CIRCA SECOND QUARTER OF THE 3RD CENTURY A.D.

This portrait dates to the period of the Soldier Emperors. When the Severan Dynasty ended in the mid 3rd Century A.D., there was political turmoil in Rome and military anarchy throughout the Empire. There followed a succession of short reigns by the Soldier Emperors (235-284 A.D.), fierce military men who held the reins of power only with the support of the army. Almost all came to power following the murder of the preceding emperor, and most reigns would in turn come to a premature and violent end. More than sixteen men bore the title of emperor during this turbulent period, including Maximinus Thrax, Pupienus, Balbinus, Gordian III, Philip the Arab, Trajan Decius, Trebonianus Gallus, Aemilianus, Valerian, Gallienus, Claudius Gothicus, Aurelian, Tacitus, Probus, Carus, Carinus and Numerianus. Portraits in marble and bronze during this period are characterised by austere realism, including the closely-cropped hair and beard of the military and the deep creases in the forehead and face that seem to echo the anguish of this turbulent time.

For related examples in bronze depicting Trebonianus Gallus, cf. C. A. Picón et al., Art of the Classical World in the Metropolitan Musuem of Art, New York, 2007, no. 471. See also F. Johansen, Catalogue, Roman Portraits III, Glyptotek Ny-Carlsberg, Copenhagen, 1995, nos. 49 & 57; and K. De Kersauson, Catalogue des portraits romains, Tome II, de l'année de la guerre civile (68-69 ap. J.-C.) à la fin de l'Empire, 1996, no. 217, p. 464.