Marcus Aurelius was born on April 20, 121 AD into a family of royalty. His uncle and adoptive father, Antoninus Pius, was the emperor of Rome. Aurelius, too, was trained from birth to be a great ruler like his father. At age eleven, he dedicated himself to religion, although he considered philosophy to be the "true, inward" religion, one which did not require ceremonies necessary in others. Throughout his childhood and early adulthood, Aurelius was taught by several talented teachers. When he was young, the great Epictetus tutored him, followed by a man named Q. Junius Rusticus, who would accompany Aurelius throughout much of his life.

In 161 AD, Pius died, leaving Aurelius and Pius's other adopted son, known as Verus, to rule together. The two brothers were quite different, although no disagreements are mentioned between the two. Verus was a headstrong man, who was more apt t

Aurelius also believed in numerous philosophies which do not fit into the above categories. For example, he believed that man should never think anything that he would be embarrassed to share with others. Inferior things exist for the sake of superior things. Even things on earth which are considered by humans to be ugly are beautiful because they are natural. (Aurelius finds the cracks present in homemade bread beautiful, even though they are "contrary to the purpose of the baker.") A person who commits generous acts and expects rewards from them is on the same level of a man who commits no such acts. The best way of getting revenge is not to become like the one who did harm. These are just some of the numerous miscellaneous philosophies found in Aurelius' book.

Aurelius, and Stoics in general, have an interesting view on the outer force or being which govern their lives. They believe in two principles, which seem almost contradictory on the surface. Those principles are monotheism, and the atomic theory. However, if one examines the roles of each in Stoicism, it becomes apparent that they can coexist. God created all of the universe, and all of the universe is made up of matter and atoms. It is interesting to note that several times in Meditations, Aurelius expressed a kind of doubt in God. He repeatedly used the phrase, "if there is a god," rather than a more definitive belief in a universal force. That may be one matter in which Aurelius differed slightly than the Stoics which he generally followed.

False praise and the opinions of others should be ignored. Aurelius firmly believes that a person should not form his own opinion of himself based on others' view of him. Looking inside oneself, and following reason and nature are the only true ways to know what kind of person one is. In Meditations, Aurelius writes, "I have often wondered how it is that every man loves himself more than all the rest of men, but yet sets less value of his own opinion of himself than on the opinion of others." This is a universal concept, and is still able to be applied, even centuries later.

Aurelius' view on death is very much like that of Democritus'. He viewed death simply as the dissolution of atoms, while Democritus believed that death was simply objects breaking apart. Aurelius also believed that the fear of death was useless, and that is was ignorant to fear something that one has never experienced before. He considered death only one step of a cycle. Life was short, only a moment in the history of all that has been and all that will be. A person is born, lives a short while, dies, and becomes ashes. Since life is so short, it is important to appreciate what time a person does have, whether it is ten years, or one hundred. In the end, we all die, so it is of little importance how long we live, as long as we live well, in accordance with nature. He says that humans are "daily nearer to death," and that we must never put off living a reasonable life. Even though a person may live a long time, a person's perceptions and understanding of things end first, and all that is left is the inferior senses. Insignificant things such as posthumous fame (which he thought far too many people were concerned with) were worthless, also. The people who would remember a famous ruler or philosopher would soon be dead themselves, therefore completing the cycle. One's time was better spent on obeying reason than trying to achieve fame at any point.

After nineteen years of ruling Rome, Marcus Aurelius died on March 17, 180 in Vindobona, which is currently Vienna. He died of a plague while in the middle of yet another war to defend the territory of Rome. Aurelius was succeeded by his son, Commodus, who was the polar opposite of his father. Commodus was a corrupt and evil ruler. Apparently, his father was never aware of this fact, for Commodus fooled him into believing they were of the same mind when it came to rul

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