Marcus Aurelius

Marcus Aurelius Antoninus was Roman emperor from 161 until his death in 180, and the last of the rulers whom later historians called the "five good emperors". Born in Rome in 121 into a wealthy family of Spanish origin, he lost his father as a small child and was brought up by his grandfather. The emperor Hadrian noticed the serious, studious boy and arranged his future: in 138 Marcus was adopted by Hadrian's successor, Antoninus Pius, and spent more than twenty years at his side learning the work of government.

He was taught rhetoric by Fronto, the most celebrated orator of the age, but in his mid-twenties he turned to philosophy. His teacher Junius Rusticus lent him the discourses of Epictetus, and from then on he regarded himself as a Stoic.

His reign was one of almost unbroken trial. A great plague, brought back by the armies from the East, swept the empire; wars with Parthia were followed by long campaigns against the Marcomanni, Quadi and Sarmatians on the Danube, where the emperor himself spent most of his last twelve years. He governed with care for the law and for the weak, and was remembered for his justice and clemency. He died on campaign in 180 and was succeeded by his son Commodus.

His equestrian statue on the Capitol in Rome is the only great bronze of a Roman emperor to survive from antiquity, and the Column of Marcus Aurelius still records his wars. But his most lasting monument is the book of notes he wrote for himself, the Meditations, which has made the philosopher-emperor a living presence for readers ever since.