Legacy and Reputation
Marcus Aurelius acquired the reputation of a philosopher king within his lifetime, and the title would remain his after death; both Dio and the biographer call him "the philosopher". Christians—Justin Martyr, Athenagoras, Melito—gave him the title too. The last named went so far as to call Marcus "more philanthropic and philosophic" than Antoninus Pius and Hadrian, and set him against the persecuting emperors Domitian and Nero to make the contrast bolder. "Alone of the emperors," wrote the historian Herodian, "he gave proof of his learning not by mere words or knowledge of philosophical doctrines but by his blameless character and temperate way of life."
The 1964 movie The Fall of the Roman Empire and the 2000 movie Gladiator featured characters based on him. Both plots posited that Marcus Aurelius was assassinated because he intended to pass down power to Aurelius's adopted son, a Roman general, instead of his biological son Commodus.
Read more about this topic: Marcus Aurelius
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