From the 2nd to the 4th century, many Romans were laid to rest in a marble coffin with relief decoration, known as a sarcophagus. The word means ‘flesh-eater’ in Greek.The Glyptotek has a large collection of sarcophagi from tombs in Rome itself. The reliefs show a variety of motifs: Greek myths, flying Cupids and processions with the god of wine, Dionysus, are common. Lion hunts are rarer. At the centre is the deceased, on horseback. His hair and beard is cut very short as was the fashion in much of the 3rd century. The portrait resembles that of Balbinus, emperor in AD 238, allowing a closer dating.
