Dr. David Gwynn

It was set up originally in the East, probably in Nicomedia,

It was taken from Nicomedia, where it was under the Tetrarchy, to Constantinople.

At some point after Constantinople's foundation, it can't have begun in Constantinople because that city had not been refounded in the Tetrarchy's time.

But that is where the Crusaders in 1204 found it and took it westward.

We're as certain of that as we can be, not least because there's a foot missing from the statue that's in Venice, and the foot turned up when they were building the Istanbul Underground.

No way.

So we're pretty sure about the origins of this statue group.

They believe so.

It certainly would fit with the rest of the statue group.

But of course, what's the real significance of this?

This is a group of four statues.

They're two pairs, each embracing the other.

They're dressed identically in military equipment.

These are soldier emperors.

But the four figures aren't actually totally identical because two of them have stubble.

Now, that's a Roman iconographic motif for seniority.

And basically, the two who have their arms around the outside of the others are the two seniors.

So there is that slight distinction, but otherwise, these people are identical.

It's a challenging topic with Diocletian.

Most of what we've got in the material culture is using traditional imagery.