Physical descriptions of Roman Emperors.

Would a typical citizen see the Emperor at the Flavian Amphitheatre (once completed by Titus) during important games as is portrayed in various movies, or is that modern Hollywood malarkey? Do the ancient sources mention the Emperor appearing to open the games or giving the thumbs up or thumbs down for fallen gladiators?

John

 

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I meant to post a coin. Here is a Hadrian Sestertius:



I think this came in a batch of cleaners I got a while back. Terrible that I can't remember offhand where it came from. Working on the full attribution.

John

 

Sadly, during the past year or two I've been following this dude's eating-habits and therefore I'm starting to exhibit a couple of his physical traits!!





=> I love you Maximianus ... don't let them judge you (you're a Gladiator on the inside, my friend)

 

Probably, the Emperor had his own box but he still was visible and he did play a role in the opening ceremony.
In the Late Empire however, the average citizen rarely saw the Emperor except at maybe the games or races. If you lived in the provinces than you most likely would never see him and if you did then that meant that there was something very bad going on (barbarian invasion).

 

You are right, you probably had to live in Rome to have any chance to see the Emperor. People did not have glasses or binoculars back then so unless you had good eyesight or were sitting close by you still probably could not really see what they looked like.

 

The article from which many of these physical descriptions came is a very fun read:

H. V. Canter (July 1928). Personal Appearance in the Biography of the Roman Emperors. Studies in Philology, Vol. 25, No. 3, pp. 385-399.

The author used whatever contemporary and near-contemporary historical descriptions were available but did not use coins, statues, busts, or other physical art when compiling his written descriptions. Many of the resulting descriptions are copied almost verbatim from the works of contemporary historians such as Suetonius, so you may have seen many of these already if you've read those works.

Before you read the linked article, try your hand at guessing the emperor based on the written descriptions in the article. I made a little quiz I grew tired of typing so there are only 16 questions.

http://www.tifcollection.com/quiz-5--descriptions-of-roman-emperors

 

It depends on which emperor you are talking about, for instance many of the later emperors rarely visited Rome. Constantine I is a good example. Below is a list of probable dates when he was in Rome...for a total of three times.


A.D. 312 – after he defeated Maxentius. From October 29th to probably Jan. 313.


A.D. 315—from around July to about September, probably decenallia celebration


A.D. 326 -- July- August. Constantine toured the Empire, commemorated by a series of anepigraphic bronze coins from various cities that he visited.

 

@Victor_Clark
Here is a paper that I think you may like. Personally I think it's one of the better papers on the URBS ROMA in the late Empire.
https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/60773/rchenaul_1.pdf

 

thanks for the link, but much like Constantine, I am not so enamored with Rome. To borrow from the famous palindrome from Virgil-- Roma is not my amor

 

According to Suetonius "Vespasian was well proportioned with thin compact limbs, but always wore a strained expression on his face, such as when he prompted some wit to make a jest about him, the fellow replied: 'I will when you've finished relieving yourself'."

So yeah, Vespasian's face made him look like he was permanently trying to squeeze a massive (censored) after a large meal. No wonder the fellow decided to tax bowel movements.

 

Here is my contribution....
Emperor Diocletian 284-305AD....this man looked the part of an Emperor/ also was a capable administrator.
AV Aureus 5.46 g. Struck 286AD Rome Mint
obv. Laureate/cuirassed/draped bust right IMP C C VAL. DIOCLETIANVS P F AVG
rev. Nude Jupiter standing left/holding thunderbolt/scepter JOVI CONSER-VAT AVGG

 

Wish all the Roman Emperors had these Mosaics made, or if they did then I wish more of them had survived.


About Extremely Fine, typical flan waviness, few slt. obv scratches, 15.8mm, 1.40 grams, Constantinople mint



Obverse: Diademed, draped, and cuirassed bust of Justinian to right. Reverse: Victory advancing right, head left, holding wreath in right hand and globus cruciger in left