Marcus Aurelius was made joint Emperor of Rome in 161. He
belonged to the Stoic school of thought. He died on campaign in
180 and was succeeded by his son Commodus, who is recorded to
have been bloodthirsty and power hungry. Commodus' succession is
considered the point at which 'Pax Romana' failed.  Marcus
Aurelius kept a philosophical diary that was not intended for
publication and seems to be "the paradigm of the stoic sage"(p
86 of text)- however, he never explicitly declared himself
Marcus_aurelius_bust.jpga stoic, and it is likely that he
incorporated elements of other schools of thought into his
world-view.  Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy MSN Encarta
Summary of reading  The readings clearly reflect Marcus
Aurelius' subordination to the most influential philosophy of
the day, namely, Stoicism ("Stoics were convinced that the
universe was an ordered whole, amenable to rational explanation
and proceeded so to explain it" (Brown et al., p. 28)). In this
regard, humans "will act in ways wholly congruen