In the perennial pursuit of knowledge the allure of rediscovery lies in the revelation of hidden facets. Such is the case with Marcus Aurelius a luminary figure whose depth continues to astound even after centuries of scrutiny. Each time you read Marcus Aurilius you come across a new revelation. His life is like an eternally flowing river each time you dive into it you come up with a new gem of wisdom.
It is amazing Meditations year after year and read after read feels both incredibly timely and incredibly timeless (there’s a reason the book has endured now for almost twenty centuries). It’s amazing that a person so famous—known to millions in his own lifetime and subject to countless books and articles and movies—could still be giving off new secrets, but indeed that’s what he’s doing.
Here are 20 untold things you did not know about Marcus Aurelius
No.1. He lived through a pandemic
Enduring
a pandemic was his fate and not just any pandemic—this global crisis was named
after him! The Antonine Plague striking in 165 CE unfolded as a worldwide
catastrophe with a mortality rate ranging from 2-3%. Initially presenting with
flu-like symptoms it swiftly escalated into a ghastly and agonizing fatality.
Millions fell victim to its grasp and the final toll reached an appalling 10 to
18 million lives lost. Marcus Aurelius potentially succumbing to this very
plague composed his thoughts during this dire period. His profound statement
you could leave life right now takes on a heightened significance when considered
within the context of a time where imminent mortality was a stark reality.
No. 2. A crying Stoic
Marcus
Aurelius cried when he was told that his favorite tutor passed
away. He cried that day in court when he was overseeing a case and the attorney
mentioned the countless souls who perished in the plague. We can imagine Marcus
cried many other times. Marcus didn’t weep because he was weak. He didn’t weep
because he was un-Stoic. He cried because he was human. Because he lived
through very painful experiences.
Antoninus Marcus’s stepfather, seemed to understand his stepson’s feelings. So when his tutor died and he watched the boy sob uncontrollably he wouldn’t allow anyone to try to calm him down or remind him of the need for a prince to maintain his composure. Neither philosophy nor empire Antoninus said takes away natural feeling.
No.3. His nickname was Verissimus - the truest one
The
emperor Hadrian, who would have known young Marcus through
his early academic accomplishments, sensed Marcus’ potential at a very early
age. His nickname for Marcus, whom he liked to go hunting with, was Verissimus—the
truest one. I love that. Even as a boy he was showing the earnestness and
honesty which would define his time in power.
No.4. Insomniac Emperor
Despite
being an insomniac, he woke up early every day. As the most powerful man in the
world he didn’t have to do anything. But he was strict on
himself about sticking to a schedule. At dawn he reminded himself when you have
trouble getting out of bed tell yourself as a human being I have to go to work. I’m going to do what I was born to do.
No. 5. He had a sense of humor
There
is a letter from Marcus to his tutor Fronto about a
prank he played on a shepherd. There are also a couple jokes in Meditations,
including one about a guy who was so rich that he had no place to
shit.
No.6. Grace in Betrayal-His most trusted general attempted a coup
In 175 CE Marcus
Aurelius was betrayed by his most trusted general, Avidius
Cassius, in an attempted coup. Marcus could have been angry. He could have
demanded all the sadistic revenge possible to a man of his unlimited power. Yet
we know from the historians that he handled even this moment with grace and
understanding. In fact, he wept when he was deprived of the chance to grant
clemency to his former enemy. The best revenge Marcus would write in Meditations, is to not be like that.
No.7. He spent 12 years at war
Life is warfare and a journey far from home Marcus writes in Meditations. It was literally true. Some twelve years of his life would be spent at the empire’s northern border along the Danube River, fighting long, brutal wars. Dio Cassius describes the scene of Marcus returning to Rome after one long absence. As he addressed the people he made a reference to how long he’d been forced to be away. Eight! the people cried lovingly. Eight as they held up four fingers on each hand. He had been gone for eight years. The weight of this hit in the moment, and so too must have the adoration of the crowd even though Marcus often told himself how worthless this was. As a token of his gratitude and beneficence, he would distribute to them eight hundred sesterces apiece, the largest gift from the emperor to the people ever given.
No.8. He had a co-emperor
The
first thing the first Roman emperor Augustus did upon seizing power was
eliminate Julius Caesar’s illegitimate son, Caesarion. Claudius eliminated
senators who threatened his reign. Nero even with the moderating influence of
Seneca, violently dispatched his mother and stepbrother. That’s basically the
entire history of emperors and kings—an endless parade of heirs getting rid of
other potential heirs. Marcus too had a rival at least on paper his
stepbrother, Lucius Verus. Yet what did Marcus do? What was the first thing he
did with the absolute power that we all know corrupts absolutely? He named his
brother co-emperor. He willingly ceded half his power and wealth to someone
else. Imagine that.
No.9.. Grief of a Father-- He lost EIGHT children
Of
Marcus’s children, five sons and three daughters died before he did. No parent
should outlive their children. To lose eight of them- so young It staggers the
mind. Unfair does not even come close. It’s grotesque. What helped Marcus deal
with loss after loss was that he held firmly that the universe was not only
logical but good. So he saw it as his
duty to not fight against the swings of Fortune. Yet it did stagger him, and
multiple times he writes in Meditations about this loss, as it was
unquestionably the hardest thing he ever went through.
No.10. Champion of Simplicity
From
the late Roman collection biographies known as the Historia Augusta we
learn that as a boy Marcus slept on the floor then at his mother’s solicitation
however he reluctantly consented to sleep on a couch strewn with skins. He
never developed much of an interest in money or the luxuries money could have
afforded him. Instead, he likes to spend time on his farm, in a simple woolen
tunic. When he visited the philosophers in Alexandria, he dressed like an
ordinary citizen. When money was given to him, he signed it away to those who
needed it.
No.11 He never claimed to be a Stoic
Gregory Hays, one of Marcus Aurelius’s best
translators, writes, If he had to be identified with a particular
school Stoicism is surely the one he
would have chosen. Yet I suspect that if asked what it was that he studied his
answer would not have been Stoicism but simply philosophy. He then notes that
in the ancient world, philosophy was not perceived the way it is today. It
played a much different role. It was not merely a subject to write or argue
about but one that was expected to provide a design for living—a set of rules
to live one’s life by.
No 12. Unwavering Love for his wife Faustina
No.13. He had his life changed by a book. -- Rusticus's Influence
There
was a man who changed Marcus’ life. His name was Quintus Junius Rusticus, a
teacher who Marcus thanks in book 1 of Meditations “or introducing me to
Epictetus’s lectures—and loaning me his own copy.
No.14. He had Imposter Syndrome
When Marcus received the news of Hadrian’s plans to have Antoninus Pius
adopt him and place him next in line for the throne, he broke down in tears.
There was no one he revered more than Antoninus. How could he possibly
live up to the task of following in his footsteps? Today, you would
say that Marcus was struggling with what we call imposter syndrome. As the story goes, the night before he was to
become emperor Marcus Aurelius had a dream. In the
dream, he found that his shoulders were made of ivory. It was a sign: He was
not an imposter. He was not weak. He could do it. And then guess what? He did
do it. He—like all of us—had stronger shoulders than he thought.750-
No.15. Citizen-Leader-He ran for office
Continuing
a tradition set by Antoninus, when Marcus
Aurelius was a candidate for any office, he approached it as a
private citizen deferring to the Senate and campaigning, in a sign of respect
for free elections. Even when his soldiers would proclaim him imperator—an
honorific title to salute battlefield performance—Marcus was not wont to accept
any such honor before the senate voted it, Dio Cassius writes even though he was entitled to whatever he
wanted he respected norms and humbled himself. 40
No.16. Imperial Garage Sale
The Antonine plague wiped out much of
the Roman army. The people couldn’t afford to pay taxes for new troops. So
Marcus held a vast auction of contents of the imperial palace and sold gold
crystal and myrrhine drinking vessels even royal vases his wife’s silk and
gold-embroidered clothing even certain jewels in fact which he had discovered
in some quantity in an inner sanctum of Hadrian’s.
No.17. Greek in a Latin World- He wrote in Greek
Latin was Marcus’ native tongue but Greek was the language of philosophy
Gregory Hays tells us in the introduction of his translation of Meditations.
There he is in his private journal challenging himself to write in a more
difficult language and doing so so beautifully that he endures all these
centuries later.
No.18. He was a nerd and a jock.
With
his love of learning and his distinguished panel of flattering teachers Marcus
was probably something of a prig but he had a lean athletic body, liked to box,
swim, fish, and hunt and as he grew became a handsome man of gracious speech
and manners.
No.19. He spent his last moments consoling others.
We’re
told that Marcus was quite sick toward the end far away from home on the
Germanic battlefields near modern-day Vienna. Worried about leaving whatever he
had to his son and also to avoid any complications about succession Marcus bade
him a tearful goodbye and sent him away to prepare to rule. Then with his own
end moments away he was still teaching still trying to be a philosopher
particularly to his friends who were bereft with grief. Why do you weep for me Marcus
asked them instead of thinking about the pestilence and about death which is
the common lot of us all?
No.20. Eternal Learner
Late in his reign a friend stopped Marcus as he was leaving his home one morning. Where are you going? To handle business? No Marcus was on his way to attend a philosophy lecture. Learning is a good thing, even for one who is growing old, Marcus told the stunned man. From Sextus the philosopher I shall learn what I do not yet know.
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