Roman Imperial Portrait Practice in the Second Century AD

Abstract

AbstractThe creation of centrally defined imperial portrait types and the first ‘step’ of their dissemination in metropolitan Rome in the second century AD is the main focus of this study. Through systematic case studies of Faustina the Younger’s and Marcus Aurelius’ portraits on coins and in sculpture, new insights into the functioning of the imperial image in Rome have been gained that move a difficult, much-discussed subject forward decisively. It has long been thought that imperial portrait types were officially commissioned to commemorate specific historical moments and that they were made available to both the mint and the marble workshops in Rome, assuming a close correspondence between portraits on coins and in the round. All of this, however, has never been clearly proven, nor has it been disproven by a close systematic examination of the evidence on a broad material basis by those scholars who have questioned it. The new evidence presented in the present study has made it necessary to adjust this model in certain ways. More flexibility than currently allowed for is needed to describe the ancient processes and practices behind the phenomenon of ‘repeated’ imperial portraits. Norms have been investigated, and an adjusted and more flexible model of how the imperial image worked in the mint of Rome and in the metropolitan marble workshops in the second century AD has been outlined.