In the Piazza Colonna in Rome, the Marcus Aurelius column juts proudly well over 100 feet into the air. Etched in relief and spiraling up the monument are scenes of the famous emperor’s military ...

At Villa Adriana, built by the emperor Hadrian in the second century A.D., these column surrounded a private retreat ringed by water. Susan Wright Photography In A.D. 143 or 144, when he was in ...

The death of Marcus Aurelius marked a significant turning point in Roman history. He was the last of the "Five Good Emperors," and his passing ushered in a period of instability that eventually led to ...

Emperor Marcus Aurelius, a philosopher-king and the last of Rome’s “Five Good Emperors,” ruled from 161 to 180 AD, known for his wisdom, military campaigns, and his Stoic reflections in ...

Marcus Aurelius was the last of the Five Good Emperors, and a rare example of Plato’s philosopher-king. In the latter years of his life, he kept a private journal which has miraculously come ...

Born in A.D. 121 into an aristocratic family in Rome, Marcus Aurelius received an excellent education in rhetoric and philosophy. He studied Greek and quoted freely from Homer and Euripides.

The real Marcus Aurelius ascended to power upon the death of his adoptive father Antoninus Pius in 161 A.D. For the first nine years, he shared the throne with his adoptive brother, Lucius Verus.