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
