160 – 170s

Events in the 160s 2

• 161 – 180 Marcus Aurelius — philosopher emperor Marcus Aurelius, the last of the Five Good Emperors, is the closest approximation to Plato's philosopher-king in history. He writes the Meditations — a private Stoic philosophical diary — while campaigning on the Danube. His reign is dominated by the Antonine Plague (165–180 AD), which kills perhaps five million people across the empire, and continuous warfare on the northern frontier. He breaks the adoptive succession by allowing his son Commodus to succeed him — a decision Gibbon calls the beginning of Rome's decline.
• 165 – 180 Antonine Plague The Antonine Plague — possibly smallpox or measles, brought back by soldiers returning from the Parthian campaign — spreads across the empire from 165 to 180 AD, killing an estimated two to five million people. At its peak it kills 2,000 people per day in Rome. It weakens the empire's military and economic capacity at a critical moment, reducing the tax base and forcing the recruitment of barbarians into the legions. The physician Galen, who witnesses the epidemic, provides the most detailed surviving ancient account.