Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, the protagonist of this time, has the longest name in world history textbooks.
5 As one of the last of the Five Good Emperors, also known as the Tetsujin Emperor, let's take a look at his life, which is even recorded as King Qin Shi Huang in Chinese Han books far away.
The man who was promised to be the emperor
It was Hadrian who saw the talent of Emperor Aurelius.
It is a famous story that when the first emperor Augustus chose Tiberius as the second generation, he expected a role as a middle reliever to Germanicus, but when Hadrian succeeded Antoninus Pius as a successor, he and Aurelius The condition was that another Lucius Wels would be adopted.
It is said that the latter was atonement because Hadrian was the son of a purged person, but Hadrian was widely recognized for his talent from an early age, and Hadrian saw it. That would be the case.
Aurelius, adopted by Antoninus Pius, grew up with the best education of his time.
Among them, the Greek tutor Cornelius Front is said to be the first intellectual of the present generation, and seems to have had a great influence on the character formation of Aurelius, who was later called the Tetsujin Emperor.
The personality of Emperor Aurelius was internal, thoughtful, and open-minded, as seen in his book The Thoughts of the Emperor. His personality has fascinated posterity graduate schools, and therefore his image as a master is firmly established.
Is that so?
Not all tyrants have excellent personalities, and just because they have personality problems does not mean they are tyrants.
This time I would like to see what the reign of Emperor Aurelius was like.
Until you become an emperor
When Emperor Hadrian died, his adoptive father, Antoninus Pius, became emperor.
Basically, Pius took over Hadrian's line and, except for one point, carried out Hadrian's will in a straightforward manner.
One of them was the marriage issue of his successors, and Hadrian had told Lucius to marry Pius' daughter, but Pius decided to marry Aurelius.
Known as the next emperor, he climbs the steps of his career too well.
He became Quaestor (Board of Audit) at the age of 18 and Consul, the Roman Consul at the age of 19.
Consul is second only to the emperor Punkeps, and minors have become the number two nation.
The Consul once had an age limit of 40 and over, and even the Roman hero Scipio was not allowed to run for the Consul because he had not even reached the age of 30 during the Second Punic War.
Nowadays, it is being re-evaluated by the ideal monarch of the Five Good Emperors, but it seems that the reason why Rome has declined can be understood by looking at this area.
In the old Rome, even commoners could take important positions that would determine the fate of the nation. That made the nation prosper.
Rome at that time is no longer there by this time.
Personally, I think the decline of Rome started around here.
However, Aurelius was by far the best compared to another candidate for successor, Lucius. He steadily carried out his given affairs.
At the age of 24, he became a consul again and was blessed with many of his children. He eventually had 14 children with his wife, Faustina, six of whom were adults. Commodus, one of Rome's worst-class tyrants, is the only boy to grow up safely, and these children later lead Rome to chaos.
Pius also seems to be cute about her daughter, giving Faustina the honorific title of her "Augusta" even though Aurelius has not yet become an emperor.
Augusta means empress, and the wife of the first emperor Augustus was given this temple name after his death, but I thought that giving it before becoming an empress was the parent of a person even though it was Pius. It ends up.
Personally, when I start giving preferential treatment to my relatives, the collapse begins.
Certainly, the collapse did not occur at this stage, but after the death of Emperor Aurelius, the collapse rushed like a rage, but that is still a long way off.
Emperor Aurelius spent his days indulging in philosophy while doing hard work under his adoptive father.
Emperor inauguration, condominium and suffering
In 161 AD, his adoptive father, Antoninus Pius, died.
Here, Emperor Aurelius does something that is unprecedented in history.
It declared that it was not only himself but Lucius Tiberius who would become the emperor at the same time.
It is not known if this was Pius's decision to keep the will of Emperor Hadrian. Since Pius and Aurelius were honest human beings, he may have done so without a will.
In this way, the first condominium in history began.
However, Aurelius suffers considerable misfortune through his reign.
The first bad luck was the great famine that occurred in 161, the year when he became emperor.
The territory of the Roman Empire is warm and well-grown, partly due to the Mediterranean climate, but for some reason this year was unprecedentedly poor.
After all, when the Tiber River flooded and was forced to deal with it, problems began to arise one after another.
It is the Armenian problem and the Parthian problem that erupt every time the Roman emperor changes.
This problem has always been solved in the form of the King of Armenia being chosen by Parthian and the crowning of Rome, but this time Parthian was tough.
Parthian was stationed in Armenia and expelled his pro-Roman King Armenia. It can be said to be a de facto declaration of war.
The Governor of Syria at that time was Atidius Cornelias, who had been the Secretary of the Governor's Office since the time of Hadrian, and was already old.
Perhaps because of that, Rome lost to Parthian Empire. Some said that the long peace had blurred it. Taking responsibility for the defeat, Governor Cappadocia chose to commit suicide.
The name of Emperor Aurelius is long, as mentioned at the beginning, but it is still abbreviated, and the real name is Impetral Caesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus . That is.
The parts of Imperator and Caesar will later represent the emperor in each language, but Imperator means the commander with the highest military authority, and of course the Roman emperor also has the position of the highest commander.
However, Emperor Aurelius had no military experience. He wasn't even in Lucius. In his lifetime, it would be correct to say that Emperor Aurelius had no military talent.
Emperor Aurelius decided to send Parthian his co-ruler Lucius as commander.
This Lucius is also a middle-aged person, and although it is a crisis in Rome, he seems to have enjoyed sightseeing, taking a hot spring, and traveling with Tiberius.
Lucius, who was late, seemed to have no military talent and could not summarize the differences in policy between the local commanders. Therefore, it is said that there were no end to letters asking for instructions to Emperor Aurelius in Rome.
Still, it was good that Statius Priscus, the governor of Britannia, who had been dispatched by Emperor Aurelius, had arrived in Syria early.
Lucius, the commander-in-chief, seems to have made a mistress in the field and played with it.
Perhaps it was better not to give strange support, Aurelius was gathering the best commanders of the time in the direction of Syria, and Avidius Casius was one of them.
Prius Kus and Casius quickly dealt with the Parthian side, succeeded in inaugurating the pro-Roman king in Armenia, the Parthian side was hit hard, and by this we will expand the power of the Sasanian Persia. Become.
A triumphal ceremony was held in Rome to commemorate the defeat of the Parthians, but it was the two emperors who were praised at this time, not the commanders who actually fought. Moreover, it is said that the emperors' families also participated in the parade.
What did the local commanders and soldiers think about this?
This triggered the tragedy that would later be brought to Rome, but Aurelius was still unaware of it.
Empire devastation and northern issues
It seems that the Parthian expedition did not only bring victory. At the same time, it seems to have caused a plague, and the population in Roman territory seems to have decreased considerably during this period. According to one theory, more than 5 million people were killed.
Furthermore, this era was also a time when the crackdown on Christianity became popular, and it seems that the custom of attacking Christians with beasts instead of gladiators and having fun was established in provinces and other provinces.
It is the Germanic peoples of the north who came with such internal devastation.
The Germanic migration is learned in world history classes around the 4th century, but since BC, it has been moving in groups of 6 digits. In the days of Emperor Aurelius, the number is unknown, but a considerable number of Germanic people have begun to invade Roman territory, and the emperor himself must always stick to the border line, the Donau River. rice field.
In Latin, the line of defense is called "Limes", but this Limes was broken by the Germanic people.
Aurelius summoned the excellent commanders sent to Syria to the Pannonia Governor's Office near the Donau River to take measures.
While doing so, a problem arose in the east. A coup broke out in Armenia.
Aurelius decides to appoint Casius, who was successful in the Parthian campaign, as Commander-in-Chief of the East to deal with the situation.
Casius worked well and solved the Armenian problem brilliantly. But he caused a bigger problem.
Touhou Commander Casius's Rebellion
I don't know why Avidius Casius rebelled against Rome at this time. He had the second highest military power in the Roman Empire after the Roman Emperor.
Rome lasted longer in the east than in the west.
The eastern part was richer and more military-powered.
Or maybe he thought he could get Rome with his army.
Or maybe he couldn't stand the irreverent behavior of Emperor Aurelius as seen in the triumphal ceremony.
Or it may have been an anger at not being able to become an emperor at any time, no matter how successful he was.
Or all of them?
Some of Casius's writings are bleeding with anger about corruption in Rome. It is not hard to imagine that the interior of the empire had become corrupt when looking at the relatives of the Roman emperor.
Aurelius made an unusual and appropriate decision at this time.
After persuading the forces in the west and getting them in his hands, he made the Senate recognize Casius as a national enemy.
Then he tried to leave for the east himself.
However, Casius was killed by his men.
The rebels have collapsed themselves. I don't know what would happen if Casius was fighting as it was, but the crisis is over for the time being.
Aurelius rushed east for post-treatment and gave generous treatment to those who took part in the rebellion.
At this time, he visited Musaeum in Egypt and Greece.
Since it was Emperor Aurelius, who was said to be Emperor Tetsuto, it must have been a meaningful trip.
Still, the Roman emperor was not given time.
Aurelius revisited the unsuccessful Pannonia (now around Hungary) when he appointed his son Commodus as his co-sovereign.
The battle with the Germanic people was fierce.
One of the commanders, a military commander named Julius Wels, was killed in action. At the cost of many sacrifices, Emperor Aurelius also died. His cause of death was illness. Aurelius, who had always been with his doctor Galen, had been suffering from illness since he was young and probably knew that his life was not long.
Aurelius died in Vindobona, the predecessor of modern Vienna. He was 59 years old.
After the death of Emperor Aurelius, Rome rapidly loses its centripetal force.
The sound of the collapse had already been heard.
Personal evaluation of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus
Although he was the best in terms of personality, it is a personal evaluation of Emperor Arlerius that he is a person who is neither a politician nor a soldier, and who is neither good nor bad as a monarch.
You can see how wonderful he was by looking at the "Self-reflection", but it was only a minus that he experienced many civil wars and, above all, brought hereditary rule to the Roman Empire.
In fact, his son Commodus became one of the most famous tyrants in Rome, leading the era into turmoil.
5 The emperors who are said to be wise emperors have no blood connection. An excellent ruler was born because the talented people who could rule the huge empire of Rome were always selected.
In history, as many as five masters rarely follow, and the first five of the Qing dynasty are excellent except for the Five Good Emperors.
Power corrupts
As the word says, corruption had already begun at this time.
It is certain that this led to the rebellion of the Eastern Commander. There is no doubt that politics that was extremely hardened by relatives led to rigidity.
In fact, there is no military or political achievement of Emperor Aurelius. It almost always appears in world history textbooks, but it doesn't say exactly what he did. In fact, there is nothing.
Unlike the peaceful days of Pius, the time of Emperor Aurelius was a period of great turmoil.
Natural disasters and famines are unavoidable, but it is no exaggeration to say that the Germanic invasion and the Parthian religion were caused by the poor governing ability of Emperor Aurelius.
5 Although it has the name of the wise emperor, it cannot be compared with the emperor Trajan.
It is neither a dark prince nor a tyrant, but the reality is that he is never a great prince.
Still, it is undoubtedly one of the best Roman emperors to count.