Marcus Aurelius ∆ (c. 180 AD)

Unknown Gallo-Roman artist

Golden bust, found in Avenches, Switzerland, in 1939

c. 33.5 cm

 

Collection of the Historisches Museum Bern, Switzerland

 

“If, at some point in your life, you should come across anything better than justice, prudence, self-control, courage — than a mind satisfied that it has succeeded in enabling you to act rationally, and satisfied to accept what’s beyond its control — if you find anything better than that, embrace it without reservations — it must be an extraordinary thing indeed — and enjoy it to the full.

 

But if nothing presents itself that’s superior to the spirit that lives within—the one that has subordinated individual desires to itself, that discriminates among impressions, that has broken free of physical temptations (as Socrates used to say), and subordinated itself to the gods, and looks out for human beings’ welfare — if you find that there’s nothing more important or valuable than that …

 

… then don’t make room for anything but it — for anything that might lead you astray, tempt you off the road, and leave you unable to devote yourself completely to achieving the goodness that is uniquely yours.” — Marcus Aurelius in Meditations, Book 2.6 (in a translation by Gregory Hayes)¶

 

 

 

 

 

 

∆  Through his portraits, the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius (121–180 AD) is constantly in attendance over his vast empire. Here, the hair is combed back from the forehead, representing a typical Celtic hairstyle and reveals the Gallo-Roman origin of the artist. Hammered from a single sheet of gold, the bust is a masterpiece of craftsmanship. Found in the Swiss town of Avenches (Aventicum in Roman days) in 1939, it is one of only three golden imperial busts to have survived across the vast territories of the Roman empire.

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