Primaporta Augustus:

Depiction and Symbols of Power

Rory Mitrik

Art History 101

Mr. Ben Schachter
26 October 2009
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At the quaint age of eighteen, Octavian’s father Julius Caesar, the emperor-king of Rome

was brutally assassinated on the Ides of March 47 BCE. Again he was left to be an orphan, but

now as an adult he had to take steps to correct his father’s mistakes, and be the ruler and heir he

was meant to be; the ruler Rome needed. It took him many years to overthrow the power and

usurp the popularity of Cleopatra and Marc Antony. In his success, he gained the empire he had

strived to rule his entire life, as Augustus Caesar.

Many consider Augustus to be Rome's greatest emperor; his policies certainly

extended the Empire's life span. He was intelligent, decisive, and a shrewd

politician, but he was not perhaps as charismatic as Julius Caesar, and was

influenced on occasion by his third wife, Livia (sometimes for the worse).

Nevertheless, his legacy proved more enduring. The city of Rome was utterly

transformed under Augustus, with Rome's first institutionalized police force, fire

fighting force, and the establishment of the municipal prefect as a permanent

office.” (1)

The Goal of a Ruler

A group of several hundred thousand are under your supreme rule. You control the laws;

you control the military; you control an expanding empire with exponential limits and

boundaries, anything you say or do can immediately have a crucial impact on your presence as

the ruler. How do you go about showing your leadership?

In a perfect scenario the leader would take on a sense of the Platonic method, giving his

people an opinion that all the right decisions are being made for their direct benefit. The

populous in turn would do their daily jobs and not stir controversy the sake of disruption to the

peace. The best way that has been proven in history is a constant reminder of the leader. For
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example on the coinage system or sets of busts running through the city, depicting the ruler in a

noble pose; confident, appealing, and intelligent.

Augustus of Primaporta
With a Hellenistic style sculpture, Augustus wants to be depicted as an ageless youth, a

man that dance with the fancies of the gods. A man, a caesar that sees himself as a god-like

figure, and a descendant of Venus herself. Dressed for battle with his arm raised he seems to be

prepared for a battle or for a speech in front of his people. “The portrait appears to combine a

series of references to previous works of art and historical events in an effort to strengthen

Augustus’ claim to authority.” (2)

Augustus Caesar enjoyed the reuse of past artistic styles, so much that his wife Livia’s

sculptures resembled ancient Greek goddesses. “Both the contrapposto stance, and the smooth

features on his face, are strongly reminiscent of Polykleitos’ Doryphoros [sculpture]. The

resemblance is so strong that we can assume that Augustus turned deliberately to this well-

known image. There was good reason for this kind of imitation: The Classical Greek style

evoked the apogee of Athenian culture, casting Augustan Rome as Greece’s successor (and

conqueror) in cultural supremacy… Even Augustus’ hair is similar to that of the Doryphoros—

except, that is, at the front where the locks part slightly over the brow, a subtle reference to

Alexander the Great, another youthful general, whose cowlick was such a distinctive feature of

his portraits.” (3) The resemblance of past art was a great way to show the transformation from

the Greek era to the Augustan, Roman era. Augustus' reign laid the foundations of a regime that

lasted hundreds of years until the ultimate decline of the Roman Empire. Both his borrowed

surname, Caesar, and his title Augustus became the permanent titles of the rulers of Roman

Empire for fourteen centuries after his death.

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Religious Aspects
In Roman mythology, converted from Greek myth, Cupid was the son of Venus. This

then implies the claim of Augustus’ divine ancestry, through the Julian family to Aeneas,

founder of Italy, and Venus. The dolphin indicates divine lineage, as it was the standard statuary

support for Hellenistic Aphrodite statues. “The dolphin would have evoked the sea, and

specifically the site off the coast of Actium where Augustus had prevailed over Marc Antony and

Cleopatra. By associating Augustus with historical or divine figures, these references projected

an image of earthly and divinely ordained power, thereby elevating the emperor above other

politicians.” (4) This was very important when Augustus was asked questions about how the

gods felt about a certain action. He could answer simply saying he spoke to them or he received

their blessing for an upcoming battle or war. It would have been very difficult to defer his

responses also because of the immense popularity he had gained from overthrowing Marc

Antony and Cleopatra. The people saw Augustus in his sculpture at Primaporta portrayed as the

savior of maintaining the Roman republic. “The emperor is barefoot, which usually denotes
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divine status. Later in the Roman period, or in the Eastern Empire, emperors might be depicted

as gods while still alive, but with Caesar’s legacy still fresh in Roman minds, it is not likely that

Augustus would have been so presumptuous.” (5) The commonality of his lineage increased his

popularity even more, but what affected them the most was his accomplishments in battle and in

his peacemaking ability.

Iconography and Depiction

The scene on Augustus’ breastplate tells a stunning story. With only a few images, the caesar

combines divinity with cunning in battle and in diplomatic exchange. Jupiter is placed at the

collar of the breastplate overlooking all the events as they occur. The main event is displaying a

political victory in the center of the carved bronze armor. “The iconography of Augustus’

breastplate serves a similar purpose by calling attention to an important diplomatic victory in 20

BCE, when the Parthians returned standards that they had captured, to Roman shame, in 53 BCE.

A figure usually identified as Tiberius, Augustus’ eventual successor, or the god Mars, accepts

the Roman standards from a Parthian soldier, possibly Phraates IV, the Parthian king. Celestial

gods and terrestrial personifications frame the scene, giving the event a cosmic and eternal

significance. This diplomatic victory took on momentous proportions in Augustan propaganda.”

(6)
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His face is depicted in the manner of Apollo and was meant to associate Augustus’

abilities with those of the powerful god. Thus, Augustus wanted to portray himself as a perfect

leader with flawless features, personifying the power and authority of the emperor who had the

capacity to stabilize a society and an empire.

Works Cited

1. Eck, Werner. The Age of Augustus (New York: Oxford: Blackwell Publishing 2003).

2. Davies, Denny, Hofrichter, Jacobs, Roberts, Simon. Janson’s History of Art: The

Western Tradition 7th Edition. (New York: Prentice Hall 2007), 191-92.

3. Davies, 192.

4. Davies, 192.
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5. Davies, 192.

6. Davies, 192.