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Marble bust of Marcus Aurelius in the Glyptothek, Munich
Bust in the Glyptothek, Munich · photograph by Bibi Saint-Pol, public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Historical voicesOn the Valice list

Marcus Aurelius

121–180

The last of the Five Good Emperors, and the Stoic who wrote the Meditations for himself.

Born
26 April 121 · Rome
Died
17 March 180 · on campaign in Pannonia, at Vindobona (Vienna) or near Sirmium
Nationality
Roman
  • Stoicism
  • philosophy
  • Rome
  • classics

On the Valice list. One title published by Valice Press carries Marcus Aurelius’s work; it is below.

Biography

The life, briefly

Roman emperor from 161 to 180 and a Stoic. The twelve books collected as Meditations were written in Greek, for himself, and were never intended to be read by anyone else.

Works

Major works

  1. c. 170–180Meditationstwelve books in Greek, written on campaign as a source of guidance for himself

Timeline

Turning points

  1. 138

    Adopted by Antoninus Pius, who had himself just been adopted as Hadrian's heir, and so became heir to the throne in turn.

  2. 145

    Married Faustina, the daughter of Antoninus Pius.

  3. 161

    Became emperor on Antoninus's death, sharing the throne with his adoptive brother Lucius Verus.

  4. 165

    The Antonine Plague began, in or about this year, and devastated the population of the empire.

  5. 166

    Named his son Commodus Caesar; the Marcomannic Wars on the Danube frontier took up most of the rest of his reign.

  6. 177

    Made Commodus joint ruler.

  7. 180

    Died at 58 in his military quarters on the Danube frontier; Commodus succeeded him.

Why they are here

Marcus Aurelius and the shelf

Relevance

The Meditations were never meant for readers: they are a Stoic's private notes on duty, impermanence and self-command, set down during years of war. They remain among the most widely read works of ancient philosophy.

Influence

His reign closed the age of the Five Good Emperors and the Pax Romana, and his column and equestrian statue still stand in Rome. As a philosopher he is remembered through a book he did not publish.

On the Valice list

The title we publish

These are titles by or of Marcus Aurelius.

Nearby on the shelf

If you read this, you might look here

These are Valice Press titles from the same part of the library. They are not by Marcus Aurelius, and they are not a recommendation on Marcus Aurelius’s behalf — only the same shelf.

Related authors

Read alongside

Sources

Where this comes from

Everything on this page about Marcus Aurelius is written from these sources, not from memory. Their dates and key claims were checked against the sources on 8 October 2026.The life dates are compared across Wikidata and the Library of Congress’s authority records.