The year was 121 AD and the Roman Empire was at one of its largest extents. A boy
named Marcus was born his family was from South Hispania and of patrician
stock. He was raised in a villa on one of the many hills in Rome and at a young
age he was introduced to philosophy and rhetoric by his Greek and Latin tutors.
Marcus was deeply fascinated by the philosophy of stoicism which he embraced
fervently. Stoicism is a school of thought founded by Zeno of Citium in the
Hellenistic period and it is based on serf control and virtue. The principles
of stoic life deeply affected Marcus he would later become one of the leading
stoic philosophers. In the following years he was adopted by the Emperor
Antoninus Pius as his son and heir alongside with Lucius Verus. In the era
of the five good emperors the line of succession was through adoption.
Marcus married Faustina the Emperor's daughter and served unofficially as
co-emperor for 20 years until Antoninus Pius died. When the Senate sought to make
him Emperor he demanded that his adopted brother would be pronounced Emperor as
well and so Marcus and Lucius began their reign. The first years went well for
the two new emperors as well as the Empire they took a number of measures
which improved the army helped the poor boosted the economy and promoted art and
education. However this would soon change in 161 AD
the Parthians invaded Armenia which was a client state of Rome at the time. The
Romans sent an army but were defeated and then the Parthians pushed forward
into the empire. There was an urgent need of an emperors presence and it was
decided that Lucius would lead the campaign against the Parthians while
Marcus stayed in Rome to rule. After five years of war Rome was emerged
victorious mainly because of Lucius generals. The Roman army returned home
with extensive treasures from the parthian cities having captured a small part
of the Parthians land. The Roman soldiers however were carriers
of a new disease, it would later be known as the Antonine plague and it's effects
were devastating. The epidemic lasted for at least 15 years and up to ten percent
of the empire's population was killed. At the time of the plague's outbreak in Rome
a coalition of Germanic tribes and Sarmatians attacked the Roman region of
Pannonia. The Germanic tribes were mainly consisted of the Marcomanni and the
Quadi while the Sarmatian tribes were the Iazyges. Marcus and Lucius led the
campaign to prevent further attacks on the north and the so called first Marco
mannic war had begun. A few months later Lucius verus died probably from the
plague that was sweeping through the Empire, thus Marcus became the sole
Emperor. The Empire's Treasury was empty and Marcus started selling the most
valuable items in his palace to cover the costs of war. The Iazyges used the
opportunity and swept through Dacia seizing its gold mines and crossing through to
Moesia. The Marcomanni and the Quadi crossed the Danube and pillaged their way
through the Balkans. When they returned with valuable plunder they headed west
attacking the Roman cities, reaching as far as a city of Aquelia. Centuries had
passed since an enemy came that close to the Roman region of Italia.
Marcus planned a counter-attack and drove the tribes out of the Empire's borders. The
Romans then started advancing beyond the Danube and into the tribes land to
punish them. The Marcomanni and the Quadi made a peace treaty while the
Iazyges were left alone to fight the Roman legions. The Romans drove them even
further away but the Quadi suddenly broke the peace and attacked the Romans.
The battles that followed were hard for both sides but the Romans prevailed and
repelled the tribes once again. It was at that time that Marcus started to write
his thoughts down on how to make decisions based on logic and virtue
constantly discipling himself to follow the stoic way of life. These writings
would later compile a book which would be called Meditations, the book itself is
widely revered today. Back in our timeline after long and stressful
battles the Quadi made a peace pact with the Romans while the Iazyges kept
fighting. Just as Marcus was going to deliver the final blow to the Iazyges
a general named Avidius Cassius who had fought in the Parthian Wars and was
granted the Roman region of Syria inspired from a rumor that Marcus is
fatally ill, proclaimed himself Emperor with most neighbouring provinces
supporting his claim. Marcus had to pause the punitive
expeditions to deal with the general, he agreed to a peace pact with the Iazyges and
started his journey to the southeast of the Empire. While on his journey he
learned that Avidius was killed by his own men
but Marcus kept on to ease the tensions in the region.
His wife Faustina died probably from an illness during the stay in Cappadocia.
Marcus traveled all the way to Alexandria and then returned to Rome
where a big event was held to celebrate his victories against the invading
tribes. A huge column was raised in his name to demonstrate the details of the
battles that the Romans had fought. His son Commodus who accompanied him in
the war was 16 years old and Marcus decided to promote him as his heir. He
was named Augustus and was unofficially made co Emperor. Marcus did not enjoy
a long rest in Rome because the Quadi invaded the empire again. He hoped he
would not have to go this time and that the matter would end soon but after the
Romans were unable to fend the Quadi off he realized that his presence was
required in the battlefield. With the Iazyges now allies of Rome the Romans had
to fight with the Quadi and the Marco manni. The Emperor aspired to carve out two
new provinces for the Empire Marcomannia and Sarmatia. The Antonine
plague had claimed the life of hundreds of thousands of Roman citizens and the
Empire was in dire need of new ones who would serve with the Roman army and pay
taxes. To the dismay of the Romans the Quadi seized the fighting and started to
move north. Keeping up to their pace the Romans surrounded them and a huge battle
of numerous Germanic tribe against the Romans followed. The Romans were
victorious but while the dream of a Marcomannia
province became almost real the plague claimed the life of Marcus Aurelius. His
son Commodus became the Emperor and the slow decline of the Roman Empire had
begun
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