Image Gallery
Trebonianus Gallus (Artistic Facial Reconstruction)
Trebonianus Gallus was a Roman army commander who was proclaimed Roman emperor by his troops after Decius (r. 249-251 CE) was killed in battle with the Goths. He initially accepted Decius’ son Hostilian (r. 251 CE) as his co-emperor until the latter died of plague. Gallus subsequently appointed his own son Volusian (r. 251-253 CE) as co-emperor. An outbreak of plague, insurrection and encroachment from the Sassanian Empire, and the Goths threatened his reign. Gallus’ inability to quell unrest in the Roman Empire eventually caused him to lose the support of his men and be supplanted by Aemilian (r. 253 CE).
Pictured alongside the reconstruction are the portraits used as references, including busts from the Antioch Museum (top left), Metropolitan Museum of Art (top right), Louvre (bottom left), and the National Archaeological Museum of Florence (bottom right).
