View source for Marcus Aurelius - Wikipedia
View source for Marcus Aurelius
← Marcus Aurelius
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
You do not have permission to edit this page, for the following reasons:
Your IP address is in a range that has been blocked on all Wikimedia Foundation wikis.
The block was made by Jon Kolbert (meta.wikimedia.org).
The reason given is Open Proxy: Webhost: Contact stewards if you are affected .
Start of block: 20:12, 23 July 2019
Expiry of block: 20:12, 23 January 2022
Your current IP address is 40.76.139.33 and the blocked range is 40.76.0.0/16.
Please include all above details in any queries you make.
If you believe you were blocked by mistake, you can find additional information and instructions in the No open proxies global policy.
Otherwise, to discuss the block please post a request for review on Meta-Wiki or send an email to the stewards OTRS queue at stewards@wikimedia.org including all above details.
You are currently unable to edit Wikipedia due to a block affecting this IP address.
This does not affect your ability to read Wikipedia pages.
Most people who see this message have done nothing wrong. Some kinds of blocks restrict editing from specific service providers or telecom companies in response to recent abuse or vandalism, and affect other users who are unrelated to that abuse. See below if you do not believe you have done anything wrong.
Editing from 40.76.0.0/16 has been blocked (disabled) by SQL for the following reason(s):
The IP address that you are currently using has been blocked because it is believed to be a web host provider or colocation provider. To prevent abuse, web hosts and colocation providers may be blocked from editing Wikipedia.
You will not be able to edit Wikipedia using a web host or colocation provider because it hides your IP address, much like a proxy or VPN.
We recommend that you attempt to use another connection to edit. For example, if you use a proxy or VPN to connect to the internet, turn it off when editing Wikipedia. If you edit using a mobile connection, try using a Wi-Fi connection, and vice versa. If you have a Wikipedia account, please log in. If you do not have any other way to edit Wikipedia, you will need to request an IP block exemption.
If you are confident that you are not using a web host, you may appeal this block by adding the following text on your talk page: {{unblock|reason=Caught by a colocation web host block but this host or IP is not a web host. My IP address is _______. Place any further information here. ~~~~}}. You must fill in the blank with your IP address for this block to be investigated. Your IP address can be determined here. Alternatively, if you wish to keep your IP address private you can use the unblock ticket request system. There are several reasons you might be editing using the IP address of a web host or colocation provider (such as if you are using VPN software or a business network); please use this method of appeal only if you think your IP address is in fact not a web host or colocation provider.
Administrators: The IP block exemption user right should only be applied to allow users to edit using web host in exceptional circumstances, and requests should usually be directed to the functionaries team via email. If you intend to give the IPBE user right, a CheckUser needs to take a look at the account. This can be requested most easily at SPI Quick Checkuser Requests. Unblocking an IP or IP range with this template is highly discouraged without at least contacting the blocking administrator.
This block has been set to expire: 16:25, 2 June 2023.
Even when blocked, you will usually still be able to edit your user talk page and email other editors and administrators.
For information on how to proceed, first see the FAQ for blocked users and the guideline on block appeals. The guide to appealing blocks may also be helpful.
Other useful links: Blocking policy · Help:I have been blocked
You can view and copy the source of this page:
==Emperor==
{{Main|Reign of Marcus Aurelius}}
===Accession of Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus (161)===
[[File:Co-emperors Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus, British Museum (23455313842).jpg|thumb|Busts of the co-emperors Marcus Aurelius (left) and [[Lucius Verus]] (right), [[British Museum]]|alt=Busts of Marcus Aurelius and his co-ruler Lucius Verus]]
After Antoninus died in 161, Marcus was effectively sole ruler of the Empire. The formalities of the position would follow. The senate would soon grant him the name Augustus and the title ''[[imperator]]'', and he would soon be formally elected as ''Pontifex Maximus'', chief priest of the official cults. Marcus made some show of resistance: the biographer writes that he was 'compelled' to take imperial power.''HA Marcus'' vii. 5, qtd. and tr. Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', p. 116. This may have been a genuine ''horror imperii'', 'fear of imperial power'. Marcus, with his preference for the philosophic life, found the imperial office unappealing. His training as a Stoic, however, had made the choice clear to him that it was his duty.Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', p. 116. Birley takes the phrase ''horror imperii'' from ''HA Pert''. xiii. 1 and xv. 8.
Although Marcus showed no personal affection for Hadrian (significantly, he does not thank him in the first book of his ''Meditations''), he presumably believed it his duty to enact the man's succession plans.Birley, 'Hadrian to the Antonines', p. 156. Thus, although the senate planned to confirm Marcus alone, he refused to take office unless Lucius received equal powers.''HA Verus'' iii.8; Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', p. 116; 'Hadrian to the Antonines', p. 156. The senate accepted, granting Lucius the ''imperium'', the tribunician power, and the name Augustus.''HA Verus'' iv.1; ''Marcus'' vii.5; Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', p. 116. Marcus became, in official titulature, Imperator Caesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus; Lucius, forgoing his name Commodus and taking Marcus's family name Verus, became Imperator Caesar Lucius Aurelius Verus Augustus.Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', pp. 116–17.{{refn|These name-swaps have proven so confusing that even the ''Historia Augusta'', our main source for the period, cannot keep them straight.Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', p. 117; 'Hadrian to the Antonines', p. 157 n.53. The 4th-century ecclesiastical historian [[Eusebius of Caesarea]] shows even more confusion.Birley, 'Hadrian to the Antonines', p. 157 n.53. The mistaken belief that Lucius had the name 'Verus' before becoming emperor has proven especially popular.Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', p. 117.|group=note}} It was the first time that Rome was ruled by two emperors.{{refn|There was, however, much precedent. The consulate was a twin magistracy, and earlier emperors had often had a subordinate lieutenant with many imperial offices (under Antoninus, the lieutenant had been Marcus). Many emperors had planned a joint succession in the past: [[Augustus]] planned to leave [[Gaius Caesar|Gaius]] and [[Lucius Caesar]] as joint emperors on his death; Tiberius wished to have [[Gaius Caligula]] and [[Tiberius Gemellus]] do so as well; [[Claudius]] left the empire to [[Nero]] and [[Britannicus]], imagining that they would accept equal rank. All of these arrangements had ended in failure, either through premature death (Gaius and Lucius Caesar) or judicial murder (Gemellus by Caligula and Britannicus by Nero).|group=note}}
In spite of their nominal equality, Marcus held more ''[[auctoritas]]'', or 'authority', than Lucius. He had been consul once more than Lucius, he had shared in Antoninus's rule, and he alone was ''Pontifex Maximus''. It would have been clear to the public which emperor was the more senior. As the biographer wrote, 'Verus obeyed Marcus...as a lieutenant obeys a proconsul or a governor obeys the emperor'.''HA Verus'' iv.2, tr. Magie, cited in Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', pp. 117, 278 n.4.
Immediately after their senate confirmation, the emperors proceeded to the [[Castra Praetoria]], the camp of the [[Praetorian Guard]]. Lucius addressed the assembled troops, which then acclaimed the pair as ''imperatores''. Then, like every new emperor since [[Claudius]], Lucius promised the troops a special donative.''HA Marcus'' vii. 9; ''Verus'' iv.3; Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', pp. 117–18. This donative, however, was twice the size of those past: 20,000 [[sestertius|sesterces]] (5,000 [[denarius|denarii]]) per capita, with more to officers. In return for this bounty, equivalent to several years' pay, the troops swore an oath to protect the emperors.''HA Marcus'' vii. 9; ''Verus'' iv.3; Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', pp. 117–18. 'twice the size': Duncan-Jones, p. 109. The ceremony was perhaps not entirely necessary, given that Marcus's accession had been peaceful and unopposed, but it was good insurance against later military troubles.Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', p. 118. Upon his accession he also devalued the [[Roman currency]]. He decreased the silver purity of the denarius from 83.5% to 79% – the silver weight dropping from {{cvt|2.68|g|oz}} to {{cvt|2.57|g|oz}}.[https://web.archive.org/web/20010210220413/http://www.tulane.edu/~august/handouts/601cprin.htm 'Roman Currency of the Principate']. Tulane.edu. Archived 10 February 2001.
Antoninus's funeral ceremonies were, in the words of the biographer, 'elaborate'.''HA Marcus'' vii. 10, tr. Magie, cited in Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', pp. 118, 278 n.6. If his funeral followed those of his predecessors, his body would have been incinerated on a pyre at the [[Campus Martius]], and his spirit would have been seen as ascending to the gods' home in the heavens. Marcus and Lucius nominated their father for deification. In contrast to their behaviour during Antoninus's campaign to deify Hadrian, the senate did not oppose the emperors' wishes. A ''[[flamen]]'', or cultic priest, was appointed to minister the cult of the deified Divus Antoninus. Antoninus's remains were laid to rest in Hadrian's mausoleum, beside the remains of Marcus's children and of Hadrian himself.''HA Marcus'' vii. 10–11; Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', p. 118. The temple he had dedicated to his wife, Diva Faustina, became the [[Temple of Antoninus and Faustina]]. It survives as the church of San Lorenzo in Miranda.
In accordance with his will, Antoninus's fortune passed on to Faustina.''HA Antoninus Pius'' xii.8; Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', pp. 118–19. (Marcus had little need of his wife's fortune. Indeed, at his accession, Marcus transferred part of his mother's estate to his nephew, [[Marcus Ummidius Quadratus Annianus|Ummius Quadratus]].''HA Marcus'' vii. 4; Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', p. 119.) Faustina was three months pregnant at her husband's accession. During the pregnancy she dreamed of giving birth to two serpents, one fiercer than the other.''HA Comm''. i.3; Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', p. 119. On 31 August, she gave birth at [[Lanuvium]] to twins: T. Aurelius Fulvus Antoninus and Lucius Aurelius Commodus.''HA Comm''. i.2; Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', p. 119.{{refn|The biographer relates the scurrilous (and, in the judgment of Anthony Birley, untrue) rumor that Commodus was an illegitimate child born of a union between Faustina and a gladiator.''HA Marcus'' xix. 1–2; Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', p. 278 n.9.|group=note}} Aside from the fact that the twins shared [[Caligula]]'s birthday, the omens were favorable, and the astrologers drew positive horoscopes for the children.''HA Commodus''. i.4, x.2; Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', p. 119. The births were celebrated on the imperial coinage.Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', p. 119, citing H. Mattingly, ''Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum IV: Antoninus Pius to Commodus'' (London, 1940), Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus, nos. 155ff.; 949ff.
===Early rule===
Soon after the emperors' accession, Marcus's eleven-year-old daughter, Annia Lucilla, was betrothed to Lucius (in spite of the fact that he was, formally, her uncle).''HA Marcus'' vii. 7; Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', p. 118. At the ceremonies commemorating the event, new provisions were made for the support of poor children, along the lines of earlier imperial foundations.Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', p. 118, citing Werner Eck, ''Die Organization Italiens'' (1979), pp. 146ff. Marcus and Lucius proved popular with the people of Rome, who strongly approved of their ''civiliter'' ('lacking pomp') behaviour. The emperors permitted free speech, evidenced by the fact that the comedy writer Marullus was able to criticize them without suffering retribution. As the biographer wrote, 'No one missed the lenient ways of Pius'.''HA Marcus'' viii. 1, qtd. and tr. Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', p. 119; 'Hadrian to the Antonines', p. 157.
Marcus replaced a number of the empire's major officials. The ''[[ab epistulis]]'' Sextus Caecilius Crescens Volusianus, in charge of the imperial correspondence, was replaced with Titus Varius Clemens. Clemens was from the frontier province of [[Pannonia]] and had served in the war in [[Mauretania]]. Recently, he had served as procurator of five provinces. He was a man suited for a time of military crisis.Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', pp. 122–23, citing H.G. Pfalum, ''Les carrières procuratoriennes équestres sous le Haut-Empire romain'' I–III (Paris, 1960–61); ''Supplément'' (Paris, 1982), nos. 142; 156; Eric Birley, ''Roman Britain and the Roman Army'' (1953), pp. 142ff., 151ff. Lucius Volusius Maecianus, Marcus's former tutor, had been [[Augustal prefect|prefectural governor]] of [[Egypt (Roman province)|Egypt]] at Marcus's accession. Maecianus was recalled, made senator, and appointed prefect of the treasury (''[[aerarium Saturni]]''). He was made consul soon after.Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', p. 123, citing H.G. Pfalum, ''Les carrières procuratoriennes équestres sous le Haut-Empire romain'' I–III (Paris, 1960–61); ''Supplément'' (Paris, 1982), no. 141. Fronto's son-in-law, [[Gaius Aufidius Victorinus]], was appointed governor of [[Germania Superior]].''HA Marcus'' viii. 8; Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', p. 123, citing W. Eck, ''Die Satthalter der germ. Provinzen'' (1985), pp. 65ff.
Fronto returned to his Roman townhouse at dawn on 28 March, having left his home in [[Cirta]] as soon as news of his pupils' accession reached him. He sent a note to the imperial freedman Charilas, asking if he could call on the emperors. Fronto would later explain that he had not dared to write the emperors directly.Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', p. 120, citing ''Ad Verum Imperator'' i.3.2 (= Haines 1.298ff). The tutor was immensely proud of his students. Reflecting on the speech he had written on taking his consulship in 143, when he had praised the young Marcus, Fronto was ebullient: 'There was then an outstanding natural ability in you; there is now perfected excellence. There was then a crop of growing corn; there is now a ripe, gathered harvest. What I was hoping for then, I have now. The hope has become a reality.'''Ad Antoninum Imperator'' iv.2.3 (= Haines 1.302ff), qtd. and tr. Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', p. 119. Fronto called on Marcus alone; neither thought to invite Lucius.Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', p. 120.
Lucius was less esteemed by Fronto than his brother, as his interests were on a lower level. Lucius asked Fronto to adjudicate in a dispute he and his friend Calpurnius were having on the relative merits of two actors.Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', p. 120, citing ''Ad Verum Imperator'' i.1 (= Haines 1.305). Marcus told Fronto of his reading – [[Lucius Coelius Antipater|Coelius]] and a little Cicero – and his family. His daughters were in Rome with their great-great-aunt Matidia; Marcus thought the evening air of the country was too cold for them. He asked Fronto for 'some particularly eloquent reading matter, something of your own, or Cato, or Cicero, or Sallust or Gracchus – or some poet, for I need distraction, especially in this kind of way, by reading something that will uplift and diffuse my pressing anxieties.'''Ad Antoninum Imperator'' iv.1 (= Haines 1.300ff), qtd. and tr. Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', p. 120. Marcus's early reign proceeded smoothly; he was able to give himself wholly to philosophy and the pursuit of popular affection.''HA Marcus'' viii. 3–4; Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', p. 120. Soon, however, he would find he had many anxieties. It would mean the end of the ''felicitas temporum'' ('happy times') that the coinage of 161 had proclaimed.Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', p. 120, citing H. Mattingly, ''Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum IV: Antoninus Pius to Commodus'' (London, 1940), Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus, nos. 841; 845.
{{multiple image|total_width=500
|image1=12 dicembre 2008 piena del tevere 17.JPG
|alt1=Tiber Island in flood, December 2008
|image2=Piena del Tevere - Tiber in flood - Ponte Sisto - Rome, Italy - 12 Dec. 2008.jpg
|alt2=Tiber Island in flood, December 2008
|footer=[[Tiber Island]] seen at a forty-year high-water mark of the [[Tiber]], December 2008
}}
In either autumn 161 or spring 162,{{refn|Because both Lucius and Marcus are said to have taken active part in the recovery (''HA Marcus'' viii. 4–5), the flood must have happened before Lucius's departure for the east in 162; because it appears in the biographer's narrative after Antoninus's funeral has finished and the emperors have settled into their offices, it must not have occurred in the spring of 161. A date in autumn 161 or spring 162 is probable, and, given the normal seasonal distribution of Tiber flooding, the most probable date is in spring 162.Gregory S. Aldrete, ''Floods of the Tiber in ancient Rome'' (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007), pp. 30–31. (Birley dates the flood to autumn 161.)|group=note}} the [[Tiber]] overflowed its banks, flooding much of Rome. It drowned many animals, leaving the city in famine. Marcus and Lucius gave the crisis their personal attention.''HA Marcus'' viii. 4–5; Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', p. 120.{{refn|Since 15 AD, the river had been administered by a Tiber Conservancy Board, with a consular senator at its head and a permanent staff. In 161, the ''curator alevi Tiberis et riparum et cloacarum urbis'' ('Curator of the Tiber Bed and Banks and the City Sewers') was A. Platorius Nepos, son or grandson of [[Aulus Platorius Nepos|the builder]] of [[Hadrian's Wall]], whose name he shares. He probably had not been particularly incompetent. A more likely candidate for that incompetence is Nepos's likely predecessor, [[Marcus Statius Priscus|M. Statius Priscus]]. A military man and consul for 159, Priscus probably looked on the office as little more than 'paid leave'.''Inscriptiones Latinae Selectae'' [https://web.archive.org/web/20120429224106/http://oracle-vm.ku-eichstaett.de:8888/epigr/epieinzel_en?p_belegstelle=D+05932&r_sortierung=Belegstelle 5932] (Nepos), [https://web.archive.org/web/20120429224111/http://oracle-vm.ku-eichstaett.de:8888/epigr/epieinzel_en?p_belegstelle=D+01092&r_sortierung=Belegstelle 1092] (Priscus); Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', p. 121.|group=note}} In other times of famine, the emperors are said to have provided for the Italian communities out of the Roman granaries.''HA Marcus'' xi. 3, cited in Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', p. 278 n.16.
Fronto's letters continued through Marcus's early reign. Fronto felt that, because of Marcus's prominence and public duties, lessons were more important now than they had ever been before. He believed Marcus was 'beginning to feel the wish to be eloquent once more, in spite of having for a time lost interest in eloquence'.''Ad Antoninum Imperator'' 1.2.2 (= Haines 2.35), qtd. and tr. Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', p. 128. Fronto would again remind his pupil of the tension between his role and his philosophic pretensions: 'Suppose, Caesar, that you can attain to the wisdom of [[Cleanthes]] and [[Zeno of Citium|Zeno]], yet, against your will, not the philosopher's woolen cape'.''De eloquentia'' 1.12 (= Haines 2.63–65), qtd. and tr. Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', p. 128.
The early days of Marcus's reign were the happiest of Fronto's life: Marcus was beloved by the people of Rome, an excellent emperor, a fond pupil, and perhaps most importantly, as eloquent as could be wished.''Ad Antoninum Imperator'' 1.2.2 (= Haines 2.35); Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', pp. 127–28. Marcus had displayed rhetorical skill in his speech to the senate after an earthquake at [[Cyzicus]]. It had conveyed the drama of the disaster, and the senate had been awed: 'Not more suddenly or violently was the city stirred by the earthquake than the minds of your hearers by your speech'. Fronto was hugely pleased.''Ad Antoninum Imperator'' 1.2.4 (= Haines 2.41–43), tr. Haines; Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', p. 128.
===War with Parthia (161–166)===
{{main|Roman–Parthian War of 161–166}}
{{see also|Roman–Persian Wars}}
[[Image:VologasesIV.jpg|thumb|300px|Coin of [[Vologases IV of Parthia]]. Inscription: above ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΝ ΔΟΥ, right ΑΡΣΑΚΟΥ ΒΟΛΑΓΑΣΟΥ, left ΕΠΙΦΑΝΟΥΣ ΦΙΛΕΛΛΗΝΟΣ, below ΔΙΟΥ (Greek inscription for KING OF KINGS – ARSAKIS VOLAGASES – ILLUSTRIUS PHILELLENE). Year ΔΟΥ = ΥΟΔ΄ = 474 = 162–63.]]
On his deathbed, Antoninus spoke of nothing but the state and the foreign kings who had wronged him.''HA Antoninus Pius'' xii.7; Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', pp. 114, 121. One of those kings, [[Vologases IV of Parthia]], made his move in late summer or early autumn 161.Event: ''HA Marcus'' viii. 6; Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', p. 121. Date: Jaap-Jan Flinterman, 'The Date of Lucian's Visit to Abonuteichos,' ''Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik'' 119 (1997): p. 281. Vologases entered the [[Kingdom of Armenia (antiquity)|Kingdom of Armenia]] (then a Roman client state), expelled its king and installed his own – [[Bakur|Pacorus]], an [[Arsacid Empire|Arsacid]] like himself.''HA Marcus'' viii. 6; Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', p. 121. The governor of Cappadocia, the frontline in all Armenian conflicts, was [[Marcus Sedatius Severianus]], a Gaul with much experience in military matters.Lucian, ''Alexander'' 27; Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', p. 121.
Convinced by the prophet [[Alexander of Abonutichus]] that he could defeat the Parthians easily and win glory for himself,Lucian, ''Alexander'' 27; Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', pp. 121–22. On Alexander, see: Robin Lane Fox, ''Pagans and Christians'' (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1986), pp. 241–50. Severianus led a legion (perhaps the [[Legio IX Hispana|IX Hispana]]Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', p. 278 n.19.) into Armenia, but was trapped by the great Parthian general Chosrhoes at [[Elegeia]], a town just beyond the Cappadocian frontiers, high up past the headwaters of the Euphrates. After Severianus made some unsuccessful efforts to engage Chosrhoes, he committed suicide, and his legion was massacred. The campaign had lasted only three days.Dio 71.2.1; Lucian, ''Historia Quomodo Conscribenda'' 21, 24, 25; Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', pp. 121–22.
There was threat of war on other frontiers as well – in Britain, and in [[Raetia]] and Upper Germany, where the [[Chatti]] of the [[Taunus]] mountains had recently crossed over the ''[[Limes (Roman Empire)|limes]]''.''HA Marcus'' viii. 7; Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', p. 122. Marcus was unprepared. Antoninus seems to have given him no military experience; the biographer writes that Marcus spent the whole of Antoninus's twenty-three-year reign at his emperor's side and not in the provinces, where most previous emperors had spent their early careers.''HA Antoninus Pius'' vii.11; ''Marcus'' vii.2; Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', pp. 103–04, 122.{{refn|[[Alan Cameron (classical scholar)|Alan Cameron]] adduces the 5th-century writer [[Sidonius Apollinaris]]'s comment that Marcus commanded 'countless legions' ''vivente Pio'' (while Antoninus was alive) while contesting Birley's contention that Marcus had no military experience. (Neither Apollinaris nor the ''Historia Augusta'' (Birley's source) are particularly reliable on 2nd-century history.''Pan. Ath.'' 203–04, qtd. and tr. Alan Cameron, review of Anthony Birley's ''Marcus Aurelius'', ''The Classical Review'' 17:3 (1967): p. 349.)|group=note}}
More bad news arrived: the Syrian governor's army had been defeated by the Parthians, and retreated in disarray.''HA Marcus'' viii. 6; Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', p. 123. Reinforcements were dispatched for the Parthian frontier. P. Julius Geminius Marcianus, an African senator commanding [[Legio X Gemina|X Gemina]] at [[Vindobona]] ([[Vienna]]), left for Cappadocia with detachments from the Danubian legions.''Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum'' [https://web.archive.org/web/20120429223837/http://oracle-vm.ku-eichstaett.de:8888/epigr/epieinzel_en?p_belegstelle=CIL+08,+07050&r_sortierung=Belegstelle 8.7050]–[https://web.archive.org/web/20120429223843/http://oracle-vm.ku-eichstaett.de:8888/epigr/epieinzel_en?p_belegstelle=CIL+08,+07051&r_sortierung=Belegstelle 51]; Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', p. 123. Three full legions were also sent east: [[Legio I Minervia|I Minervia]] from Bonn in Upper Germany,''Incriptiones Latinae Selectae'' [https://web.archive.org/web/20120429223850/http://oracle-vm.ku-eichstaett.de:8888/epigr/epieinzel_en?p_belegstelle=D+01097&r_sortierung=Belegstelle 1097]–[https://web.archive.org/web/20120429223856/http://oracle-vm.ku-eichstaett.de:8888/epigr/epieinzel_en?p_belegstelle=D+01098&r_sortierung=Belegstelle 98]; Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', p. 123. [[Legio II Adiutrix|II Adiutrix]] from Aquincum,''Incriptiones Latinae Selectae'' [https://web.archive.org/web/20120429223904/http://oracle-vm.ku-eichstaett.de:8888/epigr/epieinzel_en?p_belegstelle=D+01091&r_sortierung=Belegstelle 1091]; Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', p. 123. and [[Legio V Macedonica|V Macedonica]] from Troesmis.''Incriptiones Latinae Selectae'' [https://web.archive.org/web/20120429223912/http://oracle-vm.ku-eichstaett.de:8888/epigr/epieinzel_en?p_belegstelle=D+02311&r_sortierung=Belegstelle 2311]; Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', p. 123.
The northern frontiers were strategically weakened; frontier governors were told to avoid conflict wherever possible.''HA Marcus'' xii. 13; Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', p. 123. [[Marcus Annius Libo (consul 161)|M. Annius Libo]], Marcus's first cousin, was sent to replace the Syrian governor. His first consulship was in 161, so he was probably in his early thirties,''L'Année Épigraphique'' 1972.657 {{Cite web |url=http://oracle-vm.ku-eichstaett.de:8888/epigr/epieinzel_en?p_belegstelle=AE+1972,+00657&r_sortierung=Belegstelle |title=Epigraphik-Datenbank Clauss/Slaby |access-date=15 November 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120429223919/http://oracle-vm.ku-eichstaett.de:8888/epigr/epieinzel_en?p_belegstelle=AE+1972,+00657&r_sortierung=Belegstelle |archive-date=29 April 2012 |url-status=dead}}; Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', p. 125. and as a patrician, he lacked military experience. Marcus had chosen a reliable man rather than a talented one.''HA Verus'' 9.2; Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', p. 125.
[[File:Marcus Aurelius, aureus, AD 166, RIC III 160.jpg|thumb|300px|Aureus of Marcus Aurelius (AD 166). On the reverse, [[Victoria (mythology)|Victoria]] is holding a shield inscribed 'VIC(toria) PAR(thica)', referring to his victory against the Parthians. Inscription: M. ANTONINVS AVG. / TR. P. XX, IMP. IIII, CO[N]S. III.Mattingly & Sydenham, ''Roman imperial coinage'', vol. III, p. 226.|alt=Coin of Marcus Aurelius. Victoria appears on the reverse, commemorating Marcus's Parthian victory.]]
Marcus took a four-day public holiday at [[Alsium]], a resort town on the coast of Etruria. He was too anxious to relax. Writing to Fronto, he declared that he would not speak about his holiday.''De Feriis Alsiensibus'' 1 (= Haines 2.3); Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', p. 126. Fronto replied: 'What? Do I not know that you went to Alsium with the intention of devoting yourself to games, joking, and complete leisure for four whole days?'''De Feriis Alsiensibus'' 3.1 (= Haines 2.5), qtd. and tr. Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', p. 126. He encouraged Marcus to rest, calling on the example of his predecessors (Antoninus had enjoyed exercise in the ''[[palaestra]]'', fishing, and comedy),''De Feriis Alsiensibus'' 3.4 (= Haines 2.9); Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', pp. 126–27. going so far as to write up a fable about the gods' division of the day between morning and evening – Marcus had apparently been spending most of his evenings on judicial matters instead of at leisure.''De Feriis Alsiensibus'' 3.6–12 (= Haines 2.11–19); Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', pp. 126–27. Marcus could not take Fronto's advice. 'I have duties hanging over me that can hardly be begged off', he wrote back.''De Feriis Alsiensibus'' 4, tr. Haines 2.19; Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', p. 127. Marcus Aurelius put on Fronto's voice to chastise himself: '
[Marcus] did not meet with the good fortune that he deserved, for he was not strong in body and was involved in a multitude of troubles throughout practically his entire reign. But for my part, I admire him all the more for this very reason, that amid unusual and extraordinary difficulties he both survived himself and preserved the empire. Just one thing prevented him from being completely happy, namely, that after rearing and educating his son in the best possible way he was vastly disappointed in him. This matter must be our next topic; for our history now descends from a kingdom of gold to one of iron and rust, as affairs did for the Romans of that day. :–Dio lxxi. 36.3–4Dio adds that from Marcus's first days as counsellor to Antoninus to his final days as emperor of Rome, "he remained the same [person] and did not change in the least."Dio lxxii. 36, 72.34 [[Michael Grant (classicist)|Michael Grant]], in ''The Climax of Rome'', writes of Commodus:
The youth turned out to be very erratic, or at least so anti-traditional that disaster was inevitable. But whether or not Marcus ought to have known this to be so, the rejections of his son's claims in favour of someone else would almost certainly have involved one of the civil wars which were to proliferate so disastrously around future successions.Grant, ''The Climax Of Rome'', p. 15.Return to Marcus Aurelius. Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Aurelius" Navigation menu Personal tools Not logged in Talk Contributions Create account Log in Namespaces Article Talk Variants Views Read Edit View history More Search Navigation Main page Contents Current events Random article About Wikipedia Contact us Donate Contribute Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file Tools What links here Related changes Upload file Special pages Page information Wikidata item Languages Privacy policy About Wikipedia Disclaimers Contact Wikipedia Mobile view Developers Statistics Cookie statement