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Coordinates | 41°54′6″N12°28′34″E / 41.90167°N 12.47611°E |
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The Column of Antoninus Pius (Italian : Colonna di Antonino Pio) is a Roman honorific column in Rome, Italy, devoted in AD 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.
The column itself was 14.75 metres (48.4 ft) high and 1.9 metres (6 ft 3 in) in diameter and was constructed of red granite, with no decorating reliefs as on the otherwise similar columns of Trajan and Marcus Aurelius. It was quarried out in 106 (as shown by the masons' inscription on its lower end, IG xiv.2421.1). Architecturally, it belonged to the Ustrinum, 25 metres (82 ft) north of it on the same orientation, with the main apotheosis scene facing in that direction, and was surmounted by a statue of Antoninus, as is represented on coins issued after his death (Cohen, Ant. Pius 353‑6).
Previous to the 18th century the base was completely buried, but the lower part of the shaft projected about 6m above the ground. In 1703, when some buildings were demolished in the area of Montecitorio, the rest of the column and the base were discovered and excavated. The column was raised from the ground by Carlo Fontana's son Francesco (1668–1708), but no decision was made about its use. It remained lying on the ground under some sheds, and was damaged by fire in 1759. Unsuccessful attempts were made to repair it soon afterwards in 1764, with some pieces from it being used in 1789 to restore the obelisk of Augustus that is now in the Piazza di Monte Citorio.
Meanwhile, the base (of white Italian marble) was restored in 1706–08 and erected in the centre of Piazza di Montecitorio by Ferdinando Fuga in 1741, before being taken to the Vatican Museums in 1787, where it has been in the Michelangelo niche in the Cortile della Pigna from 1885 until its final move to its current position in the courtyard outside the entrance to the Vatican Pinacoteca.
One side of the base has a dedicatory inscription (CIL vi.1004), two sides record the funerary decursio or decursus (a ceremony performed by the Roman cavalry), and one side shows the apotheosis or ascent to the gods of the emperor and his wife.
A winged genius, sometimes identified as Aion, (Eternity) carries Antoninus and his wife Faustina to Heaven. The Emperor holds a sceptre crowned with an eagle, whilst eagles also fly upwards with them.
The personified male figure (left) holding the obelisk represents the Campus Martius. Augustus had placed this obelisk there as a sundial and it was the site of the ritual of imperial deification ceremonies. The personified female figure in armour (right) saluting the emperor and empress represents Roma, and her shield depicts the legendary founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus, suckled by a she-wolf.
On these two almost identical sides, members of the cavalry circle the standing figures, two carrying military standards and the rest fully armored. Lacking a sense of space and perspective, these scenes are often criticized for their lack of stylistic sophistication. Instead of naturalism, both a bird's eye view of the circular manoeuvre and a ground-level view of each figure are provided. The repetition of the scenes can best be explained by the fact that Antoninus Pius was succeeded by two emperors, Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus, who reigned jointly until the latter died. The decursio depictions, as well as the language on the inscription, can be taken to show a stable and justified transition to the two co-rulers.
Media related to Base of the column of Antoninus Pius at Wikimedia Commons
Preceded by Villa dei Sette Bassi | Landmarks of Rome Column of Antoninus Pius | Succeeded by Column of Marcus Aurelius |
Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Pius was Roman emperor from 138 to 161. He was the fourth of the Five Good Emperors from the Nerva–Antonine dynasty.
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 AD and a Stoic philosopher. He was the last of the rulers known, noncontemporaneously, as the Five Good Emperors and the last emperor of the Pax Romana, an age of relative peace, calmness, and stability for the Roman Empire lasting from 27 BC to 180 AD. He served as Roman consul in 140, 145, and 161.
Lucius Aurelius Verus was Roman emperor from 161 until his death in 169, alongside his adoptive brother Marcus Aurelius. He was a member of the Nerva-Antonine dynasty. Verus' succession together with Marcus Aurelius marked the first time that the Roman Empire was ruled by more than one emperor simultaneously, an increasingly common occurrence in the later history of the Empire.
Lucius Aelius Caesar was the father of Emperor Lucius Verus. In 136, he was adopted by Hadrian and named heir to the throne. He died before Hadrian and thus never became emperor. After Lucius' death, he was replaced by Antoninus Pius, who succeeded Hadrian the same year.
Annia Galeria Faustina the Elder, sometimes referred to as Faustina I or Faustina Major, was a Roman empress and wife of the Roman emperor Antoninus Pius. The emperor Marcus Aurelius was her nephew and later became her adopted son, along with Emperor Lucius Verus. She died early in the principate of Antoninus Pius, but continued to be prominently commemorated as a diva, posthumously playing a prominent symbolic role during his reign.
Annia Galeria Faustina the Younger was Roman empress from 161 to her death as the wife of Emperor Marcus Aurelius, her maternal cousin. Faustina was the youngest child of Emperor Antoninus Pius and Empress Faustina the Elder. She was held in high esteem by soldiers and her husband as Augusta and Mater Castrorum and was given divine honours after her death.
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