Who is Marcus Aurelius? What did he do to leave his mark on the pages of history? Why did the Roman people respect and admire him? To the common person, Marcus was just a man who was an emperor of Rome and just another person who helped shape this world. Marcus Aurelius was much more than this! Anthony Birley writes: “The knowledge of such a man as Marcus Aurelius is an undying benefit.” The character of Marcus Aurelius is truly special, but he was shaped by many important people and figures in his life. With the absence of honor and duty in Rome, influences such as Junius Rusticus, a book titled "The Speeches of Epictetus", and the Roman Emperor Hadrian, led Marcus Aurelius to become one of the most prominent Stoics and one of Rome's greatest emperors . From the beginning of his life, Marcus Aurelius Antonius Augustus was destined to become one of the most extraordinary men in the world. Born into an advantageous environment – ​​blood, education, status – Marcus had every opportunity to succeed. Marcus's family had been very involved in helping the empire. His grandfather M. Annius Verus, was three times perfect president or mayor, his father Annius Verus, was praetor of the city, and his mother Domitia Lucilla, was the daughter of a consul and heir to fortune and was also a scholar of both Greek and Greek. Latin literature. Coming from a family with high ideals, it is not strange to see how he managed to revive Rome's vision of doing what should be considered right. The first eight years after his adoption by Antoninus Pius, Marco spent studying subjects such as Roman law, philosophy and literature. Marcus Aurelius was first introduced to such topics by Cornelius Fronto, leader during his time in the Senate and a...... middle of paper......, that is, to the highest part of himself, the ruling element, the divinity within him. Marcus Aurelius writes: “Man violates his soul when he distances himself from a human being or lashes out at him with the intent to hurt him. Love the human race." Marcus understood that a good Stoic could not be bothered by others, but he found it difficult to deal with them. Works Cited Anthony Birley, Marcus Aurelius, (Psychology Press, 2000), 9. Brand Blanshard, Four Reasonable Men, Marcus Aurelius , John Stuart Mill, Ernest Renan, Henry Sidgwick, (Middletown, Connecticut: Wesleyan University Press, 1984), 5.Arthur Spenser Loat Farquharson, Marcus Aurelius, His Life and His World, (Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Pub Group, 1975), 53.ML Clarke, The Roman Mind: studies in the history of thought from Cicero to Marcus Aurelius, (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1956), 33.