Marcus Aurelius: A Biography

by Anthony R. Birley

HARDCOVER WITH JACKET

Genres: History, Biography, Philosophy, Nonfiction, Roman History, Ancient History, Classics

320 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1966

About the author

Anthony Richard Birley FSA was a British ancient historian, archaeologist and academic.

Reviews

[Windsor · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent history of a very good emperor. Author tends to bog reader down with too many citations from only a few sources. Tend to find Meditations more of a read for me. This book, however, is an excellent look into family politics with Commodus, as well as Aurelius' wars with Germany and Parthia.

[Gavin O'Brien · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was sitting on my to do shelf for far too long indeed. Delighted to have read it and have had the opportunity both to read it and add it to my 'classical' library.

It is not hard to see why Birley's work remains the definitive read for anyone looking to be introduced to the life of Marcus Aurelius. Though more popular works have appeared in recent years, this book clearly sets the tone and pacing, and its influence can be felt in those later releases.

From his earliest to his final days, from his public work in the courts of Rome to his private musings at the frontier, Birely covers all aspects of Marcus Aurelius' in his search of the man himself. His treatment of him is surrounded by a discussion of the influences on his growth, development and education, bringing with it a wider examination of the life and aspirations of upper class Antonine Rome.

We see the young book worm who's heroes were not warriors of myth and legend, but Philosophers. We see the cheeky teenager that enjoyed tormenting shepherds by scattering their flocks on the roads with friends, that danced through the streets of Rome during the Lupercalia and who took pleasure in the hunt and the company of his family and friends. We see a man that held a life long distain for gladiator spectacles, who valued human life and freedom from slavery, who promoted men based on merit, not rank, and who strove to show clemency before punishment.

While good qualities abound, Marcus was not lacking in faults. He was grave and serious, some might call him dull, and he was well aware of this and what others thought of him, yet he stayed his hand. Christians were persecuted in his reign, the preferential treatment of the rich in law judgements was codified and thousands died in his Northern Wars as many more would from his appointment of Commodus as his successor. Yet some of these factors were well outside the bounds of his control or can only be attributed to him on a localized basis.

Even with his shining reputation in the sources and the bias which that carries there can be no doubt that Marcus did attempt to be an honest, clement and benevolent ruler who detested the idea of war yet carried out what he felt was his duty to the Roman State and people, selfless characteristics rarely found in an ancient ruler.

Some might find Birely's work, though short at only 223 pages (not including the very useful appendices), dry in places, maybe even a slog at times, but for those who push through to the end they will learn about a character who's name still echoes today as an example of the ideal statesman and perhaps within this find a hero they too can admire.

[Michael Baranowski · Rating 2 out of 5]

Marcus Aurelius is one of my heroes, and back in 2010 when Frank McLynn came out with his biography of the emperor / Stoic, I was eager to read it. But once I saw the reviews and picked up a copy to page through myself, I realized that I wasn't interested in reading a ridiculous hit-job on Marcus Aurelius written by a man who colossally misunderstood Stoicism.

That left me with Birley's biography, which I only recently found a decent used copy of. And while Birley has a far better understanding of Stoicism than McLynn did, his writing is dry as dust. I trudged through about half of the book before realizing that even as much as I admire Marcus Aurelius, life is far too short to spend it on such a dull book.

[Brock Tarlton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dope

[Jon Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid, if not stolid, depiction of the good emperor, Marcus Aurelius (played memorably though too briefly by the late Richard Harris in Gladiator.) Marcus was a philosopher, a fair judge, a good ruler and a reluctant but successful warrior to preserve the Roman peace. His philosophy has been captured in his own book ‘to himself’, which has survived the centuries. The biography is interesting, if not riveting, clearly written for a rather academic audience, as Birley struggles to create a narrative from what other scraps of evidence we have of the great emperor.
And a piquant memory of Marcus comes in his own words: “Forget your thirst for books or you will die muttering!”

[Henrik Schilder · Rating 5 out of 5]

Knowing Marcus better

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.

[Andrew Dockrill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marcus Aurelius, arguably one of the most world renowned names in classic history for his philosophical works i.e meditations, and for being considered "one of the last great emperors". I personally don't think that claim is true, as many emperors who came after him I think were very decent men who played the part well but were not loved by the senate - who quite often wrote about the emperors rather unfairly. Also given the situation he was placed in, having never campaigned to any real notable extent prior to the Marcomanni Wars, and responding the way that he did, was nothing short of remarkable. He was also notable for being among some of the few emperors who did not in fact want the throne, others such as Tiberius had a similar disposition. Therefore he tried to co-rule with Lucius Verus, which worked out relatively well, even though the men were so very different. It would work out relatively for all concerned until Verus would die.

Then of course, we cannot forget Marcus's famously notorious son Commodus, who Cassius Dio certainly did not like and who is said to have ruined the empire - which I think goes too far in claiming that. Commodus had to contend with plague and intrigue and mountainous debt left over from Marcus's reign. While Commodus did himself no favors, he wasn't completely as villainous as he is made out to be in my opinion - although dulling the gladiatorial blades so he could win, didn't do him any favors.

Of all of the authors of the Roman emperor series I must say that Anthony Birley comes out amongst the better of the lot. He can be a little dry but he tends to keep things moving at a fairly crisp pace and stays on course rather then getting lost on tangents. He is a far improvement over Frank Mclynn whose biography of Marcus Aurelius I had read prior to this (barely). I will say thank you to Anthony for making this experience a much more pleasurable one than that one had been.

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anthony Birley’s book Marcus Aurelius opened the world of the second century Roman Empire to me. Until now I was only vaguely aware of era of the “five good emperors”, who, while not perfect, were definitely better than the decadent Claudio-Julian emperors and did a reasonably good job of holding together their huge empire. We have often heard of the “philosopher-king”, an ideal of Plato, but in Marcus Aurelius we see the idea come to life, an emperor who was truly a philosopher, both by nature and by training. The author gives us some of the history and family backgrounds of the five: Nerva, Tajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, and Marcus Aurelius. Although they were related to one another in various ways, none was a natural son, but often an adopted son, of another.

Marcus’ reign was troubled by foreign wars, plague, and floods, and during his last years he stayed mostly in the north, defending the empire’s northern frontier. He was a stoic and was recognized and respected as such during his lifetime. He was not sympathetic to Christians, and permitted their persecution, though he did not act as viciously as some rulers. He cared about his subjects, acting as justly as he could in court cases, and particularly insisting on the rights of slaves to live in freedom when it was granted. His legacy is the introspective account he wrote, late in life, of his thoughts on how to live and what to care about, known to us as The Meditations. After his death, he was succeeded by his son Commodus, who was not a good emperor, and who was murdered after years of misrule. It is a tragic history in many ways, fitting the somber stoic tone of his Meditations on the ephemeral nature of life, fame and fortune.

[Vladimiro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Biografia solidissima di uno dei meglio documentati imperatori della storia romana; sicuramente piena di fatti, ipotesi, citazioni, studi ecc. ecc. però rimane il difetto riscontrato nell'altra biografia imperiale scritta dallo stesso autore (su Settimio Severo): una "aridità" che toglie alla narrazione quel pathos che la vicenda meriterebbe. Il che probabilmente era nelle intenzioni dell'autore, forse sono io a lamentarmi per ciò che neanche ci dovrebbe essere.

Insuperabile invece sul piano prettamente storico, visto che non si limita ai meri dati biografici su Marco Aurelio ma racconto molto bene anche le fasi più oscure (oscure dal punto di vista della documentazione, tipo le guerre marcomanniche).

Su un punto sono molto d'accordo con l'autore (è lo spunto migliore del libro): nei ventitré anni del regno di Antonino Pio, Marco, già designato erede al trono, non lasciò mai l'Italia né ricevette mai un'educazione militare. Tale lassismo porterà poi i Parti ad attaccare e... via dicendo tutti gli squilibri (voluto o non voluti) del regno di Marco Aurelio.

Biografia consigliatissima sul piano storico, insomma.

[DonnaTarttFan1 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wrote a book report on this. This is the conclusion from it.

Marcus Aurelius: A Biography has aspects it does effectively as well as areas that could
be improved. Its strengths are in creating a full, comprehensive recount of Marcus’ life and
career; using primary and secondary sources to depict Marcus as a real person, giving a clear
understanding of Roman society and situating the reader in Marcus’ life; and allows for a new
way to understand Marcus’ Meditations. Weaknesses lie in Birley’s habit of getting lost in details
like lists of family trees that are extensive and not necessary, and a lack of focus on the impact on
Marcus’ life of his philosophical ideals. The biography is a great book to read for someone that is
willing to sit down and really focus, and wants to know all of the details pertaining to Marcus
Aurelius. His life and his story give a different tone to Meditations, and if one wants to
understand why it was necessary that he throw himself into such philosophical thinkings and
why those specific thoughts, dwelling on the same themes, they should read Birley’s book.

🤑

[Mark Singer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Detailed but dull biography of the Philosopher Emperor Marcus Aurelius. I found a used copy of this several years ago after reading his “Meditations”, and finally opened it. The two major reservations that I have with this book are that it is dry-as-dust dull, and that Birley cribs long passages from Fronto rather than interpreting them. There is a second edition of this, but I have no idea how it is different or if it was improved in any way.

[So Hakim · Rating 4 out of 5]

As the title says, biography of Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius. Chock-full of direct quotes including personal letters. There is also insight about Roman historiography, namely, which sources are considered good/bad; what evidences thus far, etc.

Unfortunately the text is a bit dry. Only read this if you want to know Marcus Aurelius in scholarly fashion.

[Vicki Cline · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm afraid this book was too scholarly to be truly enjoyable for me, but it was worthwile reading. I did like the last chapter about the Meditations.

[Keith Lovell · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit too technical with too many cites
and sources, read more like a summary of facts string together. Although very informative and gull of great source material for future reading,

[Joel Zartman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Somewhat dull. Was hoping to enjoy the life and times of Marcus Aurelius more.