---
node: marcus_aurelius
type: person
slug: marcus_aurelius
title: "Marcus Aurelius"
lead: "Marcus Aurelius was a Roman emperor (r. 161-180), the last of the Five Good Emperors and a Stoic philosopher who wrote the Meditations."
published: 2026-07-11
updated: 2026-07-11
image_file: marcus_aurelius.jpg
image_source: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Portrait_of_Marcus_Aurelius_in_the_Baths_of_Diocletian_(Rome).jpg"
image_author: "Livioandronico2013"
image_license: "CC BY-SA 4.0"
---

## Who they were

Marcus Aurelius was a Roman emperor who reigned from 161 to 180. He was the last of the Five Good Emperors and a Stoic philosopher.

## What they did

He ruled during wars on the Danube frontier and the Antonine Plague, defending the empire and co-ruling for a time with Lucius Verus. In camp he wrote his private Meditations, a classic of Stoic philosophy.

## Legacy

His reign is often seen as the close of the Pax Romana's height, and he was succeeded by his son Commodus, widely regarded as a decline. The Meditations remain widely read, and he is remembered as the model of the philosopher-king.