title: Early life of Marcus Aurelius

abstract: The early life of Marcus Aurelius spans the time from his birth on 26 April 121 until his accession as Roman emperor on 8 March 161. Following the death of his father, Marcus Annius Verus (III), Marcus Aurelius was raised by his grandfather, Marcus Annius Verus (II). Educated at home, Marcus became an adherent of Stoicism at a young age. In 138 he was adopted by Titus Aurelius Antoninus, himself the adopted heir of Emperor Hadrian. Hadrian died later that year, and his adoptive son succeeded him under the name Antoninus Pius. Among Marcus' tutors were the orators Marcus Cornelius Fronto and Herodes Atticus. Marcus held the consulship jointly with Antoninus Pius in 140 and in 145. In between his first and second consulships, Marcus served as a quaestor. In 145 he married his first cousin, Pius' daughter Faustina. They had a number of children, including the future empress Lucilla and the future emperor Commodus. Marcus took on more responsibilities of state as Pius aged; at the time of Pius' death in 161, he was consul with his adoptive brother Lucius. Upon their adoptive father's death, Marcus and Lucius became co-emperors.

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# Early life of Marcus Aurelius

The **early life of Marcus Aurelius** (r. 161–180) spans the time from his birth on 26 April 121 until his accession as Roman emperor on 8 March 161.

Following the death of his father, Marcus Annius Verus (III), Marcus Aurelius was raised by his grandfather, Marcus Annius Verus (II). Educated at home, Marcus became an adherent of Stoicism at a young age. In 138 he was adopted by Titus Aurelius Antoninus, himself the adopted heir of Emperor Hadrian. Hadrian died later that year, and his adoptive son succeeded him under the name Antoninus Pius.

Among Marcus' tutors were the orators Marcus Cornelius Fronto and Herodes Atticus. Marcus held the consulship jointly with Antoninus Pius in 140 and in 145. In between his first and second consulships, Marcus served as a quaestor. In 145 he married his first cousin, Pius' daughter Faustina. They had a number of children, including the future empress Lucilla and the future emperor Commodus. Marcus took on more responsibilities of state as Pius aged; at the time of Pius' death in 161, he was consul with his adoptive brother Lucius. Upon their adoptive father's death, Marcus and Lucius became co-emperors.

## Sources

The major sources for the life and rule of Marcus Aurelius are patchy and frequently unreliable. This is particularly true of his youth. The biographies contained in the *Historia Augusta* claim to be written by a group of authors at the turn of the fourth century, but are in fact written by a single author (referred to here as "the biographer") from the later fourth century (c. 395). The later biographies and the biographies of subordinate emperors and usurpers are a tissue of lies and fiction, but the earlier biographies, derived primarily from now-lost earlier sources (Marius Maximus or Ignotus), are much better. For Marcus' life and rule, the biographies of Hadrian, Pius, Marcus himself and Lucius Verus are largely reliable, but those of Aelius Verus and Avidius Cassius are full of fiction.

A body of correspondence between Marcus' tutor Fronto and various Antonine officials (with a focus on Marcus himself) survives in a series of patchy manuscripts, covering the period from c. 138 to 166. Marcus' own *Meditations* offer a window on his inner life, but are largely undateable, and make few specific references to worldly affairs. The main narrative source for the period is Cassius Dio, a Greek senator from Bithynian Nicaea who wrote a history of Rome from its founding to 229 in eighty books. Dio is vital for the military history of the period, but his senatorial prejudices and strong opposition to imperial expansion obscure his perspective. Some other literary sources provide specific detail: the writings of the physician Galen on the habits of the Antonine elite, the orations of Aelius Aristides on the temper of the times, and the constitutions preserved in the *Digest* and *Codex Justinianus* on Marcus' legal work. Inscriptions and coin finds supplement the literary sources.

## Family and childhood

The *gens Annia*, to which Marcus belonged, had an undistinguished history. Their only famous member was Titus Annius Milo, a man known for hastening the end of the free republic through his use of political violence. Marcus' paternal family originated in Ucubi, a small town southeast of Córdoba in Iberian Baetica. The family rose to prominence in the late first century AD. Marcus' great-grandfather Marcus Annius Verus (I) was a senator and (according to the *Historia Augusta*) ex-praetor; in 73–74 his grandfather Marcus Annius Verus (II) was made a patrician. Cassius Dio asserts that the Annii were near-kin of Hadrian, and that it was to these familial ties that they owed their rise to power. The precise nature of these kinship ties is nowhere stated. One conjectural bond runs through Annius Verus (II). Verus' wife Rupilia Faustina was the daughter of the consular senator Libo Rupilius Frugi and a mother whose name is unknown. It has been hypothesized Rupilia Faustina's mother was Salonia Matidia, who was also the mother through another marriage of Vibia Sabina, Hadrian's wife, but the theory is not universally accepted. Anthony Birley argued that it is implausible based on Rupilia's age. Historians Strachan and Christian Settipani proposed instead Vitellia, the daughter of emperor Vitellius, as her mother. Verus' elder son—Marcus Aurelius' father—Marcus Annius Verus (III) married Domitia Lucilla Minor.

Lucilla was the daughter of the patrician P. Calvisius Tullus Ruso and Domitia Lucilla Major. Lucilla Major had inherited a great fortune (described at length in one of Pliny's letters) from her maternal grandfather and her paternal grandfather by adoption. The younger Lucilla would acquire much of her mother's wealth, including a large brickworks on the outskirts of Rome—a profitable enterprise in an era when the city was experiencing a construction boom.

Lucilla and Verus (III) had two children: a son, Marcus, born on 26 April 121, and Annia Cornificia Faustina, probably born in 122 or 123. Verus (III) probably died in 124, during his praetorship, when Marcus was only three years old. Though he can hardly have known him, Marcus wrote in his *Meditations* that he had learned "modesty and manliness" from his memories of his father and from the man's posthumous reputation. Lucilla did not remarry.

Lucilla, following prevailing aristocratic customs, probably did not spend much time with her son. Marcus was in the care of "nurses". He credits his mother with teaching him "religious piety, simplicity in diet" and how to avoid "the ways of the rich". In his letters, Marcus makes frequent and affectionate reference to her; he was grateful that, "although she was fated to die young, yet she spent her last years with me".

After his father's death, Marcus was adopted by his paternal grandfather, Marcus Annius Verus (II). Another man, Lucius Catilius Severus, also participated in his upbringing. Severus is described as his "maternal great-grandfather"; he is probably the stepfather of the elder Lucilla. Marcus was raised in the home of his mother (the *Horti Domitiae Lucillae*) on the Caelian Hill, a district he would affectionately refer to as "my Caelian". It was an upscale region, with few public buildings but many aristocratic villas. The most famous of these villas was the Lateran Palace, seized under Nero (*r*. 54–68) and thenceforth imperial property. Marcus' grandfather owned his own palace beside the Lateran, where Marcus would spend much of his childhood.

Marcus thanks his grandfather for teaching him "good character and avoidance of bad temper". He was less fond of the mistress his grandfather took and lived with after the death Rupilia Faustina, his wife and Marcus' grandmother. Anthony Birley, Marcus' modern biographer, detects a hint of sexual tension in Marcus' writings on the mistress. Marcus was grateful that he did not have to live with her longer than he did. Marcus thanks the gods that he did not lose his virginity before its due time, and even held out a bit longer. He is proud that he did not indulge himself with Benedicta or Theodotus (household slaves, presumably).

## Early education, 128–136

Marcus probably began his education at the age of seven. He was taught at home, in line with contemporary aristocratic trends; Marcus thanks his great-grandfather Catilius Severus for encouraging him to avoid public schools. Three of his childhood tutors are known: Euphoric, Geminus, and an *educator* whose name is unknown. These three are otherwise unattested in the ancient sources, and would probably have been household slaves or freedmen. Since Euphoric had a Greek name, he probably taught Marcus the basics of that language. (He is said to have taught Marcus literature.) Geminus is described as an actor, and he may have taught Marcus Latin pronunciation and general elocution. The *educator* would have been Marcus' overall supervisor, charged with his moral welfare and general development. Marcus speaks of him with admiration in his *Meditations*: he taught him to "bear pain and be content with little; to work with my own hands, to mind my own business, to be slow to listen to slander". At the age of twelve, Marcus would have been ready for secondary education, under the *grammatici*. Two of his teachers at this age are known: Andro, a "geometrician and musician"; and Diognetus, a painting-master. Marcus thought of Diognetus as more than a mere painter, however. He seems to have introduced Marcus to the philosophic way of life. Marcus writes that Diognetus taught him "to avoid passing enthusiasms; to distrust the stories of miracle-workers and impostors about incantations and exorcism of spirits and such things; not to go cock-fighting or to get excited about such sports; to put up with outspokenness; and to become familiar with philosophy" and "to write philosophical dialogues in my boyhood". In April 132, at the behest of Diognetus, Marcus took up the dress and habits of the philosopher: he studied while wearing a rough Greek cloak, and would sleep on the ground until his mother convinced him to sleep on a bed.

A new set of tutors—Alexander of Cotiaeum, Trosius Aper, and Tuticius Proculus—took over Marcus' education in about 132 or 133. Little is known of the latter two (both teachers of Latin), but Alexander was a major littérateur, the leading Homeric scholar of his day. Marcus thanks Alexander for his training in literary styling. Alexander's influence—an emphasis on matter over style, on careful wording, with the occasional Homeric quotation—has been detected in Marcus' *Meditations''* '.

## Civic duties and family connections, 127–136

In 127, at the age of six, Marcus was enrolled in the equestrian order on the recommendation of Emperor Hadrian. Though this was not completely unprecedented, and other children are known to have joined the order, Marcus was still unusually young. In 128, he was enrolled in the priestly college of the Salii. Since the standard qualifications for the college were not met—Marcus did not have two living parents—they must have been waived by Hadrian, Marcus' nominator, as a special favor to the child. Hadrian had a strong affection for Marcus, and nicknamed him Verissimus, "most true".

The Salii, after their name (*salire*: to leap, to dance), were devoted to ritual dance. Twice a year, at the Quinquatria on 19 March and the Armilustrium on 19 October, they played important roles in public ceremonies marking the opening and closing of the campaigning season. On other days in March and October (and especially during the festival of Mars from 1 to 24 March), they would march through the streets of Rome, halting at intervals to perform their ritual dances, beat their shields with staffs, and sing the Carmen Saliare, a hymn in archaic Latin. The song would have been nearly unintelligible, but Marcus learned it by heart. He took his duties seriously. Marcus rose through the offices of the priesthood, becoming in turn the leader of the dance, the *vates* (prophet), and the master of the order. Once, when the Salii were throwing their crowns onto the banqueting couch of the gods, as was customary, Marcus' fell on the brow of Mars. In later years, this event would be read as an auspicious omen heralding Marcus' future rule.

Hadrian did not see much of Marcus in his childhood. He spent most of his time outside Rome, on the frontier, or dealing with administrative and local affairs in the provinces. By 135, however, he had returned to Italy for good. He had grown close to Lucius Ceionius Commodus, son-in-law of Gaius Avidius Nigrinus, a dear friend of Hadrian whom the emperor had killed early in his reign. In 136, shortly after, Marcus assumed the *toga virilis* symbolizing his passage into manhood, Hadrian arranged for his engagement to one of Commodus' daughters, Ceionia Fabia. Marcus was made prefect of the city during the *feriae Latinae* soon after (he was probably appointed by Commodus). Although the office held no real administrative significance—the full-time prefect remained in office during the festival—it remained a prestigious office for young aristocrats and members of the imperial family. Marcus conducted himself well at the job.

Through Commodus, Marcus met Apollonius of Chalcedon, a Stoic philosopher. Apollonius had taught Commodus and would be an enormous impact on Marcus, who would later study with him regularly. He is one of only three people Marcus thanks the gods for having met. At about this time, Marcus' sister, Annia Cornificia, married their first cousin Ummidius Quadratus. Marcus' mother asked her son to give part of his father's inheritance to Cornificia. He agreed to give her all of it, content as he was with his grandfather's estate.

## Succession to Hadrian, 136–138

In late 136, Hadrian almost died from a haemorrhage. Convalescent in his villa at Tivoli, he selected Lucius Ceionius Commodus as his successor, and adopted him as his son. The selection was done *invitis omnibus*, "against the wishes of everyone"; its rationale is still unclear. As part of his adoption, Commodus took the name Lucius Aelius Caesar. After a brief stationing on the Danube frontier, Aelius returned to Rome to make an address to the Senate on the first day of 138. The night before the speech, however, he grew ill, and died of a haemorrhage later in the day. On 24 January 138, Hadrian selected a new successor: Aurelius Antoninus, the husband of Marcus' aunt Faustina. After a few days' consideration, Antoninus accepted. He was adopted on 25 February. As part of Hadrian's terms, Antoninus adopted Marcus and Lucius Commodus, the son of Aelius. Marcus became Marcus Aelius Aurelius Verus; Lucius became Lucius Aelius Aurelius Commodus. At Hadrian's request, Antoninus' daughter, also named Faustina, was betrothed to Lucius.

The night of his adoption, Marcus had a dream. He dreamed that he had shoulders of ivory, and when asked if they could bear a burden, he found them much stronger than before. He was appalled to learn that Hadrian had adopted him. Only with reluctance did he move from his mother's house on the Caelian to Hadrian's private home.

At some time in 138, Hadrian requested in the senate that Marcus be exempt from the law barring him from becoming *quaestor* before his twenty-fourth birthday. The senate complied, and Marcus served under Antoninus, consul for 139. Marcus' adoption diverted him from the typical career path of his class. But for his adoption, he probably would have become *triumvir monetalis*, a highly regarded post involving token administration of the state mint; after that, he could have served as tribune with a legion, becoming the legion's nominal second-in-command. Marcus probably would have opted for travel and further education instead. As it was, he was set apart from his fellow citizens. Nonetheless, his biographer attests that his character remained unaffected: "He still showed the same respect to his relations as he had when he was an ordinary citizen, and he was as thrifty and careful of his possessions as he had been when he lived in a private household."

His attempts at suicide thwarted by Antoninus, Hadrian left for Baiae, a seaside resort on the Campanian coast. His condition did not improve, and he abandoned the diet prescribed by his doctors, indulging himself in food and drink. He sent for Antoninus, who was at his side when he died on 10 July 138. His remains were buried quietly at Puteoli. Marcus held gladiatorial games at Rome while Pius finalized Hadrian's burial arrangements. The succession to Antoninus was peaceful and stable: Antoninus kept Hadrian's nominees in office and appeased the senate, respecting its privileges and commuting the death sentences of men charged in Hadrian's last days. For his dutiful behavior, Antoninus was asked to accept the name "Pius".

## Heir to Antoninus Pius, 138–145

Immediately after Hadrian's death, Pius approached Marcus and requested that his marriage arrangements be amended: Marcus' betrothal to Ceionia Fabia would be annulled, and he would be betrothed to Faustina, Pius' daughter, instead. Faustina's betrothal to Ceionia's brother Lucius Commodus would also have to be annulled. Marcus consented to Pius' proposal.

Pius bolstered Marcus' dignity: Marcus was made consul for 140, with Pius as his colleague, and was appointed as a *seviri*, one of the knights' six commanders, at the order's annual parade on 15 July 139. As the heir apparent, Marcus became *princeps iuventutis*, head of the equestrian order. He now took the name Caesar: Marcus Aelius Aurelius Verus Caesar. Marcus would later caution himself against taking the name too seriously: "See that you do not turn into a Caesar; do not be dipped into the purple dye—for that can happen". At the senate's request, Marcus joined all the priestly colleges (*pontifices*, *augures*, *quindecimviri sacris faciundis*, *septemviri epulonum*, etc.); direct evidence for membership, however, is available only for the Arval Brethren.

Pius demanded that Marcus take up residence in the House of Tiberius, the imperial palace on the Palatine. Pius also made him take up the habits of his new station, the *aulicum fastigium* or "pomp of the court", against Marcus' objections. Marcus would struggle to reconcile the life of the court with his philosophic yearnings. He told himself it was an attainable goal—"where life is possible, then it is possible to live the right life; life is possible in a palace, so it is possible to live the right life in a palace"—but he found it difficult nonetheless. He would criticize himself in the *Meditations* for "abusing court life" in front of company.

Marcus had much love and respect for his adoptive father. The tribute he gives Pius in the first book of the *Meditations* is the longest of any. He would have more influence on the young Marcus than any other person.

> From my father: gentleness and unshaken resolution in judgments taken after full examination; no vainglory about external honours; love of work and perseverance; readiness to hear those who had anything to contribute to the public advantage; the desire to reward every man according to his desert without partiality; the experience that knew where to tighten the reign, where to relax. Prohibition of unnatural practices, social tact and permission to his suite not invariably to be present at his banquets nor to attend his progress from Rome, as a matter of obligation, and always to be found the same by those who had failed to attend him through engagements. Exact scrutiny in council and patience; not that he was avoiding investigation, satisfied with first impressions. An inclination to keep his friends, and nowhere fastidious or the victim of manias but his own master in everything, and his outward mien cheerful. His long foresight and ordering of the merest trifle without making scenes. The check-in his reign put upon organized applause and every form of lip-service; his unceasing watch over the needs of the empire and his stewardship of its resources; his patience under criticism by individuals of such conduct. No superstitious fear of divine powers nor with a man any courting of the public or obsequiousness or cultivation of popular favour, but temperance in all things and firmness; nowhere want of taste or search for novelty.

As quaestor, Marcus would have had little real administrative work to do. He would read imperial letters to the senate when Pius was absent and would do secretarial work for the senators. His duties as consul were more significant: one of two senior representatives of the senate, he would preside over meetings and take a major role in the body's administrative functions. He felt drowned in paperwork, and complained to his tutor, Fronto: "I am so out of breath from dictating nearly thirty letters". He was being "fitted for ruling the state", in the words of his biographer. He was required to make a speech to the assembled senators as well, making oratorical training essential for the job.

On 1 January 145, Marcus was made consul a second time. He might have been unwell at this time: a letter from Fronto that might have been sent at this time urges Marcus to have plenty of sleep "so that you may come into the Senate with good colour and read your speech with a strong voice". Marcus had complained of an illness in an earlier letter: "As far as my strength is concerned, I am beginning to get it back; and there is no trace of the pain in my chest. But that ulcer \[...\] I am having treatment and taking care not to do anything that interferes with it." Marcus was never particularly healthy or strong. The Roman historian Cassius Dio, writing of his later years, praised him for behaving dutifully in spite of his various illnesses.

Busts of Faustina the Younger, Louvre, Paris

In April 145, Marcus married Faustina, as had been planned since 138. Since Marcus was, by adoption, Pius' son, under Roman law he was marrying his sister; Pius would have had to formally release one or the other from his paternal authority (his *patria potestas*) for the ceremony to take place. Little is specifically known of the ceremony, but it is said to have been "noteworthy". Coins were issued with the heads of the couple, and Pius, as *Pontifex Maximus*, would have officiated. Marcus makes no apparent reference to the marriage in his surviving letters, and only sparing references to Faustina.

## Fronto and further education, 136–146

After taking the *toga virilis* in 136, Marcus probably began his training in oratory. He had three tutors in Greek, Aninus Macer, Caninius Celer, and Herodes Atticus, and one in Latin, Fronto. (Fronto and Atticus, however, probably did not become his tutors until his adoption by Antoninus in 138.) The preponderance of Greek tutors indicates the importance of the language to the aristocracy of Rome. This was the age of the Second Sophistic, a renaissance in Greek letters. Although educated in Rome, in his *Meditations*, Marcus would write his inmost thoughts in Greek. The latter two were the most esteemed orators of the day. Marcus' tutor in law was Lucius Volusius Maecianus, a knight Antoninus had taken on staff at his adoption by Hadrian, and the director of the public post (*praefectus vehiculorum*). Apollonius was compelled to return from Chalcedon to Rome at the request of Pius, and would continue teaching Marcus.

Herodes was controversial: an enormously rich Athenian (probably the richest man in the eastern half of the empire), he was quick to anger, and resented by his fellow-Athenians for his patronizing manner. He found oratory easy, and preferred subtle, metaphorical oratory to vigorous attack; "graceful" speech, to use the description of Philostratus, author of *Lives of the Sophists*. Atticus was an inveterate opponent of Stoicism and philosophic pretensions. He had once given a tramp calling himself a philosopher money to buy bread for a month, publicly declaiming men posing as philosophers all the while. He thought the Stoics' desire for apatheia foolish: they would live a "sluggish, enervated life", he said. Marcus would become a Stoic. He would not mention Herodes at all in his *Meditations*, in spite of the fact that they would come into contact many times over the following decades.

Fronto was highly esteemed: he was thought of as second only to Cicero, perhaps even an alternative to him. He did not care much for Herodes, though Marcus was eventually to put the pair on speaking terms. Fronto exercised a complete mastery of Latin, capable of tracing expressions through the literature, producing obscure synonyms, and challenging minor improprieties in word choice. The Latin literary world of the day was self-consciously antiquarian: authors of the Silver AgeSeneca, Lucan, Martial, Juvenal, Pliny, Suetonius, and Tacitus—were ignored; only the greatest of the Golden Age, Virgil and Cicero, were widely read; only that pair and earlier writers, like Cato, Plautus, Terence, Gaius Gracchus, and (somewhat anachronistically) Sallust, were cited.

A significant amount of the correspondence between Fronto and Marcus has survived. The pair were very close, with some historians suggesting passionate feelings on Marcus's part. "Farewell my Fronto, wherever you are, my most sweet love and delight. How is it between you and me? I love you and you are not here." Marcus spent time with Fronto's wife and daughter, both named Cratia, and they enjoyed light conversation. He wrote Fronto a letter on his birthday, claiming to love him as he loved himself, and calling on the gods to ensure that every word he learned of literature, he would learn "from the lips of Fronto". His prayers for Fronto's health were more than conventional because Fronto was frequently ill; at times, he seems to be an almost constant invalid, always suffering—about one-quarter of the surviving letters deal with Fronto's sicknesses. Marcus asks that Fronto's pain be inflicted on himself, "of my own accord with every kind of discomfort".

Fronto never became Marcus' full-time teacher and continued his career as an advocate. One notorious case brought him into conflict with Herodes. Fronto had been retained as defense counsel by Tiberius Claudius Demostratus, a prominent Athenian. Herodes Atticus was chief prosecutor. Because of Herodes' fraught relationship with the city of Athens, the defense's strategy would probably include attacks on his character. Marcus pleaded with Fronto, first with "advice", then as a "favor", not to attack Herodes; he had already asked Herodes to refrain from making the first blows. Fronto replied that he was surprised to discover Marcus counted Herodes as a friend (perhaps Herodes was not yet Marcus' tutor), but allowed that Marcus might be correct, and agreed that the case should not be made into a spectacle. He nonetheless affirmed his intent to make use of the material available: "I warn you that I won't even use in a disproportionate way the opportunity that I have in my case, for the charges are frightful and must be spoken of as frightful. Those in particular which refer to the beating and robbing I will describe in such a way that they savour of gall and bile. If I happen to call him an uneducated little Greek it will not mean war to the death." Marcus was satisfied with Fronto's response.

The outcome of the trial is unknown, but Marcus succeeded in reconciling the two men. Soon after Fronto's tenure as *consul suffectus* in July and August 143, Marcus wrote a letter to him mentioning that Herodes' new-born son had recently died. Marcus asked Fronto to write Herodes a note of condolence. Fronto did, and part of the letter, written in Greek, survives. Fronto himself commended Marcus for his talents as a reconciler: "If anyone ever had power by his character to unite all his friends in mutual love for one another, you will surely accomplish this much more easily".

By the age of twenty-five (between April 146 and April 147), Marcus had grown disaffected with his studies in jurisprudence and showed some signs of general malaise. His master, he writes to Fronto, was an unpleasant blowhard, and had made "a hit at" him: "It is easy to sit yawning next to a judge, he says, but to *be* a judge is noble work." Marcus had grown tired of his exercises, of taking positions in imaginary debates. When he criticized the insincerity of conventional language, Fronto took to defend it. In any case, Marcus' formal education was now over. He had kept his teachers on good terms, following them devotedly. His biographer records that he "kept gold statues of them in his private chapel, and always honoured their tombs by personal visits". It "affected his health adversely", his biographer adds, to have devoted so much effort to his studies. It was the only thing the biographer could find fault in Marcus' entire boyhood.

## The Stoic prince, 146–161

Fronto had warned Marcus against the study of philosophy early on: "it is better never to have touched the teaching of philosophy...than to have tasted it superficially, with the edge of the lips, as the saying is". He disdained philosophy and philosophers, and looked down on Marcus' sessions with Apollonius of Chalcedon and others in this circle. Fronto put an uncharitable interpretation of Marcus' "conversion to philosophy": "in the fashion of the young, tired of boring work", Marcus had turned to philosophy to escape the constant exercises of oratorical training. Marcus kept in close touch with Fronto, but he would ignore his scruples.

Apollonius may have introduced Marcus to Stoic philosophy, but Quintus Junius Rusticus would have the strongest influence on Marcus. He was the man Fronto recognized as having "wooed Marcus away" from oratory. He was twenty years older than Marcus, older than Fronto. As the grandson of Arulenus Rusticus, one of the martyrs to the tyranny of Domitian (*r*. 81–96), he was heir to the tradition of "Stoic opposition" to the "bad emperors" of the first century; the true successor of Seneca (as opposed to Fronto, the false one). Marcus' tribute to him in the *Meditations* points to a move away from the oratorical training of Fronto. He thanks Rusticus for teaching him "not to be led astray into enthusiasm for rhetoric, for writing on speculative themes, for discoursing on moralizing texts...To avoid oratory, poetry, and 'fine writing'".

Claudius Severus, another friend, from a Greek family of Paphlagonia, gave Marcus an understanding of what these philosophers stood for. Severus was not a Stoic, but a Peripatetic (an Aristotlean); the strength of his influence illustrates the breadth of Marcus' philosophical horizons. Marcus thanks three other friends for their influence: Claudius Maximus, Sextus of Chaeronea, and Cinna Catulus. Maximus is one of Marcus' three most significant friends, alongside Apollonius and Rusticus. He taught Marcus "mastery of self" and "to be cheerful in all circumstances". Unlike Marcus' other friends, Sextus was a professional philosopher, devoted to teaching philosophy. Marcus continued to attend his lectures even after becoming emperor, scandalizing the polite classes of Rome. Catulus is totally unknown outside Marcus' brief words of praise in the *Meditations* and the notice in the *Historia Augusta*; Edward Champlin reckons him a senator.

## Births and deaths, 147–152

On 30 November 147, Faustina gave birth to a girl, named Domitia Faustina. It was the first of at least fourteen children (including two sets of twins) she would bear over the next twenty-three years. The next day, 1 December, Pius gave Marcus the tribunician power and the *imperium*—authority over the armies and provinces of the emperor. As tribune, Marcus had the right to bring one measure before the senate after the four Pius could introduce. His tribunican powers would be renewed, with Pius', on 10 December 147.

The first mention of Domitia in Marcus' letters reveals her as a sickly infant. "Caesar to Fronto. If the gods are willing we seem to have a hope of recovery. The diarrhoea has stopped, the little attacks of fever have been driven away. But the emaciation is still extreme and there is still quite a bit of coughing." Marcus wrote that he and Faustina had been "pretty occupied" with the girl's care. Domitia would die in 151.

In 149, Faustina gave birth again, to twin sons. Contemporary coinage commemorates the event, with crossed cornucopiae beneath portrait busts of the two small boys, and the legend *temporum felicitas*, "the happiness of the times". They did not survive long. Before the end of the year, another family coin was issued: it shows only a tiny girl, Domitia Faustina, and one baby boy. Then another: the girl alone. The infants were buried in the Mausoleum of Hadrian, where their epitaphs survive. They were called Titus Aurelius Antoninus and Tiberius Aelius Aurelius.

Marcus steadied himself: "One man prays: 'How I may not lose my little child', but you must pray: 'How I may not be afraid to lose him'." He quoted from the *Iliad* what he called the "briefest and most familiar saying...enough to dispel sorrow and fear":

> leaves,
> the wind scatters some on the face of the ground;
> like unto them are the children of men.
>
> *Iliad* 6.146

Another daughter was born on 7 March 150, Annia Aurelia Galeria Lucilla. At some time between 155 and 161, probably soon after 155, Marcus' mother died. Faustina probably had another daughter in 151, but the child, Annia Galeria Aurelia Faustina, might not have been born until 153. Another son, Tiberius Aelius Antoninus, was born in 152. A coin issue celebrates *fecunditati Augustae*, "the Augusta's fertility", depicting two girls and an infant. The boy did not survive long; on coins from 156, only the two girls were depicted. He might have died in 152, the same year as Marcus' sister Cornificia.

A son was born in the late 150s. The synod of the temple of Dionysius at Smyrna sent Marcus a letter of congratulations. By 28 March 158, however, when Marcus replied, the child was dead. Marcus thanked the synod, "even though this turned out otherwise". The child's name is unknown. In 159 and 160, Faustina gave birth to daughters: Fadilla, after one of Faustina's dead sisters, and Cornificia, after Marcus' sister.

## Pius' last years, 152–161

In 152, Lucius was named quaestor for 153, two years before the legal age of twenty-five (Marcus held the office at seventeen). In 154, he was consul, nine years before the legal age of thirty-two (Marcus held the office at eighteen and twenty-three). Lucius had no other titles, except that of "son of Augustus". Lucius had a markedly different personality than his brother: he enjoyed sports of all kinds, but especially hunting and wrestling; he took obvious pleasure in the circus-games and gladiatorial fights. He did not marry until 164. Pius was not fond of Lucius' interests. He would keep Lucius in the family, but he was sure never to give the boy either power or glory. To take a typical example, Lucius would not appear on Alexandrian coinage until 160/1.

In 156, Pius turned seventy. He found difficult to keep himself upright without stays. He started nibbling on dry bread to give him the strength to stay awake through his morning receptions. As Pius aged, Marcus would have taken on more administrative duties, more still when the praetorian prefect (an office that was as much secretarial as military) Gavius Maximus died in 156 or 157. In 160, Marcus and Lucius were designated joint consuls for the following year. Perhaps Pius was already ill; in any case, he died before the year was out. Two days before his death, the biographer records, Pius was at his ancestral estate in Lorium. He ate Alpine cheese at dinner quite greedily. In the night he vomited; he had a fever the next day. The day after that, he summoned the imperial council, and passed the state and his daughter to Marcus. He ordered that the golden statue of Fortune, which had been in the bedroom of the emperors, should go to Marcus' bedroom. Pius turned over, as if going to sleep, and died. It was 7 March 161. Marcus was now emperor.

## Chronology

This table largely follows the chronology of Birley's *Marcus Aurelius*. The chronology of Fronto's letters and miscellaneous works largely follows Champlin's "The Chronology of Fronto" and his *Fronto and Antonine Rome*. A † indicates that a date is uncertain.

| Date | Event | Source |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 121 | Verus (II) consul for the second time, prefect of Rome |  |
| 26 April 121 | Marcus born in Rome | *HA Marcus* 1.5 |
| *ca*. 122 | Marcus' sister Cornificia born |  |
| *ca*. 124 | Marcus' father Verus (III) dies during his praetorship |  |
| 126 | Verus (II) consul for the third time |  |
| 127 | Marcus enrolled in the *equites* | *HA Marcus* 4.1 |
| 128 | Marcus made *salius Palatinus* | *HA Marcus* 4.2 |
| | Marcus begins his elementary education | e.g. Quintilian, *Institutio Oratoria* 1.1.15–16 |
| 132, after 26 April | Marcus introduced to "philosophy" by his painting-master Diognetus | *HA Marcus* 2.6, cf. *Meditations* 1.6 |
| 133 | Marcus begins his secondary education |  |
| 136, *ca*. 17 March | Marcus takes the *toga virilis* | *HA Marcus* 4.5 |
| 136, after 26 April | Marcus betrothed to Ceionia Favia, daughter of L. Commodus | *HA Marcus* 4.5 |
| | Marcus is made prefect of the city during the *feriae Latinae* | *HA Marcus* 4.6 |
| 136 | Marcus meets Apollonius the Stoic | *HA Marcus* 2.7 |
| | L. Commodus is adopted by Hadrian, becoming L. Aelius Caesar | *HA Hadrian* 23.11 |
| | Cornificia marries Ummidius Quadratus† | *HA Marcus* 4.7, 7.4 |
| | Hadrian compels his brother-in-law Servianus and Servianus' grandson Fuscus Salinator to commit suicide | *HA Hadrian* 15.8, 23.2–3, 23.8, 25.8; Dio 69.17.1–3 |
| 137 | L. Aelius Caesar stationed in Pannonia | *HA Hadrian* 23.13 |
| 1 January 138 | L. Aelius Caesar dies | *HA Hadrian* 23.16; *HA Aelius* 4.7 |
| 24 January 138 | Hadrian chooses Marcus' uncle T. Aurelius Antoninus as his successor | *HA Hadrian* 24.1, 26.6–10 |
| 25 February 138 | Antoninus accepts Hadrian's choice, and is adopted | *HA Pius* 4.6 |
| 25 February/26 April 138 | Antoninus adopts Marcus Aurelius and L. Commodus junior | Dio 69.21.1–2; *HA Aelius* 5.12, 6.9; *HA Hadrian* 24.1, 26.6–10; *HA Marcus* 5.1, 5.5–6 |
| | Faustina betrothed to L. Commodus junior | *HA Aelius* 6.9 |
| | Marcus moves to Hadrian's residence in Rome | *HA Marcus* 5.3 |
| | Marcus named quaestor for 139 | *HA Marcus* 5.6 |
| | Antoninus named consul for 139 | *HA Marcus* 5.6 |
| 10 July 138 | Hadrian dies at Baiae and Antoninus accedes to the emperorship | *HA Hadrian* 26.6; *HA Pius* 5.1 |
| | Marcus' betrothal to Ceionia Fabia and Lucius' betrothal to Faustina made void |  |
| 138, after 10 July | Marcus betrothed to Faustina | *HA Marcus* 6.2; *HA Verus* 2.3 |
| | Hadrian deified | *HA Hadrian* 27.2; *HA Pius* 5.1 |
| | Antoninus named Pius | *HA Hadrian* 27.4, cf. *HA Pius* 2.2–7 |
| 139 | Pius consul |  |
| | Marcus quaestor | *HA Marcus* 5.6; *HA Pius* 6.9 |
| | Marcus designated consul for 140 | *HA Marcus* 6.3; *HA Pius* 6.9 |
| | Marcus acts as a *sevir turmarum equitum Romanorum* | *HA Marcus* 6.3 |
| | Marcus becomes *princeps iuventutis*, takes the name Caesar, and joins the major priestly colleges | *HA Marcus* 6.3 |
| | Marcus moves into Pius' palace | *HA Marcus* 6.3 |
| | Marcus begins his higher education |  |
| 140 | Marcus consul for the first time, with Pius | *HA Marcus* 6.4 |
| January 143 | Herodes Atticus, Marcus' tutor, consul |  |
| July–August 143 | Fronto, Marcus' tutor, consul | *Ad Marcum Caesarem*, 2.9–12 |
| January 145 | Marcus consul for the second time, with Pius |  |
| Late spring 145 | Marcus marries Faustina | *HA Marcus* 6.6; *HA Pius* 10.2 |
| 30 November 147 | Domitia Faustina is born to Faustina and Marcus | *Inscriptiones Italiae* 13.1.207; cf. *HA Marcus* 6.6, Herodian 1.8.3 |
| 1 December 147 | Marcus takes the *tribunicia potestas* | *HA Marcus* 6.6 |
| | Faustina named Augusta | *HA Marcus* 6.6 |
| 149 | Twin sons are born to Faustina and Marcus; both die within the year |  |
| 7 March 150 | Lucilla born to Faustina and Marcus |  |
| 152 | Cornificia dies | *Inscriptiones Italiae* 13.1.207 |
| | Lucius designated quaestor for 153 |  |
| | Tiberius Aelius Antoninus born† | *Inscriptiones Italiae* 13.1.207 |
| 153 | Lucius quaestor | *HA Pius* 6.10, 10.3; *HA Verus* 2.11, 3.1–3 |
| 154 | Lucius consul | *HA Pius* 10.3; *HA Verus* 3.3 |
| 155 | Victorinus, son-in-law of Fronto and friend of Marcus, consul |  |
| 155–161 | Domitia Lucilla Minor, Marcus' mother, dies |  |
| 161 | Marcus consul for the third time, with Lucius |  |
| 7 March 161 | Antoninus Pius dies | Dio 71.33.4–5; cf. *HA Marcus* 7.3; *HA Pius* 12.4–7 |
| 8 March 161 | Marcus and Lucius become emperors | *HA Marcus* 7.3, 7.5; *HA Verus* 3.8 |

## Citations

All citations to the *Historia Augusta* are to individual biographies, and are marked with a "*HA*". Citations to the works of Fronto are cross-referenced to C.R. Haines' Loeb edition.

1. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 229–230. The thesis of single authorship was first proposed in H. Dessau's "Über Zeit und Persönlichkeit der *Scriptoes Historiae Augustae*" (in German), *Hermes* 24 (1889), 337ff.
2. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 230. On the *HA Verus*, see Barnes, 65–74.
3. Mary Beard, "Was He Quite Ordinary?", *London Review of Books* 31:14 (23 July 2009), accessed 15 September 2009; Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 226.
4. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 227.
5. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 228–229, 253.
6. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 227–228.
7. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 228.
8. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 28.
9. *HA Marcus* 1.2, 1.4; Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 28; McLynn, 14.
10. Dio 69.21.2, 71.35.2–3; Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 31.
11. *Codex Inscriptionum Latinarum* 14.3579 Archived 2012-04-29 at the Wayback Machine; Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 29; McLynn, 14, 575 n. 53, citing Ronald Syme, *Roman Papers* 1.244.
12. Rupilius. Strachan stemma.
13. Settipani, Christian (2000). *Continuité gentilice et continuité familiale dans les familles sénatoriales romaines à l'époque impériale: mythe et réalité*. Prosopographica et genealogica (in Italian). Vol. 2 (illustrated ed.). Unit for Prosopographical Research, Linacre College, University of Oxford. p. 278. ISBN 978-1900934022.
14. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 29; McLynn, 14.
15. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 49.
16. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 29, citing Pliny, *Epistulae* 8.18.
17. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 30.
18. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 31, 44.
19. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 31.
20. Farquharson, 1.95–96.
21. *Meditations* 1.1, qtd. and tr. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 31.
22. *HA Marcus* 2.1 and *Meditations* 5.4, qtd. in Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 32.
23. *Meditations* 1.3, qtd. in Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 35.
24. *Meditations* 1.17.7, qtd. and tr. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 35.
25. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 33.
26. *Ad Marcum Caesarem* 2.8.2 (= Haines 1.142), qtd. and tr. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 31.
27. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 31–32.
28. *Meditations* 1.1, qtd. and tr. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 35.
29. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 35.
30. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 35, 53.
31. *Meditations* 1.17.2; Farquharson, 1.102; McLynn, 23.
32. *Meditations* 1.17.11; Farquharson, 1.103; McLynn, 23.
33. Farquharson, 1.103.
34. Cf. Quintilian, *Institutio Oratoria* 1.1.15–16; Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 35–36; McLynn, 19.
35. McLynn, 20–21.
36. *Meditations* 1.4; McLynn, 20.
37. *HA Marcus* 2.2; Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 36.
38. *HA Marcus* 2.2; McLynn, 21.
39. McLynn, 22, citing S.F. Bonner, *Education in Ancient Rome* (Berkeley, 1977), 213–215.
40. *Meditations* 1.2, qtd. in Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 36.
41. *HA Marcus* 2.2, 4.9; Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 37; McLynn, 21–22.
42. *Meditations* 1.6, qtd. in Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 37; cf. McLynn, 21–22.
43. *Meditations* 1.6, tr. Farquharson.
44. *HA Marcus* 2.6; cf. *Meditations* 1.6; Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 38; McLynn, 21.
45. Birley, *Later Caesars*, 109, 109 n.8; *Marcus Aurelius*, 40, 270 n.27, citing *Bonner Historia-Augusta Colloquia* 1966/7, 39ff.
46. *HA Marcus* 2.3; Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 40, 270 n.27.
47. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 40, citing Aelius Aristides, *Oratio* 32 K; McLynn, 21.
48. *Meditations* 1.10; Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 40; McLynn, 22.
49. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 40, 270 n.28, citing A.S.L. Farquharson, *The Meditations of Marcus Antoninus* (Oxford, 1944) 2.453.
50. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 42.
51. *HA Marcus* 4.1, 4.2; Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 36.
52. *HA Marcus* 1.10, 2.1; Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 38; "Hadrian to the Antonines", 147. The appellation also survives on inscriptions: Birley cites (at *Marcus Aurelius*, p. 270 n.24) *Prosopographia Imperii Romani<sup>2</sup>* A 697, and *L'Année épigraphique* 1940.62 Archived 2013-01-27 at the Wayback Machine.
53. McLynn, 18, citing Michael Grant, *The Antonines* (1994), 26 for the characterization of *verissimus* as an example of Hadrian's waspish wit.
54. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 36–37; McLynn, 18–19.
55. *HA Marcus* 4.4; Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 37; McLynn, 19.
56. *HA Marcus* 4.3; Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 37; McLynn, 19.
57. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 38, 270 n.24.
58. *HA Marcus* 4.5; Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 39–40; McLynn, 24–25; R. Syme, "The Ummidii", *Historia* 17:1 (1968): 93–94.
59. *HA Marcus* 4.6; Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 41.
60. *HA Marcus* 2.7; *Meditations* 1.17.5, cf. 1.8; Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 41.
61. *HA Marcus* 4.7; Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 41.
62. McLynn, 37.
63. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 41–42.
64. *HA Hadrian* 23.10, qtd. in Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 42.
65. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 42. On the succession to Hadrian, see also: T.D. Barnes, "Hadrian and Lucius Verus", *Journal of Roman Studies* 57:1–2 (1967): 65–79; J. VanderLeest, "Hadrian, Lucius Verus, and the Arco di Portogallo", *Phoenix* 49:4 (1995): 319–330.
66. *HA Hadrian* 23.15–16; Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 45; "Hadrian to the Antonines", 148.
67. Dio 69.17.1; *HA Aelius* 3.7, 4.6, 6.1–7; Birley, "Hadrian to the Antonines", 147.
68. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 46. Date: Birley, "Hadrian to the Antonines", 148.
69. Dio 69.21.1; *HA Hadrian* 24.1; *HA Aelius* 6.9; *HA Pius* 4.6–7; Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 48–49.
70. Dio 71.36.1; *HA Marcus* 5.2; Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 49.
71. *HA Marcus* 5.3; Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 49.
72. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 49–50.
73. *HA Marcus* 5.6–8, qtd. and tr. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 50.
74. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 80–81.
75. Dio 69.22.4; *HA Hadrian* 25.5–6; Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 50–51. Hadrian's suicide attempts: Dio 69.22.1–4; *HA Hadrian* 24.8–13.
76. *HA Hadrian* 25.7; Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 53.
77. *HA Marcus* 6.1; McLynn, 42.
78. *HA Pius* 5.3, 6.3; Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 55–56; "Hadrian to the Antonines", 151.
79. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 55; "Hadrian to the Antonines", 151.
80. *HA Marcus* 6.2; *Verus* 2.3–4; Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 53–54.
81. Dio 71.35.5; *HA Marcus* 6.3; Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 56.
82. *Meditations* 6.30, qtd. and tr. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 57; cf. *Marcus Aurelius*, 270 n.9, with notes on the translation.
83. *HA Marcus* 6.3; Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 57.
84. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 57, 272 n.10, citing *Codex Inscriptionum Latinarum* 6.32 Archived 2012-04-29 at the Wayback Machine, 6.379 Archived 2012-04-29 at the Wayback Machine, cf. *Inscriptiones Latinae Selectae* 360 Archived 2012-04-29 at the Wayback Machine.
85. *Meditations* 5.16, qtd. and tr. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 57.
86. *Meditations* 8.9, qtd. and tr. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 57.
87. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 58–59.
88. *Meditations* 1.16, tr. Farquharson.
89. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 57–58.
90. *Ad Marcum Caesarem* 4.7, qtd. and tr. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 90.
91. *HA Marcus* 6.5; Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 58.
92. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 89.
93. *Ad Marcum Caesarem* 5.1, qtd. and tr. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 89.
94. *Ad Marcum Caesarem* 4.8, qtd. and tr. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 89.
95. Dio 71.36.3; Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 89.
96. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 90–91.
97. *HA Pius* 10.2, qtd. and tr. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 91.
98. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 91.
99. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 61.
100. *HA Marcus* 2.4; Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 62.
101. Alan Cameron, review of Anthony Birley's *Marcus Aurelius*, *Classical Review* 17:3 (1967): 347.
102. *HA Marcus* 3.6; Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 62.
103. *HA Pius* 10.4; Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 62–63.
104. *Vita Sophistae* 2.1.14, qtd. and tr. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 63–64.
105. Aulus Gellius, *Noctes Atticae* 9.2.1–7; Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 64–65.
106. Aulus Gellius, *Noctes Atticae* 19.12, qtd. and tr. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 65.
107. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 65.
108. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 65–67.
109. Champlin, *Fronto*, 1–2.
110. Ronald Mellor, review of Edward Champlin's *Fronto and Antonine Rome*, *The American Journal of Philology* 103:4 (1982): 460.
111. Cf., e.g.: Ronald Mellor, review of Edward Champlin's *Fronto and Antonine Rome*, *The American Journal of Philology* 103:4 (1982): 461 and *passim*.
112. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 67–68, citing E. Champlin, *Fronto and Antonine Rome* (1980), esp. chs. 3 and 4.
113. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 69.
114. Aurelius, Marcus; Fronto, Marcus Cornelius. "Marcus Aurelius in Love". University of Chicago Press.
115. "Gay Love Letters through the Centuries: Marcus Aurelius". *rictornorton.co.uk*.
116. *Ad Marcum Caesarem* 4.6 (= Haines 1.80ff), qtd. and tr. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 76.
117. *Ad Marcum Caesarem* 4.6 (= Haines 1.80ff); Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 76–77.
118. *Ad Marcum Caesarem* 3.10–11 (= Haines 1.50ff), qtd. and tr. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 73.
119. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 73.
120. Champlin, "Chronology of Fronto", 138.
121. *Ad Marcum Caesarem* 5.74 ( =Haines 2.52ff), qtd. and tr. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 73.
122. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 77. On the date, see Champlin, "Chronology of Fronto", 142, who (with Bowersock, *Greek Sophists in the Roman Empire* (1964), 93ff) argues for a date in the 150s; Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 78–79, 273 n.17 (with Ameling, *Herodes Atticus* (1983), 1.61ff, 2.30ff) argues for 140.
123. *Ad Marcum Caesarem* 3.2 (= Haines 1.58ff), qtd. and tr. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 77–78.
124. *Ad Marcum Caesarem* 3.3 (= Haines 1.62ff); Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 78.
125. *Ad Marcum Caesarem* 3.3 (= Haines 1.62ff), qtd. and tr. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 79.
126. *Ad Marcum Caesarem* 3.5; Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 79–80.
127. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 80.
128. *Ad Marcum Caesarem* 1.6–8 (= Haines 1.154ff); Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 84–85.
129. *Ad Marcum Caesarem* 1.6–8 (= Haines 1.154ff), qtd. and tr. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 85.
130. *Ad Marcum Caesarem* 4.13 (= Haines 1.214ff), qtd. and tr. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 93.
131. *Ad Marcum Caesarem* 4.3.1 (= Haines 1.2ff); Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 94.
132. *HA Marcus* 3.5–8, qtd. and tr. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 94.
133. *Ad Marcum Caesarem* 4.3, qtd. and tr. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 69.
134. *De Eloquentia* 4.5 (= Haines 2.74), qtd. and tr. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 95. Alan Cameron, in his review of Birley's biography (*The Classical Review* 17:3 (1967): 347), suggests a reference to chapter 11 of Arthur Darby Nock's *Conversion* (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1933, rept. 1961): "Conversion to Philosophy".
135. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 94, 105.
136. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 95; Champlin, *Fronto*, 120.
137. Champlin, *Fronto*, 174 n. 12.
138. *Ad Antoninum Imperator* 1.2.2 (= Haines 2.36), qtd. and tr. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 95.
139. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 94–95, 101.
140. Champlin, *Fronto*, 120.
141. *Meditations* 1.7, qtd. and tr. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 94–95.
142. *Meditations* 1.14; Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 95–96.
143. *Meditations* 1.15, 1.9, 1.13; Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 96–98.
144. *Meditations* 1.15, qtd. and tr. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 97.
145. Dio 71.1.2; Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 97.
146. *Meditations*, 1.13; *HA Marcus* 3.2; Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 97–98; Champlin, *Fronto*, 174 n. 10.
147. Champlin, *Fronto*, 174 n. 10.
148. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 103.
149. *Ad Marcum Caesarem* 4.11 (= Haines 1.202ff), qtd. and tr. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 105.
150. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 247 F.1.
151. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 206–207.
152. *Meditations* 9.40, qtd. and tr. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 207.
153. *Meditations* 10.34, tr. Farquharson, 78, 224.
154. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 107.
155. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 107–108.
156. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 108.
157. *Inscriptiones Graecae ad Res Romanas pertinentes* 4.1399, qtd. and tr. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 114.
158. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 114.
159. *HA Verus* 2.9–11; 3.4–7; Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 108.
160. Suetonius, *Nero* 6.1; *HA Verus* 1.8; Barnes, 67; Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 158. See also: Barnes, 69–70; Pierre Lambrechts, "L'empereur Lucius Verus. Essai de réhabilitation" (in French), *Antiquité Classique* 3 (1934), 173ff.
161. Barnes, 66. Poorly compiled: e.g. Barnes, 68.
162. Barnes, 68–69.
163. *HA Verus* 2.9–11; 3.4–7; Barnes, 68; Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 108.
164. Barnes, 68, citing J. Vogt, *Die Alexandrinischen Miinzen* (1924), I, III; 2, 62ff.
165. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 112.
166. *HA Pius* 12.4–8; Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 114.
167. Dio 71.33.4–5; Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 114.
168. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 116.
169. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 44–45.
170. Champlin, *Fronto*, 131–136.
171. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 243.
172. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 41, 243; Syme, "The Ummidii", 98–99.
173. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 271 n. 48.
174. Alan Cameron, review of Anthony Birley's *Marcus Aurelius*, *Classical Review* 17:3 (1967).
175. Champlin, "Chronology", 139.
176. e.g. Magie 147 n. 44; Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 247.
177. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 247, citing R. Bol, *Das Statuenprogramm des Gerodes-Atticus-Nymphäums* (Olympische Forschungen 15, Berlin, 1984), 31f., and Fittschen *Die Bildnistypen der Faustina minor und die Fecunditas Augustae* (Abhandlungen Akad, Göttingen, ph.-hist. Kl., 3rd series, 126, 1982), 43 n. 8.
178. Birley, *Marcus Aurelius*, 247, citing R. Bol, *Das Statuenprogramm des Gerodes-Atticus-Nymphäums* (Olympische Forschungen 15, Berlin, 1984), 34f., and Fittschen *Die Bildnistypen der Faustina minor und die Fecunditas Augustae* (Abhandlungen Akad, Göttingen, ph.-hist. Kl., 3rd series, 126, 1982), 27f.
179. Magie, 129 n. 96; cf. *HA Pius* 1.8.

## Bibliography

### Ancient sources

* Aelius Aristides. *Orationes* (*Orations*).
* Cassius Dio. *Roman History*.
    + Cary, Earnest, trans. *Roman History*. 9 vols. Loeb ed. London: Heinemann, 1914–27. Online at LacusCurtius. Accessed 26 August 2009.
* *Epitome de Caesaribus*.
    + Banchich, Thomas M., trans. *A Booklet About the Style of Life and the Manners of the Imperatores*. *Canisius College Translated Texts* 1. Buffalo, NY: Canisius College, 2009. Online at De Imperatoribus Romanis. Accessed 31 August 2009.
* Fronto, Marcus Cornelius.
    + Haines, Charles Reginald, trans. *The Correspondence of Marcus Cornelius Fronto*. 2 vols. Loeb ed. London: Heinemann, 1920. Online at the Internet Archive: Vol. , . Accessed 26 August 2009.
* Gellius, Aulus. *Noctes Atticae* (*Attic Nights*).
    + Rolfe, J.C., trans. *The Attic Nights of Aulus Gellius*. 3 vols. Loeb ed. London: Heinemann, 1927–28. Vols. 1 and 2 online at LacusCurtius. Accessed 26 August 2009.
* Herodian. *Ab Excessu Divi Marci* (*History of the Roman Empire from the Death of Marcus Aurelius*).
    + Echols, Edward C., trans. *Herodian of Antioch's History of the Roman Empire*. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1961. Online at Tertullian and Livius Archived 2015-05-04 at the Wayback Machine. Accessed 14 September 2009.
* Marcus Aurelius Antoninus. *Meditations*.
    + Farquharson, A.S.L., trans. *Meditations*. New York: Knopf, 1946, rept. 1992.
* Quintilian. *Institutio Oratoria* (*Institutes of Oratory*).
    + Butler, H.E., trans. *The Orator's Education*. 5 vols. Loeb ed. London: Heinemann, 1920–22. Online at LacusCurtius. Accessed 14 September 2009.
* *Scriptores Historiae Augustae* (Authors of the Historia Augusta). *Historia Augusta* (*Augustan History*).
    + Magie, David, trans. *Historia Augusta*. 3 vols. Loeb ed. London: Heinemann, 1921–32. Online at LacusCurtius. Accessed 26 August 2009.
    + Birley, Anthony R., trans. *Lives of the Later Caesars*. London: Penguin, 1976.

### Modern sources

* Barnes, Timothy D. "Hadrian and Lucius Verus." *Journal of Roman Studies* 57:1–2 (1967): 65–79.
* Birley, Anthony R. *Marcus Aurelius: A Biography*. New York: Routledge, 1966, rev. 1987. ISBN 0415171253
* Birley, Anthony R. "Hadrian to the Antonines." In *The Cambridge Ancient History Volume XI: The High Empire, A.D. 70–192*, edited by Alan Bowman, Peter Garnsey, and Dominic Rathbone, 132–194. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2000. ISBN 978-0521263351
* Champlin, Edward. "The Chronology of Fronto." *Journal of Roman Studies* 64 (1974): 136–159.
* Champlin, Edward. *Fronto and Antonine Rome*. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1980. ISBN 0674326687
* McLynn, Frank. *Marcus Aurelius: Warrior, Philosopher, Emperor*. London: Bodley Head, 2009. ISBN 978-0224072922
* Robertson, D. *How to Think Like a Roman Emperor: The Stoic Philosophy of Marcus Aurelius*. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2019.
* Syme, Ronald. "The Ummidii." *Historia* 17:1 (1968): 72–105.

## InfoBox

| Marcus Aurelius | |
| --- | --- |
| Marble statue of a young Marcus in military garb, wearing the muscle cuirass, Altes Museum, Berlin | |
| Emperor of the Roman Empire | |
| Reign | 8 March 161 – 17 March 180 |
| Predecessor | Antoninus Pius |
| Successor | Commodus |
| Co-emperors | Lucius Verus (161–169) <br>Commodus (177–180) |
|  | |
| Born | Marcus Annius Verus<br>26 April 121<br>Rome |
| Died | 17 March 180(180-03-17) (aged 58)<br>Vindobona or Sirmium |
| Burial | Hadrian's Mausoleum |
| Spouse | Faustina the Younger |
| Issue | 14, incl. Commodus, Marcus Annius Verus, Antoninus and Lucilla |
| Regnal name  Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus | |
| Dynasty | Nerva-Antonine |
| Father |  |
| Mother | Domitia Lucilla Minor |


title: Dutch Pavilion (Singapore)

abstract: Dutch Pavilion is a building within the grounds of the Shangri-La Singapore hotel on Orange Grove Road in Tanglin, Singapore. Previously the premises of the Hollandse School, it currently serves as a wedding venue.

text:
# Dutch Pavilion (Singapore)

**Dutch Pavilion** is a building within the grounds of the Shangri-La Singapore hotel on Orange Grove Road in Tanglin, Singapore. Previously the premises of the Hollandse School, it currently serves as a wedding venue.

## Description

The single storey building features a pitched roof with a bell tower above it at the front. The original red tiles of the building's roof were retained. The exterior also feature colonial-style balustrades and "old-fashioned" wall lamps.

## History

The building's foundation stone was laid by the daughter of a member of the local school board on 4 March 1928. The building, which was designed by prominent architect Heinrich Rudolf Arbenz, was officially opened on 21 June. The opening ceremony was attended by Richard Olaf Winstedt, then the Director of Education of the Straits Settlements. It housed classrooms and an assembly hall. Prior to the building's completion, the school had been housed at the Dutch Club. During the Japanese Occupation of Singapore, the school was not in operation as most of its staff and students had been interned. It reopened in December 1946.

By 1978, the number of students at the school had grown to 150 and the building had become "cramped". In January 1983, the Shangri-La Hotel, which is situated next to the building, purchased the land on which the building stands for $5.5 million. Plans to move to a new campus in 1985 in Bukit Timah had been made by January 1984. In June 1988, it was announced that the building had been converted into a tennis pavilion for the hotel and that it had been preserved for its "historical significance". The building reopened as a wedding venue in 2014 following a $1.5 million "complete" restoration.

1°18′45″N 103°49′33″E / 1.31245°N 103.82580°E / 1.31245; 103.82580


title: Arrhephoria

abstract: Arrhephoria was a feast among the Athenians, instituted in honor of Athena. The word is derived from the Greek term Ἀρρηφόρια, which is composed of ἄρρητος, "unspoken, not to be divulged", and φέρω, "I carry". This feast was also called Hersiphoria, from Herse, the daughter of Cecrops, on whose account it was established.

text:
# Arrhephoria

**Arrhephoria** was a feast among the Athenians, instituted in honor of Athena. The word is derived from the Greek term Ἀρρηφόρια, which is composed of ἄρρητος, "unspoken, not to be divulged", and φέρω, "I carry". This feast was also called **Hersiphoria**, from Herse, the daughter of Cecrops, on whose account it was established.

## Historical celebration

On the Athenian Acropolis two girls aged between seven and eleven were elected to live for a year at a time as arrhephoroi, tending the sacred olive tree and weaving, with the help of other women, the new robe for Athena. Proud parents commemorated their daughters' service by making dedications on the Acropolis. At the annual festival of the Arrhephoria the girls (according to Pausanias) placed on their heads what the priestess of Athena gives them to carry. Neither the priestess nor the girls know what it is she is giving them. In the city there is a sacred precinct not far from that of Aphrodite in the Garden and through it runs a natural underground passage. Here the virgins descend. Down below they leave behind what they have brought and take something else and carry it, veiled as it is. These two virgins are discharged forthwith and others are taken up to the Acropolis in their place.

Interpretation of the festival is difficult because of the lack of sources, but it is clear that the virginal arrhephoroi are chosen from the noblest families of the city and are deployed in a context of impregnation (dew), sexual power (Aphrodite and Eros), and birth (Erichthonios). The word "arrhephoros" etymologically probably means "dew carrier", which at first sight does not help. The *arrhephoroi* were charged with weaving the peplos (garments) for Athena. The *aletrides* ground the grain for Athena. The *arktoi* were the priestesses who celebrated a rite intended to forgive an offense against Artemis. The *kanephoroi* were the girls who carried the baskets with all of the offerings to the festival. Kanephoros were common place in rituals or feasts similar to Arrhephoria as it was a held position of honor in Ancient Athens. Archaeological evidence reveals that from near the Erechtheion a secret stairway led off the Acropolis past a small rock-cut shrine of Eros and Aphrodite, near which was the precinct to which they were going. The mythical associations of the arrhephoroi are with their starting-point the Erechtheion.

In the fifth century B.C. Aristophanes, in his comic play *Lysistrata* detailed the stages for the women during this festival:

> For at seven years or less I became a girl priestess in the Erechthean temple of the Maid; And at ten upon this hill I made flour in the mill. For the cakes which to our Lady are displayed, Then I went to Brauron town and put on a yellow gown. To walk in the procession as the Bear; To complete my perfect score I the sacred basket bore at Athena's feast when I was young and fair. (1.1.663-673)

These stages have certain tasks which display the ancient system that all girls must go by when reaching puberty. The stages of this "initiation" are as follows. The Arrhephoroi comes first, and is a time when the girl dresses in white and begins to weave for the offering to Athena. This is an art that was always performed by women at that time, and therefore had to be taught at a young age. The second stage is to teach the girl how to bake, specifically, how to bake bread. The third step is considered a symbol of death and resurrection. The girl must attend and participate in the festival with the older women. These stages are all tasks that the girl will use for the rest of her life, and therefore are held in high importance and expectation.

It is believed through sources that Attica was one of the first in history to have one of these festivals.

## Mythos connection

The ritual itself is based on a mythological story of Athena and her punishment of two young girls. Kekrops, the first king of Athens, whose tomb was in the complex, had three daughters, Aglauros, Herse, and Pandrosos. The mystery revolves around innocence, obedience, and fecundity. They were given a closed basket by Athena who forbade them to open it. One night Aglauros and Herse gave in to curiosity, opened the basket, and saw Ericthonios, the mysterious child of Hephaestus. Athena punishing the girls for breaking her trust made snakes appear out of the basket, and in terror the two girls jumped off the Acropolis to their deaths. The sanctuary of Aglauros lies at the foot of the cliff; it may have been the precinct to which the arrhephoroi descended. Pandrosos, who did not succumb to this fatal curiosity, has a shrine next to the sacred olive tree on the Acropolis itself. The connection was to celebrate Pandrosos and to have two girls fulfill the duty of the two who had failed Athena. In connection to the myth the arrhephoroi and the priestesses did not even know what the secret items were as to carry out a very similar burden.

## Modern day celebration

Some modern followers of Hellenism choose to celebrate it on the 3rd of Skirophorion, but there is no historical evidence of it being on this exact day. Some who practice Arrhephoria as in the modern day view it as a time to clear room for new things and complete projects in their personal lives.

## Connected rituals

Kallynteria and Plynteria were two rituals that were connected to Arrhephoria in the way that they were both rituals prepared for Arrhephoria. Kallynteria was where Athenians cleans the shrine of Athena and making sure the eternal flame of Athena is re-lighted. While the Plynteria involved taking the robes and jewelry from the cult statue of Athena where they would cleanse all removed from the statue and taken to the coast. They would rinse the items from the statue in salt water and then return them back to the statue after they were cleansed.

### Footnotes

### General references

* Cantarella, Eva. *Pandora's Daughters: The Role & Status of Women in Greek & Roman Antiquity*. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore. 1989.
* Price, Simon. *Religions of the Ancient Greeks*. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England. 1999.
* Burkert, Walter, and John Raffan. *Greek Religion*. Harvard University Press. 1985.
* John Roberts. "Arrephoria." *Oxford Dictionary of the Classical World*, 2007, Oxford Dictionary of the Classical World, 2007-01-01
* “Arrephoria.” Hellenion. Accessed May 24, 2021. https://www.hellenion.org/festivals/arrephoria/.
* Robertson, Noel. "The Riddle of the Arrhephoria at Athens." *Harvard Studies in Classical Philology* 87 (1983): 241-88. Accessed May 24, 2021. doi:10.2307/311260
* *The Rise of Democracy. Ancient Greek Civilization: Archaic Athens*. *YouTube*. YouTube, 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q64KKm-q\_ik.
* *Astronomy and Ancient Greek Cult: New Perspectives to Greek Religious Architecture and Cult Practice*. *YouTube*. YouTube, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwF02hfMoRk.
* Boutsikas, Efrosyni, and Robert Hannah. 2012. “AITIA, ASTRONOMY AND THE TIMING OF THE ARRHĒPHORIA.” *The Annual of the British School at Athens* 107. Cambridge University Press: 233–45.


title: Arrhenotoides dubouzeti

abstract: Arrhenotoides dubouzeti is a species of beetle in the family Cerambycidae, and the only species in the genus Arrhenotoides. It was described by Xavier Montrouzier in 1861.

text:
# Arrhenotoides dubouzeti

***Arrhenotoides dubouzeti*** is a species of beetle in the family Cerambycidae, and the only species in the genus ***Arrhenotoides***. It was described by Xavier Montrouzier in 1861.

## InfoBox

| *Arrhenotoides dubouzeti* | |
| --- | --- |
|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Coleoptera |
| Suborder: | Polyphaga |
| Family: | Cerambycidae |
| Genus: | ***Arrhenotoides*** |
| Species: | ***A. dubouzeti*** |
| Binomial name | |
| ***Arrhenotoides dubouzeti***<br>(Montrouzier, 1861) | |
|


abstract: These are the official results of the Men's 50 km Walk event at the 1997 World Championships held on Thursday 7 August 1997 in Athens, Greece. There were a total number of 42 participating athletes.

text:
# 1997 World Championships in Athletics – Men's 50 kilometres walk

These are the official results of the **Men's 50 km Walk** event at the **1997 World Championships** held on Thursday 7 August 1997 in Athens, Greece. There were a total number of 42 participating athletes.

## Medalists

| **Gold** | Robert Korzeniowski
*Poland (POL)* |
| --- | --- |
| **Silver** | Jesús Ángel García
*Spain (ESP)* |
| **Bronze** | Miguel Rodríguez
*Mexico (MEX)* |

## Abbreviations

* *All times shown are in hours:minutes:seconds*

| **DNS** | did not start |
| --- | --- |
| **NM** | no mark |
| **WR** | world record |
| **WL** | world leading |
| **AR** | area record |
| **NR** | national record |
| **PB** | personal best |
| **SB** | season best |

## Intermediates

## Final ranking

| Rank | Athlete | Time | Note |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|  | Robert Korzeniowski (POL) | **3:44:46** |  |
|  | Jesús Ángel García (ESP) | **3:44:59** |  |
|  | Miguel Rodríguez (MEX) | **3:48:30** |  |
| 4 | Oleg Ishutkin (RUS) | **3:50:04** |  |
| 5 | Tomasz Lipiec (POL) | **3:50:14** |  |
| 6 | Fumio Imamura (JPN) | **3:50:27** |  |
| 7 | Sylvain Caudron (FRA) | **3:51:17** |  |
| 8 | Arturo Di Mezza (ITA) | **3:51:33** |  |
| 9 | Valentin Kononen (FIN) | **3:53:40** |  |
| 10 | Aleksey Voyevodin (RUS) | **3:54:28** |  |
| 11 | René Piller (FRA) | **3:55:06** |  |
| 12 | Sergey Korepanov (KAZ) | **3:56:19** |  |
| 13 | Craig Barrett (NZL) | **3:56:30** |  |
| 14 | Giovanni Perricelli (ITA) | **3:57:38** |  |
| 15 | Nikolay Matyukhin (RUS) | **3:58:18** |  |
| 16 | Axel Noack (GER) | **3:59:29** |  |
| 17 | Héctor Moreno (COL) | **3:59:33** |  |
| 18 | Štefan Malík (SVK) | **3:59:52** |  |
| 19 | Ruben Arikado (MEX) | **4:04:17** |  |
| 20 | Zoltán Czukor (HUN) | **4:05:09** |  |
| 21 | Santiago Perez (ESP) | **4:05:25** |  |
| 22 | Dmitriy Savaytan (BLR) | **4:05:35** |  |
| 23 | Julio César Urías (GUA) | **4:07:18** |  |
| 24 | Peter Zanner (GER) | **4:07:38** |  |
| 25 | Christophe Cousin (FRA) | **4:08:26** |  |
| 26 | Milos Holusa (CZE) | **4:09:08** |  |
| 27 | José Magalhaes (POR) | **4:10:03** |  |
| 28 | Orazio Romanzi (ITA) | **4:11:00** |  |
| 29 | Christos Karagiorgos (GRE) | **4:30:05** |  |
| DID NOT FINISH (DNF) | | | |
|  | Zhao Yongsheng (CHN) | **DNF** |  |
|  | Jaime Barroso (ESP) | **DNF** |  |
|  | Tim Berrett (CAN) | **DNF** |  |
|  | Bo Gustafsson (SWE) | **DNF** |  |
|  | Viktor Ginko (BLR) | **DNF** |  |
| DISQUALIFIED (DSQ) | | | |
|  | Peter Tichý (SVK) | **DSQ** |  |
|  | Roman Mrázek (SVK) | **DSQ** |  |
|  | Dirk Nicque (BEL) | **DSQ** |  |
|  | Jacek Muller (POL) | **DSQ** |  |
|  | Germán Sánchez (MEX) | **DSQ** |  |
|  | Thomas Wallstab (GER) | **DSQ** |  |
|  | Andrew Hermann (USA) | **DSQ** |  |
|  | Aleksandar Raković (YUG) | **DSQ** |  |


title: 1996 All-Pro Team

abstract: The 1996 All-Pro Team is composed of the National Football League players that were named to the Associated Press, Pro Football Writers Association, and The Sporting News All-Pro Teams in 1996. Both first and second teams are listed for the AP team. These are the three teams that are included in Total Football II: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League. In 1996 the Pro Football Writers Association and Pro Football Weekly combined their All-pro teams, a practice with continues through 2008. In 1996 the AP added a new position, that of "Fullback", a primarily blocking position.

text:
# 1996 All-Pro Team

The **1996 All-Pro Team** is composed of the National Football League players that were named to the Associated Press, Pro Football Writers Association, and *The Sporting News* All-Pro Teams in 1996. Both first and second teams are listed for the AP team. These are the three teams that are included in *Total Football II: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League*. In 1996 the Pro Football Writers Association and Pro Football Weekly combined their All-pro teams, a practice with continues through 2008. In 1996 the AP added a new position, that of "Fullback", a primarily blocking position.

## Teams

| Offense  Position First team Second team  Quarterback Brett Favre, Green Bay Packers (AP, PFWA, TSN) John Elway, Denver Broncos (AP-2)  Running back Terrell Davis, Denver Broncos (AP, PFWA, TSN)
Barry Sanders, Detroit Lions (PFWA, TSN)
Jerome Bettis, Pittsburgh Steelers (AP, PFWA) Terry Allen, Washington Redskins (AP-2)
Barry Sanders, Detroit Lions (AP-2)
  Fullback Larry Centers, Arizona Cardinals (AP) Mike Alstott, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (AP-2)  Wide receiver Jerry Rice, San Francisco 49ers (AP, PFWA, TSN)
Herman Moore, Detroit Lions (AP, TSN)
Carl Pickens, Cincinnati Bengals (PFWA) Tony Martin, San Diego Chargers (AP-2)
Carl Pickens, Cincinnati Bengals (AP-2)
  Tight end Shannon Sharpe, Denver Broncos (AP, PFWA, TSN) Wesley Walls, Carolina Panthers (AP-2)  Tackle Gary Zimmerman, Denver Broncos (AP, PFWA, TSN)
Willie Roaf, New Orleans Saints (PFWA, TSN)
Erik Williams, Dallas Cowboys (AP) Bruce Armstrong, New England Patriots (AP-2)
Willie Roaf, New Orleans Saints (AP-2)  Guard Randall McDaniel, Minnesota Vikings (AP, PFWA, TSN)
Larry Allen, Dallas Cowboys (AP, PFWA, TSN) Bruce Matthews, Houston Oilers (AP-2)
Steve Wisniewski, Oakland Raiders (AP-2)  Center Dermontti Dawson, Pittsburgh Steelers (AP, PFWA, TSN) Mark Stepnoski, Houston Oilers (AP-2)   Special teams  Position First team Second team  Kicker Cary Blanchard, Indianapolis Colts (AP, PFWA, TSN) John Kasay, Carolina Panthers (AP-2)  Punter Chris Gardocki, Indianapolis Colts (AP-t, PFWA)
Darren Bennett, San Diego Chargers (TSN)
Matt Turk, Washington Redskins (AP-t) Darren Bennett, San Diego Chargers (AP-2)  Kick returner Michael Bates, Carolina Panthers (AP, PFWA, TSN) Dave Meggett, New England Patriots (AP-2)  Punt returner Desmond Howard, Green Bay Packers (PFWA, TSN)  Special teams Jim Schwantz, Dallas Cowboys (PFWA) | Defense  Position First team Second team  Defensive end Bruce Smith, Buffalo Bills (AP, PFWA, TSN)
Alfred Williams, Denver Broncos (AP, PFWA, TSN) Reggie White, Green Bay Packers (AP-2)
Tony Tolbert, Dallas Cowboys (AP-2)  Defensive tackle John Randle, Minnesota Vikings (AP, PFWA, TSN)
Bryant Young, San Francisco 49ers (AP, PFWA, TSN) Chester McGlockton, Oakland Raiders (AP-2)
Cortez Kennedy, Seattle Seahawks (AP-2)  Middle linebacker Sam Mills, Carolina Panthers (AP, PFWA)
Junior Seau, San Diego Chargers (AP, TSN) Levon Kirkland, Pittsburgh (AP-2)
Hardy Nickerson, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (AP-2)  Outside linebacker Chad Brown, Pittsburgh Steelers (AP, PFWA, TSN)
Kevin Greene, Carolina Panthers (AP, PFWA)
Lamar Lathon, Carolina Panthers (TSN) Derrick Thomas, Kansas City Chiefs (AP-2)
Lamar Lathon, Carolina Panthers (AP-2)  Cornerback Deion Sanders, Dallas Cowboys (AP, PFWA, TSN)
Dale Carter, Kansas City Chiefs (TSN)
Aeneas Williams, Arizona Cardinals (PFWA)
Ashley Ambrose, Cincinnati Bengals (AP, PFWA) Dale Carter, Kansas City Chiefs (AP-2)
Aeneas Williams, Arizona Cardinals (AP-2)  Safety LeRoy Butler, Green Bay Packers (AP, PFWA, TSN)
Darren Woodson, Dallas Cowboys (AP, PFWA, TSN)
Carnell Lake, Pittsburgh Steelers (PFWA) Steve Atwater, Denver Broncos (AP-2)
Merton Hanks, San Francisco 49ers (AP-2) |
| --- | --- |

## Key

* AP = Associated Press first-team All-Pro
* AP-t = Tied for first-team All-Pro in the AP vote
* AP-2 = Associated Press second-team All-Pro
* PFWA = Pro Football Writers Association All-NFL
* TSN = *The Sporting News* All-Pro