How to Think Like a Roman Emperor: The Stoic Philosophy of Marcus Aurelius

by Donald J. Robertson

THE MOST TRUTHFUL CHILD IN ROME Marcus was born on April 26, 121 AD, and was “reared under the eye of Hadrian.”1 He took the name Aurelius later; throughout his childhood, he was known as Marcus Annius Verus, after his father and his grandfathers. The family lived in the small town of Ucubi in the Roman province of Hispania Baetica (in modern-day Spain) before moving to Rome. When he was about three years old, his father died—we don’t know the circumstances. Marcus barely knew him but later wrote about his manliness and humility, drawing from what he learned of his father by reputation and what little he remembered. Marcus was brought up by his mother and paternal grandfather, a highly distinguished senator who had served three times as consul. He was a close friend of the Emperor Hadrian and was the brother-in-law of Hadrian’s wife, the Empress Sabina, Marcus’s great-aunt. As a member of a wealthy patrician family with ties to the emperor, Marcus was naturally part of his grandfather’s social circle, and though we’re told he was loved by all, something about Marcus especially caught Hadrian’s eye.