ABSTRACT
The people of Saepinum had found that their harvests were damaged by the nibbling of these herdsmen's cattle as they were moved, in the annual process of transhumance. Marcus Aurelius took a lively interest in the religion of Egypt, including the cults of Isis and Serapis. Emperors had occasionally encouraged their persecution, when the Christians omitted formal gestures that proclaimed their loyalty, and in order to distract attention from unpopular hardships; this was notable under Nero, as Tacitus so vividly recorded. As for Marcus Aurelius, he only once refers to the Christians in his Meditations when he is discussing suicide. Marcus Aurelius displayed the usual imperial vigilance on the frontiers. The triumph was largely achieved, so it was said, with the help of two divine interventions, which may have taken place in 172 and which are vigorously depicted on reliefs upon the Column of Marcus Aurelius.
