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Marcus Aurelius: Rome
built 618 days ago
A well-preserved bronze equestrian sculpture of Marcus Aurelius is located in Piazza del Campidoglio, Rome. In fact, it is the only surviving bronze statue of a pre-Christian Roman emperor - because following Rome's conversion to Christianity, when statues of Emperors were being melted down to make statues for the Christian churches, it was incorrectly thought that the statue was of the Emperor Constantine, and so it was left alone. This statue is the subject of a €0.50 Italian euro coin designed by Roberto Mauri (left).
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Marcus Aurelius ruled Rome from A.D. 161–180, when the empire was at its greatest extent and enjoying a period of relative prosperity. He was a thoughtful and intelligent leader, who cared deeply for his people and detested all forms of violence. A devoted student of Stoicism, a philosophy that encouraged individuals to think and act responsibly and unselfishly, Marcus Aurelius embodied the ideal ruler defined by the Greek philosopher Plato about 500 years earlier. He kept a journal of his most private thoughts, which survives today in a book called Meditations.
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Together with his wife Faustina, Marcus Aurelius toured the eastern provinces until 173. He visited Athens, declaring himself a protector of philosophy. After a triumph in Rome, the following year he marched again to the Danubian frontier. After a decisive victory in 178, the plan to annex Bohemia seemed poised for success but was abandoned after Marcus Aurelius again fell ill with chickenpox in 180.
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Marcus Aurelius was trained in philosophy by Apollonius of Chalcedon: in the Greek language by Sextus of Chaeronea, the grandson of Plutarch, while the eminent orator Fronto instructed him in Latin literature. He conducted himself towards all men at Rome, as if he had been their equal, being moved by no arrogance by his elevation to the Empire. He exercised prompt liberality, and managed the provinceswith the utmost kindness and indulgence.
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Marcus Aurelius died on March 17, 180, in the city of Vindobona (modern Vienna), his son and successor Commodus accompanying him. He was immediately deified and his ashes were returned to Rome, and rested in Hadrian's mausoleum (modern Castel Sant'Angelo) until the Visigoth sack of the city in 410. His campaigns against Germans and Sarmatians were ... commemorated by a column in Rome.
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The Column of Marcus Aurelius still stands in modern day Rome today, in the Piazza Colonna. It stands 100 feet high and bears a spiralling band of reliefs telling the pictorial tale of Aurelian's Danubian wars.
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