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 selfdoubts
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.
(7.9)
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.
(2.1)
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:
[I]f 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.
(4.7)
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 of Marcus Aurelius:
A Study. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989.