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After a 23 year rule, Emperor Athonius Pius died in 161 AD. He had been the best emperor since Caesar Augustus.The phase of the “good emperors” (Trajan: 98-117 AD, Hadrian: 117-138 AD, Antoninus Pius: 138-161 AD and Marcus Aurelius: 161-180 AD) was now to end with the reign of Marcus Aurelius.
Marcus Aurelius (161-180) was the adopted son of Emperor Pius and the fulfilment of Plato’s hope of a philosopher king. He was not just a king of a country, but the emperor of the western world covering most of the coastal countries of the Mediterranean. Marcus was a real philosopher adopting one of the most practical philosophies for an emperor --Stoicism. Unlike Buddhism, which denies reality, Stoics embrace reality. Marcus’ book: “Meditations” is still a classic of stoic thought. The caricature of stoics being unemotional is not accurate. They just were not controlled by sentiment. It definitely lacked the insights of mercy that Christianity could give, as well as the sanctity of life.
