. In that same city he warned his son Commodus about his licentious life. The young man was barely sixteen years old but he was violent and disrespectful, very opposite to how his father was. Commodus was known to have a lover, a Greek master of intrigues who was only interested in circus life. The emperor did not have many illusions regarding his son, but he wanted to make him his successor, thinking that he would mature by holding the position.

Last years

Leaving Smyrna, he headed for Athens, which he considered his spiritual homeland. There he visited all the philosophical schools and, furthermore, created a college. This college could be considered as the oldest antecedent of what would be the medieval universities, in which There were four chairs for the existing currents: Stoics, Aristotelians (peripatetics), Cynics and epicureans. The emperor's tolerance for the rights of others astonished the people of Athens.

Shortly after he would manage to return to Rome where his people were waiting for him ecstatically.. The crowd cheered to see that the emperor was back, strolling through avenues and imperial forums. However, at one point in the ride, the emperor wanted to give recognition to his son, Commodus, getting off the chariot and giving his son the reins. Unfortunately, the people could not ignore Commodus' bad reputation, yelling at him and hurling curses at him.

Marcus Aurelius could hardly enjoy his beloved Rome, as the barbarians decided to rise up on the banks of the Danube. He spent the year 179 in the Carnuntum camp, trying to pacify the area. While there he wrote down his thoughts, especially his concern about death and how he was trying to make that his son, Comfortable of him, would become more responsible, that he would be up to the future position of leader of him.

Unfortunately, the end of his journey has come. The plague that ravaged the empire since 166 found him as a victim and hangs over him. Marcus Aurelius died at 180 being seen as one of the greatest leaders in the entire history of Rome. His successor was his son Commodus who, far from being like his father, precipitated the fall of the great Roman Empire. With the death of Marcus Aurelius died an emperor who, as Plato had predicted, being a philosopher king had brought happiness and wealth to his subjects.

Bibliographic references:

• Grimal, P (1997). Marcus Aurelius. Mexico D.F.: Economic Culture Fund. ISBN 84-375-0434-1.
• Adams, GeoffW. (2013) Marcus Aurelius in the Historia Augusta and Beyond. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books. ISBN 978-0739176382.