August 27, 2008	Wednesday	Sha'aban 24, 1429

ANKARA: Archaeologists in Turkey have discovered parts of an exquisite marble statue of the Roman emperor and philosopher Marcus Aurelius who ruled between 161 and 180 AD, a local official said on Tuesday.

The remains of the statue of the last of the so-called “good emperors” and one of the most prominent Stoic philosophers was uncovered in a Roman-era bath in Salagassos in western Turkey by a team of Belgian and Turkish excavators.

The remains, including a large head of the emperor with his characteristic bulging eyes, as well as his right hand holding up a globe, were found last week, the curator of the Burdur Haciali Ekinci museum said. According to experts the statue was about 4.5 metres high.

The lower legs of the statue have also been found by the team, led by Belgian professor Marc Waelkens from the Catholic university of Louvain, the curator said in a telephone interview.

Sagalassos was an important regional centre and was inhabited until the seventh century when it was destroyed by an earthquake.

The remains of an equally large statue of the Roman emperor Hadrian, who ruled between 117 and 138 AD, were found earlier at this site.—AFP Picture on Page 15