A bronze statue, measuring more than 5 metres and depicting an emperor in military garb is found in front of the S. Sepolcro Church in Barletta. It has been in this city since at least the year 1309, as evidenced by an edict of Charles of Anjou. The statue has been estimated to be from the first half of the 5th century A.D. However, the true nature of the person is still unknown as is the location where the monument was taken from , as well as the original spot and destination or the occasion for which the statue was erected.  It is also not known who brought it here to Puglia, or the circumstances surrounding its arrival.

There is a curious "ancient tradition" which was started around 1600 by the Jesuit priest Giovan Paolo Grimaldi. He claimed that it had been the Venetians who had taken from Constantinople the statue depicting Emperor Heracles and created by a certain Polifobo. There could have been a possible sinking of the Venetian ship that was transporting it in the immediate area around Barletta and this could explain the unusual presence of the statue in this town of the Puglia region.