Why isn't Marcus Aurelius here? He's known as the last good emperor.
this post was submitted on 03 Apr 2025
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Aurelius actually gets a decent amount of flak from historians and contemporaries, for various reasons. A later Emperor, Septimius Severus, even called him gutless for not having it in him to kill his son, Commodus, for the good of the Empire.
Aurelius is a good Emperor, and the last of the Five Good Emperors, but far from unhated.
Explanation: Roman Emperors, both by the nature of men in power and the needs of the job, generally made a lot of fucking enemies, both contemporary and in the recollections of history.
Antoninus Pius is a rare exception, a man who came to power by uncontroversial means (being chosen as a successor by Emperor Hadrian for his integrity), ruling through a period of uninterrupted peace, prosperity, and legal reform, having few vices and living a simple and unextravagant life, and then handing power over to a well-regarded emperor (Marcus Aurelius, and, less importantly, his adoptive brother Lucius Verus). By the recollections of those who lived after his rule, his mildness and attention towards public good and infrastructure was highly regarded, and in his personal life, Pius was likewise uncontroversial, and his adoptive sons and their tutor remembered him as a kind man who enjoyed the simple pleasures - fishing, comedy, theatre, watching boxing matches.
We love Emperor Pius in this house!
Thank you for posting explanations in the comments for those of us who are not as up to date on their Roman emperors as good sense would dictate.
Always happy to share obscure trivia!