Tour A: Hats, Helmets, and Hairstyles
The head is one of the most distinctive parts of the body, and therefore it is no surprise that headgear in various forms – hats, helmets, and hairstyles – were important ways of signalling status and identity in the ancient world.
A8 The Civic Crown
[IKA, Photo: Kristina Klein]
Inv.-Nr. 2342
Porträt des Augustus (sog. Augustus Bevilacqua)
München, Glyptothek 317
frühe Kaiserzeit
Augustus was born as Gaius Octavius in 63 BCE, but is best known for founding the Roman Principate and becoming the first Emperor in 27 BCE after defeating Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium, ending the civil wars that had riven Rome for a generation.
On this bust he is depicted wearing the corona civile or the civic crown. This was an exceptionally high honour, and during the time of the Roman Republic it was reserved for those who had saved the lives of Roman citizens in battle. Augustus was awarded it in recognition of the Roman lives that he saved by ending the civil wars. The civic crown took the form of a wreath of oak leaves.
Augustus was a master at manipulating his public image, and created a standardised and idealised version of his own portrait. We know of over two hundred and fifty portraits of Augustus still extant today. This bust was taken from a marble bust now in the Munich Glyptothek, known as the Augustus Bevilacqua.