The image of Marcus Aurelius in the early Christian literature

Abstract

The  paper  presents  a study  of the  transformation of the  image of Marcus  Aurelius in the Christian literature of the 2nd  – 5th  centuries:  from the protector of Christians to their  persecutor. The apologists of the 2nd  – 3d centuries constructed the image of the emperor-philosopher with positive  attitude towards  Christianity. A significant  group  of apologies were addressed directly  to Mark  Aurelius,  what  can be considered as evidence  of a positive attitude towards  that  person. Tertullian tells the story of a miraculous  saving of the Legio XII Fulminata during  the campaign  of Marcus  Aurelius  against Marcomanns war thanks  to the Christian soldiers prayings.

Changing attitudes  towards   Marcus  Aurelius  among  the  early  church historians of the  4th–5th   centuries is associated  with  the  gradual  shift  away from the  Roman  and early Christian traditions and the  increasing  emphasis on the  history  of martyrdom. Eusebius  of Caesarea  in order  to combine  the positive  opinion  of Tertullian with  reports  about  the persecution of the Lyon and Vienna martyrs  (177)  transfers  the responsibility for the latter to Marcus Aurelius brother.  In later authors,  such as Paul orozii and Aurelius Augustine, Marcus Aurelius is already called the persecutor without any reservations.