2-359-830 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Statue of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius, Rome, Italy. The last of the so-called 'Five Good Emperors', Marcus Aurelius ruled from 161 until his death in 180. This bronze equaestrian statue of him was erected in 176, but its original site is not known. It stood in the Lateran Palace in the 8th century and was moved to its present location in the Piazza del Campidoglio on the Capitoline Hill in 1538. The statue that can be seen today is a replica erected in 1981, with the original being kept in the Palazzo Nuovo. It is one of the few surviving Roman bronze equestrian statues, many of which were melted down to make coins and because in medieval times they were thought to represent pagan idols. Marcus Aurelius's statue probably survived because it was erroneously thought to portray Constantine, the first Christian Emperor of Rome. Stereoscopic card details.