History, Memory and Death of the Roman Emperor Gordian III (III-V AD)

Abstract:

In this article, our aim is to contextualize and to make an analysis about a male bust, in marble, described as “an emperor dressed in a corset”, found in The Barracks House, in Antioch-on-the-Orontes, and it is, conventionally identified as Gordian III who ruled the Roman empire between the years 238 and 244 AD., but doubts were raised as to whether this would be a representation of Gordian III or Trebonianus Gallus. We believe, as Dericksen M. Brinkerhoff suggested, that the bust is in fact Gordian III because of the close relationship between the life of this emperor and the history of the city of Antioch. And we also propose, as a hypothesis, that the aforementioned imperial bust, together with the entire collection of which it is pertinent, be understood in a religious context therefore as having religious meanings.

Keywords:
Memory; Death; Gordian III; Late Antique Statuary; Antioch-on-the-Orontes