In stature he was a little below the common height; his skin was foul and spotted; his hair inclined to yellow; his features were agreeable, rather than handsome; his eyes gray and dull, his neck was thick, his belly prominent, his legs very slender, his constitution sound. For, tho excessively luxurious in his mode of living, he had, in the course of fourteen years, only three fits of sickness; which were so slight, that he neither forbore the use of wine, nor made any alteration in his usual diet. In his dress, and the care of his person, he was so careless, that he had his hair cut in rings, one above another; and when in Achaia, he let it grow long behind; and he generally appeared in public in the loose dress which he used at table, with a handkerchief about his neck and without either a girdle or shoes. FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 146: From the translation by Alexander Thomson, revised by T. Forester.] [Footnote 147: Now Pozzuoli, which fronts on the bay, seven miles west of Naples. It still has ruins of an amphitheater, 482 feet by 384 in size. In Roman times it was as important commercial city.] [Footnote 148: Bovillae is now known as Frattochio. It stands on the Appian Way, about nineteen miles from Rome.] [Footnote 149: This mausoleum was of white marble rising in terraces to a great height, and was crowned by a dome on which stood a statue of Augustus. Marcellus was the first person buried there. Its site was near the present Porta del Popolo.] [Footnote 150: From the translation by Alexander Thomson, revised by T. Forester.] [Footnote 151: The Emperor Claudius.] [Footnote 152: Nero was born in Antium, distant from Rome about thirty-eight miles. The Apollo Belvidere was found among its ruins.] [Footnote 153: These baths stood west of the Pantheon. Altho of great extent, no remains of them now exist.] [Footnote 154: This scheme, which was a favorite one of many Roman emperors and even of Julius Caesar, was not realized until our time. The Corinth canal was completed in 1893.] [Footnote 155: From the translation by Alexander Thomson, revised by T. Forester.] [Footnote 156: The Roman general, then leader of the revolt against Nero, who was afterward proclaimed Emperor.] [Footnote 157: Epaphroditus was the master of Epictetus, the Stoic philosopher, before his freedom.] MARCUS AURELIUS Born in Rome in 121 A.D.; died in 180; celebrated as emperor and Stoic philosopher; a nephew of Antoninus Pius, whom he succeeded as emperor, with Lucius Verus; after the death of Verus in 169 became sole emperor; his reign notable for wisdom and the happiness of the Roman people; wrote his "Meditations" in Greek; a bronze equestrian statue of him in Rome is the finest extant specimen of ancient bronze. HIS DEBT TO OTHERS[158] 1. From my grandfather Verus[159] [I learned] good morals and the government of my temper. 2. From the reputation and remembrance of my father,[160] modesty and a manly character.