Roman Empire under Marcus Aurelius and Commodus
In the autumn of 165 AD. e. A plague epidemic began in Seleucia, and most of the army fell ill. There was no point in thinking about continuing hostilities; the war ended, but Armenia and Mesopotamia remained in Roman hands. The returning army spread the plague throughout Asia Minor, Greece and Italy, and this epidemic turned into the greatest disaster of antiquity. Individual pockets of the epidemic remained until 189 AD. e. In the eyes of public opinion, the epidemic was a punishment for the plunder of Parthian shrines and the desecration of the Arsacid tomb.
Despite this disaster, both rulers in 166 AD. e. They celebrated the victories of their troops with great triumph and added “Armenian, Median and Parthian” to their titles. Along with the wave of Roman expansion, the activity of Roman embassies revived, as Chinese sources report that in 166 AD. e. A group of Roman merchants appeared at the court of Emperor Huang-Ti. True, this journey was episodic in nature, nevertheless it shows what prospects opened up for Rome.
In a phase of extreme exhaustion and paralysis of the Roman forces, which is compared to the situation after the suppression of the Pannonian revolt before the defeat of Varus, in 166 AD. e. The Roman Danube front was crushed. Great unrest in the 2nd and 3rd centuries. n. e. in this region have been outlined since the time of Domitian, so the defensive forces there received significant reinforcements. However, unlike the earlier battles, the invading neighboring tribes were now pushed back, and events were determined by powerful initiatives from deep within the north-eastern European area. Caused by the so-called Marcomanni wars, the first waves of the great migration of peoples encountered Roman dams.
As far as it is possible to determine the movement in depth, it was about two main impacts. First, in the east of the Danube lands, the westward pressure of the Alans, a Sarmatian population group, prevailed, who from their original settlement on the Caspian Sea advanced to the Lower Danube. Another wave came, on the contrary, from the north. It was caused by the advance of the Goths from southern Sweden to the Oder and further in a southeastern direction. Because of this, a number of East German tribes came into movement. The Burgundians from Bornholm entered Silesia, the Semnons migrated from Mark of Brandenburg, and the Lombards also migrated. The Marcomanni, whose name the war bore, remained under foreign pressure.
To this it must be added that the Marcomanni were led by a very strong personality - King Ballamore. Meanwhile, it is unclear to what extent the attacks on Roman possessions, which continued in the coming years and covered the area between Regensburg and the mouth of the Danube, were actually coordinated. It is also unclear whether there was talk of a coalition of various tribes and groups of different ethnic origins. The Quadians, Marcomanni, Iazygians, Roxolani, Costobocians and Alans were the names given to various nationalities who had one common interest, namely a simultaneous attack on the Roman borders on the Danube and in Dacia.
Already in 166 AD. e. Battles broke out. After a deep breakthrough in the Middle Danube, the Marcomanni advanced to upper Italy in the Verona region. The open area was completely devastated. The attacks became more acute because the attackers were not content with just ordinary robberies, but also wanted to settle there. Marcus Aurelius immediately sensed the extent of this danger; he mobilized his last forces for defense. Two legions and auxiliaries were deployed and, as in few cases of extreme necessity, even slaves were armed. To protect Italy, fortified lines were built, and a special detachment was stationed at the protective cordon to strengthen the defense under the command of the consular.
Despite all these measures, in 171 AD. e. It was definitely not the Romans who took the initiative. In the Pannonian provinces of Dacia, Norica and Raetia, attacks by neighboring tribes began in the same year, the results of which can still be judged today by the destroyed strongholds, towns and villas. In 167 AD e. in Dacia had to repel an enemy attack, in 170 AD. e. suffered a crushing defeat and the commander Marcus Cornelius Fronto was killed, in the same year the Sarmatian Costoboks from the lower Danube advanced deeply into Greece. In 171 AD. The Marcomanni burned Venice, but the experienced Roman commanders Tiberius Claudius Pompeian and Publius Helvius Pertinac were able to push back the simultaneously attacking Quadi and Narists, clear Noricum and Raetia, and take away most of their booty from the Germans who had fled to the Danube.
Lucius Verus died in 169 AD. e. in Altina shortly after the start of this struggle. Marcus Aurelius remained in Rome for some time after this, where he held a sensational auction of valuables and works of art in order to obtain additional funds to equip the army. In order to bind Pompeian more closely to himself, he married him to Lucilla, the widow of Verus. Then he went to the Danube front and chose Carnunt as his headquarters.
Between 172 and 175 n. e. Continuous and large-scale offensives were carried out against the Quadi, Marcomanni and Narists in the Middle Danube region, as well as against the Sarmatians on the Tisza. These are the same battles that are depicted on the thirty-meter-high Column of Marcus on Piazza Colonna in Rome, although its relief cannot be interpreted with certainty, like that of Trajan's Column. These battles also include the miracles depicted there that saved the then stranded Roman troops - the miracle of rain and the miracle of lightning.
Peace agreements with the Quadi and, finally, with the Iazyges stopped, at least for a while, these battles, and the agreement with the Iazyges in 175 AD. e. was urgently needed by Marcus Aurelius, because at that time Gaius Avidius Cassius, commander of a group of troops in the east of the empire, rebelled against him and attracted most of Asia Minor, Syria and Egypt to his side. Therefore, the princeps was forced to leave the theater of military operations on the Danube as quickly as possible and concentrate on the confrontation with the usurper.
The conditions of the world allow us to see the outlines of a complete concept. Since the attacks of recent years were the result of untimely detection of regroupings in the imperial frontier, Roman military leaders learned a lesson from this experience. Now strict order and surveillance of the forefield north and east of the Danube were normalized. In the future, a free strip was kept on the left bank of the Danube, first 14 and then 7 km wide. Routes and places for trade were strictly established, and direct control over the forefield was expanded and strengthened through the advancement of individual fortresses. However, much more sensitive for the enemy was the demand to return all prisoners and allocate auxiliary groups, most of which were immediately sent to Britain.
According to extremely controversial information from the “History of the Augustans”, the princeps allegedly wanted to make Bohemia and Moravia the province of Marcomannia, and the space between Pannonia and Dacia - the province of Sarmatia. But there is no evidence for such far-reaching plans.
No matter how long the new order seemed, it was only a short respite. Already in 178 AD. e. the battles of the so-called Second Marcomannic War began again; Marcus Aurelius, together with his son Commodus, again went to the Danube and died there in 180 AD. e. This phase marks the founding of a new legionnaire camp on German soil. In 179 AD e. Castra Regina (Regensburg) was founded. Almost simultaneously, Roman military formations again advanced into the Slovakia region. An inscription on the rock of Trenzin (approximately 100 km north of Pressburg) testifies to the presence of the II Legion.
The tensions that both decades between 161 and 180 brought to the empire. n. e., was not limited to the Parthian and Marcomannic wars, since, in addition to these two places of hostilities, uprisings and riots broke out in almost all directions of the world. Immediately after the start of the reign along with the Parthian War in 162 AD. had to suppress the Hutt uprising in Upper Germany and in the same year the uprising of the Caledonians in Britain. Added to this was the uprising of shepherds in the Nile Delta. Religious motives made this rebellion very dangerous, even Alexandria was under threat for some time. This revolt was eventually suppressed by Gaius Avidius Cassius. And the extreme southwest of the empire experienced times full of danger; in 172 and 177 n. e. Southern Spain was attacked several times from the sea by Moorish tribes and subjected to plunder. The situation was resolved only with the help of a large special military unit.
The empire managed to establish itself once again, but at what cost. Even Roman sources do not hush up the great losses during these two decades, not only among the military leadership, but also among the broad masses of the population of large cities due to robbery and plague. If the author Cassius Dio, who is close to the events, says that in 175 AD. e. When peace was concluded with the Iazyges, about 100,000 Roman prisoners of war were returned, then this number is proof only of the number of Romans captured in this theater of operations.
It is known that Marcus Aurelius was fascinated by philosophy from his early youth. If we consider him a Stoic, then we must take into account that the teaching of the Stoics, over the course of a long spiritual and historical process, has long become a kind of popular philosophy. Its postulates emphasize the irrelevance of external things and forms and put the internal development and self-education of a person in first place. Marcus Aurelius was completely immersed in this world, even externally. He wore a beard, sometimes a philosopher's robe, often slept on the floor and adhered to strict asceticism. The reflective nature of Marcus Aurelius developed under the influence of good teachers. Adrian once jokingly called him the most just, and the rigor of his efforts on himself is reflected in his “Self-Contemplation.”
These notes were not originally intended for publication or philosophical use, and from this point of view they can be placed on a par with Augustine's confessions. They best reveal the self-absorbed man and that Roman ruler who was able to establish the relative nature of all things and had the strongest awareness of the scale of human activity and the changeability of what is happening: “On what tiny lumps of earth are you crawling?... Asia, Europe - nooks and crannies world, the whole sea for the world is a drop, Athos is a lump in it, everything present is a point in eternity. Everything is insignificant, changeable and transitory.” He expressed a similar awareness of frailty in the phrase: “The time is near when you will forget everyone, and everyone will forget you.”
Associated with this knowledge is the concept of the equality of all people. But it is natural that in the ancient understanding of the ego there was the equality of the free, the equality of members of civilized humanity. From the concept of this equality arose the personal idea of statehood: “I imagine a state in which power is evenly distributed, which is governed by the principles of equality and freedom of speech and by a monarchy that respects above all else the freedom of its subjects.”
"Self-Contemplation" represents a call to self, a call to self-control, which Marcus Aurelius achieved. The final word of this spiritual diary is: “Man, you were a citizen of this great city. Do you care if you are 5 years old or 3 years old? After all, obedience to the laws is equal for everyone. What is terrible in that if it is not a tyrant or an unjust judge who sends you away from the city, but the very nature that settled you in it? So the praetor releases the actor he has received from the stage. - “But I didn’t perform five actions, but only three.” - “Quite right. But in life, three acts are the whole play. For the end is announced to those who were once the author of the origin of life, and are now the author of its termination. You have nothing to do with either one or the other. Leave this life, remain benevolent, just as the one who lets you go is benevolent" (Aureliy M. Rostov n/d., 1991. Translated by S. N. Rogozin)
The historical image of Marcus Aurelius was formed under the influence of two completely opposite impressions. The Introspections depict the inner struggles of the Stoic philosopher and became Frederick the Great's favorite reading, while the four-metre tall equestrian statue on the Capitoline Hill, one of the most famous Roman equestrian statues in general, embodies the power of a ruler and commander. You can appreciate a philosopher, admire a man, but there is no reason to idealize a princeps.
Of course, extraordinary strength of character and firmness was required in order, despite a chain of disasters, to achieve the successful defense of the empire, especially since Marcus Aurelius was not trained in military craft and was not prepared for the leadership functions of this kind. Even if he enjoyed the successes of such generals as Pompeian, Pertinac and Avidius Cassius, the responsibility for defending the empire still lay with him alone. Here, as in other areas of domestic policy, the outcome of his reign is certainly positive.
But he is confronted by a completely unsatisfactory solution to personal management problems. If the Roman Empire could withstand an unsuitable princeps, then it was under Marcus Aurelius that the historical test of the adoptive empire took place. He is to blame for the fact that this institution did not work precisely at the moment when it was a question of putting a truly worthy person at the head of the state. He is to blame for the fact that in addition to the external crisis of the empire, an internal one was added.
Although Commodus was close to his father for quite a long time before he came to power, he did not continue the operations led by Marcus Aurelius and did not adopt his style of rule. But it would be wrong to see in the actions of the new princeps a new concept of the principate. His decision to interrupt the fighting on the Danube hardly reflected a realistic assessment of the empire's potential. Saving her strength never interested Commodus even later.
On the other hand, there is no reason to dramatize the fact that the unreliable young princeps joined those who now advocated a cessation of the offensive. For the status quo on the Danube border was largely preserved, although Roman outposts were removed and subsidies were paid to border neighbors. The fact that military and foreign policy initiatives should not be expected from Commodus was already evident here. Where there were minor attacks on the Roman frontier during his reign, as in Britain (around 184 AD), on the upper Rhine, where in 187 AD e. The Strasbourg Legion was stationed in Denmark and Spain, and local commanders took successful defensive measures. Commodus himself was content with the fact that back in 180 AD. e. celebrated a new triumph for the victory over the Danube peoples, and five years later adopted the victorious name Britannicus. After his return to Rome, the border troops never saw him again.
Commodus was also not interested in domestic politics. Inside the empire, a pure regime of favorites reigned, accompanied by wastefulness and corruption. The rivalry of the courtiers and their struggle for power quickly led to a state close to anarchy. Moreover, Commodus, naturally, did not cover his creatures. So, he abandoned Perenna, a power-hungry representative of the equestrian class, who from 182 to 185 AD. e., being a praetorian prefect, he was an influential person. This happened when a large delegation from the British legions arrived in Rome and brought charges against Perenna. The prefect was deposed and killed.
But his successor Cleander did not suffer a better fate. As a Phrygian slave, he was once sold in Rome and, thanks to the position of valet, became the most influential person in the state. When in 189 AD. e. famine began, Cleander was also sacrificed to the Roman plebs. The last team to set the course from about 191 AD. e., there were again the valet Eclectus, the praetorian prefect Letus and the mistress of the princeps Christian Marcia.
It is quite obvious that such a government did not enjoy any authority, and the guard was kept in check only by constant signs of favor and compliance. Already in 182 AD. e. The princeps sister Lucilla and Ummidius Quadratus conceived a rebellion against Commodus. However, the conspiracy failed, and since a number of senators participated in it, the persecution of Commodus fell on those senators whom the chronically distrustful princeps considered his enemies. Like Caligula and Nero, Commodus combined fear with an overestimation of his own personality and pathological behavior.
The extravagance of the court and government difficulties, not eliminated by new confiscations and taxes, quickly led to mismanagement. Already in 180 AD. e., for example, grain prices in Egypt tripled. Neither the reorganization of the grain fleet nor other measures changed anything during the crisis. Stabilization of the economy and currency failed; Commodus's slaves, freedmen and courtiers were not capable of this.
An inscription from North Africa reveals the poor state of daily life of the population. This appeal to the princeps speaks of the plight of ordinary colons. Small tenants turn to the ruler in a pleading tone: “Come to our aid and, since we, poor peasants who earn our bread with our own hands, cannot resist the tenant before your procurator, who, thanks to generous gifts, enjoys their trust, take pity on us and honor us with our sacred answer, so that we do not do more than what we are supposed to do according to the decree of Adrian and according to the letters to your procurators... so that we, peasants and cultivators of our domains, by the grace of your Majesty, are no longer disturbed by tenants.” In his reply, Commodus expressed his concern "that nothing should be required which would violate the fundamental statute."
If there they limited themselves to requests, then in other places such circumstances gave rise to uprisings. In Southern Gaul, public discontent was led by the deserter Maternus. He proclaimed himself emperor, however, after this he was expelled from Gaul, but in 186 AD. e. continued the gang war in Italy until he was caught and executed.
Amid these crises and needs, Commodus lived a luxurious lifestyle. If his father was imbued with the deepest sense of duty and was tormented by remorse, then Commodus had no idea of such motives. But he was obsessed with his nobility. As the first porphyry ruler, he believed that there were no limits for him, that he had the right to demand the highest respect. After Lucilla's conspiracy, when the courtiers convinced him that he would better protect himself from further assassination attempts if he showed himself less in public, he lived constantly in his palace.
In the first years of his reign, the coins of the state mint depicted the traditional state gods, primarily Jupiter, Minerva, Mars and Apollo, and also due to the ruler's love for the eastern gods Sarapis, Isis and Cybele. Jupiter received a new nickname Victorious, which was followed by Commodus being greeted as Victorious. At the same time, as in the time of Trajan, the eternity of Rome, the happiness of the new century - the happiness of times and the happiness of the century - were glorified. Commodus was so confident in his own happiness that he included a new element, happy, in his title.
In contrast to what followed later, the beginning of the reign can be called moderate. But everything changed dramatically when Commodus, after the death of Cleander, decided to lead politics himself. In any case, he abandoned his seclusion in the palace and stopped hiding his monocratic pretensions. In this regard, it would be a mistake to use the concept of “absolutism”.
The renaming and distribution of new names now took on a painful nature, which Commodus was very keen on, and this once again suggests that he considered the empire his property. So, in 190 AD. e. the name Rome disappeared, the city began to be called Colonia Commodiana, the Roman Senate - the Commodian Senate, moreover, all legions had to bear the name Commodus. A particularly successful solution came to the ruler’s mind regarding the names of the months. He changed his name and titles quite often and it turned out that they now consisted of 12 elements, so it was easier and more expedient to change the old names of the months to twelve new ones: Lucius, Elius, Aurelius, Commodus, Augustus, Hercules, Roman, Victorious, Amazonian, Invincible, Happy, Pius.
Hand in hand with the strengthening of external forms went a disregard for old traditions. Thus, the princeps often began to appear in silk and purple clothes, as a priest of Isis, he participated in the processions of this cult with a smoothly shaved head and presented himself as a slave before the gods. While the gladiator in the eyes of the Romans was considered despicable and declassed, Commodus saw in him a life ideal. He turned the hunt into a massacre and reduced Herculean ideas to the point of absurdity.
With all his respect for the various eastern gods, Hercules stood first in the final phase of his reign. He wanted to be the Roman Hercules, the opposite of the Greek god. Thus, on coins and medallions, Commodus wore a helmet with the image of a lion’s muzzle; a lion’s skin and a club were always carried in front of him; these details lay on his chair when he himself did not take part in official ceremonies. If the mythological Hercules defeated the monster, then Commodus looked up to him in his own way. He ordered the Roman cripples to be caught, dressed as giants, and then he killed them with a club, as he did with wild animals in the circus.
Everything that was hidden behind the true dexterity of the princeps was obscured by these excesses. They eventually began to terrify even those closest to him. When Commodus announced his intention to join the consulate on January 1, 193 AD. e. as a gladiator, his entourage Marcia and Eclectus, after an unsuccessful poisoning attempt, ordered the athlete to strangle him on December 31, 192 AD. e. in the bath. Long-restrained hatred resulted in a curse on the memory of the murdered man. The images of Commodus were discarded and the name hammered in with a chisel. However, in 197 AD. e. Septimius Severus associated himself with Commodus, naturally to demonstrate after the turning point of 193 AD. e. continuity of the principate. He even ordered the deification of his predecessor.
However, there is also a modern apotheosis of this perversion. Commodus supposedly needs to be understood on the basis of his “primordial Spanish character,” his desire for primitiveness, for a new form of religiosity, henotheistic syncretism or “religious absolutism.” However, these interpretations are just as unconvincing as in the case of Caligula or Nero, since they do not reflect the essence of the historical Commodus, the princeps who ended the Antonine dynasty. If at the beginning of the 2nd century. n. e. careful ideological justification founded a new phase of the principate, and it was again confirmed by the constructive achievements of the new princeps, then the last Antonin with his fantastic excesses brought it to the point of absurdity. The Roman Hercules Commodus is separated by a whole world from the Herculean ideology of Trajan. The chaos of the era of Commodus was caused by himself; it was with him that the era of “iron and rust” began in the eyes of the contemporary historian Cassius Dio, and, according to Gibbon, the beginning of the “Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.”
, philosopher, representative of late Stoicism, follower of Epictetus. The Last of the Five Good Emperors.
Preparation for power
Mark Annius Verus(later after the first adoption - Marcus Annius Catilius Severus, and after the second - Marcus Aelius Aurelius Verus Caesar), the son of Marcus Annius Verus and Domitia Lucilla, who went down in history under the name Marcus Aurelius, was born in Rome on April 26, 121 into a senatorial family of Spanish origin .
Marcus Aurelius's paternal grandfather (also Marcus Annius Verus) was a three-time consul (elected for the third time in 126).
Marcus Annius Verus was initially adopted by the third husband of Emperor Hadrian's mother, Domitia Lucilla Paulina, by Publius Catilius Severus (consul of 120) and became known as Marcus Annius Catilius Severus.
Essays
The only work of Marcus Aurelius is a philosophical diary consisting of separate discussions in 12 “books” “To Himself” (ancient Greek. Εἰς ἑαυτόν ) . It is a monument of moralistic literature, written in Greek (Koine) in the 170s, mainly on the northeastern borders of the empire and in Sirmium.
Image in cinema
The image of Marcus Aurelius was embodied by Richard Harris in Ridley Scott's film Gladiator and by Alec Guinness in the film The Fall of the Roman Empire.
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Notes
Literature
Texts and translations
- The work was published in the Loeb classical library under number 58.
- In the “Collection Budé” series, the publication of his work has begun: Marc Auréle. Écrits pour lui-même. Tome I: Introduction general. Livre I. Texte établi et traduit par P. Hadot, avec la collaboration de C. Luna. 2e circulation 2002. CCXXV, 94 p.
Russian translations
- Life and deeds Mark Aurelius Antoninus the Caesar of Rome, and at the same time his own and wise thoughts about himself. Translated from German by S. Volchkov. St. Petersburg, . 112, 256 pp.
- 5th ed. St. Petersburg, 1798.
- Emperor's Reflections Marcus Aurelius About what is important to yourself. / Per. L. D. Urusova. Tula, 1882. X, 180 pp.
- reprint: M., 1888, 1891, 1895, 108 pp.; M., 1902, 95 p. M., 1911, 64 p. M., 1991.
- To yourself. Reflections. / Per. P. N. Krasnova. St. Petersburg, 1895. 173 pp.
- Alone with myself. Reflections. / Per. S. M. Rogovina, intro. essay by S. Kotlyarevsky. (Series “Monuments of World Literature”). M.: Sabashnikov Publishing House, 1914. LVI, 199 pp.
- (reprinted several times since 1991)
- Marcus Aurelius Antoninus. Reflections. / Per. and approx. A.K. Gavrilova. Articles by A. I. Dovatura, A. K. Gavrilov, J. Unta. Comm. I. Unta. (Series “Literary monuments”). L.: Science, . 245 pp. 25,000 copies.
- 2nd ed., rev. and additional St. Petersburg: Nauka, 1993. 248 pp. 30,000 copies.
- Marcus Aurelius. To myself. / Per. V. B. Chernigovsky. M., Aletheia-New Acropolis, . 224 pp.
Research
- Francois Fontaine. Marcus Aurelius / Translation by N. Zubkov. - M.: Young Guard, 2005. - 336 p. - 5000 copies. - ISBN 5-235-02787-6.
- Renan E. Marcus Aurelius and the end of the ancient world. St. Petersburg, 1906.
- Rudnev V.V. Emperor Marcus Aurelius as a philosopher // Faith and Reason. 1887, No. 20, book. I, dept. Phil., pp. 385-400.
- Rudnev V.V. Emperor Marcus Aurelius and his attitude towards Christianity // Faith and Reason, 1889, No. 13, book. I, dept. Philosopher pp. 17-36.
- Unt Ya. “Reflections” of Marcus Aurelius as a literary and philosophical monument // Marcus Aurelius. Reflections. Per. A.K. Gavrilova. L., 1985.- P.93-114.
- Gadzhikurbanova P. A. “Philosophical Meditations” by Marcus Aurelius // MegaLing-2008. Horizons of applied linguistics and linguistic technologies: Dokl. international scientific conf. 24-28 Sep. 2008, Ukraine, Crimea, Partenit. Simferopol, 2008. pp. 42-43.
Links
- in the library of Maxim Moshkov
- Panteleev A. D.(Russian) . Research and publications on the history of the ancient world. 2005. .
- Marcus Aurelius.
- Lisovyi I.A. The ancient world in terms, names and titles. Minsk, 1997 p. 8
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Excerpt characterizing Marcus Aurelius
The German, closing his eyes, showed that he did not understand.“If you want, take it for yourself,” the officer said, handing the girl an apple. The girl smiled and took it. Nesvitsky, like everyone else on the bridge, did not take his eyes off the women until they passed. When they passed, the same soldiers walked again, with the same conversations, and finally everyone stopped. As often happens, at the exit of the bridge the horses in the company cart hesitated, and the whole crowd had to wait.
- And what do they become? There is no order! - said the soldiers. -Where are you going? Damn! There's no need to wait. Even worse, he will set the bridge on fire. “Look, the officer was locked in too,” the stopped crowds said from different sides, looking at each other, and still huddled forward towards the exit.
Looking under the bridge at the waters of Ens, Nesvitsky suddenly heard a sound that was still new to him, quickly approaching... something big and something plopping into the water.
- Look where it's going! – the soldier standing close said sternly, looking back at the sound.
“He’s encouraging them to pass quickly,” said another restlessly.
The crowd moved again. Nesvitsky realized that it was the core.
- Hey, Cossack, give me the horse! - he said. - Well you! stay away! step aside! way!
With great effort he reached the horse. Still screaming, he moved forward. The soldiers squeezed to give him way, but again they pressed on him again so that they crushed his leg, and those closest were not to blame, because they were pressed even harder.
- Nesvitsky! Nesvitsky! You, madam!” a hoarse voice was heard from behind.
Nesvitsky looked around and saw, fifteen paces away, separated from him by a living mass of moving infantry, red, black, shaggy, with a cap on the back of his head and a brave mantle draped over his shoulder, Vaska Denisov.
“Tell them what to give to the devils,” he shouted. Denisov, apparently in a fit of ardor, shining and moving his coal-black eyes with inflamed whites and waving his unsheathed saber, which he held with a bare little hand as red as his face.
- Eh! Vasya! – Nesvitsky answered joyfully. - What are you talking about?
“Eskadg “onu pg” you can’t go,” shouted Vaska Denisov, angrily opening his white teeth, spurring his beautiful black, bloody Bedouin, who, blinking his ears from the bayonets he bumped into, snorting, spraying foam from the mouthpiece around him, ringing, he beat his hooves on the boards of the bridge and seemed ready to jump over the railings of the bridge if the rider would allow him. - What is this? like bugs! exactly like bugs! Pg "och... give dog" ogu!... Stay there! you're a wagon, chog"t! I'll kill you with a saber! - he shouted, actually taking out his saber and starting to wave it.
The soldiers with frightened faces pressed against each other, and Denisov joined Nesvitsky.
- Why aren’t you drunk today? - Nesvitsky said to Denisov when he drove up to him.
“And they won’t let you get drunk!” answered Vaska Denisov. “They’ve been dragging the regiment here and there all day long. It’s like that, it’s like that. Otherwise, who knows what it is!”
- What a dandy you are today! – Nesvitsky said, looking at his new mantle and saddle pad.
Denisov smiled, took out a handkerchief from his bag, which smelled of perfume, and stuck it in Nesvitsky’s nose.
- I can’t, I’m going to work! I got out, brushed my teeth and put on perfume.
The dignified figure of Nesvitsky, accompanied by a Cossack, and the determination of Denisov, waving his saber and shouting desperately, had such an effect that they squeezed onto the other side of the bridge and stopped the infantry. Nesvitsky found a colonel at the exit, to whom he needed to convey the order, and, having fulfilled his instructions, went back.
Having cleared the road, Denisov stopped at the entrance to the bridge. Casually holding back the stallion rushing towards his own and kicking, he looked at the squadron moving towards him.
Transparent sounds of hooves were heard along the boards of the bridge, as if several horses were galloping, and the squadron, with officers in front, four in a row, stretched out along the bridge and began to emerge on the other side.
The stopped infantry soldiers, crowding in the trampled mud near the bridge, looked at the clean, dapper hussars marching orderly past them with that special unfriendly feeling of alienation and ridicule with which various branches of the army are usually encountered.
- Smart guys! If only it were on Podnovinskoe!
- What good are they? They only drive for show! - said another.
- Infantry, don't dust! - the hussar joked, under which the horse, playing, splashed mud at the infantryman.
“If I had driven you through two marches with your backpack, the laces would have been worn out,” the infantryman said, wiping the dirt from his face with his sleeve; - otherwise it’s not a person, but a bird sitting!
“If only I could put you on a horse, Zikin, if you were agile,” the corporal joked about the thin soldier, bent over from the weight of his backpack.
“Take the club between your legs, and you’ll have a horse,” responded the hussar.
The rest of the infantry hurried across the bridge, forming a funnel at the entrance. Finally, all the carts passed, the crush became less, and the last battalion entered the bridge. Only the hussars of Denisov's squadron remained on the other side of the bridge against the enemy. The enemy, visible in the distance from the opposite mountain, from below, from the bridge, was not yet visible, since from the hollow along which the river flowed, the horizon ended at the opposite elevation no more than half a mile away. Ahead there was a desert, along which here and there groups of our traveling Cossacks were moving. Suddenly, on the opposite hill of the road, troops in blue hoods and artillery appeared. These were the French. The Cossack patrol trotted away downhill. All the officers and men of Denisov’s squadron, although they tried to talk about outsiders and look around, did not stop thinking only about what was there on the mountain, and constantly peered at the spots on the horizon, which they recognized as enemy troops. The weather cleared again in the afternoon, the sun set brightly over the Danube and the dark mountains surrounding it. It was quiet, and from that mountain the sounds of horns and screams of the enemy could occasionally be heard. There was no one between the squadron and the enemies, except for small patrols. An empty space, three hundred fathoms, separated them from him. The enemy stopped shooting, and the more clearly one felt that strict, menacing, impregnable and elusive line that separates the two enemy troops.
“One step beyond this line, reminiscent of the line separating the living from the dead, and - the unknown of suffering and death. And what's there? who's there? there, beyond this field, and the tree, and the roof illuminated by the sun? Nobody knows, and I want to know; and it’s scary to cross this line, and you want to cross it; and you know that sooner or later you will have to cross it and find out what is there on the other side of the line, just as it is inevitable to find out what is there on the other side of death. And he himself is strong, healthy, cheerful and irritated, and surrounded by such healthy and irritably animated people.” So, even if he doesn’t think, every person who is in sight of the enemy feels it, and this feeling gives a special shine and joyful sharpness of impressions to everything that happens in these minutes.
The smoke of a shot appeared on the enemy’s hill, and the cannonball, whistling, flew over the heads of the hussar squadron. The officers standing together went to their places. The hussars carefully began to straighten out their horses. Everything in the squadron fell silent. Everyone looked ahead at the enemy and at the squadron commander, waiting for a command. Another, third cannonball flew by. It is obvious that they were shooting at the hussars; but the cannonball, whistling evenly quickly, flew over the heads of the hussars and struck somewhere behind. The hussars did not look back, but at every sound of a flying cannonball, as if on command, the entire squadron with its monotonously varied faces, holding back its breath while the cannonball flew, rose in its stirrups and fell again. The soldiers, without turning their heads, glanced sideways at each other, curiously looking for the impression of their comrade. On every face, from Denisov to the bugler, one common feature of struggle, irritation and excitement appeared near the lips and chin. The sergeant frowned, looking around at the soldiers, as if threatening punishment. Junker Mironov bent down with each pass of the cannonball. Rostov, standing on the left flank on his leg-touched but visible Grachik, had the happy look of a student summoned before a large audience for an exam in which he was confident that he would excel. He looked clearly and brightly at everyone, as if asking them to pay attention to how calmly he stood under the cannonballs. But in his face, too, the same feature of something new and stern, against his will, appeared near his mouth.
-Who is bowing there? Yunkeg "Mig"ons! Hexog, look at me! - Denisov shouted, unable to stand still and spinning on his horse in front of the squadron.
The snub-nosed and black-haired face of Vaska Denisov and his entire small, beaten figure with his sinewy (with short fingers covered with hair) hand, in which he held the hilt of a drawn saber, was exactly the same as always, especially in the evening, after drinking two bottles. He was only more red than usual and, raising his shaggy head up, like birds when they drink, mercilessly pressing spurs into the sides of the good Bedouin with his small feet, he, as if falling backwards, galloped to the other flank of the squadron and shouted in a hoarse voice to be examined pistols. He drove up to Kirsten. The headquarters captain, on a wide and sedate mare, rode at a pace towards Denisov. The staff captain, with his long mustache, was serious, as always, only his eyes sparkled more than usual.
- What? - he told Denisov, - it won’t come to a fight. You'll see, we'll go back.
“Who knows what they’re doing,” Denisov grumbled. “Ah! G” skeleton! - he shouted to the cadet, noticing his cheerful face. - Well, I waited.
And he smiled approvingly, apparently rejoicing at the cadet.
Rostov felt completely happy. At this time the chief appeared on the bridge. Denisov galloped towards him.
- Your Excellency! Let me attack! I will kill them.
“What kind of attacks are there,” said the chief in a bored voice, wincing as if from a bothersome fly. - And why are you standing here? You see, the flankers are retreating. Lead the squadron back.
The squadron crossed the bridge and escaped the gunfire without losing a single man. Following him, the second squadron, which was in the chain, crossed over, and the last Cossacks cleared that side.
Two squadrons of Pavlograd residents, having crossed the bridge, one after the other, went back to the mountain. Regimental commander Karl Bogdanovich Schubert drove up to Denisov's squadron and rode at a pace not far from Rostov, not paying any attention to him, despite the fact that after the previous clash over Telyanin, they now saw each other for the first time. Rostov, feeling himself at the front in the power of a man before whom he now considered himself guilty, did not take his eyes off the athletic back, blond nape and red neck of the regimental commander. It seemed to Rostov that Bogdanich was only pretending to be inattentive, and that his whole goal now was to test the cadet’s courage, and he straightened up and looked around cheerfully; then it seemed to him that Bogdanich was deliberately riding close to show Rostov his courage. Then he thought that his enemy would now deliberately send a squadron on a desperate attack to punish him, Rostov. It was thought that after the attack he would come up to him and generously extend the hand of reconciliation to him, the wounded man.
Familiar to the people of Pavlograd, with his shoulders raised high, the figure of Zherkov (he had recently left their regiment) approached the regimental commander. Zherkov, after his expulsion from the main headquarters, did not remain in the regiment, saying that he was not a fool to pull the strap at the front, when he was at headquarters, without doing anything, he would receive more awards, and he knew how to find a job as an orderly with Prince Bagration. He came to his former boss with orders from the commander of the rearguard.
“Colonel,” he said with his gloomy seriousness, turning to Rostov’s enemy and looking around at his comrades, “it was ordered to stop and light the bridge.”
- Who ordered? – the colonel asked gloomily.
“I don’t even know, colonel, who ordered it,” the cornet answered seriously, “but the prince ordered me: “Go and tell the colonel so that the hussars come back quickly and light the bridge.”
Following Zherkov, a retinue officer drove up to the hussar colonel with the same order. Following the retinue officer, fat Nesvitsky rode up on a Cossack horse, which was forcibly carrying him at a gallop.
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (lat. Marcus Aurelius Antoninus). Born April 26, 121 in Rome - died March 17, 180 in Vindobona. Roman emperor (161-180) from the Antonine dynasty, philosopher, representative of late Stoicism, follower of Epictetus.
Marcus Annius Verus (later after the first adoption - Marcus Annius Catilius Severus, and after the second - Marcus Aelius Aurelius Verus Caesar), the son of Marcus Annius Verus and Domitia Lucilla, who went down in history under the name Marcus Aurelius, was born in Rome on April 26, 121 in the senatorial family of Spanish origin.
Marcus Aurelius's paternal grandfather (also Marcus Annius Verus) was a three-time consul (elected for the third time in 126).
Marcus Annius Verus was initially adopted by the third husband of Emperor Hadrian's mother, Domitia Lucilla Paulina, by Publius Catilius Severus (consul of 120) and became known as Marcus Annius Catilius Severus.
In 139, after the death of his adoptive father, he was adopted by Emperor Antoninus Pius and became known as Marcus Aelius Aurelius Verus Caesar.
The wife of Antoninus Pius - Annia Galeria Faustina (Faustina the Elder) - was the sister of Marcus Aurelius' father (and, accordingly, the aunt of Marcus Aurelius himself).
Marcus Aurelius received an excellent education. During the life of Emperor Hadrian, Marcus Aurelius, despite his young age, was appointed quaestor, and six months after the death of Hadrian, he assumed the position of quaestor (December 5, 138) and began to engage in administrative activities.
That same year he was engaged to Annia Galeria Faustina, daughter of Emperor Antoninus Pius, Hadrian's successor to the throne. From his marriage with her, Marcus Aurelius had children: Annius Aurelius Galerius Lucilla, Annius Aurelius Galerius Faustina, Aelia Antonina, Aelia Hadriana, Domitia Faustina, Fadilla, Cornificia, Commodus (future emperor), Titus Aurelius Fulvius Antonina, Aelia Aurelius, Marcus Annius Vera Caesar , Vibius Aurelius Sabinus. Most of Marcus Aurelius's children died in childhood; only Commodus, Lucilla, Faustina and Sabina survived to adulthood.
He was appointed consul by Antoninus Pius in 140 and declared Caesar. In 145 he was declared consul for the second time, together with Pius.
At the age of 25, Marcus Aurelius began to study philosophy; Marcus Aurelius's main mentor was Quintus Junius Rusticus. There is information about other philosophers summoned to Rome for him. The leader of Marcus Aurelius in the study of civil law was the famous lawyer Lucius Volusius Metianus.
On January 1, 161, Mark entered into his third consulate together with his adopted brother. In March of the same year, Emperor Antoninus Pius died and the joint reign of Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus began, lasting until the death of Lucius in January 169, after which Marcus Aurelius ruled alone.
Marcus Aurelius learned a lot from his adoptive father Antoninus Pius. Like him, Marcus Aurelius strongly emphasized his respect for the Senate as an institution and for the senators as members of this institution.
Marcus Aurelius paid great attention to legal proceedings. The general direction of his activity in the field of law: “he did not so much introduce innovations as restore ancient law.” In Athens, he established four departments of philosophy - for each of the philosophical movements dominant in his time - academic, peripatetic, stoic, epicurean. Professors were assigned state support. Just like under his predecessors, the institution of supporting children of low-income parents and orphans through the financing of so-called alimentary institutions was preserved.
Not having a warlike character, Aurelius had to participate in hostilities many times.
The Parthians invaded Roman territory immediately after the death of Antoninus Pius and defeated the Romans in two battles. The Roman Empire made peace with Parthia in 166, according to which Northern Mesopotamia went to the Empire, and Armenia was recognized as part of the sphere of Roman interests. That same year, Germanic tribes invaded Roman possessions on the Danube. The Marcomanni invaded the provinces of Pannonia, Noricum, Raetia and penetrated through the Alpine passes into Northern Italy as far as Aquileia. Additional military contingents were transferred to Northern Italy and Pannonia, including from the eastern front. Additional troops were recruited, including from gladiators and slaves. The co-emperors set out on a campaign against the barbarians. The war with the Germans and Sarmatians had not yet ended when unrest began in Northern Egypt (172).
In 178, Marcus Aurelius led a campaign against the Germans, and he achieved great success, but the Roman troops were overtaken by a plague epidemic. On March 17, 180, Marcus Aurelius died of the plague at Vindobona on the Danube (modern Vienna). After his death, Marcus Aurelius was officially deified. The time of his reign is considered a golden age in the ancient historical tradition. Marcus Aurelius is called "the philosopher on the throne." He professed the principles of stoicism, and the main thing in his notes was ethical teaching, an assessment of life from the philosophical and moral side and advice on how to approach it.
Archpriest Pyotr Smirnov in his work “History of the Christian Church” writes: “A qualitative change in the nature of the persecution of Christian society took place under the emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus the Philosopher (161-180), the last outstanding representative of the Stoic school. If previously the government did not search for Christians, trying them only when they were brought to court and accused; now it itself begins to search for and persecute them. Marcus Aurelius, noticing the constant increase in Christian societies and fearing for the state religion and the integrity of the empire, tried by all means to support the people's domestic service to the gods. In addition, as a philosopher-sovereign and, moreover, a Stoic, he looked at Christians as misguided, stubborn fanatics, and hated them for their, in his opinion, superstitious doctrine, especially for their ardent belief in the future life and holy animation when meeting death. Such a sovereign could not look indifferently at Christians; if they, he thought , superstitious and fanatics who do not understand the falsity of their beliefs and are still harmful to the state, then we must dissuade them, impart to them the correct beliefs so that they can be worthy members of the state, even if violence has to be used to achieve this goal. And so, Marcus Aurelius not only does not stop, like previous emperors, the usual popular indignations against Christians, but even himself issues a “new edict” regarding them, different from the edicts of previous times. Now it was ordered to look for Christians, convince them to renounce their errors, and if they remain adamant, subject them to torture, which should be stopped only when they renounce their errors and bring worship to the gods. Thus, the persecution of Christians under Marcus Aurelius was very cruel. During this persecution, Christians declared themselves especially zealous for the faith; Never in previous persecutions were there so many martyrs as now. Saint Justin the Philosopher, who founded a Christian school in Rome, died there as a martyr in 166 along with his students.".
Marcus Aurelius left philosophical records - 12 "books" written in Greek, which are usually given the general title "Discourses on Self." The philosophy teacher of Marcus Aurelius was Maximus Claudius.
As a representative of late Stoicism, Marcus Aurelius pays the greatest attention to ethics in his philosophy, and the remaining sections of philosophy serve propaedeutic purposes.
The previous tradition of Stoicism distinguished in man a body and a soul, which is pneuma. Marcus Aurelius sees three principles in man, adding to the soul (or pneuma) and body (or flesh) the intellect (or reason, or nous). If the former Stoics considered the soul-pneuma the dominant principle, then Marcus Aurelius calls reason the leading principle. Reason nous represents an inexhaustible source of impulses necessary for a worthy human life. You need to bring your mind into harmony with the nature of the whole and thereby achieve dispassion. Happiness lies in harmony with universal reason.
The only work of Marcus Aurelius is a philosophical diary consisting of separate discussions in 12 books “To Himself” (ancient Greek: Εἰς ἑαυτόν). It is a monument of moralistic literature.
Marcus Annius Verus was born into a famous and educated family, but no one at that time could have imagined that one day he would become the head of the Roman Empire. Little is known about his childhood, but we do know that he was a serious young man who also enjoyed wrestling, boxing and hunting.
At the time when Marcus Verus was a teenager, the reigning ruler of Rome, Hadrian, was approaching death and was childless. He needed to choose a successor, and after his first choice, Lucius Caeonia, who died unexpectedly, the emperor chose Antoninus. He was a senator who was also childless and had to adopt Marcus, according to Hadrian's stipulation, as well as Ceionius' son Lucius Verus. So Mark's name changed to Marcus Aurelius Antoninus.
As soon as Hadrian died, it became clear that Mark had become a contender for the most important position in the empire. He became seriously concerned about his education, and was finally given the privilege of studying with Herodes Atticus, a teacher of rhetoric from Athens (Marcus later wrote Meditations in Greek), as well as Marcus Cornelius Fronto, his teacher in Latin, whose letters with Marcus survive and to this day.
Mark also served twice as consul, thereby receiving a valuable and practical education.
In 161, when Antoninus died and one of the longest reigns ended, Marcus became Emperor and ruled for almost two decades until his death in 180. At first he ruled alongside Lucius Verus, his adopted brother, until Lucius died eight years later.
His reign was not easy: wars with the Parthian Empire, barbarian tribes threatening the Empire on the northern border, the rise of Christianity, and a plague that claimed numerous lives.
Death found Mark in 180 at his military headquarters in modern Vienna. The historian Dio Cassius describes Marcus's attitude towards his son, Commodus, whom he had made co-emperor several years earlier and who was expected to follow his goals:
“Marcus was not physically strong and encountered many troubles throughout his reign, but for my part I admire him, all the more for the reason that amidst unusual and extraordinary difficulties he survived himself and preserved the empire.”
It is important to realize the seriousness of the position and the power that Mark had. At that time he held perhaps one of the most powerful positions in the world. If he was appointed ruler, there was no limit to his power. He could indulge in temptations and succumb to temptations; no one could keep him from any of his desires.
There is a reason for this, which is explained by the expression that the history of corruption in power repeats itself endlessly - this trend, unfortunately, is true. And yet, as the poet Matthew Arnold observed, Marcus Aurelius proved himself worthy of the honorable position he held.
This fact has been noted by various researchers. Renowned historian Edward Gibbon wrote that under Marcus Aurelius, the last of the “Five Good Emperors,” “the Roman Empire was in absolute power under the guidance of wisdom and virtue.”
A Guide to Wisdom and Virtue. This is what sets Mark apart from most past and present world leaders.
Just think about the diary he left behind, which is now known as his "Reflections", which we will discuss below: the personal thoughts of the most powerful man in the world, admonishing himself on how to be more virtuous, more just, more immune to temptation , wiser.
And for Marcus Aurelius, as the leader of one of the most powerful empires in human history, Stoicism provided a framework for dealing with the stresses of everyday life. It is not surprising that he wrote his Reflections in the last decade of his life while campaigning against foreign invaders.
Having gone through the knowledge received from his mentors and teachers, Marcus heeded the studies of Stoicism, which we see in him, thanks to the teacher Rusticus for teaching him Stoicism and Epictetus for the Meditations.
Another influence on Mark was the teaching, whose ideas we can see throughout the Meditations. They had a strong influence on Stoic thought. Given the literary world of the time, Marcus Aurelius most likely was not influenced by , another of the three most prominent Stoics.
The tragedy of Marcus Aurelius, as one scholar wrote, was that his “philosophy, which is concerned with restraint, duty and respect for other people,” ran counter to “the imperial line that he anointed with his death.”
Records and suggested readings of Marcus Aurelius
Marcus Aurelius has only one major work, which was never actually intended for publication, the Meditations (originally called To Myself). It is not only one of the greatest books ever written, but perhaps the only book of its kind.
This is the definitive text on self-discipline, personal ethics, humility, self-actualization and strength. This work has inspired such writers as Ambrose Bierce and Robert Louis Stevenson, and such statesmen as Wen Jiabao and Bill Clinton. If you read this and do not change your attitude much, it is probably because, as Aurelius says, “that which does not transmit light creates its own darkness.”
It is important to remember that we are very fortunate that the teachings of Marcus Aurelius have survived to this day.
Teachings of Marcus Aurelius
- Practice Virtues You Can Show
- It's easy to succumb to self-pity when we start telling ourselves that we lack certain talents, that we can't afford things that seem so easily available to other people. We have to catch ourselves when we think about it. We need to focus on the things that are always within us: our capacity and potential for virtuous action.
- Mark wrote to himself: “No one can ever accuse you of being smart. Okay, but there are many other qualities that you can't claim you don't have. Practice the virtues that you can demonstrate: honesty, severity, endurance, asceticism, abstinence, patience, sincerity, moderation, seriousness, generosity. Don't you see how much you have to offer - beyond excuses like "can't"? And yet you still settle for less.”
- Draw strength from others
- As stated earlier, Marcus Aurelius most likely wrote the notes to himself that are now Meditations on the Battlefield during the last decade of his life.
- During those difficulties and adversities, he wrote to himself of encouragement in order to gather strength within himself again to fulfill his duty. One exercise we can take from him is to gather strength from the people in our lives or simply from role models who inspire us.
- As Aurelius wrote, “When you need encouragement, think of the qualities of the people around you: the energy of it, modesty, generosity, etc. Nothing is so encouraging as if virtues were clearly embodied in the people around us when we -really gifted them. It's good to remember that."
- Focus on the present
- Marcus Aurelius knew about the temptations we all have to let our imaginations run wild, envisioning all the ways things could go wrong. Of course, such an exercise can be useful in preparing us for the future and preparing us for disaster, but Marcus Aurelius was well aware that it could become a crippling fear that paralyzes us from any useful action.
- In his words, “Don't let your imagination be crushed by life in general. Don't try to imagine all the bad things that could happen. Stay with the situation and ask, “Why is this so unbearable? Why can't I stand it? You will be embarrassed to answer. Then remind yourself that the past and future have no power over you. Only the present - and even this can be reduced to a minimum. Just mark its limits. And if your mind tries to claim that it cannot resist it... well, then you should be very ashamed of it."
Quotes from the Roman Emperor and Philosopher
“Yes, you can - if you do everything as if it was the last thing you did in your life and stop being aimless, stop letting your emotions overestimate what your mind is telling you, stop being hypocritical, selfish, irritable.” .
“At dawn, when you find it difficult to get out of bed, tell yourself: “I have to go to work - like a person. What should I complain about if I'm going to do what I was born to do, what I brought into the world? Or is this what I was made for? Hide under the blanket and stay warm?
“When you wake up in the morning, tell yourself: the people I deal with today will be in the way, they are ungrateful, arrogant, dishonest, jealous and sullen. They are like this because they cannot distinguish good from evil.”
“There is no need to feel irritated or defeated or sad because your days are not filled with wise and moral actions. But feel when you fail, acknowledge your behavior, no matter how imperfect, and fully accept the actions you took.”
“The mind adapts and transforms the obstacle to our action to its own ends. An obstacle to action accelerates action. What gets in the way becomes the path itself.”
“Carelessness in your actions. There is no confusion in your words. There is no inaccuracy in your thoughts.”
Marcus Aurelius (birth name Marcus Annius Catilius Severus) was a Roman emperor, a representative of late Stoicism, nicknamed “the philosopher on the throne.” Marcus Aurelius was a descendant of an old Spanish family, his father was the praetor Annius Vera. The boy was born (April 26, 121) and grew up in Rome, in a society close to Emperor Hadrian.
Marcus Aurelius had an excellent education. Teacher Diognet taught him the art of painting and philosophy. The philosophical views instilled in him, deepened during further education, also influenced his way of life. Thus, from a young age, Marcus Aurelius abstained from any excesses, avoided entertainment, dressed in a modest cloak, chose bare boards as a place to sleep, and slept with animal skins thrown over himself.
Despite his young years, even during the life of his patron Hadrian, Mark was a candidate for quaestor and, having taken this position on December 5, 138, was able to begin administrative activities. In 138, his engagement took place to the daughter of Antoninus Pius, then the future emperor. This man, fulfilling the will of Adrian, adopted Mark after the death of his father. After this they began to call him Marcus Elius Aurelius Verus Caesar.
In 140, Marcus Aurelius was appointed consul for the first time, and in 145 he became consul for the second time. When Marcus was 25 years old, he was passionately fascinated by philosophy, to the world of which he was introduced by Quintus Junius Rusticus, as well as other philosophers who were invited to Rome specifically to teach Aurelius. It is known that he studied civil law under the famous legal adviser L. Volusius Maecian.
Involvement in government began in 146: then Marcus Aurelius became the people's tribune. In January 161, he became consul for the third time, this time with his brother, who was also the adopted son of Antoninus Pius, Lucius Verus. When their adoptive father died in March of the same year, they began to govern the country together and both remained in power until the death of Lucius Verus in 169.
Marcus Aurelius remains remembered as a humane, highly moral emperor who courageously endured the vicissitudes of fate that befell him. He tried to patiently bear his cross, turning a blind eye to his partner’s inability to govern the country, his wife’s immorality, his son’s bad temper, and the atmosphere of misunderstanding surrounding him.
Being a Stoic philosopher, a man who hated violence and war, Marcus Aurelius was nevertheless forced to spend most of his reign on military campaigns, defending the borders of the state entrusted to him. So, immediately after the death of Antoninus Pius, Parthian troops invaded the country, with whom Aurelius fought until 166. Throughout 166-180. Roman troops took part in the Marcomannic War: the Roman provinces on the Danube were invaded by the Germans and Sarmatians. This war was still in full swing, as Northern Egypt announced itself with unrest. The consequence of permanent hostilities was the weakening of the Roman Empire, the population became poorer, and epidemics began.
In domestic politics, Emperor Marcus Aurelius paid most attention to legislation, legal proceedings, and establishing order in the bureaucratic system. Aurelius attended meetings of the Senate and personally attended trials. In Athens he established 4 philosophical departments (according to the number of dominant philosophical directions); He provided the professors with maintenance at the expense of the state treasury.
In 178, the Roman army under the command of Marcus Aurelius launched a successful campaign against the Germans, but fell victim to the outbreak of the plague. This disease put an end to the biography of the emperor himself. This happened on the Danube, in Vindobona (now Vienna) on March 17, 180.
After his death he was officially deified. According to ancient historical tradition, the years of his reign are considered a golden age, and Marcus Aurelius himself is one of the best Roman emperors. After him, 12 “books” of philosophical notes were found and published (for the first time only in 1558) (later they were given the general name “Reflections on Oneself”), reflecting the worldview of the “philosopher on the throne.”