![]() forgive a man who has wronged one, to remain a friend to one who has transgressed friendship, to continue faithful to one who has broken faith.” Marcus informed them of his plan to capture Cassius, but not kill him. They would march against Cassius and obtain the “great prize of war and of victory.” But of course, because it was Marcus, this war prize was something wholly different. And so Marcus Aurelius called a council of his soldiers and made a rather extraordinary announcement. He even kept the news secret from his troops, who might have been enraged or provoked on his behalf-and simply waited: Would Cassius come to his senses? Because he didn’t immediately set out to crush this man who had betrayed him, who threatened his life, his family, and his legacy. and paraded his head around Rome, it makes Marcus’s response all the more unusual. If we think about what other emperors did to their rivals and enemies, for instance Nero killed his own mother and Otho had Galba murdered in 69 A.D. ![]() After all, this man was trying to take his job and possibly his life. ![]() Having heard the emperor was vulnerable or possibly dead, the ambitious general declared himself Caesar and assumed the throne. His old friend and most trusted general, Avidius Cassius, had rebelled in Syria. Late in his reign, sick and possibly near death, Stoic Emperor Marcus Aurelius received surprising news. ![]()
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