Editing Marcus Aurelius (section)

===Heir to Antoninus Pius (138–145)===
[[File:Antoninus Pius, sestertius, AD 140-144, RIC III 601.jpg|thumb|upright=1.36|[[Sestertius]] of [[Antoninus Pius]] (AD 140–144). It celebrates the betrothal of Marcus Aurelius and [[Faustina the Younger]] in 139, pictured below Antoninus, who is holding a statuette of [[Concordia (mythology)|Concordia]] and clasping hands with [[Faustina the Elder]]. Inscription: ANTONINVS AVG. PIVS P. P., TR. P., CO[N]S. III / CONCORDIAE S.C.<ref>Mattingly & Sydenham, ''Roman imperial coinage'', vol. III, p. 108.</ref>|alt=Coin commemorating the betrothal of Marcus Aurelius to his eventual wife Faustina.]]
[[File:Antoninus Pius, with Marcus Aurelius Caesar, denarius, AD 139, RIC III 412a.jpg|thumb|upright=1.36|[[Denarius]] of Antoninus Pius (AD 139), with a portrait of Marcus Aurelius on the reverse. Inscription: ANTONINVS AVG. PIVS P. P. / AVRELIVS CAES. AVG. PII F. CO[N]S. DES.<ref>Mattingly & Sydenham, ''Roman imperial coinage'', vol. III, p. 77.</ref>|alt=Coin of Antoninus Pius, Marcus's predecessor, depicting Antoninus on the obverse and Marcus on the reverse.]]

Immediately after Hadrian's death, Antoninus approached Marcus and requested that his marriage arrangements be amended: Marcus's betrothal to [[Ceionia Fabia]] would be annulled, and he would be betrothed to [[Faustina the Younger|Faustina]], Antoninus's daughter, instead. Faustina's betrothal to Ceionia's brother Lucius Commodus would also have to be annulled. Marcus consented to Antoninus's proposal.<ref>''HA Marcus'' vi. 2; ''Verus'' ii. 3–4; Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', pp. 53–54.</ref> He was made [[Roman consul|consul]] for 140 with Antoninus as his colleague, and was appointed as a ''sevir'', one of the [[Equites|knights]]' six commanders, at the order's annual parade on 15 July 139. As the heir apparent, Marcus became ''princeps iuventutis'', head of the equestrian order. He now took the name Marcus Aelius Aurelius Verus Caesar.<ref>Dio 71.35.5; ''HA Marcus'' vi. 3; Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', p. 56.</ref> Marcus would later caution himself against taking the name too seriously: 'See that you do not turn into a Caesar; do not be dipped into the [[Tyrian purple|purple dye]] – for that can happen'.<ref>''Meditations'' vi. 30, qtd. and tr. Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', p. 57; cf. ''Marcus Aurelius'', p. 270 n.9, with notes on the translation.</ref> At the senate's request, Marcus joined all the priestly colleges (''[[Pontiff|pontifices]]'', ''[[augur]]es'', ''[[quindecimviri sacris faciundis]]'', ''[[Epulones|septemviri epulonum]]'', etc.);<ref name='ReferenceA'>''HA Marcus'' vi. 3; Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', 57.</ref> direct evidence for membership, however, is available only for the [[Arval Brethren]].<ref>Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', pp. 57, 272 n.10, citing ''Codex Inscriptionum Latinarum'' [https://web.archive.org/web/20120429224044/http://oracle-vm.ku-eichstaett.de:8888/epigr/epieinzel_en?p_belegstelle=CIL+06,+00032&r_sortierung=Belegstelle 6.32], [https://web.archive.org/web/20120429224054/http://oracle-vm.ku-eichstaett.de:8888/epigr/epieinzel_en?p_belegstelle=CIL+06,+00379&r_sortierung=Belegstelle 6.379], cf. ''Inscriptiones Latinae Selectae'' [https://web.archive.org/web/20120429224059/http://oracle-vm.ku-eichstaett.de:8888/epigr/epieinzel_en?p_belegstelle=D+00360&r_sortierung=Belegstelle 360].</ref>

Antoninus demanded that Marcus reside in the House of Tiberius, the imperial palace on the Palatine, and take up the habits of his new station, the ''aulicum fastigium'' or 'pomp of the court', against Marcus's objections.<ref name='ReferenceA'/> Marcus would struggle to reconcile the life of the court with his philosophic yearnings. He told himself it was an attainable goal – 'Where life is possible, then it is possible to live the right life; life is possible in a palace, so it is possible to live the right life in a palace'<ref>''Meditations'' 5.16, qtd. and tr. Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', p. 57.</ref> – but he found it difficult nonetheless. He would criticise himself in the ''Meditations'' for 'abusing court life' in front of company.<ref>''Meditations'' 8.9, qtd. and tr. Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', p. 57.</ref>

As quaestor, Marcus would have had little real administrative work to do. He would read imperial letters to the senate when Antoninus was absent and would do secretarial work for the senators.<ref>Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', pp. 57–58.</ref> But he felt drowned in paperwork and complained to his tutor, Marcus Cornelius Fronto: 'I am so out of breath from dictating nearly thirty letters'.<ref>''Ad Marcum Caesarem'' iv. 7, qtd. and tr. Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', p. 90.</ref> He was being 'fitted for ruling the state', in the words of his biographer.<ref>''HA Marcus'' vi. 5; Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', p. 58.</ref> He was required to make a speech to the assembled senators as well, making oratorical training essential for the job.<ref name='Birley, Marcus Aurelius, p. 89'>Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', p. 89.</ref>

On 1 January 145, Marcus was made consul a second time. Fronto urged him in a letter to have plenty of sleep 'so that you may come into the Senate with a good colour and read your speech with a strong voice'.<ref>''Ad Marcum Caesarem'' v. 1, qtd. and tr. Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', p. 89.</ref> Marcus had complained of an illness in an earlier letter: 'As far as my strength is concerned, I am beginning to get it back; and there is no trace of the pain in my chest. But that ulcer [...]{{refn|The manuscript is corrupt here.<ref name='Birley, Marcus Aurelius, p. 89'/>|group=note}} I am having treatment and taking care not to do anything that interferes with it'.<ref>''Ad Marcum Caesarem'' 4.8, qtd. and tr. Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', p. 89.</ref> Never particularly healthy or strong, Marcus was praised by Cassius Dio, writing of his later years, for behaving dutifully in spite of his various illnesses.<ref>Dio 71.36.3; Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', p. 89.</ref> In April 145, Marcus married Faustina, legally his sister, as had been planned since 138.<ref>Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', pp. 90–91.</ref> Little is specifically known of the ceremony, but the biographer calls it 'noteworthy'.<ref>''HA Antoninus Pius'' x. 2, qtd. and tr. Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', p. 91.</ref> Coins were issued with the heads of the couple, and Antoninus, as ''[[Pontifex Maximus]]'', would have officiated. Marcus makes no apparent reference to the marriage in his surviving letters, and only sparing references to Faustina.<ref>Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', p. 91.</ref>