The uncompromising realism of the portrait places it in the tradition of late Republican Roman portrait and genre sculptures of the 1st century BC. The archaeologists suggested that this was a portrait of Julius Caesar and that it should be given a date of about 46 BC, making it, according to France's Minister of Culture Christine Albanel, the oldest known representation of Caesar. They further suggested that the bust was discreetly disposed of after Caesar's assassination in 44 BC, when portraits of him could have been politically dangerous possessions.