Roman Emperor Caracalla, "Lunense", 212 - 217 AD (marble and porphyry)

bust of the roman emperor Caracalla. (212 - 217 AD), "Lunense" marble and porphyry. Caracalla is remembered as one of the most notorious and unpleasant of emperors because of the massacres and persecutions he authorized and instigated throughout the Empire. Caracalla's reign was also notable for the Constitutio Antoniniana (also called the Edict of Caracalla or the Antonine Constitution), granting Roman citizenship to all freemen throughout the Roman Empire, which according to historian Cassius Dio, was done for the purposes of raising tax revenue. He is also one of the emperors who commissioned a large public bath-house (thermae) in Rome. The remains of the Baths of Caracalla are still one of the major tourist attractions of the Italian capital. Roma, Musei Capitolini: busto - ritratto di Caracalla , in porfido rosso, "giallo brecciato", lunense (212-217 d.C.). Noto per la sua efferata crudeltà, Caracalla è passato alla storia soprattutto per aver emanato l'Editto di Costantino, (Constitutio antoniniana), che garantiva la cittadinanza romana a tutti i liberi abitanti dell'impero e per aver fatto edificare le terme omonime, tra le maggiori della romanità.