Augustus

== Physical appearance and official images ==
[[File:Augusto capite velato 04 - Museo archeologico nazionale delle Marche.jpg|thumb|upright|The veiled head of Emperor Augustus, 1st century BC, [[National Archaeological Museum of the Marche Region]]]]
His biographer [[Suetonius]], writing about a century after Augustus's death, described his appearance as: "...&nbsp;unusually handsome and exceedingly graceful at all periods of his life, though he cared nothing for personal adornment. He was so far from being particular about the dressing of his hair, that he would have several barbers working in a hurry at the same time, and as for his beard he now had it clipped and now shaved, while at the very same time he would either be reading or writing something&nbsp;... He had clear, bright eyes&nbsp;... His teeth were wide apart, small, and ill-kept; his hair was slightly curly and inclined to golden;{{Efn|According to [[Adrian Goldsworthy]] such descriptions of color are hard to judge and may mean brown rather than black hair{{Sfn|Goldsworthy|2014|page=68}}}} his eyebrows met. His ears were of moderate size, and his nose projected a little at the top and then bent ever so slightly inward. His complexion was between dark and fair. He was short of stature, although Julius Marathus, his freedman and keeper of his records, says that he was five feet and nine inches (just under 5 ft. 7 in., or 1.70 meters, in modern height measurements), but this was concealed by the fine proportion and symmetry of his figure, and was noticeable only by comparison with some taller person standing beside him...",{{sfn|Suetonius|loc=''Augustus'' [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Augustus*.html#79 79]}} adding that "his [[calceus|shoes]] [were] somewhat high-soled, to make him look taller than he really was".{{sfn|Suetonius|loc=''Augustus'' [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Augustus*.html#73 73]}} Scientific analysis of traces of paint found in his official statues shows that he most likely had light brown hair and eyes (his hair and eyes were depicted as the same color).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Panzanelli |first=Roberta |title=The Color of Life: Polychromy in Sculpture from Antiquity to the Present |date=26 June 2008 |publisher=Getty Publishing |isbn=978-0-89236-917-1 |edition=1st |pages=116–117}}</ref>

[[File:SFEC BritMus Roman Modification1.jpg|thumb|upright|The [[Meroë Head]] of Augustus, bronze [[Roman portraiture]] bust from [[Meroë]], [[Kingdom of Kush]] ([[Nubia]], modern Sudan), 27–25 BC]]
His official images were very tightly controlled and idealized, drawing from a tradition of [[Hellenistic portraiture]] rather than the tradition of realism in [[Roman portraiture]]. He first appeared on [[Ancient Roman coinage|coins]] at the age of 19, and from about 29 BC "the explosion in the number of Augustan portraits attests a concerted propaganda campaign aimed at dominating all aspects of civil, religious, economic and military life with Augustus's person."<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Walker |first1=Susan |title=The Image of Augustus |last2=Burnett |first2=Andrew |date=1981 |publisher=British Museum Publications |isbn=978-0-7141-1270-1 |pages=1, 18, 25 (quoted)}}</ref> The early images did indeed depict a young man, but although there were gradual changes his images remained youthful until he died in his seventies, by which time they had "a distanced air of ageless majesty", according to the classicist [[R. R. R. Smith]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Smith |first=R. R. R. |date=1997 |title=The Public Image of Licinius I: Portrait Sculpture and Imperial Ideology in the Early Fourth Century |journal=Journal of Roman Studies |volume=87 |page=186 |doi=10.2307/301374 |jstor=301374|s2cid=162898808 }}</ref> Among the best known of many surviving portraits are the [[Augustus of Prima Porta]], the image on the [[Ara Pacis]], and the [[Via Labicana Augustus]], which depicts him in his role as ''[[pontifex maximus]]''. Several [[engraved gem|cameo portraits]] include the [[Blacas Cameo]] and ''[[Gemma Augustea]]''.