Basalt bust of Germanicus
Roman, about AD 14-20
Probably made in Egypt
This bust shows the Roman general Germanicus (15 BC - AD 19) in
military dress. Germanicus was the nephew and adopted son of
Tiberius (reigned AD 14-37), the second emperor of Rome. He
commanded the eight Roman legions on the Rhine frontier, apparently
with some distinction, recovering two of the legionary standards
lost after a military disaster in the Teutoberg forest (AD 9).
However, it was mainly among the Roman people, rather than the
army, that he commanded most affection. The Roman biographer
Suetonius in his Life of Caligula III describes
Germanicus' '... unexampled kindliness, and a remarkable desire and
capacity for winning men's regard and inspiring their affection.'
After his untimely death through illness at Antioch in AD 19 he was
elevated to god-like status.
The polished surface of the stone is extremely smooth and
glass-like, but this emphasizes the areas of damage on the chest
and around the nose. While the latter may have been accidentally
damaged, intentional mutilation is visible on the forehead, where a
cross has been carved between the brows. Such mutilation, done
largely by Christians in late antiquity, often took the form of
crosses or random gouges on the brow, eyes or lips of statues.
Religious fanatics thought that such marks were the only means of
keeping at bay the demons which they believed to haunt the
statues.
Basalt is commonly found in Egypt and it is quite likely that
this bust was made there.
A.H. Smith, A catalogue of sculpture in -1, vol. 2 (London, British Museum, 1900)
S. Walker, Roman art (London, 1991)
C. Scarre, Chronicle of the Roman emperor (London, Thames & Hudson, 1997)