In the later years of Marcus Aurelius' reign he made his son, Commodus, co-emperor. Father and son fought together briefly in an effort to forestall another German invasion in 177. The father-son co-rule was short-lived, however, as Marcus Aurelius died in 180 after ruling for 19 years.
Although Marcus Aurelius was a competent political leader and successful military leader, as well, perhaps his greatest contribution was in area of philosophy. As indicated earlier, Marcus was follower of the Stoics and he wrote a book entitled Meditations in which he set out what it meant to be a Stoic (Bowder). Like his mentor, Epictetus, Marcus professed the importance of two basic principles, Endurance and Abstinence. Further, he stressed that inner freedom is attained through a resignation to providence and a disregard for anything not in one's power.
Most of the content of Meditations was prepared in Marcus Aurelius' last years. The book is characterized by Aurelius' belief that the fate of most men is to die and be forgotten (Aurelius). He chose to live his daily live absent from passion as much as possible but he wanted to be remembered as a generous man who practiced generosity because it was the right thing to do and not from what his generosity might otherwise gain him. Like all stoics he wanted to live in harmony with nature.
Marcus Aurelius' general reputation as a ruler and human is a good one. The famous historian, Sir Edward Gibbon, lists Marcus Aurelius as one of the greatest of the Roman Empire. Marcus Aurelius' attitude toward the growing Christian religion, however, would belie this reputation. Marcus Aurelius during his reign took an aggressive and staunch position. The persecution of Christians during his reign was quite oppressive and there is little evidence that he exhibited any mercy or basic understanding of the religion. Prior to his reign the Roman attitude toward the practice of...
Comparing Marcus Aurelius and His Stoicism with Rousseau s Libertinism Marcus Aurelius: What Has Been Lost Natural law ethics were articulated by Aristotle in classical Greek philosophy and have been a mainstay of Western philosophy ever since, being discussed by Roman philosophers, early Church Fathers and Scholastics in the Middle Ages. It was not until the Reformation and the Age of Enlightenment when modern society began to reject the Old World values
The public library in the baths of Caracalla was no exception to this (DeLaine, 1997). Inside the bathing area itself, there were several components (DeLaine, 1997). One of these was a 183X79-foot cold room located under three 108-foot high groin vaults. There was also a double pool which was tepid, and a 115-foot diameter hot room (DeLaine, 1997). There were also two separate gyms where people could box and wrestle
Stoicism What are the basic tenets of Stoicism and how might Stoicism be considered as a mid - point between Cynicism and Hedonism? The basic tenets of Stoicism preached control over the passions: they thought that reason or rationality could be imposed over human emotion in order to achieve a sense of peace, and that cessation of desire was preferable to the fulfillment of desire. The modern debased meaning of "stoic" as
Roman history like Augustus, Charlemagne, and Pericles have soared into Western historical tradition while others like Commodus have received a far less respected legacy, being banished and disgraced with stories of megalomania and decadence. Of the character portrayals of Commodus both in film and literature, only two primary literary sources of Commodus exist. They are from Herodian and Cassius Dio. With such little information available of how Commodus truly
paganism and mystery religions influenced Christianity. Paganism Paganism and mystery religions Pagan Mystery religions have been associated with paving the way for Christianity presentation across the ancient and present world. They played the role of preparing the people emotionally and mentally in understanding the kind of religion which was represented by Christianity. They existed in varying degrees, examples was the Galilean cult which was to replace them. There encouragement was for a
His experiments in anatomy and the study of fluids, for example, absolutely blew away the accomplishments of his predecessors…the sheer range of topics that came under his inquiry is staggering: anatomy, zoology, botany, geology, optics, aerodynamics, and hydrodynamics among others. (Renaissance 2010). Da Vinci questioned the prevailing faith in the written word of the bible and instead sought knowledge of nature in nature. He simply observed the physical world and
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