Trajan’s calm image in this portrait owes a lot to the iconography of Augustus. After years of instability, in which dynastic emperors seemed more interested in securing an heir than protecting the Empire, Rome needed a reassuring emperor. Trajan, a military man, was chosen by his predecessor Nerva, and was emperor from 98 to 117.

This portrait is thought to date from the middle of his reign and is probably a good contemporary replica of a bronze prototype