Marcus Aurellius was a good emperor by Roman standards, and his grand mistake was his son, Commodus. A disaster for both his son (who was killed at just 31) and the Empire.
>Mistake #1: It seems that Marcus intentionally broke with the then tend of adopting heirs and Emperors being childless, and intended to pass on his rule to his children.
>Solution:
Instead, he should have had zero children, and then formally initiated reforms making the system of childless men being adopted as heirs due to merit the official system of the Empire. Perhaps even include a Senate vote for another layer of check-balance to prevent an Emperor from adopting a fool or madman (like when Nero adopted Caligula). If such a system were put into place, the Roman Empire might have survived.
>Mistake #2:
His raising of Commodus. It seems that due to Marcus being away, Commodus was raised by the Palace and just let to do whatever. This created an immature, stupid, and deeply narcissistic person. Commodus would probably classify as full blown Naristicic Personality Disorder by today's medical standards. Such people are outright considered "toxic", and you should avoid all interaction with them. Having one as an Emperor is a total disaster.
>Solution:
Ensure his children are raised properly, focusing on stoic ideals. Marcus is the Emperor, he should have had more than enough power and money to ensure his son was raised as a philosopher king and not an idiot manchild.
It was not by choice that the other Emperors had no surviving adult children, but by chance.
But yes, Marcus Aurelius was very lenient on everyone. That was his greatest weakness. Compare his writings to Epictetus'.
Noah Harris
>It was not by choice that the other Emperors had no surviving adult children, but by chance.
It was probably just chance. But you could observe that this chance setup created a stability and then make it official. Having a merit based system for Emperorship seemed like an obvious solution.
When Commodus came to power, it was 80 years since the last Emperor came by birth. So it's not like this was just something that happened for 5 years. Entire people had lived and died under this system.
Michael Taylor
You can't mandate people not to have children. Especially people who have literally all of the power.
Matthew Williams
Even with adoption, the idea of adopting competent rulers wasn't really a thing. Hadrian adopted Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus when they were quite young. It was his and Pius' good fortune that Aurelius grew up to be such an exemplar.
There's also speculation as to Trajan actually designated Hadrian his successor, or whether that a machination by his wife after Trajan's death.
What I'm saying is that what looks like a system to us was really just a series of ad hoc events.
Josiah Miller
Whatever succession system Marcus Aurelius put in place would have disintegrated within a generation. Gibbon's narrative is all well and fine, but no emperor could have really prevented the third century crisis. The plague wiped out a third of the empire, the Earth was heading for a minor ice age and there were no places left to plunder and use to fill the gaps in the budget with. The empire was in for some rough times, and in times of crisis the question of who gets to be the emperor always fell down to the army.
Matthew James
Marcus Aurelius did impress Hadrian when he was young. He was obviously not competent, but there were signs he was an exceptional person. That said, yes, Lucius Verus was an average guy (but with military talent).
(As for Hadrian, in one of Epictetus' lectures he teases someone for his reaction to being adopted by Caesar. It is assumed he is talking about Hadrian who was a student of his)
Parker Carter
>You can't mandate people not to have children. Especially people who have literally all of the power.
Pick heirs without kids. Make having a kid a reason for disqualification. Make them become Eunichs if you're serious enough about this.
Kevin Evans
He wasn't a good emperor, all st*ics are human alone. Commodus was the better emperor. Get over it, Letzter Mensch.
Mason Clark
>He wasn't a good emperor, all st*ics are human alone.
Fought the G*rmans and kept them at bay.
>Commodus was the better emperor.
Used a time of peace and prosperity to use the state to fill out his own narcissistic pursuits. He bankrupted the state.
Charles Wright
You forgot your trip and the all caps.
Joseph Anderson
Good, I wish he ruined Rome. Evil Empires need to be ruined.
David Russell
Trajan never officially designated a heir. He supposedly chose Hadrian immediately before death, but the actual document was signed by his wife, not himself. Naturally speculation ran amok.
Ethan Howard
>and his grand mistake was his son, Commodus. t. Senator
Commodus was based.
Jaxson Ross
t. german
Tyler Watson
t. only ever watched Gladiator and never actually read about the real Commodus
Isaiah Scott
>His raising of Commodus. It seems that due to Marcus being away, Commodus was raised by the Palace and just let to do whatever
"Commodus received extensive tutoring by a multitude of teachers with a focus on intellectual education.[7] Among his teachers Onesicrates, Antistius Capella, Titus Aius Sanctus, and Pitholaus are mentioned.[7][8]"
"Commodus is known to have been at Carnuntum, the headquarters of Marcus Aurelius during the Marcomannic Wars, in 172...Commodus subsequently accompanied his father on a lengthy trip to the Eastern provinces, during which he visited Antioch. The Emperor and his son then traveled to Athens, where they were initiated into the Eleusinian mysteries. They then returned to Rome in the Autumn of 176"
Why blame Marcus, he tried to save him, even making him co-emperor to show him the ropes. You act like the son of a Roman Emperor would not receive the best fucking education possible. He even accompanied his father ever since he was 11. The issue is either Commodus was showing to Marcus that he was a suitable heir at the time, and would later do whatever he wished with that power after his father's death, or Marcus believed that not choosing Commodus may result in civil war, because the legions of the Marcomannic wars loved Commodus. Choosing another heir would obliviously instigate infighting, which no sane emperor would want for his country.
Carson Watson
t. uncle tom yes massa ublupblup praise Saturn
Jackson King
fuck are u saying dumbass im punjabi if u cant see the greatness of Rome, you're incompetent
Isaiah Sanchez
>im punjabi t. tamil false flagger
Sebastian Rodriguez
>You act like the son of a Roman Emperor would not receive the best fucking education possible.
Clearly SOMETHING went wrong. Commodious is clearly Narcissistic and sociopathic. That just doesn't happen by accident.
Nolan Torres
It's normal for people in power to be sociopaths.
Narcissism is what fucked everything up.
Ayden Hill
Here is the main issue with that >Antoninus Pius had four kid that all died before he became emperor >Hadrian had no kids but was still married >Trajan had no kids but was still married Also Nerva had no kids that we know but his early history is rather poorly record and he was 65 when he became emperor. It is very possible that he had kids that did not live to see him become emperor. Trajan was likely pick as a heir just because Nerva needed a heir on the spot due to felling heath and Trajan was popular.
Emperors not having blood heirs was not by design.
Caleb Roberts
>Emperors not having blood heirs was not by design.
Not disagreeing with that. But Marcus or anyone else could have noticed that this childless Emperor theme seems to have resulted in stability.
And if you're going to have children be your heir, its your responsibility to make sure they're not retards. If they're a complete fuckup like Commodus, it's your duty to just murder them. It seems harsh, but it's a better option than giving such a person supreme executive power.
Brody Moore
But was the stability due to successors being named via merit rather then via family? From what I know on that type of succession being done in medieval times (most 9th 12th centuries) it did not work out most of the time. I could type out the why of it, or link a video that mostly comes to the same conclusion.
If you did not which the video succession via blood makes the key supports of the government have a long time to figure out the character of who will be the next ruler and it makes overthrow of a ruler by his own heir less likely.
Tyler Lee
says the insecure black man
Oliver Thompson
Anyone got the Chad Commodus vs. virgin Marcus comic?
Nathaniel Diaz
>attempts to lambast Germanic tribes >posts Celts Germanics kicked Rome right in the teeth at Teutoberg, Celts were the bitchboys of the Latins.
Austin Lewis
boipucci emperors were best, nothing against hets but you will inevitably spawn a son and want him to take your place, the evolutionary urge is too great, you have to break free from the cycle, somehow
Hudson Miller
All are barbarians, there is no difference to Romans
