Mark Aurelius and the end of the ancient world

Mark Aurelius was the last of the glorious galaxy of the great Caesars of Ancient Rome - the Emperors Nerves, Trajan, Adrian and Antonin Pius, whose reign was the golden age in the annals of this state. But that was already a sunset of greatness and glory of the Roman Empire, and the harsh reality left the imprint of tragedy on all its deeds. However, Mark Aurelius belongs to a unique place in history. And not because he was a philosopher on the throne. There were many such philosophers. Mark Aurelius was a righteous on the throne, combining everything that was good in the ancient world. The monograph by the French philosopher, writer and historian of Ernest Joseph Renan “Marcus Aurelius and the End of the Ancient World” contains, by definition of the author himself, “the presentation of the development of the Christian church in the reign of Marcus Aurelius and the picture of the efforts of philosophy aimed at improving civil society.” More than eighteen centuries have passed since the death of Mark Aurelius, and he continues to arouse interest among historians as the last “good emperor”, among philosophers as a bright representative of stoicism