Beryl intaglio with portrait of Julia Domna

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Julia Domna was the wife of the Emperor Septimius Severus (A.D. 193–211) and the mother of Caracalla (A.D. 211–217) and his ill-fated younger brother Geta (A.D. 211–212). The empress came from Syria and introduced a distinct eastern influence into the Roman ruling elite. It was largely through her Syrian relatives that the Severan dynasty was able to continue in power until A.D. 235. Her portrait was widely copied and distributed as part of the propaganda campaign of her ambitious family.

Greek and Roman Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Museum's collection of Greek and Roman art comprises more than thirty thousand works ranging in date from the Neolithic period (ca. 4500 B.C.) to the time of the Roman emperor Constantine's conversion to Christianity in A.D. 312. It includes the art of many cultures and is among the most comprehensive in North America. The geographic regions represented are Greece and Italy, but not as delimited by modern political frontiers: Greek colonies were established around the Mediterranean basin and on the shores of the Black Sea, and Cyprus became increasingly Hellenized. For Roman art, the geographical limits coincide with the expansion of the Roman Empire. The department also exhibits the art of prehistoric Greece (Helladic, Cycladic, and Minoan) and pre-Roman art of Italic peoples, notably the Etruscans.

Metropolitan Museum of Art