Prima Porta Augustus

• c. 20 BC at Livia's villa in Prima Porta
• a marble copy of a bronze original that would have been displayed elsewhere in Rome - feature of Cupid + dolphin would not have been featured on the original
• Skilled military leader - ad locutio pose
• Skilled politician - ad locutio pose
• Skilled politician - a peaceful negotiation scene on the breastplate between a Roman, Augustus or Tiberius and a Parthian
• Skilled politician - drapery similar to a toga, which was a sign of Roman citizenship as well as oratory skill as it gave gravitas to speeches
• Roman man - wolf by him, Phygrian cap, Roman set of armour
• Parthian man - bearded, wearing trousers, handing standards
• Augustus wearing a cuirass and tunic
• Bringer of peace - peaceful scene of reconciliation on his breastplate, supported by the goddess Pax
• Heroic - given defined muscle
• Heroic - Cupid on a dolphin a reminder of his divine ancestry to Venus and many heroes would be semi-divine
• Heroic - contrapposto pose similar to statues like Doryphoros, alluding to the heroic nude - emphasised by his bare feet
• Evokes Periclean Athens - contrapposto a chaacteristic of Greek Classical style -> Doryphoros + heroic nude
• Evokes Periclean Athens - Augustus depicted with a youthful, smooth face in line with the Greek Classical style, aligning him with the moral fibre of Periclean Athens
• Heroic - youthful face aligning him with Achilles
• Contrapposto - uneven weight distribution
• Evokes Periclean Athens - P.Zanker suggests aligns his reign as one of "similar moral superiority"
• A) Caelus (sky)

  B) Sol with chariot

  C) Aurora (dawn) and Luna (moon)

  D) Apollo riding a griffin

  E) Pax or Ceres orTellus

  F) wolf

  G) Phygrian cap

  H) Tiberius or Augustus

  I) Parthian

  J) standard

  K) Bearded

  L) Trousered

  M) Diana riding a deer

  N) ally or conquered province

  O) ally or conquered province

  
• The top of the breastplate is a representation of the heavens - the sky with the sun chasing behind the moon and dawn seperating the two
• Skilled military leader - youthful face and slightly tousled hair, reminiscient of Alexander the Great as Bishop says