Trajan Decius

a. How does this work embody the Late Empire?

b. What does it say about the state of the Late Empire?

Answers will vary.

a. This portrait still illustrates the importance the emperor placed on the visual. It responds in the same way as the Early Empire, and it addressed the need to commission a portrait of the emperor in order to assert his authority and power.

b. The expression on the face of Trajan Decius indicates the state of the Empire. It is disintegrating before his very eyes; it also reverberates with the perilous state of being the emperor. The fear of assassination and replacement is rampant at this time.