Marcus Aurelius

MARCUS AURELIUS was born to a prominent Roman family in AD 121 and was later adopted by the future emperor, Antoninus Pius, whom he succeeded in 161. A devoted reader and thinker since childhood, Marcus was in his fifties when he committed his thoughts to paper. He had led a hard life in the service of the state, much of it spent far from home dealing with ugly border disputes, unreliable warlords and attempted coups d'etat. His personal life was marred by the early death of his wife and a difficult relationship with his surviving son. He died, a disappointed man, in the year AD 180. But posterity has looked on his achievements more kindly. The Meditations have given Marcus Aurelius a lasting reputation. His statue stands today on the Capitoline Hill in Rome, framed by Michelangelo's pillars and arches. The reader may have met Marcus more recently in Ridley Scott's film, Gladiator. His part was played by the late Richard Harris, who portrayed the emperor at the end of his days, anxious to avoid leaving the empire in the hands of his cruel and despotic son, Commodus.