Profile of Marcus Aurelius

Marcus Aurelius was Emperor of Rome from 161 to 180. He ruled with Lucius Verus as co-emperor from 161 until Verus' death in 169. Marcus Aurelius was the last of the so-called Five Good Emperors. He was a practitioner of Stoicism, and his untitled writing, commonly known as Meditations, is a significant source of the modern understanding of ancient Stoic philosophy, and is considered by many commentators to be one of the greatest works of philosophy. Such work is typical of the Italian Renaissance: the Italian artists seeked inspiration into their country's glorious past, wanting to attein the same level of their old masters, and erase the memory of the darkness of the Middle Ages.马可·奥勒留（Marcus Aurelius）于公元161年至180年担任罗马皇帝。161年起，他与卢修斯·韦鲁斯（Lucius Verus）共同执掌罗马政权，直至韦鲁斯于169年离世。马可·奥勒留是后世所称的“五贤帝”（Five Good Emperors）中的最后一位。他是斯多葛主义（Stoicism）的忠实践行者，其生前未命名的手稿如今通常被称为《沉思录》（Meditations），是现代学界认知古代斯多葛哲学的核心文献来源，亦被诸多评论者奉为最伟大的哲学著作之一。此类创作正是意大利文艺复兴（Italian Renaissance）的典型特质：意大利艺术家从本国光辉的历史过往中汲取创作灵感，力求复刻先贤大师的艺术造诣，并消弭中世纪黑暗时代的集体记忆。