we have marcus aurelius as an idealistic young man and as the weary philosopher emperor who was to die on a lonely frontier. we have the portrait of this aristocratic beauty of the flavi piod, osslavs must have beenstantly sy wi the curling iron. and by contrast, the flaccid irand carewornxpression wom in her decliniea. decius ruled an empire more aore threatened by barbarians at its borders and by civil strife within. looking for scapegoats he ordered the first systematic persecution of christians. a vision of the christian cross was said to have inspired the military victory of constantine over his rival for the imperial crown inhe year 312. this colossal head is a portrait not of constantine the individual but of his divinely inspired power. the senate honored him with the last triumphal arch built in rome. nervous about constantine's interest in christianity the senators decorated it not only with new reliefs, but also with earlier works of trajan, hadrian and marcus aurelius-- reminders of the glorious and pagan roman tradition. they reveal a remarkable change in roman art. the dy

emperor marcus aurelius ruled 50 million people on three continents when he immortalized himself in bronzend gold. now, in the ruins of the roman empire, scholars grapple with an age-old question -- how does any one leader acquire so much power ? from the tribes of highland new guinea and the chiefdoms of the american northwest, to the kingdoms of the ancient maya, archaeologists trace the evolution of human leadership. theirs is a journey through time seeking clues to the emergence of the state.

emperor marcus aurelius ruled 50 million people on three continents when he immortalized himself in bronze and gold. now, in the ruins of the roman empire, scholars grapple with an age-old question -- how does any one leader acquire so much power ? from the tribes of highland new guinea and the chiefdoms of the american northwest, to the kingdoms of the ancient maya, archaeologists trace the evolution of human leadership. theirs is a journey through time seeking clues to the emergence of the state. join us now at the dawn of a civilization to uncover the roots of power, prestige and wealth. in the pyramids and monuments of the ancient maya, workers search for clues to the emergence of a vanished civilization. these are the ruins of the ancient city of copan, honduras. dozens of stone monuments, called stelae, proclaim the power of mighty beings. until experts could read these carved hieroglyphs, most scholars thought these larger-than-life figures represented maya gods. but we now know they are portraits of copan's rulers, with names like butz chan... smoke shell... and the most powerful o