At a glance
- From
- Rome
- Lives in
- Rome
- Nationality
- Ancient Rome
Biography
Most people who encounter him today meet him as a Stoic — a source of lines about self-control, duty and keeping perspective. What gives those lines their unusual weight is the job he held while thinking that way. He was not a teacher arguing from the sidelines. He ran the Roman Empire.
He was emperor from 161 to 180, part of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty and the last of the group later called the Five Good Emperors. Before that he had already served as Roman consul three times, in 140, in 145, and again in 161, the year his reign began. So the political career was long and the philosophy ran alongside it rather than replacing it.
His death in 180 also closed the Pax Romana, the long stretch of relative peace and stability across the empire that had begun in 27 BC. He was its last emperor — a man from Rome who held the highest office the ancient world offered and is remembered now as much for how he thought as for what he governed.
He was emperor from 161 to 180, part of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty and the last of the group later called the Five Good Emperors. Before that he had already served as Roman consul three times, in 140, in 145, and again in 161, the year his reign began. So the political career was long and the philosophy ran alongside it rather than replacing it.
His death in 180 also closed the Pax Romana, the long stretch of relative peace and stability across the empire that had begun in 27 BC. He was its last emperor — a man from Rome who held the highest office the ancient world offered and is remembered now as much for how he thought as for what he governed.
Quotes 13
“If it is not right, do not do it. If it is not true, do not say it.”
“Our life is what our thoughts make it.”
“The best revenge is not to be like your enemy.”
“Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them.”
“Accept the things to which fate binds you, and love the people with whom fate brings you together, and do so with all your heart.”
“When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive — to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.”
“Confine yourself to the present.”
“You could leave life right now. Let that determine what you do and say and think.”
“The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.”
“If it is not right, do not do it; if it is not true, do not say it.”
“Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be one.”
“The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.”
“You have power over your mind — not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.”
