Marcus Aurelius: A Biography (Roman Imperial Biographies) 2nd Edition by Anthony R Birley (PDF)

Description

Marcus Aurelius, the philosopher-emperor who ruled the Roman Empire between AD 161 and 180, is one of the best recorded individuals from antiquity. Even his face became more than usually familiar: the imperial coinage displayed his portrait for over 40 years, from the clean-shaven young heir of Antonius to the war-weary, heavily bearded ruler who died at his post in his late fifties.His correspondence with his tutor Fronto, and even more the private notebook he kept for his last ten years, the Meditations, provides a unique series of vivid and revealing glimpses into the character and peoccupations of this emporer who spent many years in terrible wars against northern tribes.In this accessible and scholarly study, Professor Birley paints a portrait of an emporer who was human and just – an embodiment of the pagan virtues of Rome.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐It is nice to lear and to better know Marcus Aurelius from other sources than “Meditations”. I like the approach used for notes and references.

⭐The book is worth reading, but for quite an expensive kindle version one would expect that the notes are accessible. They are not.

⭐I love a true bibliography base on primary sources! The problems are the primary sources! They are fragmentary and theretofore we do not get a flow of a great biography for the interested reader of history.I believe that the biography should have been written using in the structure used by Jose Antonio Pagola, in his “Jesus: An Historical Approximation” .

⭐I’m not a scholar of history, but have always been interested in the man that wrote the Meditations. I thought an in-depth analysis would be the trick for getting to know this Stoic Emperor better. In Birley’s book, however, I experienced information overload.We learn a great deal about the Emperor’s tutors and family. But the reader, at least this reader, is given so much detail, that it is difficult to organize the data in a meaningful way. I could not distinguish the significant from the merely interesting.If you already know quite a bit about Marcus Aurelius and want to learn more, by all means buy this book.If, on the other hand, you want an inroduction to his life, I’d recommend looking elsewhere.

⭐Anthony Birley’s biography of Marcus Aurelius manages to give the reader a good view of the life of an Emperor by pulling together the very few resources available. Marcus’ early years and education are given in good detail including some letters between Marcus and his teachers. It is true that the chapters dealing with Marcus’ personal life and family are not as ‘exciting’ as some might wish but they show a side to an Emperor rarely seen.The Parthian War, which was commanded by Co-Emperor Lucius Verus, is given a good overview. However, the Marcommanic Wars are covered in excellent detail. Anthony Birley reviews all the sources that are available and gives reasons for his conclusions. Coins, The Colume of marcus Aurelius and Cassius Dio are the prime sources for the Marcommanic Wars. The Commanding Generals are named and fans of ‘Gladiator’ will be disappointed.This is real history and a look into one of Rome’s most popular Emperors. If you are a fan of ‘Gladiator’ then read this book and see how much more exciting reality is.The role Commodus played and the reasons Marcus made him Co-Emperor after Lucius Verus are explained very well. This book by far is one of the best Imperial Biographies I have read.

⭐I enjoyed Birley’s biography of Marcus Aureliusm, because I was interested in the man.Even so, it is written as an academic treatment limiting the story to the primary sources, with constant quotes from them. This is certainly an accurate manner to depict biographical information, but not as compelling as say Robin Fox’s treatment of Alexander the Great which is equally well-research and annotated but is also a great “read.”

⭐After reading the first chapter of this book I was prepared for another deadly boring biography like Birley’s book on Hadrian. Fortunately, he backed off the ‘belongs in the appendix’ level of detail. Birley shows us the key figures that helped shape Marcus character and governing style; foremost of which were Antoninus Pius, Fronto, and Appolonius. The influence of Fronto may be overestimated just because correspondence between Marcus and him has been preserved in some quantity. It’s too bad that kind of record isn’t available for the communication between Marcus and Antoninus. Marcus and Antoninus are portrayed as men that clearly see their position as one of duty and responsibility to the Empire and its people. It would have been nice if the author weighed in on whether he thought Pius was just lucky in reference to the relative lack of military action during his reign or if Pius was able to intimidate/had respect of… the barbarians and Persians so they wouldn’t attack while he was in power.Clearly Marcus is tested from the moment his reign begins with Verus. Did the Parthians see him as weaker than Pius, or was the aggression going ahead no matter who was in power? Perhaps the ideal Roman ruler would be one with Marcus Aurelius sense of duty, but Julius Caesar’s passion and drive. The wars with the Marcomanni and the Quadi are written in a way that makes it both interesting and scholarly. Still some speculation about why they were not able to consolidate their victories and create the province would have been helpful.I was surprised to discover that Marcus did spend alot of time with Commodus and made every effort to acclimate him to imperial responsibility. I had suspected he merely stayed in Rome while his father was away. In the end it seems that Birley was just as mystified as I am about why Commodus turned out to be such a crappy emperor.Overall, a recommended read on one of the most important leaders in Roman history.

⭐Marc-Aurèle réalisa le rêve de Platon: celui du roi-philosophe. Empereur par décision d’Hadrien, stoïcien par goût, soldat par nécessité, l’illustre romain est une figure majeure de l’histoire universelle. A. Birley lui consacre un ouvrage magnifique qui comblera les désirs de l’honnête homme soucieux de s’instruire. Bravo!FAST delivery; VERY happy with my order!

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