Marcus Aurelius

Marcus Aurelius (121-180 CE) was Roman emperor from 161 until his death, the last of the rulers historically known as the Five Good Emperors. A committed adherent of Stoic philosophy, he is remembered both for his conduct as emperor and for the Meditations, a private collection of philosophical reflections he wrote during military campaigns, which survives as one of the most widely read works of Stoic thought. His reign was dominated by prolonged warfare, including the Marcomannic Wars along the Danube frontier and conflict with the Parthian Empire in the east, as well as a major plague epidemic that struck the empire. Alongside his image as a philosopher-king, later historians have also noted his reign as marking the end of a period of relative stability before the empire entered a more turbulent era under his son and successor, Commodus.