Emperor With a Scroll and a Vengeance

Let’s set the scene: you’re walking through the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA), dodging strollers and school groups, and BAM, you’re face to knee with a 12-foot-tall Roman emperor who looks like he’s about to drop a TED Talk and a war declaration in the same breath. That’s Septimius Severus, and yes, he’s holding a scroll. Not a weapon. Not an orb. A scroll. This guy conquered half the known world and still wanted you to know he could quote Cicero and crush Gauls before lunch.

Now, as for the artist? Your guess is as good as ours, because, shocker, the Romans didn’t really believe in “credit.” The sculptor was likely a skilled artisan working under imperial commission, possibly from North Africa, where Severus was born. Imagine being incredibly talented, carving marble for a living, and then being remembered as “Unnamed Workshop Grunt No. 47.” But you can still see their mastery in the crisp folds of that toga-meets-tunic get-up and the almost smug curl of Severus’ beard. This wasn’t your average hack with a chisel—this was a propaganda machine with a hammer and divine patience.

Historically, Severus was the man who turned the Roman Empire into a military-industrial complex with sandals. Born in Leptis Magna (modern-day Libya), he clawed his way up during one of Rome’s patented murdery power vacuums in 193 CE, a year with more emperors than a Succession finale. Once in power, he said to hell with the Senate, beefed up the army, and made it clear that if you wanted something done in Rome, you asked the guy with the sword, not the guy in the toga. His reign wasn’t exactly peaceful, but it was effective—at least until the whole “my sons Caracalla and Geta will rule together” idea exploded into fratricide. Classic dad move.

So what does this statue mean? It’s a 2-ton middle finger to weakness. Severus is up there in stone, holding the scroll not because he read it, but because he wrote it. It’s performance art with muscle. He’s not asking for your admiration, he’s demanding it. Every inch says: “Yes, I’m literate. Yes, I’m lethal. Yes, I look damn good in marble.” For a modern audience? It’s a monument to ambition and delusion, sculpted in the age before social media, but with the exact same thirst for likes.

If someone sculpted your legacy in stone, would it be a scroll… or a shrug?

#MarbleFlex #ScrollDrop #EmperorEnergy #SeverusSnapped #AncientAesthetic #RomeButMakeItExtra #VMFA #ArtHistoryUnfiltered #TogasAndTakedowns #PropagandaGoals