War, Plague, Opium and Stoicism: The Life of Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius
Channel: Histories Actors
Date: 2019-09-05

War, Plague, Opium and Stoicism: The Life of Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius – This is the story of one of the most iconic characters in human history, the Roman Emperor, Marcus Aurelius. This video will detail the major episodes in Aurelius’ life, from being adopted twice when he was a boy to going on to become the ruler of the Roman Empire. When he ruled Rome, Aurelius was faced with numerous challenges, from the brutal Macromannic wars to the pernicious Antonine plague. 

On a personal front, Aurelius struggled for years with an opium addiction, with there being at least one attempt where Aurelius tried but failed to stop using opium. Today, Aurelius is perhaps best known as one of the main intellectual figures of stoicism, a philosophical branch that emphasises virtue, rationality, control over one’s emotions and living in accordance with nature.

Subscribe to Histories Actors on YouTube: https://bit.ly/2kwc14t 

Sources Consulted:

Africa, T. (1961) ‘The Opium Addiction of Marcus Aurelius,’ Journal of the History of Ideas, 22:1, 97-102.
Aurelius, M., Hammond, M., and Clay, D. (2006) Meditations (London: Penguin Books). 
Beard, M. (2015) SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome (London: Profile Books).
Gilliam, J. (1961) ‘The Plague under Marcus Aurelius,’ The American Journal of Philology, 82:3, 225-251. 
Potter, D. (2013) The Emperors of Rome: The Story of Imperial Rome from Julius Caesar to the Last Emperor (London: Quercus Editions Ltd). 
Sellars, J. (2002) Marcus Aurelius (121—180 C.E.), Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy - https://www.iep.utm.edu/marcus/. 
The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (2017) ‘Marcus Aurelius’ - https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/marcus-aurelius/.

Note: The sources consulted for this video do not necessarily endorse the narrative constructed. 

Creative Commons Imagery:

Unguided Nations - https://bit.ly/2L5vKny 
Drone Tales https://bit.ly/2Jpfuua 
Tataryn https://bit.ly/2lAd6IV Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported https://bit.ly/1kvyKWi 
Marie-Lan Nguyen  https://bit.ly/2lyQ6tI 
Guillaume Rouille https://bit.ly/2k1mEMu 
Cesare Maccari https://bit.ly/1IEsUeW 
Bibi Saint-Pol https://bit.ly/2kwoMfx 
PierreSelim https://bit.ly/2kwoRjl CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication https://bit.ly/1PKFaP7 
Carole Raddato https://bit.ly/2lweo7D Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic https://bit.ly/1dMkpTr 
Carole Raddato https://bit.ly/2m1dWyx CC Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic https://bit.ly/1dMkpTr
Caliniuc Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International https://bit.ly/1SrbRBk 
Pierre-Selim https://bit.ly/2m0k4ai Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported https://bit.ly/1kvyKWi 
Andrei N. (Wikipedia Commons user Andrein) https://bit.ly/2lwfSid Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported https://bit.ly/1kvyKWi GNU Free Documentation License https://bit.ly/1OkIvTx 
 CristianChirita GNU Free Documentation License https://bit.ly/1OkIvTx Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported https://bit.ly/2lTt68O 
Marian Cepeha https://bit.ly/2lYExfv 
Barosaurus Lentus https://bit.ly/2tCxJTG Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported https://bit.ly/1DwRqQf 
Jebulon https://bit.ly/2k0fNmr 
Georg Paul Busch The Lancet https://bit.ly/2GvNYvG 
Eugène Delacroix https://bit.ly/2k0gkVt 
I, Sailko https://bit.ly/2lAayua GNU Free Documentation License https://bit.ly/1OkIvTx Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported https://bit.ly/1kvyKWi 
Marie-Lan Nguyen (2006) https://bit.ly/2lB7cqP 
Titlepage of an 1811 edition of Meditations by Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, translated by R. Graves Private Collection of S. Whitehead https://bit.ly/2ktqY7m