Looking for a little help from you experts here. Which emperor is this - Hadrian? Julius Caesar?
Grizzly Adams did have a beard.
Grizzlian Adamus
False! It's clearly Brianus Beatus.
It is Philip II, not Roman
Phillip (no second) was an emperor of the third century from 244-249 CE
Philip (II) of Macedon. Definitely not an emperor of Rome
Philip the Arab was certainly an emperor but not the person in the medallion
Wrong. It's me.
Did Greeks do the laurel wreaths?
They started it. The Romans weren't super original.
Of course! The Romans just imitated them
I do indeed know Caesar wasn’t technically not an Emperor, please forgive the lack of specificity in the OP. Had I thought better of it I’d have written “Which emperor - or maybe a rare bearded Caesar?”
As to a bearded Caesar, 2014’s Life of Caesar ep. 20 it’s said due to a double tragedy losing his mother and daughter and then thousands of men in Gaul, Caesar vowed not to get a haircut or shave until they were avenged. I wonder if he just skipped bathing altogether.
It was a Roman custom that mourning men stopped shaving. It wasn’t something specific to Caesar.
Caesar wouldn't appear in official portraits like that. But now i am curious and i wish i have good Photoshop skills to make a bearded Caesar portrait :-)
Also, I have no clue on the veracity of Life Of Caesar series.. it’s addition here was only to share info I have come across.
You all here know orders of magnitude more than I do on this topic, I of course defer to you as subject matter experts 👌🏼
Is that the one with Cam and Ray?
Augustus name was Julius Ceasar after the post mortem adoption. So technically...
Technically his legal name after becoming princeps was Imperator Caesar Augustus... so not quite Julius Caesar.
In the interim until he was emperor he was cslled that, no?
Caesar wasn’t an emperor but he did put his own face in coins as well
Julius Caesar did have a beard - it was his wife!
And the wife of everyone else in Rome
Tbh it looks a little too perfect to be real to me. The edges are perfect and the stamp is dead centre. I’m thinking reproduction which means it doesn’t necessarily need to be any emperor.
It is a commission from 50-70 years ago, jewelry in gold made to resemble a current iteration of a Roman signet ring.
Got it. Are you certain that the commission used an original coin as a template or is it possible it’s just Roman inspired?
I’m 90% sure that you’re exactly right - the person chose a famous Roman who whether by deed or through the lens of history so inspired them that they had a ring made.
I do know the person worked with their hands & was a general contractor running multiple crews working on large construction sites, and have it on good authority it was worn for evening social gatherings that required a freshly pressed collar so to say, that if wasn’t worn daily like some who like they would a wristwatch wear a fancy pinky ring everyday. (Insert your choice of Robert De Niro characters here.)
It cannot be Caesar as at the time roman men did nit sport beards. This however does not mean it was Hadrian.
Will probably be tough to tell who this is supposed to be without any kind of legend or identifying marks.
The link below is for terminology used in coins but it could be helpful if you want to compare the depictions.
https://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/glosshead.html
Whatever it is that you have (which is definitely not a genuine piece from ancient Rome), is laureate, head right.
I'm no expert but the beard would likely indicate that the emperor depicted is from the mid-2nd to early 3rd century.
It may be genuine, but it is not Roman. It is a Hellenistic coin. Hellenistic coins did not have inscription on the "face" side of the coin. It is likely Philip II
Also, I am to understand that occasionally some Romans kept their own counsel so to speak on what beards they themselves grew despite convention.. if the information is to be believed, I learned that Hadrian grew a philosophers beard though it wasn’t necessarily in fashion for Emperors of the time.
What they actually grew. And what they allowed on coins are two different things. One is conformable. One is not.
Though emperors did make their own coins i definitely agree
That is right. It’s not an original coin, it’s a custom piece, a ring commissioned decades ago and crafted in 18k. I’m struggling to figure out which famous (likely?) Roman it is..
First guess is Hadrian. Compare to this coin portrait.
Or it could just be a generic "emperor" if you know what I mean...not intended to be anyone in particular. Have a look through this set of portraits and compare any that have beards.
Holy crap-balls, Batman! To my eyes that’s so close as to be preeeeetty much dead on.. Thank you u/kittencaboodle1070 !
May be Antonino Pio
Wow.. of course this is super difficult without the jeweler or the original owner alive to confirm it but while there will be scores of likenesses, Antonino Pio is as close as the other famous Roman images I’ve come across
Julius Caesar wasn’t an emperor. His great-nephew Octavian, known as Augustus, was the first emperor.
Yes. An omission of a couple parts of speech in the OP made this ambiguous, apologies
This is not Roman in the first place. If anything, the art is reminiscent of the Hellenistic period. My guess is that it is Philip II of Macedon: Philip II, Silver Tetradrachm | Baldwin's
I hear you - one keen commenter found this:
https://www.moneymuseum.com/en/intent/coin-catalogue/the-most-beautiful-coins?&id=186
It is wrong. It is unlikely that a Roman coin would have been missing the inscription, since they were important "information" propagation tools. On the other hand, coins in the time of Philip II did not have an inscription on the "face" side of the coin, only the reverse. Virtualy all coins minted during the reign of Philip II did not have any inscription on the "face" side. See another example: Ancient Greece Commemorative Silver Plated Coin Philip II of Macedon Tetradrachm | eBay. In fact, you can see hundreds of these. Some (in fact most) portray Hercules, occasionally some of his wives, etc. None have inscriptions on the face side. The same remains true for most of the Hellenistic era. Hardly any (I do not know of any) coins depicting Alexander the Great have inscriptions on the face side and these may have been minted by Alexander or the Seleukid or Ptolemaic kingdoms. Tetradrachm of Alexander the Great | Seleucid | The Metropolitan Museum of Art (metmuseum.org)
Septimius Severus. But looks like a modern forgery/recreation casting
It is a casting of a Hellenistic coin. Virtually all Hellenic or Hellenistic coins lacked inscriptions on the "face" side. Inscriptions were only present on the reverse side.
Caracalla
I agree
Caesar was the last Dictator never Emperor
If it’s an emperor, it would be Hadrian or later since no one before him had a beard. Beards were kind of a Greek thing and Hadrian loved the Greek vibe more than anyone before him!
I think that's gotta be Agrippina The Younger
This is Kevin in his toga party
Kevin Murphy?
Doesn't look like a typical Hadrian. More like Caracalla to me honestly
It would have to be one from the second century CE or later, when beards became fashionable.
It's Biggus Dickus.
Brainus Smallus
It's Lula
Definitely not Caesar. Or Caligula or Nero (no mullet game).
What is this exactly? Definitely not a coin - is it a ring or some sort of seal?
The portrait doesn't match the coinage of any emperor. The closest thing would be Clodius Albinus from his extremely short stint as Usurper. Obviously, it isn't a perfect match.
Second closest would be Geta as Augusus in 211 when he grew out his beard to look more like his father.
I strongly suspect that this is a modern concoction, and is not meant to portray anything except "an emperor".
That is quite clearly Maximus Decimus Meridius
Commander of the armies of the north?
Father to a murdered son?
General of the Felix legions?
Russel Crowe for the win?
My guess is Hadrian. Not many Emperors had beards. Kind of frowned upon as being Greek. Not as bad as just mustaches though, that was the look of Barbarians
Im sure Hadrian was one of the first to emulate the Greek look with the beard and Laurels.
Marcus Aurelius?
Could be Marcus Aurelius.
Looks like Hadrian. Older Caracalla is a possibility as well.
Could be antoninus pius, or marcus aurelius, or Hadrian.
“Basically, if you see thick curls and medium-weighted beards, it's probably Hadrian or Antoninus Pius. If you see wild beards and super-defined curls on top of their heads then you're likely looking at Lucious Verus, Marcus Aurelius, or Commodus”
Put me down for 100 denarii on Diocletian.
I’ve been looking online for hours now, I came across an article in Daily Art Magazine suggesting Hadrian wore a philosophers beard. The posted image is definitely not a philosophers beard.
What do you all think-
Emperor Cheesey Bro from the Natty Ice Dynasty
That's yo mama before she shaved your beard
He could be Septimius Severus. Take a look here.
Whomever downvoted you aside,I dig the deep pull..but I think Septimius’ beard is longer and more luxurious
User deleted comment
8d
Gotcha.. I appreciate your viewpoint. I do not think it lines up with known facts on the ground. Also, one commenter found this, it’s amazingly close:
https://www.moneymuseum.com/en/intent/coin-catalogue/the-most-beautiful-coins?&id=186
Indeed it is a rare bearded Julius Caesar solidus from the early Republican period. Very rare, good catch!
Most accurate ChatGPT response.
lmao I didn't put /s by accident, I fooled ppl I apologize
Oh I got the sarcasm I’m right there with you.
Full disclosure - so the handle is not misunderstood, prof is simply a nickname from when I was a teacher, I did not teach history and I am by no means any kind of expert I this subject.
I totally get it - I knew some would bristle on Caesar with facial hair as there are nearly no - none? - likenesses of him with any. I came across this:
“After he returned from Britain in 54BCE, Julius Caesar learned that his mother and daughter had both died. As his daughter was happily married to Pompey, this is a not only a huge personal blow to both of them (she died during childbirth and the child didn’t survive), but it also does damage to the triumvirate. Meanwhile in Gaul, certain tribes rebel against Caesar and he loses thousands of men under the leadership of Sabinus and Cotta, who are tricked and fall into a trap. Caesar declares that until they have been revenged, he will not cut his hair or shave his beard.”
https://lifeofcaesar.com/life-of-caesar-20
While I wouldn’t have believed he had grown a beard, this information made me alter my own (layperson’s) surety from everything I learned about him in high school and college. Also, had I thought better of my wording I’d have written “Hadrian? or a bearded Julius Caesar.”
I do realize Julius Caesar was not an emperor.. That said- “Caesar wasn’t called emperor of Rome, but in a way he was the first one.” So says Mary Beard (a lucky coincidence here :~) who is a definitive & well known expert to all here on such matters, so I thought amongst you this may be better known to knowledgeable folk that would be here . I didn’t want to make a lengthy post but I should’ve included all this to allay some pushback of the experts on Reddit from those thinking I hadn’t done a lick of research.
But yeah, Romans didn’t generally grow beards, & that it’s understood that Caesar was not known to have been pictured with one.
I’m trying to solve this little mystery is all - all responses are appreciated 🤛🏼
None. No bearded likenesses of rulers until 117AD this saith Mary Beard in SPQR. So there is that.
- A downvote without an explanation is not helpful - if you’ve thought to do so please consider adding some insight that may help with this conundrum.
Julius Caesar wasn't an emperor
He didn't have a beard. lol
Might be Hadrian, but hard to tell since there's no inscription.