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Portrait Head Of Caligula Analysis

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Portrait Head of Caligula

This bust of Emperor Caligula, was thought to have been made somewhere within Asia Minor, around the year 40 AD. There is no known record of who sculpted this bust, and no accurate record of who it was made for or why it was made. It was sculpted entirely out of marble.

After Caligula was murdered by his guards in 41 AD, almost all recorded statues and portraits of him were destroyed, as well as a lot of writings that were done about him. This led to modern day historians having to use later historians writings about him, which has led to possible inaccuracies and bias about Caligula.

Portraits of Roman Emperors have long been used as a means of conveying messages to the public, as well as conveying an emperor’s …show more content…

He has been purposely set apart from other portraits of this time, yet borrows heavily from Augustus’s hair style. This was purposely done to link Caligula to Augustus as a way of communicating Caligula’s divine right to rule.

Ironically, this portrait is the complete opposite of the image given to us by Roman historians like Suetonius. He writes that Caligula was “tall, pallid, hairy and badly built, thin, spindly, had sunken (eyes)” and that his scalp was “almost hairless, especially on top. Because of his baldness and hairiness he announced that it was a capital offense either for anyone to look down on him as he passed or to mention goats in any context.”

Emperor …show more content…

He reigned from 117 AD to 138 AD. Emperor Trajan named him his successor shortly before dying in 117 AD. Hadrian is considered on the five good Emperors by many historians, as he was seen to be a humanitarian by most. He was responsible for the building of Hadrian’s Wall in Britannia, as well as rebuilding the pantheon, and also the construction of the temple of Venus and Roma. Hadrian was also noticeably philhellene in his tastes, which explains well his desire to make Greece the cultural capital of the Roman Empire. His love of all things Greek, lead to the Greek culture being considered one the most popular cults in ancient times. During his reign, Hadrian travelled to nearly every province within the Empire, as well as being very involved with the military. He would often wear military uniforms or armours, and also slept and dined with Roman soldiers.

After Emperor Trajan died in 117 AD, Hadrian quickly secured legitimacy to his claim to power through endorsement from the Senate and the Syrian armies. Various public ceremonies were also organized. One specific Egyptian papyri tells of one such ceremony organized somewhere between 117-118 AD, in which it was praised that Hadrian had been divinely chosen by his deified father and by the gods

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