Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 26. Chapters: Emperorship of Marcus Aurelius, Roman-Parthian War of 161-166, Germanic Wars, Bar Kokhba revolt, Liangzhou Rebellion, Trajan's Dacian Wars, Marcomannic Wars, Yellow Turban Rebellion, Kitos War, Battle of Issus, Battle of Ctesiphon. Excerpt: This article covers the life of Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius from his accession on 7 March 161 to his death on 17 March 180. Marcus' life before his accession is covered in Early life and career of Marcus Aurelius. This article focuses on personal and administrative matters; military matters are covered in more detail in Roman-Parthian War of 161-66 and Marcomannic Wars. The major sources for the life and rule of Marcus Aurelius are patchy and frequently unreliable. The biographies contained in the Historia Augusta claim to be written by a group of authors at the turn of the 4th century, but are in fact written by a single author (referred to here as "the biographer") from the later 4th 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 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 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 Justini