Rome, Italy: Capitoline Museums - Rick Steves Travel Guide - Travel Bite

The Capitoline Hill, which rises majestically from the busy streets, has long been the home of Rome's city government. During the Renaissance, Michelangelo designed this regal staircase. He gave the square its famously harmonious proportions and its majestic centerpiece, an ancient statue of Emperor Marcus Aurelius. This is a copy. The 2nd-century original, the greatest equestrian statue of antiquity, is showcased in the adjacent Capitoline Museum. This, like the other great statues of antiquity, is now safely out of the elements. The museum helps you imagine life before the fall of Rome. These reliefs show Marcus Aurelius performing the various duties of an emperor. Here, as the chief priest, or Pontifus Maximus, he prepares to sacrifice a bull. Here, on the battlefield, he grants clemency to vanquished barbarian leaders. And this one puts you curbside at a victory parade with the emperor, the Eisenhower of his day, on a chariot, winged victory on his shoulder, and trumpets proclaiming his glory. The art of imperial Rome almost always carried a message. This dying gall, a Roman copy of a Greek original, was part of a monument celebrating another victory over the barbarians. Like any propaganda art, battle scenes stoked imperial pride. You can wander among heroic statues in grand halls and look into the eyes of long-forgotten emperors. And the museum also shows a more peaceful and intimate side of Roman life. Here, a boy quietly pulls a thorn from his foot. At first glance, these look like paintings, but they're actually micromosaics made of thousands of tiny chips. This mosaic hung in Emperor Hadrian's villa. Romans emulated the high culture of the Greeks, and when it came to capturing beauty, their forte was making excellent copies of Greek originals. The Capitoline Venus is one of the truest representations of the concept of feminine beauty from ancient times. Like so many classical statues, this is a 2,000-year-old Roman copy of a 2,500-year-old Greek original. And this statue, called the Drunken Faun, is a playful reminder that a trait of ancient Rome that survives to this day is a fondness for good food and fine wine.