Portonaccio sarcophagus

The sarcophagus is one of a group of about twenty-five late Roman battle sarcophagi, with one exception all apparently dating to 170–210, made in Rome or in some cases Athens. These derive from Hellenistic monuments from Pergamon in Asia Minor showing Pergamene victories over the Gauls, and were all presumably commissioned for military commanders. The Portonaccio sarcophagus is the best known and most elaborate of the main Antonine group, and shows both considerable similarities to the Great Ludovisi sarcophagus, the late outlier from about 250, and a considerable contrast in style and mood.[3]

The chest is very high, with all the front covered in high reliefs of combat between Romans and barbarians. The complex battle is divided into four sections: two above with Roman cavalry, one with Roman infantry, and the last and lowest with the overwhelmed barbarians. At the center, forceful lines converge on the one figure, the cavalry general charging and who does not have a carved face.

The face of the general is unfinished, either because the sculptors awaited a model to work from, or they had produced the work speculatively with no specific commission. The general and his wife are also each shown twice on the lid frieze, together holding each other's hands at the centre, and singly at the ends, again with unfinished faces.[4]

Pairs of figures of an older man and a woman stand beneath trophies at either end of the main face, uninvolved in the battle. The barbarian at right is probably Suebian (Marcomanni, Quadi, or Buri) based on his hairstyle (a Suebian knot). The barbarian on the left is either a high German or a Samartic Iazyges. These are at the same scale as the general, and all other the battling figures are smaller; indeed, in defiance of any attempt at perspective, the soldiers and horses at the "front" of the scene in the lower part are somewhat smaller than their equivalents at the "back" in the upper part.

The cover of the sarcophagus has two large acroterions depicting gargoyles and is decorated with a low-relief frieze that depicts a life story (the presentation of a baby to its mother, his education, marriage, and a dedication to Clementia). The face, as on the main sarcophagus, is not depicted.

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  Left side
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  Right side
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  Detail of front, to left
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  Detail of front, to centre, with the general
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  Detail of front, to right
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  Detail of barbarians
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  Trophies at the side of the front
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