This sculpture, done in the style called a relief rather than statues in the round, is the oldest surviving art of this kind to depict a scene from everyday life instead of a legendary scene from mythology. It probably formed part of the art on a temple that a prominent Roman named Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus consecrated to the gods Neptune and Mars in the late second century B.C.E. The panel depicts, at the left side, men in civilian clothing standing in front a seated man who is writing on a tablet. On the right side, it has a procession of people, some armed as soldiers and some not, and three animals being herded by handler (from right to left, a pig, a sheep, and a bull; the horse at the far right is apparently a cavalry mount). An altar is positioned at the center of the scene, with an especially tall male figure in full armor standing just to the left and two musicians next to him.

No ancient inscription is attached to the panel to explain what it shows, but scholars are able to decipher much of the sculpture’s meaning by analyzing written sources about Roman history. The left end portrays the most important function of what Romans called taking a census: registering men for the service in the national army that was mandatory for male citizens. The presence on both sides of the panel of soldiers in helmets holding shields helps to emphasize the military context of the scene. The depiction of the pig, sheep, and bull, restrained by handlers leading them in a procession toward the altar, and of the men identified as priests by the veils on their heads and their special implements reveals that this part of the panel represents the kind of large-scale and expensive sacrifice called a Suovetaurilia (“Pig-Sheep-Bull” in Latin). The playing of music was a frequent part of such ceremonies.

The figures standing next to the altar are more difficult to identify with certainty. The man just to the right appears to be the head priest, ready to oversee the sacrifice of the animals according to the Romans’ strict religious protocols for such solemn occasions. The exceptional size and the full body armor of the male figure leaning on a shield at the immediate left of the altar have led some scholars to identify him as a personification of Mars, the god of war. This representation presumably means that the artist is representing the people participating in the ceremony as envisioning the presence of the divinity without literally beholding him with their eyes.

The combination in this scene of the administrative process of enrolling soldiers with the sacred process of maintaining divine goodwill through animal sacrifice shows the close connection in Roman thought between national defense and religion. It makes clear the intertwined ideas that the gods have to be honored to keep Rome safe but that human beings also have to take responsibility and bear risks to achieve that goal.

Question to Consider

What does this scene seem to say about the Romans’ ideas concerning how best to save themselves from threats to their existence?