Jan Bernhard Meister. Der Körper des Princeps: Zur Problematik eines monarchischen Körpers ohne Monarchie.

Abstract

In the Roman Empire, the emperor's body was omnipresent. In every city and military camp it manifested itself through honorific statues in marble, ivory, and precious materials. Jan Bernhard Meister's book, Der Körper des Princeps: Zur Problematik eines monarchischen Körpers ohne Monarchie focuses on how such imperial bodies were politically charged. As the subtitle indicates, his main interest is in whether, following Ernst Kantorowicz (The King's Two Bodies: A Study in Mediaeval Political Theology [1957]), the emperor's body could be seen as an incarnation of the Roman monarchy, which Augustus constituted as a restored republic. Unlike later Roman emperors and medieval monarchs, the principes of the first two centuries c.e. lacked regalia. Yet, there were attempts to set the emperors apart by their physical appearance, and this turned their bodies into carriers of political meaning. For instance, the first princeps Augustus, who died at 75, was represented as a serene and beautiful young man throughout the 41 years of his reign. This was a remarkable departure from the statues of republican politicians who were shown as wrinkled, bald, and toothless old men, though with capable and, occasionally, even youthful bodies. Yet, Meister does not pay much attention to iconographic change. Instead, he focuses on literary sources, which almost exclusively reflect the views of Rome's political elites