When a revolt broke out in Judaea in 66 CE, initial Roman efforts to suppress it met with failure, and Rome only began to make progress once the emperor Nero sent Vespasian and three legions to restore order. The war dragged on for four years, until the fall of Jerusalem in 70 CE (although some sporadic resistance continued for several more years), by which time Vespasian had been proclaimed emperor and his son, Titus, had assumed command of the operation. Father and son held a joint triumph in Rome in 71, famously depicted on the Arch of Titus in the Roman Forum, and it is this event that is depicted in the series of figures of which this is a part.

This fourth set in the series depicts just one figure, who is a senior officer. Such officers and other esteemed members of the army followed immediately behind the imperator, which in this case was both Vespasian and Titus. As shown here such men were unarmoured, although here they have their most splendid helmets, presumably as a sign of their rank. Surprisingly the pose is standing still, and not moving forward. Anyone that has seen a parade will know that on occasions it stops as different elements move at different paces, but in this case this figure may not actually be a part of the triumph as he is also armed with a sword, which would not have been permitted. Therefore this figure may instead be a bystander, a senior officer who did not serve in the Judaea campaign but is watching the parade of those that did.

Another possibility might seem to present itself too. On some Roman artwork such as the Louvre relief the Praetorian Guard is depicted with such attic helmets and large crests. If the creator of these figures intended them as Praetorians then they have made a mistake because it is agreed that they never wore such helmets in reality. Taking apparent contemporary evidence at face value and out of context is always highly dangerous, and perhaps this is what has happened here. If so then these figures are considerably inaccurate, so it is only as senior officers that they could make any sense, although quite why we would need six such characters is not clear.

As with the other sets in this series this man is very nicely sculpted, with his elaborate helmet being particularly worthy of note. Clearly a flexible mould has been used as the helmet has excellent all-round detail – something most steel moulds cannot emulate. While he is not part of the triumph itself, he is a very nice figure for the broader scene.