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Sculpture

A few portraits of Septimius Severus have been found in Ostia. His bearded, calm face stands in the Antonine tradition. The portraits of his son Caracalla are a break in tradition, because of the well-known frown on the face. Only one certain portrait of Caracalla was found in Ostia, on the Bivio del Castrum, but it is much damaged (examples of portraits of Caracalla).



Bust of Septimius Severus, found in 1925 on the Isola Sacra.
Museo Ostiense. Scavi di Ostia IX, nr. 55. Photo: Wikimedia, Sailko.

Portraits of Septimius Severus' wife Julia Domna have also been unearthed. One depicts her as young woman. It was found behind the Temple of Roma and Augustus, and may have come from the Round Temple. A statue of Julia Domna in the guise of Ceres was found in 1939 on what the excavators called the Piazzale di Giulia Domna, a few tens of meters away from the schola of Trajan.[1] In antiquity, after the original use, the statue had been placed carefully on the ground and protected with a wooden frame. Here Raissa Calza notes that several statues in Ostia were buried in late antiquity with care, to protect them from damage by Christians or barbarians. As goddess of fertility and the grain Domna is holding a bunch of ears and poppies. The statue was made after her suicide in 217 AD, when she was deified.

The young Julia Domna. Found behind the Temple of Roma and Augustus.
Museo Ostiense. Scavi di Ostia IX, nr. 61.
Photo: ICCD F005773.		 Julia Domna as Ceres. Found near the schola of Trajan.
Museo Ostiense. Scavi di Ostia IX, nr. 63.
Photo: Wikimedia, Sailko.

Domna chose a very characteristic hairstyle, created by a wig. It was copied by other women, and is used by art historians as a secure dating criterion.



Fragment of a sarcophagus from Portus. The wife has the hairstyle of Julia Domna.
C. 220-230 AD. Museo Ostiense. Scavi di Ostia IX, nr. 77. Photo: ICCD E035379.



A sacrificial scene on the Torlonia relief from Portus. In the centre is a woman with the hairstyle of Julia Domna.
Photo: Annewies van den Hoek.

(1) The Portico della Fontana con Lucerna?