The portraiture of Gaius and Lucius Caesar

185 Pages·1987·27.433 MB·English

by  Pollini, John

JOHN POLLINI
The establishment of the iconography of Gaius and
Lucius Caesar has been one of the most vexing prob
lems in the portraiture of the early Roman Empire.
The solution to this problem is the foremost purpose
of this study. Indeed, this is the first thorough and
systematic, consideration of Gaius' and Lucius' por
traiture, and in several artistic media. The author
painstakingly examines the available evidence, and
not only has discovered a method to identify Gaius
and Lucius but has defined several portrait "types"
associated with important events in their lives. These
images, once defined and categorized, are of great
value in dating from stylistic evidence other Roman
portraiture of the early Empire. A large corner of the
puzzle of Roman iconography has thus been provid
ed.
It is clear from the remarkable political attainments
and rapid advancement in the public careers of Gaius
and Lucius Caesar that Augustus Caesar had great
plans for his grandsons and adopted sons to succeed
him as Princeps. These plans were thwarted, how
ever, when both prospective heirs died untimely
deaths — Lucius in A.D. 2 at the age of eighteen, and
Gaius in A.D. 4 at twenty-three. But the roles Augus
tus envisaged for Gaius and Lucius in his dynastic
plans are evident from the prominence of their ima
ges throughout the Empire. The popularity of the
youths in a largely illiterate Empire was achieved in
great part through sculptures, coins, and other visual
representations.
(continued on back flap)
(continued from front flap)
Dr. Pollini argues, as well, that the portraits of
Gaius and Lucius resemble those of their grandfather,
and that this obviously propagandistic device of link
ing important younger personages to the head of
state was to enjoy a long history under the Empire.
The Portraiture of Gaius and Lucius Caesar is, there
fore, additionally valuable to further studies of art as
propaganda during the ascendancy of Imperial
Rome. It also offers no fewer than 164 illustrations
in detail on 42 plates and as complete a Catalogue as
can at present be assembled.
JOHN POLLINI earned the doctorate at The Univer
sity of California. He is an Associate Professor of
Classics at the University of Southern California, and
was previously an Assistant Professor of Classics at
The Johns Hopkins University and Mellon Assistant
Professor of Classics at Case Western Reserve Uni
versity.
ISBN 0-8232-1127-4
CLASSICAL STUDIES
"ATYJ: Its Use and Meaning Aristotle, RHETORIC I: A Commentary
A Study in the Greek Poetic Tradition
from Homer to Euripides
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FORDHAM UNIVERSITY PRESS • NEW Y O RK
THE
PORTRAITURE
OF
G A I US
AND
L U C I US
CAESAR
JOHN POLLINI
NEW YORK
FORDHAM UNIVERSITY PRESS
1987
DIS MANIBVS
C. ET L. CAES.
DIVI AVG. FF.
CONTENTS
PREFACE ix
LIST OF PLATES AND PHOTOGRAPHIC CREDITS xi
ABBREVIATIONS xv
INTRODUCTION I
1 Nature of the Evidence 19
2 Portrait Types of Gaius Caesar 41
Type I 42
Type II . 45
Type III 53
Type IV 56
Type V 59
3 Portrait Types of Lucius Caesar 77
Type I . 77
Type II 80
Type III 83
CONCLUSION 89
CATALOGUE 95
Gaius Caesar 95
Lucius Caesar 105
APPENDIX: Portraits Excluded as Not Ancient. 109
BIBLIOGRAPHY 111
INDICES 117
Museums 119
Citations of Ancient Sources 126
General Index 130
PREFACE
Several years ago, while working on various aspects of Augustan "historical" reliefs, I dis
covered that there had never been a thorough and systematic publication of the portraiture of
two important members of Augustus' family, his beloved grandsons and later adopted sons,
Gaius and Lucius.
Standing at the beginning of a long tradition, the two brothers were honored in ways
that served as propagandistic models for subsequent imperial heirs. Their fame as individuals,
however, was not long-lasting. Since each died in young manhood, leaving no heirs, they
themselves played no known role in post-Tiberian times in the dynastic ideology of the imperial
house. Consequently, the portraits of Gaius and Lucius, unlike those of Augustus, were pro
duced for only a relatively short time. The images of the two are therefore especially valuable
to our understanding of not only the artistic Zeitstil of the formative period of imperial por
traiture but also the range of stylistic possibilities that might be expressed within that Zeitstil
throughout the empire.
Because of the importance of the portraiture of Gaius and Lucius and my particular
interest in imperial art, history, and ideology, I undertook the research which has resulted in
the present volume. Although intended primarily as a typological study, this book considers
some of the wider issues posed by Augustus' representational program — matters with which
I shall deal in greater depth in a work on Augustan art and ideology now in progress. The
portraits of Gaius and Lucius, examined in light of the complex socio-political situation, help
to elucidate the ideological meaning of portrait images at Rome and elsewhere and serve to
test current methodological approaches to portraiture. Although iconographical portrait
studies began with J. J. Bernoulli's Romische Ikonographie (1882-1894), there have been many
significant advances and refinements in this area, with much progress being made in very
recent years primarily by German-speaking scholars. Because of the enormous body of
literature and the tendency to specialize in all fields of ancient research, new developments and
contributions in portraiture studies are not always known or fully appreciated by many in
this country. Since little has been published in English on current approaches to a typo
logical study of Roman portraiture, I have included in the introduction a rather lengthy
section on methodology, incorporating my own ideas on this subject.
With very few exceptions, I have personally examined each portrait, coin, and gem
illustrated in this book. The measurements and descriptions are my own. The present location
of some of the works I discovered was different from what had been reported. Two of the
portraits which I did not see (pis. 33.1-2, 34) have been missing for many years; the other works
are those illustrated in pis. 1.6, 24, 28. For the vast majority of portraits in the round, four
ix
X GAIUS AND LUCIUS CAESAR
views (frontal, back, both profiles) are published here. In a few instances, it has been im
possible to obtain all four views, or it has been necessary to reproduce — in the interest of
completeness — photographs which I took under adverse lighting conditions. To avoid
adding further to the cost of the present work, I have not included a fifth, optimum view of
each portrait. In many cases, however, this view will be available elsewhere. All relevant
previously published photographs of each work are cited in the appropriate catalogue entry.
It is my pleasure to acknowledge with sincere thanks the subvention provided by the
National Endowment for the Humanities to help defray the cost of publishing my book. I
should also like to express my gratitude to the George Coleman, Jr. Foundation for financial
assistance in carrying out my research, and to The Johns Hopkins University for a grant cover
ing part of the cost of obtaining photographic documentation. I have discussed aspects of
this study with many individuals, but I should like to thank especially those who read the
manuscript at various stages and offered their insights and criticisms — my foreign colleagues
Paul Zanker, Klaus Fittschen, and the late Hans Jucker, and my friends and associates at The
Johns Hopkins University, Frank Romer and John Maclsaac. Although they of course do not
concur with all my opinions, I feel that my book is the better for their comments. I should
also like to express my appreciation to the many curators, assistant curators, and other person
nel at numerous museums for permission and assistance in examining and photographing
works related to this study. In some cases, special thanks are indicated in the notes to individual
chapters. I am grateful, too, to the authorities of the museums and institutions and to the
private individuals enumerated in the credits who have generously allowed me to make use
of their photographs. I also owe a debt to Mary Beatrice Schulte of Fordham University
Press for her expert assistance in the preparation for publication of this book.
Finally, I cannot adequately express my thanks to my wife, Phyllis, who encouraged and
assisted me in my research, helped obtain photographs, and typed the manuscript in its various
stages, while also somehow finding the time to manage the household and to take care of our
two small sons, Gaius and Drusus.
LIST OF PLATES AND PHOTOGRAPHIC CREDITS
Pi. I.I V Sard intaglio, Florence, Museo Archeologico, inv. 14914. Photograph
Soprintendenza alle Antichita Firenze (neg. 36783/3).
Pi. 1.2 Plaster impression of intaglio in pi. 1.1. Photograph Soprintendenza alle
Antichita Firenze (neg. 36783/6).
Pi. 1.3 Gaius and Lucius (obv.), bronze coin of Pergamon. London, British Museum
(BMC Mysia 140, no. 250). Photograph author.
Pi. 1.4 Augustus (obv.), bronze coin of Kourion, Cyprus. Kourion Museum, inv.
C-2104. Photograph American Numismatic Society (neg. GF-81-618).
Pi. 1.5 Gaius (rev.), the same.
Pi. 1.6 Gaius (rev.), bronze coin of Cyprus. London, British Museum, inv. 1923-
11-5-3 3. Photograph museum.
Pi. 1.7 Augustus (obv.), bronze coin of Cyprus. New York, American Numismatic
Society, Newell Collection. Photograph ANS (neg. 81-280).
Pi. 1.8 Gaius (rev.), the same.
Pi. 2.1 Lucius ("Corinth 136"), Augustus, Gaius ("Corinth 135"). Corinth, Ar
chaeological Museum. Photograph Corinth Excavations.
Pi. 2.2 Gaius in the guise of Cupid? Statue of Augustus from Prima Porta (detail),
Vatican City, Musei Vaticani (Braccio Nuovo). Photograph DAI Rome
(neg. 71.137).
Pi. 2.3 The same. Photograph author.
Pi. 3.1-4 Gaius, Pesaro, Museo Oliveriano, inv. 3294. Photographs DAI Rome
(negs. 75.1108, 75.1110, 75.im> 75.1109).
Pi. 4.1 Gaius, Vatican City, Musei Vaticani (Depot), inv. 4096. Photograph author.
Pi. 4.2-4 The same. Photographs museum (negs. XXXI-19-78, XXXI-33-3, XXXI-
33-4).
Pi. 5.1-4 Gaius, Athens, National Museum, inv. 3606. Photographs museum.
Pi. 6.1-2 Gaius, Rome, Ara Pads. Photographs author.
Pi. 6.3-4 The same. Photographs Musee du Louvre (no. MA 1088).
Pi. 7.1-4 Gaius, Vatican City, Musei Vaticani (Sala dei Busti), inv. 714. Photographs
museum (negs. XIX-29-10, XXXII-113-2, XXXII-113-3, XXII-28-8).
Pi. 8.1-4 Gaius, Mainz, Mittelrheinisches Landesmuseum, inv. 61/92. Photographs
museum.
Pi. 9.1, 3-4 Gaius, Velia, Depot of Office of Excavations, inv. 17454. Photographs F.
Krinzinger.
xi