Short answers, pulled from the story.
Marcus Aurelius ruled as Roman emperor from 161 to 180. He shared power with his co-emperor Lucius Aurelius Verus from 161 until Verus died in 169, and later ruled jointly with his son Commodus from 177.
Meditations is a personal journal Marcus Aurelius wrote in Greek between 170 and 180, while on military campaign, as a guide for his own self-improvement. It was not written for publication; the original title is unknown, and the name 'Meditations' was adopted later. The first printed edition appeared in 1558 in Zurich.
Marcus Aurelius and his wife Faustina had at least 14 children during their 30-year marriage, including two sets of twins. Only one son and four daughters outlived him. Among those who died young were twin sons born in 149 and a daughter, Domitia Faustina, who died in 151.
The Antonine Plague began in Mesopotamia in 165 or 166, at the end of Lucius Verus's campaign against the Parthians, and spread to Rome by 166. Historians believe it was smallpox. It caused the deaths of five to ten million people across the Roman Empire.
The equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius is now located in the Capitoline Museums in Rome. Cast in bronze around 175 and standing 11.6 feet tall, it is the only Roman equestrian statue to have survived into the modern era.
Marcus Aurelius is considered the last of the Five Good Emperors because his death in 180 ended an era of stable succession and capable rule within the Nerva-Antonine dynasty. He was also the last emperor of the Pax Romana, the period of relative peace lasting from 27 BC to 180 AD. His succession by his son Commodus, whose erratic behaviour historians have criticised, marked the end of that tradition.