A consultant for Sotheby's, Jorg Deterling, studied the bust and identified it.
It was a Roman marble portrait from the late 1st century BC or early 1st century AD, the age of Rome's first emperors. The bust with the $34.99 tag had been carved around 2,000 years ago.
Who it shows is still debated. Some experts suggest Drusus Germanicus, a Roman commander. Others suggest Sextus Pompey.
One museum specialist in Roman art described the bust this way: “It's a portrait of an outlaw, a sort of enemy of the state.”