Jul 24, 2020
Appearance of The Principate [Pt. III]
96–192: The Nerva–Antonine 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Using the neural-net tool Artbreeder, Photoshop and historical references, I have created photoreal depictions of Roman Emperors.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.
These are my collected notes and references. Many written sources are known to be unreliable but remain here for posterity and debate.
**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. Only three Emperors (in Part II) are impacted by these changes.
Nerva
96–98 (Died aged 67 — Natural causes)
- Born: Narni, Italia
- Hair: “grey-haired” (Day (2001) 106)
- Eyes: —
- Skin: —
- Other: “Grayhaired, old, weak and ill when he became emperor; well born and worthy, but incapacitated by physical condition for difficult undertakings, his weakened condition being reflected in the lack of activity and energy which mark his reign.” (via Canter)
- Height: —
Trajan
98–117 (Died aged 63 — Natural causes)
Adopted son and heir of Nerva. His reign marked the geographical peak of the empire
- Born: Italica, Hispania Baetica (Southern Spain)
- Hair: “majestic looking gray hair” (via Canter)
- Eyes: —
- Skin: “complexion fresh with glow of health; eyes large; face and countenance dignified” (via Canter)
- Other: —
- Height: “Tall, firm and strong in body” (via Canter)
Hadrian
117–138 (Died aged 62 — Natural causes)
Adopted son and heir of Trajan
- Born: Italica, Hispania Baetica (or Rome) (Southern Spain)
- Hair: —
- Eyes: —
- Skin: “hair curled on a comb; beard worn full to cover blemishes of
the face” (via Canter) - Other: —
- Height: “In stature tall and well built”
Antoninus Pius
138–161 (Died aged 74 — Natural causes)
Adopted son and heir of Hadrian
Lucius Verus
161–169 (Died aged 39 — Natural causes)
Adopted son and heir of Antoninus Pius and son-in-law of Marcus Aurelius; Co-emperor with Marcus Aurelius until his death
- Born: Rome
- Hair: Blonde ( “flaventium”) “He took such pride in his yellow hair, it is said, that he used to sift gold-dust on his head in order that his hair, thus brightened, might seem even yellower.” (Historiae Augustae, Verus) (via Cocci)
- Eyes: —
- Skin: —
- Other:
- Height: —
Marcus Aurelius
161–190 (Died aged 58 — Natural causes)
Adopted son, son-in-law and heir of Antoninus Pius; Co-emperor with Lucius Verus until 169. Last of the “Five Good Emperors”
Commodus
177–192 (Died aged 31 — Assassinated in palace, strangled in his bath)
Father: Marcus Aurelius; joint emperor from 177
- Born: Lanuvium, Italia
- Hair: “His hair was always dyed and made lustrous by the use of gold dust” Hist. Aug., Commodus (via Cocci) “hair naturally blond and curly, and in sunlight as lustrous as if sprinkled with gold dust, or as if reflecting a divine splendor; cheeks covered with tender down; hair of face and head singed because he feared barber […] at times shaved his head and carried a statue of Anubis, Egyptian tutelary deity of the chase.” (via Canter)
- Eyes: —
- Skin: —
- Other: “features clear cut and attractive; expression affable but dull, as usual in drunkards” (via Canter)
- Height: “body well proportioned” (via Canter)
Pertinax
193 (Died aged 66 — Murdered by Praetorian Guard [so that they could auction off the empire to the highest bidder])
The son of freedman Helvius Successus.
Didius Julianus
193 (Died aged 56 or 60 — Executed on orders of the Senate)
After the murder of Pertinax, the Praetorian Guard auctioned the office of Emperor. Didius’ winning bid was 25,000 sestertii per man and he was duly declared Emperor. Marcus Didius Julianus (Julian I) was murdered after a reign of only 9 weeks.
Septimius Severus
193–211 (Died aged 65 — Natural causes)
- Born: Leptis Magna, Libya
- Hair: “hair gray and curly; beard long” (via Canter)
- Eyes: —
- Skin: —
- Other: —
- Height: “Large, strong, and handsome” (via Canter)
Caracalla
198–217 (Died aged 29 — Murdered by a soldier as part of a conspiracy involving Macrinus)
Son of Septimius Severus; co-emperor with Severus from 198; with Severus and Geta from 209 until February 211; co-emperor with Geta until December 211
- Born: Lugdunum, Gallia Lugdunensis (Central France near Switzerland)
- Hair: “hair curly and thin, approaching baldness; beard shaved while in the East” (via Canter) “Caracalla kept his beard trimmed shorter than his predecessors but wore his curly black hair fairly long; […] During his campaigns in Germania he wore a blond wig and Celtic clothing.” (via Historum)
- Eyes: —
- Skin: —
- Other: “wrinkled his brow, assumed a threatening expression, and bent head and neck to the left in fancied resemblance to Alexander the Great, whom he tried to imitate in look, gait, and dress” (via Canter)
- Height: “in stature small and not imposing, though strong enough to hunt wild boars and lions”
Geta
211 (Died aged 22 — Murdered on the orders of Caracalla)
Father: Septimius Severus.
Co-emperor with Severus and Caracalla from 209 until February 211; co-emperor with Caracalla until December 211
Macrinus
217–218 (Died aged 53 — Both executed in favour of Elagabalus)
- Born: Caesarea, Mauretania (Northern Africa, modern Algeria)
- Hair: “head bald, face bearded” (via Canter)
- Eyes: —
- Skin: —
- Other: “Born of humble parentage, a Moor by race; left ear bored in token of servile origin.” (via Canter) NOTE ON TERM ‘MOOR’: “Derived from the Latin word “Maurus,” the term was originally used to describe Berbers and other people from the ancient Roman province of Mauretania in what is now North Africa.” (via NatGeo)
- Height: —
Diadumenian
218 (Died age 9 — Both executed in favour of Elagabalus)
Father: Macrinus
- Born: Caesarea, Mauretania (Northern Africa, modern Algeria)
- Hair: —
- Eyes: —
- Skin: —
- Other: —
- Height: —
Elagabalus
218–222 (Died aged 18 — Murdered by Praetorian Guard)
Grandnephew of Septimius Severus, first cousin once removed and alleged illegitimate son of Caracalla; proclaimed emperor by Syrian legions.
- Born: Emesa, Syria
- Hair: —
- Eyes: “painted his eyes” (via Canter)
- Skin: “naturally bright face with cosmetics” (via Canter)
- Other: “noted for beauty and imposing physique; so handsome in bloom of youth and when dressed as a priest of the Syrian sun-god that he was compared to youthful Bacchus; but covered his naturally bright face with cosmetics and wore a diadem set with jewels, that his face might look like a woman’s; sometimes wore a hairnet, painted his eyes, and went with smooth face.” (via Canter)
- Height: —
Severus Alexander
222–235 (Died aged 27 — Murdered by the army)
Grandnephew of Septimius Severus, cousin and adoptive heir of Elagabalus
- Born: —
- Hair: —
- Eyes: —
- Skin: —
- Other: “dressed in plain white robes without gold ornaments, and
reintroduced rough cloaks and tunics without purple stripes.” (via Canter) - Height: “physically strong with height and vigor of a soldier who knows his strength and maintains it; devoted to physical exercises and a wrestler of first rank” (via Canter)
←PREVIOUS [Pt II] 68–96: Year of the Four Emperors and Flavian dynasty
NEXT [Pt IV] 235–285: Gordian dynasty and Crisis of the Third Century
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
This is a quarantine project by Daniel Voshart. 🖼️ Prints available here.
