AN ITALIAN WHITE AND VARIEGATED MARBLE BUST OF CARACALLA

The son of the emperor Septimius Severus, Marcus Aurelius Antonius (AD.188-217), better known as Caracalla, was himself emperor from AD.211 to 217. Sole ruler after the murder of his brother Geta in 212, he campaigned first in Germany and then in the East, where he hoped to repeat the conquests of Alexander the Great, but was assassinated in Mesopotamia. By an edict of 212, he granted Roman citizenship to all free inhabitants of the Roman Empire.