Dacian or German Male

Larger than lifesize Roman portrait head. The low brow, long shaggy hair and moustache suggest this a man from the northern or north-eastern provinces of the Roman Empire, although some claim it to represent a Gaul or even the British iron age chief Caractacus.

The emperor Trajan subdued the rebellious province of Dacia (roughly modern day Romania) in two wars in the early second century CE, securing the Empire’s frontiers and bringing in valuable spoils of war. Not surprisingly Trajan’s victories were one of the favourite subjects celebrated in works of art he sponsored

Number

513

Material

Marble

Location of Original

London, British Museum 1770

Size

0.46m

References

Smith: Catalogue of British Museum Sculpture III (1904), 116, pl. IX, fig.2

Date

Early C2 CE

Provenance

Found in the Forum of Trajan

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