Jul 24, 2020
Appearance of The Principate [Pt. II]
68–96: Year of the Four Emperors and Flavian dynasty
Using the neural-net tool Artbreeder, Photoshop and historical references, I have created photoreal depictions of Roman Emperors. Scroll down to see each emperor.
- Introduction
- [Pt I] 27 BC–68 AD: Julio-Claudian dynasty
- →[Pt II] 68–96: Year of the Four Emperors and Flavian dynasty
- [Pt III] 96–192: Nerva–Antonine dynasty
- [Pt IV] 235–285: Gordian dynasty and Crisis of the Third Century
ON CREATIVE COMMONS & COPYRIGHT: Faces can be shared non-watermarked at 200 pixels max height OR 512 pixels with the digital mosaic watermark with Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike. Please link back to this page. Continuation of this project depends on prints, licensing and commissions.
*CONCISE UPDATE (July 31st) replacing a July 27th CLARIFICATION: ‘TheApricity’, a tertiary source, has been removed entirely. I knew it to be unreliable prior to starting this project but kept here for posterity and debate. It is now clear to me they have distorted primary and secondary sources to push a pernicious white supremacist agenda. I am instead quoting Davide Cocci who has provided, what I believe to be, a more reliable translation.
A primary Greek text by John Malalas has also been removed. Three Emperors on this page: Vitellius, Titus and Domitian were given blond hair based on this source. Had I known better, I would have defaulted to brown hair and likely would have chosen a darker skin tone.
Galba
68–69 (Died aged 72 — Murdered by Praetorian Guard in coup led by Otho)
- Born: Terracina, Italia
- Hair: “grey/white-haired” (μιξοπόλιος) (Malalas, X, 258) (via Theapricity **see clarification above) “head bald”
- Eyes: blue eyes (“oculis caeruleis” — Suet. Gal. 21) (via Cocci)
- Skin: “face and forehead wrinkled” (via Canter)
- Other: “feet and hands so crippled by gout that he could not wear a shoe or turn the leaves of a book” (via Canter)
- Height: “Medium height with no hair, a hooked nose and a heavyset body disfigured by arthritis and gout.” (Suetonious) (via Collector)
Otho
69–69 (Died aged 36 — Committed suicide after losing Battle of Bedriacum to Vitellius)
- Born: Ferentinum, Italia
- Hair: “a well-made toupee covered his practically bald head.” (Suetonius) (via Ancient.eu ) “Otho had his whole body shaved and used a special unguent on a daily basis in order to prevent the growing of a beard.” (via Historum)
- Eyes: —
- Skin: “rubbedhis face with moistened breadto prevent having a beard, or shaved often; removed the hair from his body” (via Canter)
- Other: —
- Height: “average height and build.” (via Historum) “Low of stature; ill set on his feet and bowlegged” (Suetonius Otho) (via Canter)
Vitellius
69–69 (Died aged 54 — Murdered by Vespasian’s troops)
Vespasian
69–79 (Died Aged 69 — Natural causes)
Titus
79–81 (Died aged 41 — Natural causes)
Father: Vespasian.
Brother: Domitian.
Domitian
81–96 (Died aged 44 — Assassinated by court officials)
Father: Vespasian
Brother: Titus
- Born: Rome, Italia
- Hair: Wore a wig.
- Eyes: “eyes large, but not sharp-sighted” (via Canter)
- Skin: “face modest and with tendency to blush” (via Canter)
- Other: “in later years exhibited pallor of body, bloated cheeks, and a haughty, savage, terror-inspiring, shameless countenance” (via Canter)
- Height: “In stature tall” (via Canter)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
This is a quarantine project by Daniel Voshart. 🖼️ Prints available here.
