There are portraits of members of the aristocracy known from the 1st century BC on, although it has only been possible to identify them with a known historical person in very few cases.

The statue of the emperor became the archetype for private portraits. They imitated the monarch's expression, his gestures and, above all, his hairstyle.

In private, sculptures of lower-class persons could be exhibited, whereas in public only persons of a higher social status could be honoured by a statue. They showed the prestige of the powerful and represented the social order of the Roman Empire, based on the difference between honestiores (the ruling classes) and humiliores (the lower classes).

The statues were normally dedicated by public or private institutions and by family or friends of the same social standing. There are many cases of a freedman paying to erect a statue dedicated to his master.

The majority of the statutes in the public places of Tarraco were erected neither as a sign of devotion to a god, nor in homage to an emperor. They were dedicated to illustrious men and women of the city and province. Unfortunately, very few examples have been preserved and we know of them only through inscriptions.

Such statues were placed in the provincial and colonial forums.