Marcus Aurelius Antoninus
121 – 180 · Generation X · Roman emperor (r. AD 161–180) · Nerva–Antonine
Marcus Aurelius (AD 121 – AD 180). Roman emperor (r. AD 161–180). Married Faustina around AD 145. Adopted by Antoninus at Hadrian’s direction; wrote the Meditations to himself in camp on the Danube frontier. Left fatherless at three, he grew up under his mother and grandfather, was schooled in Greek and Latin by the likes of Herodes Atticus and Fronto, and held three consulships. War pressed on him from every side: a resurgent Parthia and rebellious Armenia in the East, the Marcomanni, Quadi and Iazyges on the frontiers — and he beat them all. Mid-reign the Antonine Plague swept the empire, killing five to ten million people, and under him the silver in the denarius was reduced. A Stoic philosopher on the throne, he closed the line of the Five Good Emperors and the age of the Pax Romana; the column and the equestrian statue Rome raised for his victories stand there still.
One of 12 people of Nerva–Antonine (30–192) in this archive. The adoptive emperors: for four reigns the purple passed to a chosen heir rather than a born one.
Line of descent: Nerva Cocceius → Trajan Optimus → Hadrian Aelius → Antoninus Pius → Marcus Aurelius Antoninus.
Parents
- Antoninus Pius (86 – 161)
Siblings
- Faustina the Younger (130 – 175) (adopted)
- Lucius Verus (130 – 169) (adopted)
Partners
- Married Faustina the Younger (130 – 175) in 145 — 2 children together
Children
- Commodus Antoninus (161 – 192)
- Lucilla Augusta (148 – 182)
Life
- 121 — Born
- 145 — Married Faustina
- 180 — Died