Was Marcus Aurelius Murdered?

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Considering the claim that Commodus had the Stoic emperor killed

Publicity still reproduced under fair use rules. © 2000 Dreamworks LLC & Universal Pictures.

In the first act of Ridley Scott’s Gladiator (2000), Marcus Aurelius, the Roman emperor famous for being a Stoic philosopher, is portrayed by the actor Richard Harris. In the movie, Marcus is shown being smothered to death by his son, Commodus, played by Joaquin Phoenix. But is that really what happened?

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Donald J. Robertson
Stoicism — Philosophy as a Way of Life

Cognitive psychotherapist, author of How to Think Like a Roman Emperor. Sign up for my new Substack newsletter: https://donaldrobertson.substack.com/