Marcus Aurelius
Castel St'Angelo holds the ashes of Marcus Aurelius.
Column of Marcus Aurelius
Marcus Aurelius Statue
Original statue - the only pre-Christian Equestrin Roman Emporer bronze state remaining.
How could someone who is talking about Italy, with a family name of Marcus, not say a few words about Marcus Aurelius Antoninus!
Marcus was born in Rome of an aristocratic family with a established presence in Spain. As a child, Emperor Hadrian (rulling from 117-138) too an interest in Marcus and appointed him to the priesthood in 129. Hadrian looked provided Marcus a quality education.
Marcus discovered Stoicism by age 11 and when he reached his early 20's he left his other studies to focus on philosophy.
Emperor Antoninus Pius, followed Hadrian, and adopted Marcus as his son in 138. Keeping the family as a focus, Marcus married Pius's daughter - Faustian a year later in 139.
Marcus was admitted to the Roman Senate and held a consulship status twice. In 147 he shared power with Antoninus and in 161 Marcus ascended the throne, sharing imperial power with his adopted brother Luscious Aurelius Verus for eight years. Then with the death of Verus, Marcus' own son, Commodus governed Rome starting in 177.
Marcus ruled the majority of the of what is referred to as the period of five good emperors (Narva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antonimis Pius and Marcus). He was a strict follower of the Roman religion and as a result, persecuted the Christians.
By 175 his rule was coming to an end, and Marcus had to deal with a revolt of Syria, Avidius Cassius.
He died on March 17, 180 in Vindobona (Vienna, Austria) and his son Commodus became Emperor and turned out to be one of the worst rulers of Rome. The ashes of Marcus were returned to Rome and placed in Hadrian's Mausoleum - this is what is today known as the Castel Sant'Angelo.
He left two Roman monuments
The Marcus Aurelius Column was modeled after another column in Rome, - Trajan's Column which was completed in 113, located in Trajan's Forum, near the Quirinal Hill. The Marcus Aurelius column stands on its original location, which would have includedd a temple to Marcus. Today it is just steps off the Via del Corso.
I must admit that we often had just walked by the Column not stopping to look at the incredible detail of the sculpture that rises to its full height.
The column one can view today is in the Piazza Colonna, and it is now known if it was built while Marcus was alive or after his death in 180 as the original inscription plate is missing. Historical notes indicate there are records to indicated it was errected in 193. The column was restored in 1589. At that time almost three meters of its base was below ground level!
The column is made from blocks of carrara marble, they were holled at the quarry. Inside there are stairs that lead from the base to the top.There are small openings along the column to let light inside.
The relief tells the store of the Danubian or Marcomannic wars (166 and on).
While very similar to Trajan's Column, the carvings have a more dramatic style (heads larger so that viewers can see their facial expressions. When it was restored in 1589 by Pope Sixtus V a bronze status of St, Paul was placed on the top to match the state of St. Peter than was placed on the top of Trajan's column.
In the Piazza del Campidoglio is a replica (1981) of the Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius. The original was moved, relatively recently, in 1981 to the Palazzo dei Conservatori.
It is said that the statue remains because of an error. With Rome's conversion to Christanity, many of the bronze imperial statues were melted down to make coin or to make new sculptures for Christian churches. It is said that when the time cam to melt the Marcus statue, it was throught to protray the Christian Emperor Constantine. This we have the only remain bronze statue of a Roman Emperor that pre-dates Christanity.
The status has been moved from time to time. It was in the Lateran Palace and in 1538 was moved to the Piazza del Campidoglio when Michelangelo took on the re-design of the hill. Michelangelo ws commissioned by Pope Paul III to restructure the Campidoglio. It was a centre for worship of Jupiture during the Roman Empire. It was hoped that the redesign would be a symbol of the New Rome of Popes.