Roman Emperor’s Chopped Head Reunited with Torso

  •   Thu, Jan 02 2025
  •   By Gabriel Vaz

January 2, 2025

“A rose by any other name would smell as sweet,” is the oft-repeated quote from William Shakespeare’s famous play, “Romeo and Juliet.”

The human head is undoubtedly the most intricate and essential part of the body that houses critical structures responsible for thinking, memory, emotions, communication and regulation of bodily functions besides sensory processing and survival because it is the control centre of the body.

Brain, skull, cranium, face, eyes, ears, nose, mouth, teeth besides the nerves, veins and glands are all the key parts of the head, which is really a masterpiece of design, integrating systems that keep us alive and allows us to connect with the world.

In another play, “Henry IV-Part II,” Shakespeare had said, “Heavy is the head that wears the crown.”

Talking about the head that wears the crown, one is reminded of the common metaphor for dismantling power structures: “Cut off the head, and the body will fall.” There are other sayings such as “Cut the head of the snake and the body will die.” The meaning and intent are the same.

Decapitation, guillotine or beheading are some of the oldest forms of capital punishment used across cultures and eras from the ancient, medieval and even present times, chosen mainly for its symbolism, efficiency and dramatic effect.

In ancient Rome, decapitation was a common punishment for treason, Julius Caesars’ enemies used the gruesome method to send out a political message while in medieval Europe it was widely used for crimes such as treason and often carried out with an axe or sword. During the Samurai era in Japan, beheading was part of the ritual suicide known as Seppuku and guillotine was used in France during the French revolution for execution.

Some of the most famous historical cases of decapitation are: Anne Boleyn (1536) for alleged treason and adultery. The beheading of King Charles I (1649) resulted in a temporary overthrow of monarchy in England and the execution of Marie Antoinette (1793) during the French Revolution. There are instances of beheading in some of the Middle-Eastern Arab countries for serious crimes.

But in our own Hindu mythology, we know that Lord Shiva cuts off his own son Ganesha’s head unknowingly for refusing entrance while Goddess Parvathi was bathing. Of course, Shiva makes amends to assuage wife Parvathi by attaching elephant’s head to Ganesha’s body and bring him back to life to be revered as “Vighna Nivaaraka” or Remover of Evil/Obstacles!

Was that the first instance of beheading?

“Sarkaate ka Aatank”

Incidentally, the Bollywood Hindi horror comedy, “Stree 2” (2024), directed by Amar Kaushik, is said to have been inspired by the legendary witch, “Naale Baa,” terrorising villagers by calling out men at night with the threat of “Sarkaate ka Aatank” (terror of decapitation) is featured.

Why this talk of decapitation or beheading?

Well, the bonze head of a Roman Emperor, Septimius Severus, who ruled from 193 to 211 A.D., was finally reunited with its severed torso early this month. Severus was said to be a wily Roman general, who outmaneuvered four rivals to assume the Emperor’s seat, and ruled Rome from 193 A.D. until his death in 211 A.D.

Bronze statue of Emperor finally complete

There is a bit of interesting history surrounding the chopped off head of Emperor Severus: When exactly the bronze statue’s head and torso were separated is not known, but Art experts now think that both pieces were smuggled out of the country in the 1960s. The head made its way to the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek museum in Copenhagen, Denmark, which knew only that the piece came from Asia Minor and dated to between 195 and 211 A.D.

The bronze head of Emperor Severus is believed to have been first looted by the villagers near Bubon, a Turkish site where Roman Emperors were once worshipped. The Roman Emperor's body was also looted from the same spot. It ended up at New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Last year, the statue was seized from the MET by the Antiquities Trafficking Unit of the Manhattan district attorney's office and returned.

According to Liz Marlowe, a professor of art history at Colgate University, the head made it into the hands of a notorious art smuggler, named Robert Hecht Jr, who realised that there was a lot of money to be made in connecting the people in the countryside in Italy, Greece and Turkey with art dealers. Marlowe has spent years studying how American museums are presenting these artefacts known to be looted from Turkey.

Eventually, Severus' head ended up at the Glyptotek Museum in Copenhagen.

In 1979, a curator at the Glyptotek Museum argued that the two pieces were linked, and the torso was even loaned to the Copenhagen museum so they could be displayed together. Many years later, the torso, which had been in a private American collection, ended up at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

The torso was returned to Turkey in 2023 after its seizure by investigators, who proved that it had been looted. The Turkish government had been requesting Denmark and US authorities to help return the 2000-year-old head to complete the statue. With the return of the bronze head of the Emperor early this month, the Roman ruler’s statue is now complete.

“This development sets another precedent for institutions and collectors all over the world, including in Denmark, that all artefacts acquired with a shady provenance should be returned to their rightful owners,” said Hakan Tekin, Turkey’s ambassador to Denmark. “Glyptotek has done the right thing and we celebrate them for their decision,” he added.

 

 

 
By Gabriel Vaz
To submit your article / poem / short story to Daijiworld, please email it to news@daijiworld.com mentioning 'Article/poem submission for daijiworld' in the subject line. Please note the following:

  • The article / poem / short story should be original and previously unpublished in other websites except in the personal blog of the author. We will cross-check the originality of the article, and if found to be copied from another source in whole or in parts without appropriate acknowledgment, the submission will be rejected.
  • The author of the poem / article / short story should include a brief self-introduction limited to 500 characters and his/her recent picture (optional). Pictures relevant to the article may also be sent (optional), provided they are not bound by copyright. Travelogues should be sent along with relevant pictures not sourced from the Internet. Travelogues without relevant pictures will be rejected.
  • In case of a short story / article, the write-up should be at least one-and-a-half pages in word document in Times New Roman font 12 (or, about 700-800 words). Contributors are requested to keep their write-ups limited to a maximum of four pages. Longer write-ups may be sent in parts to publish in installments. Each installment should be sent within a week of the previous installment. A single poem sent for publication should be at least 3/4th of a page in length. Multiple short poems may be submitted for single publication.
  • All submissions should be in Microsoft Word format or text file. Pictures should not be larger than 1000 pixels in width, and of good resolution. Pictures should be attached separately in the mail and may be numbered if the author wants them to be placed in order.
  • Submission of the article / poem / short story does not automatically entail that it would be published. Daijiworld editors will examine each submission and decide on its acceptance/rejection purely based on merit.
  • Daijiworld reserves the right to edit the submission if necessary for grammar and spelling, without compromising on the author's tone and message.
  • Daijiworld reserves the right to reject submissions without prior notice. Mails/calls on the status of the submission will not be entertained. Contributors are requested to be patient.
  • The article / poem / short story should not be targeted directly or indirectly at any individual/group/community. Daijiworld will not assume responsibility for factual errors in the submission.
  • Once accepted, the article / poem / short story will be published as and when we have space. Publication may take up to four weeks from the date of submission of the write-up, depending on the number of submissions we receive. No author will be published twice in succession or twice within a fortnight.
  • Time-bound articles (example, on Mother's Day) should be sent at least a week in advance. Please specify the occasion as well as the date on which you would like it published while sending the write-up.

Leave a Comment

Title: Roman Emperor’s Chopped Head Reunited with Torso



You have 2000 characters left.

Disclaimer:

Please write your correct name and email address. Kindly do not post any personal, abusive, defamatory, infringing, obscene, indecent, discriminatory or unlawful or similar comments. Daijiworld.com will not be responsible for any defamatory message posted under this article.

Please note that sending false messages to insult, defame, intimidate, mislead or deceive people or to intentionally cause public disorder is punishable under law. It is obligatory on Daijiworld to provide the IP address and other details of senders of such comments, to the authority concerned upon request.

Hence, sending offensive comments using daijiworld will be purely at your own risk, and in no way will Daijiworld.com be held responsible.