DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.15091#0040
PLATE IX.
A head of Marcus Aurelius, surnamed the Philosopher. He suc-
ceeded Antoninus Pius, as Emperor of Rome, in the year of our eera
161, and died at the age of 58, in the year 180. During the whole
of his reign, Marcus Aurelius displayed so much moderation and
wisdom, and so entirely consulted the happiness as well as glory
of the Roman people, that at his death he received the honour
of deification, all classes vying with each other in paying reverence
to his memory.(i)
The countenance is expressive of great benignity, and strikingly
pourtrays the dignified gravity which the philosophical pursuits of
this emperor rendered habitual to him. (2) He is here represented
as one of the Fratres Arvales, being veiled with the prastexta, or
sacerdotal robe, and crowned with a wreath of corn, and with the
sacred infulse, or fillets, which were the appropriate marks of dis-
tinction worn by that order of priests, who are said to have been
instituted by Romulus :(3) it was their office, at particular seasons,
to go into the fields in solemn procession, and to offer up prayers
for the fertility of the earth. Julius Caesar is frequently represented
on his coins in the character of Frater Arvalis, that is to say, veiled,
1 Et parum sane fuit quod illi honores divinos omnis aetas, omnis sexus, omnis con-
ditio ac dignitas dedit, nisi quod etiam sacrilegus judicatus est, qui ejus imaginem in sua
domo non liabuit, qui per fortunam vel potuit habere vel debuit. Denique hodieque in
multis domibus M. Antonini statua? consistunt inter deos penates : ncc defuerunt homines
qui somniis eum multa prasdixisse futura et vera concinuerunt. Unde etiam templum
ei constitutum, dati sacerdotes Antoniniani, et sodales et flamines, et omnia qua? de
sacratis decrevit antiquitas. Jul. Capitol, in vita M. Aurelii, c. 18.
1 Sed ab omnibus his intentionibus studium eum philosophise abduxit, seriumque et
gravem reddidit: non tamen prorsus abolita in eo comitate. Jul. Capitol, in vita
M. Aurelii, c. 4.
3 Arvorum sacerdotes Romulus inprimis instituit, sequc duodecimum fratrem appel-
lavit inter illos, ab Acca Laurentia nutrice sua genitos, spicea corona, qua? vitta alba
colligaretur, in sacerdotio eis pro religiosissimo insigni data, quae prima apud Romanos
fuit corona : honosque is non nisi vita finitur. Plin. Nat. Hist. lib. xviii. c. ii.
Ex eo tempore collegium mansit fratrum arvalium, numero duodecim : cujus sacerdotii
insigne est spicea corona, et albas infulas. A. Gell. lib. vi. c. 7.
A head of Marcus Aurelius, surnamed the Philosopher. He suc-
ceeded Antoninus Pius, as Emperor of Rome, in the year of our eera
161, and died at the age of 58, in the year 180. During the whole
of his reign, Marcus Aurelius displayed so much moderation and
wisdom, and so entirely consulted the happiness as well as glory
of the Roman people, that at his death he received the honour
of deification, all classes vying with each other in paying reverence
to his memory.(i)
The countenance is expressive of great benignity, and strikingly
pourtrays the dignified gravity which the philosophical pursuits of
this emperor rendered habitual to him. (2) He is here represented
as one of the Fratres Arvales, being veiled with the prastexta, or
sacerdotal robe, and crowned with a wreath of corn, and with the
sacred infulse, or fillets, which were the appropriate marks of dis-
tinction worn by that order of priests, who are said to have been
instituted by Romulus :(3) it was their office, at particular seasons,
to go into the fields in solemn procession, and to offer up prayers
for the fertility of the earth. Julius Caesar is frequently represented
on his coins in the character of Frater Arvalis, that is to say, veiled,
1 Et parum sane fuit quod illi honores divinos omnis aetas, omnis sexus, omnis con-
ditio ac dignitas dedit, nisi quod etiam sacrilegus judicatus est, qui ejus imaginem in sua
domo non liabuit, qui per fortunam vel potuit habere vel debuit. Denique hodieque in
multis domibus M. Antonini statua? consistunt inter deos penates : ncc defuerunt homines
qui somniis eum multa prasdixisse futura et vera concinuerunt. Unde etiam templum
ei constitutum, dati sacerdotes Antoniniani, et sodales et flamines, et omnia qua? de
sacratis decrevit antiquitas. Jul. Capitol, in vita M. Aurelii, c. 18.
1 Sed ab omnibus his intentionibus studium eum philosophise abduxit, seriumque et
gravem reddidit: non tamen prorsus abolita in eo comitate. Jul. Capitol, in vita
M. Aurelii, c. 4.
3 Arvorum sacerdotes Romulus inprimis instituit, sequc duodecimum fratrem appel-
lavit inter illos, ab Acca Laurentia nutrice sua genitos, spicea corona, qua? vitta alba
colligaretur, in sacerdotio eis pro religiosissimo insigni data, quae prima apud Romanos
fuit corona : honosque is non nisi vita finitur. Plin. Nat. Hist. lib. xviii. c. ii.
Ex eo tempore collegium mansit fratrum arvalium, numero duodecim : cujus sacerdotii
insigne est spicea corona, et albas infulas. A. Gell. lib. vi. c. 7.