Gilt Bronzes From Cartoceto Di Pergola - Identification

Identification

The group is composed of two horsemen, two women, and two horses. The characters represented likely belonged to a single family of senatorial rank, but certain identification of the subjects has eluded archaeologists. Some have proposed that the group may depict the imperial family of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, which would date the statues to 20-30 AD; the horsemen are thought to be Nero Caesar and Drusus III, sons of Germanicus, while the women would be Livia Drusilla (Germanicus' grandmother) and Agrippina the Elder (Germanicus' wife).

More likely, however, the statues date between 50 and 30 BC and depict members of a prestigious legate's family from the territory in which they were discovered, the Ager Gallicus. Several candidate families have been proposed, including that of Domitius Ahenobarbus, as well as those of Marcus Satrius (senator representing Sentinum) and Lucius Minucius Basilus (born in nearby Cupra Maritima, modern Cupra Marittima, and amidst the senators who killed Julius Caesar).

A further hypothesis proposes that the group may have originally been placed in the Heraion of Samos Island, and that the subjects are the family of Marcus Tullius Cicero, who would be one of the horsemen.

Horsemen

The best-preserved horseman is a mature man (about 40 years of age), whose clothes (the paludamentum and tunic) identify him as a high-ranking military officer in time of peace, consistent with the position of the right arm, raised in the symbol of peace. Fragments only remain of the other horseman.

Women

The surviving standing figure depicts an elderly woman, whose hellenistic hairstyle, typical of the second half of the first century, suggests dating the group accordingly. The woman wears a stole and palla. The other female figure is substantially less preserved, as only the lower portions of her body have survived.

Horses

The horses are presented with a raised front leg, which suggests a walking motion. The figures of a triton and a nereid, alongside seahorses and dolphins, adorn each pectoral plate. The harnesses are enriched by metal phaleras on which images of various gods are placed to protect the steed and its owner, including Jupiter, Venus, Mars, Juno, Minerva, and Mercury.