The Column of Marcus Aurelius ( la, Columna Centenaria Divorum Marci et Faustinae, it, Colonna di Marco Aurelio) is a

Roman victory column A victory column, or monumental column or triumphal column, is a monument in the form of a column, erected in memory of a victorious battle, war, or revolution. The column typically stands on a base and is crowned with a victory symbol, such as a ...

in Piazza Colonna,

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. It is a

Doric column The Doric order was one of the three orders of ancient Greek and later Roman architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian. The Doric is most easily recognized by the simple circular capitals at the top of co ...

featuring a spiral

relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

: it was built in honour of Roman emperor

Marcus Aurelius Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (Latin: áːɾkus̠ auɾέːli.us̠ antɔ́ːni.us̠ English: ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 AD and a Stoic philosopher. He was the last of the rulers known as the Five Good E ...

and modeled on Trajan's Column.

Construction

Because the original dedicatory inscription has been destroyed, it is not known whether it was built during the emperor's reign (on the occasion of the triumph over the

Marcomanni The Marcomanni were a Germanic people * * * that established a powerful kingdom north of the Danube, somewhere near modern Bohemia, during the peak of power of the nearby Roman Empire. According to Tacitus and Strabo, they were Suebian. O ...

Quadi The Quadi were a Germanic * * * people who lived approximately in the area of modern Moravia in the time of the Roman Empire. The only surviving contemporary reports about the Germanic tribe are those of the Romans, whose empire had its bord ...

and Sarmatians in the year 176) or after his death in 180; however, an inscription found in the vicinity attests that the column was completed by 193. In terms of the topography of ancient Rome, the column stood on the north part of the Campus Martius, in the centre of a square. This square was either between the temple of Hadrian (probably the Hadrianeum) and the temple of Marcus Aurelius (dedicated by his son

Commodus Commodus (; 31 August 161 – 31 December 192) was a Roman emperor who ruled from 177 to 192. He served jointly with his father Marcus Aurelius from 176 until the latter's death in 180, and thereafter he reigned alone until his assassination. ...

, of which nothing now remains – it was probably on the site of Palazzo Wedekind), or within the latter's sacred precinct, of which nothing remains. Nearby is the site where the emperor's cremation occurred. The column's shaft is high, on a high base, which in turn originally stood on a high platform – the column in total is About 3 metres of the base have been below ground level since the 1589 restoration. The column consists of 27 or 28 blocks of Carrara marble, each of diameter, hollowed out while still at the quarry for a stairway of 190–200 steps within the column up to a platform at the top. Just as with Trajan's Column, this stairway is illuminated through narrow slits into the relief.

Relief

The spiral picture relief tells the story of Marcus Aurelius' Danubian or Marcomannic wars, waged by him from 166 to his death. The story begins with the army crossing the river Danube, probably at

Carnuntum Carnuntum ( according to Ptolemy) was a Roman legionary fortress ( la, castra legionis) and headquarters of the Pannonian fleet from 50 AD. After the 1st century, it was capital of the Pannonia Superior province. It also became a large ...

. A Victory separates the accounts of two expeditions. The exact chronology of the events is disputed; however, the latest theory states that the expeditions against the

and

in the years 172 and 173 are in the lower half and the successes of the emperor over the Sarmatians in the years 174 and 175 in the upper half. Germanische ratssitzung

One particular episode portrayed is historically attested in Roman propaganda – the so-called "rain miracle in the territory of the Quadi", in which a god, answering a prayer from the emperor, rescues Roman troops by a terrible storm, a miracle later claimed by the Christians for the Christian God. In spite of many similarities to Trajan's Column, the style is entirely different, a forerunner of the dramatic style of the 3rd century and closely related to the triumphal arch of Septimius Severus, erected soon after. The figures' heads are disproportionately large so that the viewer can better interpret their facial expressions. The images are carved less finely than at Trajan's Column, through drilling holes more deeply into the stone, so that they stand out better in a contrast of light and dark. As villages are burned down, women and children are captured and displaced, men are killed, the emotion, despair, and suffering of the "barbarians" in the war, are represented acutely in single scenes and in the figures' facial expressions and gestures, whilst the emperor is represented as protagonist, in control of his environment. The symbolic language is altogether clearer and more expressive, if clumsier at first sight, and leaves a wholly different impression on the viewer to the whole artistic style of 100 to 150 as on Trajan's Column. There, cool and sober balance – here, drama and empathy. The pictorial language is unambiguous – imperial dominance and authority is emphasised, and its leadership is justified. Overall, it is an anticipation of the development of artistic style into

late antiquity Late antiquity is the time of transition from classical antiquity to the Middle Ages, generally spanning the 3rd–7th century in Europe and adjacent areas bordering the Mediterranean Basin. The popularization of this periodization in English h ...

, and a first artistic expression of the crisis of the Roman empire that would worsen in the 3rd century.

Later history

In the Middle Ages, climbing the column was so popular that the right to charge the entrance fee was annually auctioned, but it is no longer possible to do so today. Now the Column serves a centrepiece to the Piazza Colonna, in front of the Palazzo Chigi. Inscription Column Marcus Aurelius

Restoration

About three metres of the base have been below ground level since 1589 when, by order of pope Sixtus V, the whole column was restored by

Domenico Fontana Domenico Fontana (154328 June 1607) was an Italian architect of the late Renaissance, born in today's Ticino. He worked primarily in Italy, at Rome and Naples. Biography He was born at Melide, a village on the Lake Lugano, at that time join ...

and adapted to the ground level of that time. Also a bronze statue of the apostle St. Paul was placed on the top platform, to go with that of

St. Peter ) (Simeon, Simon) , birth_date = , birth_place = Bethsaida, Gaulanitis, Syria, Roman Empire , death_date = Between AD 64–68 , death_place = probably Vatican Hill, Rome, Italia, Roman Empire , parents = John (or Jonah; Jona) , occupation ...

on Trajan's Column (27 October 1588). (Originally the top platform had a statue of Marcus Aurelius, but it was removed and switched with St.Paul after Christianity took reign as the dominant religion.) That adaptation also removed the damaged or destroyed original reliefs on the base of garland-carrying

victories The term victory (from Latin ''victoria'') originally applied to warfare, and denotes success achieved in personal combat, after military operations in general or, by extension, in any competition. Success in a military campaign constitutes a ...

and (on the side facing the via Flaminia ) representations of subjected barbarians, replacing them with the following inscription mistakenly calling this the column of Antoninus Pius, which is now recognised as lost:

Dimensions

*Height of base: All data from: *+ Height of shaft: **Typical height of drums: **Diameter of shaft: *+ Height of capital: *= Height of column proper: (~ 100

Roman feet The ancient Roman units of measurement were primarily founded on the Hellenic system, which in turn was influenced by the Egyptian system and the Mesopotamian system. The Roman units were comparatively consistent and well documented. Length T ...

) *+ Height of pedestal: ~ *= Height of top of column above ground: ~

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * *

External links

Eugen Petersen's photographs of the Column of Marcus Aurelius
*High-resolution 360° Panoramas and Images o
Column of Marcus Aurelius , Art Atlas
{{DEFAULTSORT:Column Of Marcus Aurelius Buildings and structures completed in the 2nd century Monumental columns in Rome 2nd-century Roman sculptures

Cultural depictions of Marcus Aurelius Rome R. III Colonna Roman sculpture portraits of emperors