The name Marcus was derived from Mars, the Roman god of war, and there were lots of us in ancient Rome.
Marcus Cicero (106 – 43 BCE) was a Roman statesman, linguist, lawyer, political theorist and philosopher. He is considered to be one of Rome’s greatest orators and writers, and introduced the Romans to Greek philosophy. During the dictatorship of Julius Caesar, Cicero favored freer republican government.
Marcus “the wise” Aurelius (121 - 180) was Roman Emperor from 161 to his death. He looks like Dr. Jack Hodgins on Bones. This Marcus was the last of the “Five Good Emperors,” and is also considered to be one of the most important Stoic philosophers. He was emperor during wars in Asia and with Germanic tribes. His Meditations stressed discipline, virtue and ranquility.
On the other hand, evil Marcus Crassus (115 – 53 BCE) was a Roman general, politician and slave dealer who suppressed the slave revolt led by Spartacus. He made the Top 10 List of richest historical figures and helped Julius Caesar start his political career. Gen. Crassus was such a greedy SOB that it’s said that he was executed by having molten gold poured down his throat. COOL CONNECTIONS: In the 1960 Spartacus movie Kirk Douglas played Spartacus, who fought Marcus Crassus. In 1966, Douglas played Colonel David Marcus in Cast a Giant Shadow. Kirk’s actor son Michael Douglas had a bit part in the movie.
Marcus Brutus (85–42 BCE) is best known for leading the assassination conspiracy against Julius Caesar. “Et tu, Brute?” (“You too, Brutus?”) was said to a Marcus. Those words were supposedly Caesar’s last words, as Brutus stabbed him on the Ides of March (March 15th) in 44 BCE. March 15th was the original income tax day in the United States. Later it was moved a month to April 15th, my birthday. That’s another cool connection. We Marcuses are all connected.
Marcus Antonius, a.k.a. “Mark Anthony” or “Marc Antony” (83–30 BCE) was “Master of the Horse” under Julius Caesar and Caesar’s cousin, so he probably could call him Julius, not Caesar. He identified his cousin’s killers during a dramatic funeral eulogy. Shakespeare wrote his lines: “Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears. I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him. The evil that men do lives after them. The good is oft interred with their bones.” This Marcus was played by Richard Burton in the 1963 Cleopatra movie (opposite Liz Taylor) and by Marlon Brando in the 1953 Julius Caesar movie. My mother used to say I look like Brando. Marcus/Mark Antony is immortalized in the names of countless beauty parlors and pizzerias.
Siegfried Marcus was a prolific German inventor who spent most of his life in Austria. He invented the internal combustion engine in 1864, installed it on a cart and successfully drove it, as the precursor to the automobile. Because he was Jewish, Nazis destroyed most of the re-cords of his work. His second car, finished in 1889, was rediscovered in 1950 and it could still be driven. The car had been stored behind a false wall in the cellar of a Vienna museum to hide it from the Nazis.
There was a Pope Marcus in 336, and he became a saint! I think he looks like me.
For better or worse, I’m not related to any of them.
|
|
