Emperors and Deities in Rural Britain: A Copper-Alloy Head of Marcus Aurelius from Steane, near Brackley (Northants.)

Abstract

A half-life-sized copper-alloy head of a bearded man was published in the Portable Antiquities Scheme's report of finds from Roman Britain in 2009.1 The head was purchased by the Ashmolean Museum in 2011. In this paper evidence for the identification of the subject as a portrait of the emperor Marcus Aurelius is reviewed by comparison with metropolitan and other certainly identified heads of deities and portraits of the emperor. The technique and likely function of the head are compared with those of similarly worked Roman copper-alloy heads of emperors and deities found in South-East Britain. Finally, a brief account is given of geophysical survey and trial excavation conducted in 2012–13 in the field where the head was found. This offers a unique opportunity to explore the head's archaeological context.

Imaging Hadrian in Britain between Coinage and Sculpture: A New Digital Approach to the Study of Roman Imperial Portraiture

“… 45 Walker 2014; Pearce and Worrell 2016. These include a small bust of Marcus Aurelius from Steane (Northants), one of Antoninus Pius from Willingham (Cambs), one of Lucius Verus from Duston (Northants), one of Commodus from Cottenham (Cambs), a small head of Hadrian or an Antonine emperor found at Bix (Oxon), together with a possible Hadrian from Mildenhall (Suffolk) ( contra Walker 2014, 234 where the author identifies the small bronze head with the god Cernunnos). To these can be added a sceptre-head bust probably depicting Marcus Aurelius, part of a hoard recently found at Ryedale (North Yorks) and now at the Yorkshire Museum (PAS n. YORYM-870B0E).…”

A Fragment of a Monumental Bronze Statue, Lincoln

“…See also, on smaller scales, a half life-size bronze hand from Leicestershire (LEIC-7F4CC3; Worrell and Pearce 2012, 367, no. 10) and the bronze head from Steane (Walker 2014).…”