During the Roman empire there were two different kinds of iconoclasm. Broadly speaking, these can be termed secular and religious iconoclasm, but the spheres of religion and politics were closely intertwined in antiquity. For that reason, the separation between the two cannot be made so easily, and must be treated with some caution. I will, however, in my thesis be focusing on what can be termed religious iconoclasm, and specifically early Christian iconoclasm, i.e. the destruction of pagan images by Christians.

The best known form of (’secular’) iconoclasm is probably the practice of damnatio memoriae (although it was never called that by the Romans), meaning the action of destroying a person’s likeness to erase his memory from history. There is both good literary and archaeological evidence for this, which Eric R. Varner has compiled in an exhaustive catalogue (see reference). Many ‘bad’ emperors suffered this fate, including Caligula (37-41 CE), who was the first one. Sometimes portraits were altered rather than destroyed, such as the example below, a portrait of Gaius Caligula that has been transformed into the Forbes type of Augustus:

A portrait of Augustus in the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen. Photo: TMK, 2002.

And then there’s religious iconoclasm, the main topic of my thesis. The earliest archaeologically documented example (from the Roman period) that I’ve found so far goes back to the time of the persecutions against the Bacchus cult in the 2nd century BCE. A terracotta throne found in Volsinii with bacchic motives was probably the victim of such an iconoclastic attack. This was one of several cults that were targeted in the Republican period. The Isis cult, for example, was outlawed and its priests exiled several times because of its ‘foreign’ elements.

This also goes to show that the idea that Christians were especially targeted is a myth. In the 2nd and 3rd century CE, they were targeted because of their number and refusal to recognize the imperial powers

The Roman emperor Gaius, more commonly known by his nickname Caligula, ruled from A.D. 37 to 41 and was extremely unpopular. In fact, after he was murdered, almost all portraits of him were destroyed.

The Romans had a long tradition of portraiture, but portraits of emperors had a specific propaganda function beyond that of ordinary portraits. The actual appearance of the individual was combined with the political message that the portrait was meant to convey. Portraits of Caligula show a young man with a high forehead, small mouth, and thin lips. He is identifiable as an individual, yet his hairstyle copies that of the emperor Augustus, making a deliberate allusion to his dynastic connection and his right to rule.

The depiction of the emperor in these official portraits bears no resemblance to the unpleasant descriptions of Caligula provided by Roman writers such as Suetonius:

Height: tall -- Complexion: pallid -- Body: hairy and badly built -- Neck: thin -- Legs: spindling -- Eyes: sunken -- Temples: hollow -- Forehead: broad and forbidding -- Scalp: almost hairless, especially on top. Because of his baldness and hairiness he announced that it was a capital offense either for anyone to look down on him as he passed or to mention goats in any context.  (Getty Museum Educational use only)


After many years of civil war, Augustus took complete power in Rome in 27 B.C. He claimed that he was re-establishing the Roman Republic, but he actually founded the Roman Empire. Visual signs emphasizing its power and legitimacy bolstered this new political order.

Portraits of Augustus served as symbols of his political agenda rather than corresponding to his physical features as described in written sources. Augustus is always shown in an ideal, classicizing style, and he never ages over the length of his reign. One constant feature of Augustus's portraits is his hairstyle, with its distinctive forked locks of hair on his forehead.

This portrait was carved about the middle of the first century A.D., after Augustus' death in A.D. 14. Posthumous portraits of Augustus were popular and were often used by his successors to legitimize their rule. This portrait, however, may originally have been a head of Caligula, a later emperor. The head's wide-open eyes and concave temples characterize Caligula's portraits. When the hated Caligula was murdered in A.D. 41, most portraits of him were destroyed, but some may have been re-carved into other, more popular emperors.  Getty Museum (educational use only) 

In early imperial times the normal method was to remove a layer from the face, like this sketch in fig. 22 illustrates. The sketch is hypothetical, based on a damnatio memoriae-portrait of Caligula re-carved into Augustus.

Fig. 22a)  A part of the face is removed.             Fig. 22b) The back of the head is removed. 

fragment of a glass bowl with chariot and driver; Roman, 1st century CE
from a mould-blown glass cut decorated with scenes from the circus.
VROMA.ORG

terracotta lamp with circus scene; Roman, 40-70 CE
Depicts a charioteer driving a 4-horse chariot. VROMA.ORG



Head of a girl, possibly Claudia Octavia, daughter of Roman Emperor Claudius and Messalina
Circa 50 A.D.
Rome.
Marble.
Royal Museum for Art and History, Brussels - Photo Hans


Continuing a dynasty can be much harder than starting one. The successors of Augustus, the first Roman emperor, worked hard to demonstrate their connection to Augustus and hence their right to rule. Antonia Minor, shown here in this large cameo, was Augustus's niece and the mother of possible heirs to the throne.  (Getty Museum Educational Use Only)

The cameo shows Antonia wearing a veil and a diadem in the guise of a priestess of the cult of the deified Augustus. Stars and a portrait of Augustus wearing a laurel wreath decorate the diadem. The cameo was probably carved after Antonia's death in A.D. 37, during the reign of her son Claudius, the fourth Roman emperor.

Small-scale portraits carved in the round from precious stones were probably once set into statues made of gold or silver, although no complete examples survive today. Elaborate cameo carvings such as this one were part of the production of commemorative luxury goods at the Roman imperial court. 


Keenly aware of the power of images, Augustus, the first Roman emperor, developed a definitive image of himself and, in the interests of establishing a dynasty, supervised the creation of images for his potential successors. Augustus's idea of visual continuity to reinforce the dynasty resulted in the similar appearance of portraits of all the princes of the Julio-Claudian family and frequent uncertainty about specific identities.

This engraved gem probably represents Germanicus. A favorite of Augustus, Germanicus was in line to succeed his step-father Tiberius as the third emperor, when he died suddenly under mysterious circumstances in A.D. 19. Germanicus was honored posthumously, and this gem probably dates to the period between his death and the end of the reign of his son, the emperor Caligula. (Getty Museum Educational use only)


 antiquity, as today, death could come quickly and unexpectedly. Grave monuments often had to be purchased from whatever was in a merchant's stock, rather than made to order. Many Roman grave monuments show signs of hasty changes intended to make the portrait more appropriate. This grave relief, however, displays an instance where the portrait bears no resemblance to the deceased.

This relief depicts a bust set within an aedicula or small funerary shrine. The Greek inscription carved across the lower part of the monument reads, "To the gods of the underworld! For Agrippina, our daughter, who lived three years, one month, and twenty-seven days, we the parents had this relief made in her memory." Yet, the bust carved on the monument depicts a boy about ten to twelve years old. It appears that, for the grieving parents, having any monument took precedence over including an actual likeness of their daughter. This relief is also unusual in its form. Grave reliefs are rare in Rome by this time; sarcophagi were the more common monument for the dead.  (Getty Museum Educational use only)


British Museum, Tiberius, Livia's son by Ti. Claudius Nero (indianaedu)


Caligula- Rome


Boston Museum, Tiberius (Claudius Nero) c. 19 B.C. (indianaedu)


Boston Museum, Elder Drusus, Livia's son by Ti. Claudius Drusus c.20 B.C. (indianaedu)


Naples Museum, Farnesina sculptures, colossal Tiberius (indianaedu)


Venice, Tiberius (indianaedu)


Louvre, Tiberius from Capri (indianedu)


Palazzo Massimo, Germanicus from Nomentanum, A.D. 14-41 (indianaedu)

Corinth, Nero Iulius (Brother of Caligula) wearing sacrificial toga


molded glass medallion (phalera) of Germanicus, Roman, c. 20-40 CE
The phalera has lost its original bronze mounting. Germanicus, brother of Claudius and husband of Agrippina the Elder, is shown surrounded by the heads of three of his six children portrayed as infants.  VROMA.ORG


Palazzo Massimo, Livilla II (indianaedu)


Julio-Claudian- Caligula?  Rome Bronze


Livia and Tiberius  


Tiberius-Vatican Museum

Rome, from the Villa Negroni; Portrait of Tiberius Drusus Caesar (Drusus the Younger); inv.658; four views; Roman; Ca. AD 15; Schloss Erbach; Marble; H: 0.45m;
Rome, from the Villa Negroni; Portrait of Tiberius Drusus Caesar (Drusus the Younger); inv.658; four views; Roman; Ca. AD 15; Schloss Erbach; Marble; H: 0.45m; 

Claudius re-cut from Caligula?


Julio-Claudian Period


Nero? Hermitage

Germanicus?  Tripoli

Tiberius Tripoli



Gemma Augustea



Gemma Julio Claudians


Tiberius-Rome



Augustus- Montemartini




Julio Claudian- Copenhagen



Julio Claudian?  Copenhagen



Caligula- VMFA



Tiberius- Hermitage

 

Tiberius- Copenhagen



Nero? Louvre



Gaius Caesar (grandson of Augustus)- BM

Caligula Polychromy and other Julio Claudians- Copenhagen


Augustus and other Julio Claudians- Kunst


Augustus- Louvre