We have lots of sculptures that were created in the Ancient Roman period. Very few of them however, were found in perfect condition. Also, Ancient Roman sculpture tended to be copies of Ancient Greek sculpture, and in this way Ancient Roman sculpture is hardly original. There are slight differences between Ancient Roman sculpture and Ancient Greek sculpture. The Ancient Romans liked to sculpt portraits as close to the likeness of the subject as was possible. That meant that wrinkles and odd features of the subject’s face were carefully sculpted in marble. The photo below is a likeness of Marcus Licinius Crassus. You can see that all his wrinkles have not been smoothed over.
Not only were the Ancient Romans skilled in marble work, they also created sculptures in bronze. The photo below is a portrait of Lucius Caecilius Jucundus. The subject’s wart on the right side of his cheek, and his pointy ears are all preserved in the bronze. Physical oddities were not necessarily considered a shameful thing in Ancient Roman society. Unique physical features were considered a sign of character, so they were embraced rather than suppressed.
The Ancient Romans liked to show realism in their sculptures. One common way they would do this was to make the expressions of the subject very realistic. For example, the sculpture of the “Dying Gaul” shows a man whose facial expressions are in deep pain. Although the Gauls were the enemies of the Ancient Romans, the Romans admired their fighting spirit and respected them as warriors. In some ways, this sculpture shows a sense of empathy towards the subject by showing them that they are sentient human beings. However, this sculpture is also political in the sense that the man from Gaul is shown as being defeated and wounded. In other words, this sculpture could be showing that the Ancient Romans were so strong they were able to inflict pain on other non-Romans.
This wasn’t the only time that sculptures were used for political propaganda. The photo below shows how the Emperor Commodus used to portray himself as Hercules. The bear claws, the bear jaw, and the club are all symbols of the hero Hercules. Not only is he saying that he has the power and strength of a god, but he is also claiming his legitimacy to the throne by alluding to himself as a descendent of Hercules.
