Two portraits of Agrippa Postumus in the British Museum

• Autores: Miles Russell, Harry Manley
• Localización: Journal of Roman archaeology, ISSN 1047-7594, Vol. 35, Nº. 1, 2022, págs. 322-338
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Two damaged and partially restored Roman portraits in the collection of the British Museum, previously identified as either the emperor Caligula or an unknown “Julio-Claudian prince,” are here reassessed and identified as Agrippa Postumus, the youngest grandson and adopted heir of Augustus. The first portrait, from southern Britain, may have come from a temple dedicated to the worship of the Julio-Claudian house, while the second was probably part of an equestrian group standing outside the Aedes Castoris in Rome. This is a significant reinterpretation, providing potential evidence not only for links between Rome's first family and the rulers of a distant client kingdom, but also for the framing of imperial power and the uncertain nature of the Augustan succession in the early years of the 1st c. CE.