Marcus Aurelius
| Marcus Aurelius | |
|---|---|
| Roman Emperor | |
 Bust of Marcus Aurelius exposed to the British Museum in London . | |
| Reign | |
| 8 March 161 - 9 April 180 (~ 19 years) | |
| Period | Antonines |
| Predecessor (s) | Antoninus Pius |
| Co-emperor (s) | Lucius Verus (from 161 to 169 ) |
| Usurper (s) | Avidius Cassius ( 175 ) |
| Successor (s) | Convenient |
| Biography | |
| Birth | 26 April 121 - Rome |
| Original Name | Marcus Severus Catilius |
| Deaths | 9 April 180 (58) Vindobona ( Pannonian ) |
| Burial | Mausoleum of Hadrian |
| Father | Marcus Verus Annius |
| Mother | Domitia Lucilla |
| Spouse (s) | Faustina the Younger |
| Descent | (1) Dresser (2) Lucilla |
| List of Roman Emperors | |
Marcus Aurelius ( 26 April 121 in Rome - April 9 Biography Marcus Aurelius, "who cultivated over a lifetime of reading, and triumphed over all the emperors by the purity of his morals, was the son of Annius Verus , who died praetor "( Julius Capitolinus , Historia Augusta). His grandfather, Annius Verus, consul and prefect of Rome, was an associate with patricians by the emperors Vespasian and Titus during their censorship. His paternal uncle, Annius Libo was consul , his aunt, Faustina the former bore the title of Augusta and his mother, Domitia Calville , was the daughter of Calvisius Tullus , who won twice on the consulate. His great-grandfather paternal Annius Verus , after holding the courthouse in the municipality of Succubus in Spain , became a senator. His maternal great-grandfather, Catilius Severus , was twice consul and prefect of Rome. His paternal grandmother was Rupilia Faustina , daughter of consular Rupilius Bonus. Marcus Aurelius was born in Rome on the sixth day of Kalends of May ( April 26 121 ), in the gardens of Caelius , under the second consulate of his grandfather and under that of Augur , in an Italian family who lived long in Spain. He was raised in the same place where he was born, and in the house of his grandfather Verus, near the Lateran Palace. He had a sister younger than himself, and named Annia Cornificia. At birth, he put first the name of his grandfather and his maternal great-grandfather Catilius Severus. But after the death of his father Hadrian appointed him Annius Verissimus, and when he took the toga virilis, it was his father's death, raised and adopted by his paternal grandfather, under the name of Marcus Annius Verus. After the death of his father when he was only three years, the Emperor Hadrian took him under his wing and asked, in 138 , his adopted son, Antoninus , adopt them in turn and Lucius Verus , the son of Hadrian that was initially chosen as the heir who had just died. After its adoption Marcus Aelius Aurelius becomes Verus. The historian Dion Cassius has a particularly significant decision on the character of Marcus Aurelius. He writes: This ruling is sometimes disputed by some modern historians ( Paul Little , Lucien Jerphagnon ) that make an emperor Marcus Aurelius unremarkable and, overwhelmed by the difficulties of his task, would have found in philosophy a distraction, a consolation. However, this view is strongly undermined by both the trial of the ancient historians, almost unanimous in praising the character, and by most modern historians who, without denying the many difficulties of his reign, admit the moral rigor character. His teachers were, for philosophy, Apollonius of Chalcedon , for Greek literature, Sextus of Chaeronea , grand-son of Plutarch ; for Latin letters and rhetoric , Fronton , the most famous orator of that time. He exchanged with the latter, a correspondence that lasted from 139 , when Marcus Aurelius became his student, 166 , year of death of Fronton. This correspondence is interesting because it provides valuable information on personal and family life of Marcus Aurelius and the court of Antoninus. It also reveals the strong friendship between the two men, friendship sometimes tarnished by a few quarrels as 146 / 147 when Marcus Aurelius was "converted" to philosophy. Herodian , in his "Roman History" (Book I) states that "all princes who took the title of philosopher, he alone has earned." It does not consist only was familiar with all the feelings and learn to talk all things, but rather in a practical and accurate severe virtue. The subjects being an honor to imitate their prince, never saw so many philosophers that under his reign. The historian Dio Cassius in his "Roman History" (book 71) tells us that Marcus Aurelius' temperament was low and gave to the study almost all their time it is said that even as emperor, he was not ashamed of to go to his teachers, he attended the philosopher Sextus of Boeotia , and he was not afraid to go listen to the lessons of the rhetorician Hermogenes , and indeed it was especially attached to the Stoic sect. In 145 he married his first cousin Annia Faustina ( Faustina the Younger ), the daughter of Antoninus, whom he had many children. The ancient historians have been pleased to mention the numerous adulterous supposed Faustina the Younger , but it is certain that Marcus Aurelius was deeply affected by the death in 176 at Halala in Cappadocia one of the soldiers affectionately called, because of his presence alongside her husband in the military campaigns, castrorum Mater (Mother of the camps). His moral qualities and excellence of education received the note by Hadrian, to whom he was related, which recognizes him as a possible successor. Too young in 138 to mount the throne, it is associated with imperial power as Caesar a few years later and access to the full exercise of the death of Antoninus March 7 161. He then combines his adopted brother Lucius Verus to the Empire for the first time is headed by two Augusti. His reign was marked by the resurgence of war on all fronts: the philosopher-emperor, converted to Stoicism, had to spend all his reign trying to plug all the gaps that open in the borders of a vast empire and attacked all sides. The year of his accession to the throne the Parthians invaded the eastern provinces of the empire and the Roman army enjoyed a first disaster. Lucius Verus was sent to emergency in the east. But most of the lead is assigned to two great generals, Statius Priscus especially Avidius Cassius. Lucius Verus moved his court to Antioch , which earned him accusations of debauchery and military incompetence. Between 162 and 166 , the Romans resumed the lead and plundering the two major cities of the Parthian kingdom, Seleucia on the Tigris and especially the capital Ctesiphon. Domestically, he accomplished a significant legislative work. But his reign is marked by violence against the Christian religion, which is experiencing significant persecution. Thus in 165 , Justin Martyr dies in Rome and in 177 the persecution takes place at Lugdunum. The two emperors celebrate their triumph in 166 , but the return of the Roman army to Rome is the outbreak of the " Antonine Plague , "terrible epidemic that made such havoc in the population that some historians have misused the decisive cause of the Roman decadence (which occurred two centuries later). The social and economic consequences of this epidemic, however, were very serious. The beginning of the reign knew also of great natural disasters that marked the high spirits, as the floods in the Tiber in 161 or earthquake Cyzicus in 165. Just war against the Parthians is it finished a new menace to the frontiers. Barbarous nations settled in the Danube regions, the quads and Marcomanni , directly threaten the northern Italy. The threat is so strong that the two emperors personally go there in 168 / 169 and spend the winter in Aquileia. In January 169 Lucius Verus dies exhausted and sick leaves as well as sole emperor Marcus Aurelius. It takes more than five years ( 169 / 175 ) to the emperor to defeat this threat. He then leaned on general jurisdiction as Claudius Pompeianus his son, or Pertinax , the future emperor. Then a false rumor - real or excuse? - The death of Marcus Aurelius led Avidius Cassius , governor of a large part of the East, to proclaim himself emperor. The loyalty of the governor of Cappadocia , Publius Martius Verus , allowing time for the emperor to raise troops and prepare to march on the rebel. But in July 175 he was assassinated and his head sent to Marcus Aurelius. The latter considers it more prudent to make a trip to the Orient, however, with his wife, who died on the way, and his son Commodus. He visited Cilicia , the Syrian , the Egyptian and then return to Smyrna and Athens where, with his son, he is initiated into the mysteries of Eleusis. On 23 November 176 in Rome held celebrations of the triumph of the Germanic peoples. Ephemeral triumph for from 177 Marcus Aurelius must start waging war on the Danube frontier. It was during one of his campaigns on the Danube , as Marcus Aurelius fell ill in Pannonia. He died on 9 April 180 , may be struck by the Antonine plague in Vindobona (now Vienna in Austria ). The empire was returning to his son Commodus. Marcus Aurelius was a stoic , his mentors were mainly representatives of the Stoic: Epictetus , Apollonius of Chalcedon , Sextus of Chaeronea. This legacy, he made a practical philosophy of life he exhibited in his only book Thoughts for myself. Throughout the twelve books that make up the thoughts, several themes, often in the form of maxims recurring. It has: "Think often the connection of all things in the world and their mutual relations, they are arguably intertwined with each other and thus have for each other a mutual friendship, and that under the connection that drives and unity of matter, "wrote Marcus Aurelius in Thoughts for myself (VI, 38). Marcus Aurelius believed in a coherent rationale that animates the universe and gives it consistency. Marcus is part of a " stoicism led ", meaning that the Emperor had sufficiently incorporated the teaching of Epictetus , Seneca and Zeno to extend with the knowledge of that address themes of love that makes the teaching of Stoicism. The recognition of the harmony of the tire with the hot breath passing through our being to lead to the movement of life and its balance with destiny does not fatalism but requires some practice. It was at this praxis art that exercised Marcus Aurelius. From him, indeed, that we want "this matter to the Conduct, Ethics in reality very far from the dualistic aspect often imposed collective morality, ethics closer instead of a proper discernment in our actions "The best way to get revenge, it does not go like those who've hurt." Marcus will always be at the heart of recognition within the complexity of human relationships and even physical training that man can bring in terms of balance both for itself and for the world. Conduct is therefore part of a dynamic that is beyond human beings to be more closely linked to the harmony of a single world: "All things are interrelated and a sacred tie, and n 'There is almost nothing that has relations. All beings are coordinated together, all contribute to the harmony of the world. " The understanding of the philosopher-emperor has therefore promised some agreement between what he calls "the spirit (or demon) inside," the ability to understand nature through the creation, and that nature in turn creates and determines. This relationship is born a certain way of life and wisdom, an idea that can bring the universe to the individual as the individual can bring to the universe: "Remember the universal matter which you are so small a part, the endless duration of which he hath been assigned a time so short, and as a point and finally the destiny of which you are a part and how much! ". The emperor philosopher confronts his political obligations to the values that his teachers taught him Stoics, but also with other references: the philosophical contribution of Plato , Epicurus , Democritus , Heraclitus. In this sense, the texts of Marcus Aurelius retain some interest. They effectively highlight ethics within an accuracy of a policy to decide which art must always be linked to this question: do you want power for power or the exercise of power? In other words, is it your ambition to achieve power, or be able to think through it, and act to say that a virtuous path is traced to the city? Far from being simple to implement, this question highlights the concern of an emperor who, holding the supreme power, continues to question his own motives and intentions more buried. Having to stop to argue whether what one is trying to create some 'goodness' and a desire to help or any personal ambition implies the politician to refocus and score a time in making its decision. Marcus Aurelius emphasizes throughout his writings, the highest values of human beings: Prudence , Justice , Courage and Temperance , which since Plato are the four main virtues of the philosopher , those that ensure the consistency and strength of the actions of this last. The originality of his work lies in the personal tone of "Thoughts for myself", indicating an acute attention to the urgency of "live for the good", that is to say, live with dignity in world full of troubles, the urgency to fulfill its role as a man possessed of an "inner genius" form of intelligence to locate the reason and raise his trial. The precariousness of human existence, the transience of time, memory, engulfing all men, great or small, into oblivion and death, the smallness of man and earth in the infinite the universe: these are the main themes of the philosophy of Marcus Aurelius. This emphasis is nothing so modern tragic because the man has his place in this world where each person is located in an orderly manner. By his "inner genius", his rational mind (it is not rational), man partakes of this divine cosmos. He understands his eternal transformation. This view eliminates the fear of death is not annihilation but change, renewal of the universe. We must therefore accept with serenity the natural event. The purpose of man is to live in dignity while the present, its role is to be useful to the common good, because all men are related to nature: "What future do not trouble you as you come to him, when necessary, with the same reason that you use for these things. " Marcus demonstrates a very high sense of responsibility in the state , and severely criticizes himself while constantly interrogating the purpose of political action: "Get in the habit as much as possible, you ask what end relates this action, wishes that the man who wants to act? ". In all cases, the philosopher insists at great length on the idea that the vision of the Almighty, his eternal transformation, elevates our soul. Take part in the natural balance by means of his thought to be in harmony with the world contributes to our own balance. "The vision of the Almighty" even goes beyond this concept of balance, it places the individual in a complex relationship with the whole world and forces him to think the multiplicity of relationships between a man and "the totality of existence" (which means all life but also the whole time). That is why the fate we are not so foreign. While it can sometimes dominate us but it does not exist without its "actors" and men are included. This vision of eliminating any false representations, passions (in the sense of suffering), in particular the ambition, pride, anger, and leads us to be modest, just and benevolent towards every man, as our equal being reasonable and sociable, he must listen to "entering into his soul." The man who follows reason at all is "quiet and decided at once radiant and at the same time consistent". In this sense, the emperor was a precursor of the Enlightenment specifying (like Kant ) Reason as the best guide to understanding and judgments of human beings. Human reason is that "inner genius" of man is this parcel of the universal divine purpose and providence is that man must accept as it is, we have included as a party in a particular significant. The originality and modernity of thought of Marcus Aurelius also lies in the distinction between radical and already " Cartesian "(anachronism intended) of human intelligence, not only the body but also with the soul fuel material. This is also from the physical design as the philosopher-emperor then spoke of his ethical considerations are: the "principle of vital functions, control of passions" and "mark of the zeitgeist." Marcus considers himself a "progressive", that is to say, as one who is gradually advancing on the path to the universal order by living just by nature, but also the one who holds his spiritual director always faced with the harsh reality of events. Therefore, the requirement stoic face decisions that man must take is progressing and can not fully achieve perfection but only a certain serenity of ataraxia. And happiness is what makes possible the nature of content itself and not dependent on any external good, but a mindset where the individual feels able to be substantially at peace with himself and even with the world. From there, follow his "inner genius" and consider as right and wrong that what depends on us, because in reality, we can not judge truly and justly his own conduct. This ethical concern of "individual moral desired" and naturally articulated to the community seems to be the major contribution of the philosophy of Marcus Aurelius. It is also central to reiterate the importance of a notion dear to the emperor: the harmony, the potential to add to the uncertain events of individual lives and collective balance leading to relative stability, it even leaving us the opportunity to understand the nature and reflect on our conduct. If the philosopher Stoic highlights the impact of this harmony while serving the clean, he said, correctness ethics , it is only to further enhance the deeper question of universality, which, as he stated often in his thoughts, is marked by the seal of a perpetual entanglement, that is to say by the constant presence of the relationship of each element to all others. Marcus is a thinker of the link, a relativity of links falling in absolute unification giving meaning to our actions. Many philosophers have been and are still influenced by the vision of a modern and ancient times of Marcus Aurelius, and many saw him as a pragmatic and above all providing an accuracy in the affirmation and action, that is ie in both ways and decide to keep its commitment. The philosophy of Marcus Aurelius is not a system, and if it is not very complex, it remains essential to any ethical construction. Between 175 and 176 AD, the emperor made a trip to Athens and became a protector of the philosophy. Marcus Aurelius gives a stipend to rhetoricians and philosophers, ensures the recruitment of teachers, provides the Senate and Senators with the biggest "the board of reflection for the city, created four professorships for major philosophical schools: the ' Academy Plato, the Lyceum Aristotle, the Garden Epicurean and Stoic Porch. The Emperor is already supported a thought for the complementarity of scientific disciplines. The Emperor, mindful of public health issues, is best to prevent the progression of terrible plague. Also concerned with problems of exclusion and poverty, he founded several schools for poor girls five miles and cancel debts to the imperial treasury, but reinforces his praetorian guard (the guard of the emperor). For fostering the development of philosophy, it does not support "the fanaticism of the Christians" and can not tolerate their " fetish "for Christ. It persecutes them, thinking they are a threat to the unity or the cohesion of the empire. According to Marcus Aurelius, the Christianity uses to install a moral passions unrelated to any kind but especially thoughtful. Despite his modesty and his desire for reflection, Marcus Aurelius will be forced to wage war throughout the empire, and knew only four years of peace in twenty-five. He had to repel the invaders several times and died at Vindobona ( Vienna , Austria ) after falling ill during a battle on the Danube. At his death in 180 his titles were: Note: Marcus Aurelius was deified by the Senate. - August 20, 2008, a team of archaeologists has unearthed Belgian and Turkish remnants of a giant statue of the emperor Marcus Aurelius in Roman baths of Sagalassos , now Aglasun (province of Burdur ) in western the Turkey. The discovery helped to find a head of the emperor Marcus Aurelius, about 90 cm high, as the right arm holding a globe in his hand, both in very good condition, "said the curator of the museum Burdur, Haciali Ekinci. According to experts the statue was to be 4.5 meters high. Both legs were also found by the team led by Belgian professor Marc Waelkens of the Catholic University of Louvain. The same team of archaeologists had already discovered this site another colossal statue, that of the head, tibia and foot of a statue of Emperor Hadrian, who reigned from 117-138 AD. - The town of Avenches in Switzerland has the only Roman gold bust of Emperor Marcus Aurelius. It was discovered by accident in 1939 in the sewers of the Temple of Jupiter and the deified emperors, probably hidden in there during the Germanic invasions. 
Doctrine
Philosophical Contribution
Major political acts of Marcus Aurelius
Names and titles
Names successive
Titles and magistrates
Titulary to his death
Archaeology
Bibliography
See also
Zeno Kition Ariston of Chios Hrillos Carthage Dionysius of Heraclea Cleanthes Sphairos Chrysippus of Soli Aristocron Diogenes of Babylon Panatios Rhodes Posidonios Cato of Utica Hcaton Rhodes Seneca Musonius Rufus Rubellius Plautus Thrasea Paetus Epictetus Marc Aurele Lipsius
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