'False' Portraits of Antiquity

[Robert Vermaat]

I would expect that a living emperor, being an embodiment of imperial cult (and especially with the later emperors being surrounded by such ritualised veneration) would not have been depicted as a rather ordinary grizzled man, on the floor... I suppose we could assume that Maximian himself owned the villa, but why would he have chosen to portray himself as part of the floor decoration?

This may well be a portrait, but if so I think it's more likely a local personage or a friend or retainer of the villa owner, rather than being the emperor. But we will surely never know!

Even if it was 'just' the (very) rich villa owner, I think it's safe to assume that the position (on the floor) was not a negative aspect, but rather there for all to see.