A testament to the enduring influence of the first Roman Emperor, the towering bronze statue of Augustus rises from a granite plinth on a roundabout in Mérida, Spain. Erected in the 21st century, the statue was the centrepiece of the traffic circle’s renovation. Cast from bronze at Codina’s foundry in Madrid, it stands 3.75 metres high and weighs 2.5 tonnes, with the emperor astride his steed, brandishing a staff and holding a sword in his belt.
The stone plinth bears the impression of Augustus' immense foot, a reminder of the statue's size and the weight it bears. The statue, commissioned in 2007 and finalised in time for local elections, is not Mérida's only equestrian statue of Augustus: another, cast by the same artist, can be found near the city's Lusitania Bridge.
Emerita Augusta, now Mérida, was a Roman colony founded by Augustus, and this statue may stand as a unique testament to the conqueror's enduring influence in the city he once ruled over, if not the Roman Empire itself.
Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons
Written by Nik Frost
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