By Hamilton Millwee
I Aurelius
There was nothing special about my birth. It was April 26, 121 AD and the world was still turning just as it had every other day. However, my mother Lucilla had a feeling that I would do great things in my life. I had a brother that died at the age of two, but I didn’t ever truly know him. As a child, I had two caring parents that not only provided me with a great childhood, but also taught me the ins and As I said in the Meditations, I learned both modesty and manliness from him. The reason that I aspired to become a great leader was because of my father. My father was there more for me than my mother, but I always knew that she loved me. She was just having a hands-off approach to me because of the customs of the day. She did teach me many things in her last days because she spent much of her time with me then. She taught me religious piety and to avoid the ways of the rich. I am thankful every day that I had such great parents to guide me to the right track in life. After my father died, I was adopted by my grandfather Marcus Verus. He taught me many great things, and I loved him very much, but the entire stay was overshadowed by his mistress. After his wife died, my grandfather had a mistress that I hated with every fiber of my being. I am just thankful that I didn’t have to live with her any longer than needed. I avoided public schooling and learned from the best until at the age of six, I was recommended to Hadrian for the equestrian order. I soon became Hadrian’s favorite and became a high priest and also met Apollinus, a person who changed my life forever. He taught me the ways of the stoic and I became a stoic philosopher myself. Later on in life, I wrote the Meditations. On his deathbed, Hadrian adopted Antoninus Pius as his heir and told Antoninus to adopt me. This occurred and although I did not love Antoninus as a father, I saw him as a great emperor and a great man. Therefore, at his death in 161, I took the reigns of Rome and constructed a column in his honor. This was over 14 meters high and was made out of red granite. I showcased Antoninus’ peaceful reign as well as his iron fist that was shown through his military might. Although he rarely ever used it, he had the strength and power of Rome on his side. After taking emperorship, I set out on many military conquests so that I could expand Rome’s borders. I was rarely ever in the city itself, but instead enjoyed to go to the battlefields with my troops. I conquered many tribes of the Parthians, Lombards, Sarmatians, and the Gauls. To celebrate my success in the wars, I constructed my column. I did this not only to show Rome’s might, but also to show my expertise. I made the column 100 feet tall and in such high relief that people at the ground could still read the engravings. I made this column bigger and better than Trajan’s. I died while campaigning in Germania and many questions surround my death. Many people believed that I was killed by my adopted son Commodus out of want for the throne. However, I like the idea of mysteries in the world and will let you decide for yourself what you think happened. After my death, many people remembered me in different ways. Christians see me as a persecutor who killed thousands of Christians. I did this as to strengthen Rome as well as defend our holy religion. The people of Rome remembered me as a philosopher king who was a wise yet powerful ruler. All in all, I am proud of my reign because I expanded Rome and am remembered by many as a wise, competent emperor.
There was nothing special about my birth. It was April 26, 121 AD and the world was still turning just as it had every other day. However, my mother Lucilla had a feeling that I would do great things in my life. I had a brother that died at the age of two, but I didn’t ever truly know him. As a child, I had two caring parents that not only provided me with a great childhood, but also taught me the ins and As I said in the Meditations, I learned both modesty and manliness from him. The reason that I aspired to become a great leader was because of my father. My father was there more for me than my mother, but I always knew that she loved me. She was just having a hands-off approach to me because of the customs of the day. She did teach me many things in her last days because she spent much of her time with me then. She taught me religious piety and to avoid the ways of the rich. I am thankful every day that I had such great parents to guide me to the right track in life. After my father died, I was adopted by my grandfather Marcus Verus. He taught me many great things, and I loved him very much, but the entire stay was overshadowed by his mistress. After his wife died, my grandfather had a mistress that I hated with every fiber of my being. I am just thankful that I didn’t have to live with her any longer than needed. I avoided public schooling and learned from the best until at the age of six, I was recommended to Hadrian for the equestrian order. I soon became Hadrian’s favorite and became a high priest and also met Apollinus, a person who changed my life forever. He taught me the ways of the stoic and I became a stoic philosopher myself. Later on in life, I wrote the Meditations. On his deathbed, Hadrian adopted Antoninus Pius as his heir and told Antoninus to adopt me. This occurred and although I did not love Antoninus as a father, I saw him as a great emperor and a great man. Therefore, at his death in 161, I took the reigns of Rome and constructed a column in his honor. This was over 14 meters high and was made out of red granite. I showcased Antoninus’ peaceful reign as well as his iron fist that was shown through his military might. Although he rarely ever used it, he had the strength and power of Rome on his side. After taking emperorship, I set out on many military conquests so that I could expand Rome’s borders. I was rarely ever in the city itself, but instead enjoyed to go to the battlefields with my troops. I conquered many tribes of the Parthians, Lombards, Sarmatians, and the Gauls. To celebrate my success in the wars, I constructed my column. I did this not only to show Rome’s might, but also to show my expertise. I made the column 100 feet tall and in such high relief that people at the ground could still read the engravings. I made this column bigger and better than Trajan’s. I died while campaigning in Germania and many questions surround my death. Many people believed that I was killed by my adopted son Commodus out of want for the throne. However, I like the idea of mysteries in the world and will let you decide for yourself what you think happened. After my death, many people remembered me in different ways. Christians see me as a persecutor who killed thousands of Christians. I did this as to strengthen Rome as well as defend our holy religion. The people of Rome remembered me as a philosopher king who was a wise yet powerful ruler. All in all, I am proud of my reign because I expanded Rome and am remembered by many as a wise, competent emperor.
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