Bronze head of a Roman Emperor

This head, found in 1907, formed part of a life-size bronze statue of a Roman emperor. It is more likely to be a young Nero (reigned AD 54-68) than Claudius (reigned AD 41-54). Life-size and larger imperial statues were placed in important public and official spaces. It is conceivable that the statue might originally have occupied such a space in the colonia (settlement) at Colchester in Essex.

It has been suggested that the removal of the head, and presumably the destruction of the body of the statue, might have taken place during the rebellion of the British tribal leader Boudica (in AD 61). This can be no more than a theory as there is no certain evidence even linking the statue with Colchester.