Aurelius was last in a line of “Five Good Emperors” because he was the one who messed up his succession plan. The prior emperors passed power not to family but to well-groomed individuals that were basically adopted children for them, whereas Aurelius’ power went to his psychopathic son.

So my hot take is that Rome might have benefited from Aurelius putting a bit more time into preparing a proper successor and a bit less time meditating on decaying meat. The legacy of Aurelius is a lot of wise words but then ultimately the fall of Rome.