Marcus Aurelius

Key Events Born Marcus Annius Verus into a family from Ucubi, Spain, in the province of Baetica His family was powerful, as both of his grandfathers had been Consul He became betrothed to Hadrian’s heir-apparent’s daughter, placing him in the forefront of politics He became consul at the age of 18, one of the youngest to ever bear it After the death of Antoninus Pius, both Marcus Aurelius and his adopted brother Lucius became co-emperors, which is something that their (adoptive) father had not wanted; he completely favored Marcus The Parthian War won waged and won under Verus’s direction, but both shared the triumph A plague brought back by Verus’s troops ended up killing Verus, and Marcus became the sole emperor Led a very successful series of campaigns in Germany, along the Danube Died in 180, with his son Commodus side, as an opium addict Finished the Meditations shortly before his death

His Legacy Mostly philosophy: The Meditations are considered a seminal work of the period He also was the first to establish the co- emperor model, something which became very common later on in the Empire He was considered to be a very good emperor, even if he was not much of a ruler He was considered the best of the untrained rulers that Rome ever had

Who He Was He was really into philosophy, and published a lot of books, the most famous being The Meditations He was competent, fair, and charismatic He made sure to hear cases and lead his people even when he was on campaign

His Reign Marcus was in power for almost 20 years During this reign, there was always a war, and he seemed to be where the war wasn’t writing a book However, after his co-emperor died, he really stepped up the plate to lead his people His is considered one of the best of the silver age Emperors