These statutes are of particular historical interest, as they may illustrate an important historical event of the last usurper emperor of the Gallic Empire Gaius Pius Esuvius Tetricus I (271 CE to 274 CE) and his son Gaius Pius Esuvius Tetricus II whom he had declared Caesar in 273 CE. The horses with the riders were probably sculptured in honor of Tetricus I and his son, Tetricus II, however, they were never completed. Tetricus I and his son were defeated in 274 CE by the rightful Emperor Lucius Domitius Aurelianus Augustus in the Battle of Châlons, near modern-day Châlons. However, notwithstanding their defeat, Tetricus I was given the post of senator and "corrector" (governor) of either Lucania and Bruttii, in southern Italy, or all of Italy and his son Tetricus II was gifted with an important administrative post. Thus the unfinished statues may be an ancient witness of the events that let to the defeat of the usurper emperor.