This Week: End for a Great Thinker

Notable events in Ancient History for the week of March 4 - 10

March 7, A.D. 161 - On this date, Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius dies. For the first time in Roman history, two men succeeded as co-Emperors: Marcus Aurelius (A.D. 161 - 180) and Lucius Verus (A.D. 161 - 169). Lucius Verus contracted smallpox and died early in his co-reign, and Marcus Aurelius went on to become the fifth of the "Five Good Emperors".

March 7, 322 B.C. - Legendary Greek philosopoher Aristotle died on this date. As one of the most influential Western philosophers and thinkers to have ener lived, he wrote volumes on all subjects, including poetry, ethics, government and politics, biology, physics, and logic. He was a student of Plato, and went on to be a techer to Alexander the Great.

March 10, 241 B.C. - On this date, the First Punic War ended at the Battle of the Aegates Islands, where the Romans destroyed the Carthaginian fleet. Carthage did not have the money or manpower to rebuild its fleet to continue fighting, and thus had to sign a peace treaty with Rome.