Although mounted, the statue of Marcus Aurelius exhibits many similarities
to that of Augustus. The overall theme is one of power and divine grandeur—the
emperor is over life-size and is holding out his hand in a gesture much like that in the
Augu stus portrait. In this case the gesture may also signify clemency as some historians
assert that a fallen enemy may have been portrayed begging for mercy under the horse's
raised hoof.
It should be pointed out that although rare today, equestrian imperial
portraits were popular before the Christianization of Rome—they are rare now because
early Christians destroyed huge numbers of pre-Christian artworks in the belief that they
were pagan idols. The statue of Marcus Aurelius was spared owing to its early
misidentification as a portrait of Constantine.
It is also worth noting that Marcus Aurelius is riding
without the use of stirrups as the stirrup had not yet been introduced to the West.
