On April 26th, A.D. 12 1, Marcus Aurelius was born in a house at the southern tip of Rome, on the Silio Mountain. It is located in the back halls of St. Paul's Church and St. John's Church, in addition to the ancient Santostefano Lotondo Church. Although Marcus Aurelius's ancestors were of Italian descent, they all came from Spain like seneca, Hadrian and Trajan. His grandfather and great-grandfather were the highest rank, and they were prominent nobles.
His father died shortly after he was born, and his father's sister Faustina married titus Aurelius Antoninus. He is Hadrian's friend and adviser.
Kyle's mother's name is Domitia Lucilla. At that time, she received an elegant cultural education and was familiar with Greek. Kyle has a close relationship with his mother. "She taught me," Kyle wrote in his notebook, "to fear God, to love and not to think about evil things, not just not to do evil things; Keep a simple lifestyle and stay away from extravagance and waste. "
Following the tradition of aristocratic family, he studied with his tutor.
In Meditations, he recorded his gratitude to people, most of whom were Stoics. They taught Kyle Stoicism ethics, taught him to consciously avoid dueling performances, competitions, quail shooting and other recreational activities, taught him abstinence, taught him to take the initiative to undertake hard work, and taught him to tolerate others' bland speeches.
When Kyle 1 1 years old, he put on a philosopher's cloak, slept on a straw mattress, and brought all the equipment in line with the cynic tradition. Usually, he naturally does not neglect to give young people extra learning content, such as grammar, rhetoric, mathematics and so on. He wrote his Meditations in Greek, although German scholars found that Greek was not his mother tongue in his language materials.
When Kyle was 6 years old, Hadrian made him join the Cavaliers. At the age of eight, he made Kyle a priest of Salik. These initial steps are to prepare for the future higher vocational career. When Kyle was about 65,438+05 years old, the sick and childless emperor appointed an heir. According to the custom of the empire, he adopted one of his favorite sons, Lucius Keonius Moddis Wei Lusi. The emperor granted him the title of "Chu Jun" as the official name of the heir.
Lucius Verus is quite avant-garde. He is extremely handsome, talkative and full of literary flavor. He exports poetry and enjoys life. He is not a Puritan, and may live according to the aristocratic fashion of Rome, which is both extravagant and indulgent. He has a son, Lucius, who is still a very young boy. In addition, Lucius Verus has a daughter. In accordance with the emperor's wishes, his daughter was engaged to Marcus Aurelius.
However, Lucius Verus died within a few years, and Hadrian adopted Anthony as his son and heir. He added this to the adoption clause: Antoninus is going to adopt his sister's son Kyle, who is almost 17 years old at this time, and Lucius Verus, who is only 7 years old at this time. Although the reasons behind the two are quite different. Hadrian misses Lucius Verus very much.
When solving the problem of succession to the throne, there is another clause: Antoninus should get his daughter Faustina engaged to Lucius. This is to ensure that the royal marriage can bring all possible stability factors to the imperial management. Hadrian died in the same summer. After that, Antoninus succeeded to the throne. As a result of adoption, Kyle became the son of Antoninus and the grandson of Hadrian. When Hadrian died, Kyle was already a member of the imperial family. He read the works of Epik Titus. He accepts everything that has passed the test of his own rationality, which comes from the teacher's teaching and is related to people's belief in God.
Antoninus's rule lasted for 22 years, during which the empire was basically peaceful. In Britain, there have been some riots in the Galaxy and Liduo River. In North Africa, the Moorish problem still exists. There was a rebellion among Jews. In Egypt, there were riots. But on the whole, the empire is peaceful.
16 1 At the beginning of this year, Antoninus died in his rural residence in Loriou at the age of 74. He entrusted his country and daughter to Marcus Aurelius. When Hadrian adopted him as his son and heir, the emperor asked him to attend the Senate and said, "He is noble, gentle, rational and wise." After fully understanding the quality of the new emperor, the Senate awarded him the title of "asylum". Virgil used it in his epic to refer to the hero who founded the Roman city, which means that the person who owns it has fulfilled all his obligations to God and mankind.
Historians sum up Anthony's qualities in one sentence, which is translated as: "No malice, different people have different opinions." In the words Socrates used to describe an upright and noble gentleman, we also saw such a compliment: elegance and nobility.