Marcus Aurelius

(AD 121–180). By the standards of his time, Marcus Aurelius was a lenient and humanitarian ruler, but he regarded the Christians as enemies of the state. His statue was the only one to survive from classical times because the citizens of ancient Rome mistakenly thought it was a representation of Emperor Constantine, the first Christian emperor. The statue was probably erected either in AD 176, as part of the honours paid to the emperor in connection with his triumph over the Germanic tribes, or immediately after his death in AD 180.