Latest / Marcus Aurelius: Rome's Philosopher King — Fexingo History / Marcus Aurelius and the Antonine Plague's Lost Generations
Transcript
- Lucas: Luna, we've talked a lot about Marcus Aurelius as a Stoic philosopher and as a general. But there's a shadow that hangs over his entire reign, something that shaped everything from his military strategy to his social reforms. I'm talking about the Antonine Plague. Luna: The Antonine Plague — that's the one that swept through the empire starting around 165 CE, right? Lucas: Exactly. It's sometimes called the Plague of Galen, after the famous physician who described it. It broke out while Roman forces were campaigning in the east, specifically at Seleucia on the Tigris, which Lucius Verus's army sacked in 165. The soldiers brought it back with them, and it spread like wildfire through the empire. Lucas: We don't have exact mortality figures, but estimates range from five to ten million dead — that's maybe ten to twenty percent of the empire's population. In some cities, like Rome itself, the death toll was catastrophic. Galen wrote about patients with black pustules, fever, and diarrhea. It was probably smallpox, though some scholars suggest measles. Luna: And this is happening right when Marcus needs every soldier he can get for the Marcomannic Wars. Lucas: Exactly. The timing could hardly have been worse. The plague hit the legions hard. Cassius Dio mentions that at one point, Marcus recruited gladiators, slaves, and even bandits to fill the ranks. The Marcomanni and Quadi, sensing Roman weakness, poured across the Danube. Rome's military machine, which had seemed invincible, was suddenly stretched to the breaking point. Lucas: And it's not just the army. The economy suffered terribly. With so many people dead, there were labor shortages, trade disruptions, and falling tax revenues. Marcus had to sell off imperial treasures from the palace — gold, silver, silk — to fund the war effort. This was unprecedented for a Roman emperor. Luna: He sold off his own possessions? That's striking, especially for someone who supposedly valued inner riches over material ones. Lucas: It's a perfect example of Stoic pragmatism. In his Meditations, he constantly reminds himself not to cling to external things. So when the state needed money, he didn't hesitate. He held an auction in the Forum of Trajan, selling statues, paintings, even his wife's jewelry. It raised a huge sum, but it also showed how desperate things were. Lucas: The plague also had cultural and religious consequences. People turned to all kinds of gods for help — sacrifices, oracles, magic. Marcus himself, as pontifex maximus, performed traditional rites to appease the gods. But there was also a rise in superstition and foreign cults. The old state religion seemed powerless. Luna: Did the plague affect Marcus's Stoicism at all? I mean, did he write about it in his Meditations? Lucas: Surprisingly, he never mentions it explicitly. The Meditations are deeply personal reflections, but they don't reference the plague directly. That might be because he wrote them for himself, not as a historical record. But you can feel the weight of mortality throughout. He talks constantly about the fragility of life, the inevitability of death, and the need to focus on what's within our control. Lucas: In a way, the plague might have reinforced his Stoicism. When you're surrounded by death, Epictetus's teachings about accepting what you can't change become very real. Marcus writes, 'You could leave life right now. Let that determine what you do and say and think.' That could be the voice of a man watching his world die around him. Luna: That's haunting. And it makes me wonder — how did the empire recover? Did it ever fully recover? Lucas: That's the big question. The Antonine Plague is often seen as the beginning of Rome's long decline. It weakened the empire demographically and economically just as pressures on the frontiers were mounting. Some historians argue it was a key factor in the Crisis of the Third Century. But the empire did bounce back, at least for a while. Under the Severans, there was a revival, but the population never fully recovered. Lucas: And here's something that hits close to home for us. You know, making a show like this, week after week, takes a lot of work — research, recording, editing. And it's only possible because of listeners who chip in a little. If you've been getting something out of these episodes, a couple of dollars a month at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo genuinely makes a difference. It keeps the show ad-free and lets us dig into topics like this. Luna: Yeah, it's pretty amazing what a small group of supporters can do. And we really appreciate it. Lucas: So back to the plague. One of the most fascinating aspects is how it interacted with the war. The Marcomannic Wars dragged on because Rome simply couldn't sustain large-scale campaigns. The plague kept flaring up, especially in military camps. Carnuntum, the main base on the Danube, was a hotspot. Marcus spent years there, trying to hold the frontier together. Luna: He wrote a lot of the Meditations at Carnuntum, didn't he? Lucas: That's right. Book Two of the Meditations opens with a note that it was written 'at Carnuntum.' So we have this extraordinary document — a philosophical diary written on a war front during a pandemic. It's one of the most human documents from antiquity. Lucas: And the plague didn't just affect Rome. It spread through trade routes as far as China. There are records from the Han Dynasty of a devastating plague around the same time. Some scholars think the Antonine Plague might have been part of a global pandemic, though that's hard to prove. Luna: So it was truly an ancient world pandemic. And it shaped Marcus's reign more than almost anything else. Lucas: I think so. His reign is often remembered for the Meditations and the Marcomannic Wars, but the plague is the context for both. It forced him to be a crisis manager, a fundraiser, a military commander, and a philosopher all at once. And through it all, he tried to live by the principles he wrote about: 'Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be one.' Luna: That's a powerful way to put it. Thanks for this, Lucas. It really brings the human side of Marcus into focus. Lucas: Glad to explore it with you. And to anyone listening, if you want to hear more deep dives like this, consider supporting the show at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Until next time, keep stepping into history.