Emperor Trajan

Unknown artist

after 103 CE

Pentelic marble with modern restorations

Arthur M. Sackler Museum

A full-body marble statue depicts a male figure in military attire, standing with his left arm bent and holding a draped cloth. The statue is missing its right arm and parts of its left arm. This statue shows Trajan in ceremonial armor (in contrast to the field equipment seen on the Column of Trajan in Rome), standing or stepping forward as if in the act of addressing his troops. His elaborate cuirass or breastplate has long tabs or pteryges, leather straps at the shoulders, and longer leather straps around the thighs. A tunic is visible under this ensemble, and a long cloak or paludamentum is worn on the left shoulder and around the left arm. The open-toed sandals are purely ceremonial, in keeping with the symbolic nature of the statue as suggested here and in previous publications. Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackle