Bust of Commodus as Hercules
The bust portrays the emperor in the guise of Hercules, whose attributes he has adopted: the lion skin on his head, the club in his right hand, the Hesperides apples in his left, in memory of certain labours of the Greek hero. The bust rests on a complex allegorical composition: two kneeling Amazons (only one is preserved) on either side of a globe decorated with zodiac symbols, holding cornucopias entwined around a pelta, the characteristic shield of the Amazons and two sea Tritons flanking the central figure as a sign of apotheosis. The group was found in an underground chamber of the Horti Lamiani complex.
