MARCUS AURELIUS - MEDITATIONS. OUR LIFE IS WHAT OUR THOUGHTS MAKE IT

Marcus Aurelius (26 April 121 - 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 and a Stoic philosopher. He was the last of the rulers known as the Five Good Emperors, and the last emperor of the Pax Romana, an age of relative peace and stability for the Roman Empire. The son of the praetor Marcus Annius Verus (III) and the wealthy heiress Domitia Lucilla, Marcus was raised by his mother and by his grandfather, Marcus Annius Verus (II), after his father died. His uncle, Antoninus Pius, adopted him shortly before becoming emperor in 138. A student of philosophy from his earliest youth, he was especially influenced by the first-century Stoic thinker Epictetus. The reign of Marcus Aurelius was marked by military conflict. In the East, the Roman Empire fought successfully with a revitalized Parthian Empire and the rebel Kingdom of Armenia. Marcus defeated the Marcomanni, Quadi, and Sarmatian Iazyges in the Marcomannic Wars; however, these and other Germanic peoples began to represent a troubling reality for the Empire. The persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire is believed to have increased during his reign. The Antonine Plague broke out in 165 or 166 and devastated the population of the Roman Empire, causing the deaths of five million people. The Column and Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius still stand in Rome, where they were erected in celebration of his military victories. His later reputation rests on his Meditations, written during his later years and never meant for formal publication. Meditations, the writings of "the philosopher" - as contemporary biographers called Marcus, are a significant source of the modern understanding of ancient Stoic philosophy.