A FRENCH BRONZE BUST OF THE ROMAN EMPEROR CARACALLA

History seems to have had a bitter-sweet love affair with the emperor Caracalla. He is described in the Historia Augusta as having had an evil mode of life. 'He was gluttonous in his use of food and addicted to wine, hated by his household and detested in every camp save that of the praetorian guard' (C. Scarre, Chronicle of the Roman Emperors, London, 1998, pp. 138-146). Yet also attributed to his name is the architectural splendour of the Baths of Caracalla in Rome and many military victories including those against Germany in AD 213 and the Parthians in AD 216. He is commonly represented looking to sinister with square and heavy features and his trademark frowning brow. Antique versions of his portrait can be seen in the Museo Nazionale, Naples and the British Museum, London.