This beautifully rendered marble carving
of the young Marcus Aurelius was made
during or after the Enlightenment, in
the spirit of the antique originals of
ancient Rome. These pieces were found
during the Great Tours of the 18th and
early 19th centuries, and inspired
sculptors just as antique architecture
was echoed in public buildings of the
period. The base is a plain turned
pedestal, with a sectional block of the
torso slightly narrower than the
shoulders. The face looks slightly to
its right, wearing a pensive expression.
The idealised features are serene and
sensitive, the carelessly tousled hair
picked out in exquisite detail. The
historical Marcus Aurelius achieved a
divine status for being one of the Five
Good Emperors, a dignified and
intellectual man and a strong leader. In
youth he was favoured by Hadrian, who
saw in him something of his future
potential as well as his obvious beauty
that can be seen here.
Marcus Aurelius was among the most
important, most intellectual, and least
despotic of the Roman emperors. Born
Marcus Annius Catilius Severus in 121
AD, his family was fairly well-connected
to the aristocracy and ruling classes of
Rome, including Hadrian, Trajan and
Antoninus Pius. His father died when he
was three, and he was raised by his
mother and paternal grandfather. His
meteoric rise to imperial power was
occasioned by the confusion stemming
from succession after the death of
Hadrian. He attracted the attention of
Hadrian at a young age, and was
nicknamed verissimus – truest. Following
the death of Hadrian’s adoptive son
Lucius Aurelius, Hadrian named Antoninus
as his successor on the condition that
he adopt Marcus as well as Lucius
Aurelius Verus, the son of his own
adopted son, and that they succeed him
as emperor in their turn. To this end,
both received the best education that
could be afforded them, from luminaries
such as Geminus, Andron, Celer, Fronto
and Atticus. His correspondence with
Fronto has survived, painting a picture
of a serious, industrious youth with
high ideals and energy.
He acceded to power in 161, aged 40, and
adopted the name Marcus Aurelius
Antoninus. He ruled as co-regent with
Verus, ten years his junior, to whom he
seems to have given more menial or less
commanding roles such as commanding the
eastern armies. Marcus’ rule was humane,
targeting corruption in law and civil
areas, as well as socially concerned
attitudes towards the bereaved, orphaned
and enslaved. Christians were
technically still punishable, but this
action was rarely pursued. The empire
grew, defeating the Parthians in 166,
and repelling Germania’s invasions a
decade later. Most impressively, the
Roman Empire maintained cordial
relations with states in Central Asia as
far east as Han China. He was poised to
take over Bohemia, but these plans
collapsed when he became ill and died in
180 AD. The cause was the so-called
Antonine Plague, which had been brought
back from Parthia fifteen years
previously. Believed to have been
measles or smallpox, this disease also
killed Lucius Verus as well as about 5
million people in the Roman Empire.
Personally he was amicable, humane and
intellectual. His Meditations, written
while on campaign, is still used as a
reference for leadership and duty and
proposed a manner of rational virtue. He
was a Stoic philosopher of considerable
note, as well as a family man who took
his wife and children with him on his
trips around the empire. He had fourteen
children by Faustina the Younger, of
which only one son and four daughters
survived him. He was deified upon his
death, and was succeeded by Commodus,
who turned out to be one of the most
disastrous choices in Imperial Rome.
This is a powerful and attractive piece
of Enlightenment sculpture.
