This statue comes from the so-called basilica of Herculaneum — the Augusteum — a building dedicated to the imperial cult where various statues of the Julio-Claudian dynasty were found (Augustus, Claudius). The statue is of the reigning emperor when Vesuvius erupted in AD 79; Titus had in fact been elected a few months before the catastrophe, on 24 June of that year. The image is therefore to be considered his first official portrait. The elephants depicted on his chest plate are a symbol of triumph in war, but are also forerunners of the games in the Colosseum that would be inaugurated shortly after in 80 AD.