Marcus Aurelius is the last of those Machiavelli and Gibbon spoke of as the “Five Good Emperors”. In a reign beset by war and disease, he was a keen follower of Stoic philosophy, and the notebook of thoughts written on the edge of Empire during the Marcomannic Wars comes down to us as his “Meditations”. Its survival is credited with its espousal of themes which were interpreted (somewhat ironically) as having Christian overtones. The extraordinary gilded bronze equestrian statue of the Emperor now in the Capitoline Museums is also believed to have survived the “recycling” of the Middle Ages for an erroneous interpretation through Christian eyes. Here’s how he looked last Monday morning.
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Saluti, Agnes
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