Column of Marcus Aurelius

The Column of Marcus Aurelius stands in Piazza Colonna, on the Via del Corso in the centre of Rome, in front of Palazzo Chigi, the seat of the Italian government. It was raised to honour the emperor Marcus Aurelius and his campaigns against the Germanic and Sarmatian peoples north of the Danube, fought from 169 until his death in 180, and was completed around 193. It is modelled closely on Trajan's Column: the shaft is 29.6 m high, stands on a 10 m base, is made of Carrara marble drums and is hollow, with a stair of around 190 to 200 steps lit through slits in the relief.

The relief spirals 21 times around the shaft. It begins with the army crossing the Danube and then follows the campaigns in scene after scene. Compared with Trajan's Column, the carving is cut deeper, with more drilling and stronger contrasts of light and shadow, and the heads are enlarged so that expressions can be read from below. The mood is harsher too: villages burn, women and children are led away, and the suffering of the defeated is shown plainly. The most famous episode is the "rain miracle" in the land of the Quadi, where a rain god appears to save thirsty Roman troops with a sudden storm, a story later claimed by Christians for their own God.

By the 16th century about six metres of the monument lay buried under the rising ground level and the emperor's statue had long vanished. In 1589 Pope Sixtus V had the architect Domenico Fontana restore it: he dug out the base, repaired the cracks and crowned it with the bronze Saint Paul that still stands on top. Fontana also reclad the pedestal with marble and new inscriptions, one of which wrongly credits the column to Antoninus Pius.

Getting there

Piazza Colonna is on the Via del Corso in the historic centre of Rome; the column can be seen from the square at any time. Ciampino Airport (CIA) is about 15 km away, and Fiumicino (FCO) is the main international airport.