Marcus Aurelius, was the son of a gardener, and became, by his great valour as a soldier, and his eminent virtues, emperor of Rome, to which dignity he was raised by the army. Having subdued the barbarous nations who made incursions into different parts of the empire, where they committed horrid cruelties, he managed the affairs of government with great wisdom and clemency. He was massacred in the year 282, and the 7th of his reign, by some soldiers who were weary of the public works at which he made them labour.