Triumphant Lives

This chapter explores the portraits, statues, and triumphal arches in Imperial Rome. Rome’s growing military and political ascendance throughout the Mediterranean during the third and second centuries bc coincided with significant artistic developments in the realm of portraiture and historical documentation in the visual arts. The visual landscape of the city was densely packed with statues in gold, silver, bronze, and marble, vast numbers of which were portraits honouring the men and women of Rome for their lifetime achievements. In addition, the statuary population included images which surmounted the numerous triumphal arches positioned throughout the city. Portraits formed the artistic analogue of written biographies, encomia, and panegyrics, as did the historical and allegorical narrative reliefs that often adorned triumphal arches.