Column of Marcus Aurelius
Encyclopedia
The Column of Marcus Aurelius is a Roman victory column in Piazza Colonna
, Rome
, Italy
. It is a Doric column featuring a spiral relief
: it was built in honour of Roman emperor
Marcus Aurelius and modeled on Trajan's Column
.
over the Marcomanni
, Quadi
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
, 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 29.62 m (about 100 feet) high, on a ca. 10.1 m high base, which in turn originally stood on a 3 m high platform - the column in total is 39.72 m. 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 3.7 m diameter, hollowed out whilst 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.
, waged by him from 166 to his death. The story begins with the army crossing the river Danube, probably at Carnuntum
. 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 Marcomanni
and Quadi
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.
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 a 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 emphasized, and its leadership is justified. Overall, it is an anticipation of the development of artistic style into late antiquity
, and a first artistic expression of the crisis of the Roman empire that would worsen in the 3rd century
.
.
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 on Trajan’s Column (27 October 1588). (Originally the top platform probably had a statue of Marcus Aurelius, but it had been already lost by the 16th century.) That adaptation also removed the damaged or destroyed original reliefs on the base of garland-carrying victories
carrying 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:
Piazza Colonna
Piazza Colonna is a piazza at the center of the Rione of Colonna in the historic heart of Rome, Italy. It is named for the marble Column of Marcus Aurelius which has stood there since 193 CE. The bronze statue of Saint Paul that crowns the column was placed in 1589, by order of Pope Sixtus V...
, Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. It is a Doric column featuring a spiral relief
Relief
Relief is a sculptural technique. The term relief is from the Latin verb levo, to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is thus to give the impression that the sculpted material has been raised above the background plane...
: it was built in honour of Roman emperor
Roman Emperor
The Roman emperor was the ruler of the Roman State during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office although at any given time, a given title was associated with the emperor...
Marcus Aurelius and modeled on Trajan's Column
Trajan's Column
Trajan's Column is a Roman triumphal column in Rome, Italy, which commemorates Roman emperor Trajan's victory in the Dacian Wars. It was probably constructed under the supervision of the architect Apollodorus of Damascus at the order of the Roman Senate. It is located in Trajan's Forum, built near...
.
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 triumphRoman triumph
The Roman triumph was a civil ceremony and religious rite of ancient Rome, held to publicly celebrate and sanctify the military achievement of an army commander who had won great military successes, or originally and traditionally, one who had successfully completed a foreign war. In Republican...
over the Marcomanni
Marcomanni
The Marcomanni were a Germanic tribe, probably related to the Buri, Suebi or Suevi.-Origin:Scholars believe their name derives possibly from Proto-Germanic forms of "march" and "men"....
, Quadi
Quadi
The Quadi were a smaller Germanic tribe, about which little is definitively known. We only know the Germanic tribe the Romans called the 'Quadi' through reports of the Romans themselves...
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
Topography of ancient Rome
The topography of ancient Rome is a multidisciplinary field of study that draws on archaeology, epigraphy, cartography and philology.The classic English-language work of scholarship is A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome , written by Samuel Ball Platner, completed and published after his...
, the column stood on the north part of the Campus Martius
Campus Martius
The Campus Martius , was a publicly owned area of ancient Rome about in extent. In the Middle Ages, it was the most populous area of Rome...
, in the centre of a square. This square was either between the temple of Hadrian
Temple of Hadrian
The Temple of Hadrian is a temple to the deified Hadrian on the Campus Martius in Rome, Italy, built by his adoptive son and successor Antoninus Pius in 145 and now incorporated into a later building in the Piazza di Pietra...
(probably the Hadrianeum) and the temple of Marcus Aurelius
Temple of Marcus Aurelius
The Temple of Marcus Aurelius was a temple in Rome dedicated to the deified Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius by his son Commodus. The temple has no surviving archaeological remains, but was probably sited just to the west of the column of Marcus Aurelius, where now stands the Palazzo Wedekind on...
(dedicated by his son Commodus
Commodus
Commodus , was Roman Emperor from 180 to 192. He also ruled as co-emperor with his father Marcus Aurelius from 177 until his father's death in 180. His name changed throughout his reign; see changes of name for earlier and later forms. His accession as emperor was the first time a son had succeeded...
, of which nothing now remains - it was probably on the site of Palazzo Wedekind
Palazzo Wedekind
Palazzo Wedekind is a palazzo in Piazza Colonna in Rome, Italy, located next to the church of Santi Bartolomeo ed Alessandro dei Bergamaschi. It is notable as the historic offices of the daily paper Il Tempo....
), 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 29.62 m (about 100 feet) high, on a ca. 10.1 m high base, which in turn originally stood on a 3 m high platform - the column in total is 39.72 m. 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 3.7 m diameter, hollowed out whilst 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 warsMarcomannic Wars
The Marcomannic Wars were a series of wars lasting over a dozen years from about AD 166 until 180. These wars pitted the Roman Empire against the Marcomanni, Quadi and other Germanic peoples, along both sides of the upper and middle Danube...
, waged by him from 166 to his death. The story begins with the army crossing the river Danube, probably at Carnuntum
Carnuntum
Carnuntum was a Roman army camp on the Danube in the Noricum province and after the 1st century the capital of the Upper Pannonia province...
. 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 Marcomanni
Marcomanni
The Marcomanni were a Germanic tribe, probably related to the Buri, Suebi or Suevi.-Origin:Scholars believe their name derives possibly from Proto-Germanic forms of "march" and "men"....
and Quadi
Quadi
The Quadi were a smaller Germanic tribe, about which little is definitively known. We only know the Germanic tribe the Romans called the 'Quadi' through reports of the Romans themselves...
in the years 172 and 173 are in the lower half and the successes of the emperor over the Sarmatians
Sarmatians
The Iron Age Sarmatians were an Iranian people in Classical Antiquity, flourishing from about the 5th century BC to the 4th century AD....
in the years 174 and 175 in the upper half.
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
Arch of Septimius Severus
The white marble Arch of Septimius Severus at the northwest end of the Roman Forum is a triumphal arch dedicated in AD 203 to commemorate the Parthian victories of Emperor Septimius Severus and his two sons, Caracalla and Geta, in the two campaigns against the Parthians of 194/195 and...
, 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 a 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 emphasized, and its leadership is justified. Overall, it is an anticipation of the development of artistic style into late antiquity
Late Antiquity
Late Antiquity is a periodization used by historians to describe the time of transition from Classical Antiquity to the Middle Ages, in both mainland Europe and the Mediterranean world. Precise boundaries for the period are a matter of debate, but noted historian of the period Peter Brown proposed...
, and a first artistic expression of the crisis of the Roman empire that would worsen in the 3rd century
Crisis of the Third Century
The Crisis of the Third Century was a period in which the Roman Empire nearly collapsed under the combined pressures of invasion, civil war, plague, and economic depression...
.
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 centerpiece to the piazza in front of the Palazzo ChigiPalazzo Chigi
The Palazzo Chigi is a palace or noble residence in Rome, overlooking the Piazza Colonna and the Via del Corso. It was begun in 1562 by Giacomo della Porta and completed by Carlo Maderno in 1580 for the Aldobrandini family. In 1659 it was purchased by the Chigi family. It was then remodelled by...
.
Restoration
About 3 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 FontanaDomenico Fontana
Domenico Fontana was a Swiss-born Italian architect of the late Renaissance.-Biography:200px|thumb|Fountain of Moses in Rome....
and adapted to the ground level of that time. Also a bronze statue of the apostle St. Paul
Paul of Tarsus
Paul the Apostle , also known as Saul of Tarsus, is described in the Christian New Testament as one of the most influential early Christian missionaries, with the writings ascribed to him by the church forming a considerable portion of the New Testament...
was placed on the top platform, to go with that of St. Peter on Trajan’s Column (27 October 1588). (Originally the top platform probably had a statue of Marcus Aurelius, but it had been already lost by the 16th century.) That adaptation also removed the damaged or destroyed original reliefs on the base of garland-carrying victories
Victoria (mythology)
In ancient Roman religion, Victoria was the personified goddess of victory. She is the Roman equivalent of the Greek goddess Nike, and was associated with Bellona. She was adapted from the Sabine agricultural goddess Vacuna and had a temple on the Palatine Hill...
carrying and (on the side facing the via Flaminia
Via Flaminia
The Via Flaminia was an ancient Roman road leading from Rome over the Apennine Mountains to Ariminum on the coast of the Adriatic Sea, and due to the ruggedness of the mountains was the major option the Romans had for travel between Etruria, Latium and Campania and the Po Valley...
) representations of subjected barbarians, replacing them with the following inscription mistakenly calling this the column of Antoninus Pius
Column of Antoninus Pius
The Column of Antoninus Pius is a Roman honorific column in Rome, Italy, devoted in 161 to the Roman emperor Antoninus Pius, in the Campus Martius, on the edge of the hill now known as Monte Citorio, and set up by his successors, the co-emperors Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus.-Construction:The...
, which is now recognised as lost:
| SIXTVS V PONT MAX | (Sixtus V, High Priest (or Supreme Pontiff), |
| COLVMNAM HANC | restored this spiral column, |
| COCLIDEM IMP | |
| ANTONINO DICATAM | dedicated to the emperor Antoninus, |
| MISERE LACERAM | sadly broken and ruinous, |
| RVINOSAMQ(UE) PRIMAE | into its original form. |
| FORMAE RESTITVIT | |
| A. MDLXXXIX PONT IV | 1589, 4th year of his pontificate.) |
Dimensions
- Height of base: 1.58 m
- + Height of shaft: 26.49 m
- Typical height of drums: 1.559 m
- Diameter of shaft: 3.78 m
- + Height of capital: 1.55 m
- = Height of column proper: 29.62 m (~ 100 Roman feet)
- + Height of pedestal: ~ 10.1 m
- = Height of top of column above ground: ~ 39.72 m
See also
- Column of Antoninus PiusColumn of Antoninus PiusThe Column of Antoninus Pius is a Roman honorific column in Rome, Italy, devoted in 161 to the Roman emperor Antoninus Pius, in the Campus Martius, on the edge of the hill now known as Monte Citorio, and set up by his successors, the co-emperors Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus.-Construction:The...
- List of ancient spiral stairs
- Roman ArchitectureRoman architectureAncient Roman architecture adopted certain aspects of Ancient Greek architecture, creating a new architectural style. The Romans were indebted to their Etruscan neighbors and forefathers who supplied them with a wealth of knowledge essential for future architectural solutions, such as hydraulics...
- Trajan's ColumnTrajan's ColumnTrajan's Column is a Roman triumphal column in Rome, Italy, which commemorates Roman emperor Trajan's victory in the Dacian Wars. It was probably constructed under the supervision of the architect Apollodorus of Damascus at the order of the Roman Senate. It is located in Trajan's Forum, built near...