5 – Marcus Aurelius (161 – 180 AD)
Marcus Aurelius was born in Rome in 121 AD and is considered to be the last of the Five Good Emperors. He was apparently born into an aristocratic family and was named as the heir to Emperor Antonius Pius when the latter took the throne in 138 AD. From that point onward, Marcus was effectively ‘groomed’ for the role and was made consul in 140 and 145 AD. He studied philosophy and oratory and upon the death of Pius in 161 AD, Marcus became emperor.
He was a reluctant ruler at first and refused to take the title of emperor unless his adopted brother Lucius Verus was given equal power. Despite this condition, Marcus held more authority than Lucius throughout their co-reign which ended in 169 AD when Lucius died from the plague.
Although he is regarded as a philosopher, Marcus’ reign was filled with warfare. Also, he had to deal with the Christians who refused to honor Rome’s gods or take part in the empire’s religious festivals. The first major conflict of his time as emperor was the Roman-Parthian War which began in 161 AD. Lucius left Rome to deal with the enemy and successfully defeated the Parthians in 166 AD.
Throughout the 160s, some Germanic tribes started raiding the empire’s northern border. A massive invasion began in 166 AD, but Rome couldn’t deal with the situation until the following year due to the war with Parthia. Marcus was forced to lead a lengthy campaign and proved to be a good general despite having little or no formal military experience. He composed his famous work called ‘The Meditations’ during his campaign in the Danube region, but it was never supposed to be published. Marcus died in modern day Vienna in 180 AD and is remembered for being a just emperor who placed the needs of the people above his own. Unfortunately, his son Commodus was the complete opposite. He was made co-emperor in 177 AD and is remembered as one of the worst Roman emperors.