Emperor Augustus

Augustus, born Gaius Octavius, was the great nephew of Julius Caesar and his heir after Julius Caesar was assassinated. Augustus was incredibly intelligent and skilled at diplomacy, and became the first emperor of the Roman Empire, reigning for 40 years. Augustus reigned over a fairly peaceful Roman Empire for the first time in several centuries, known as the Pax Romana, which he helped negotiate and put into place. Augustus turned out to be a master at civil politics, and throughout his reign he reformed the taxation system, the transportation system, the Roman police and fire services, and the city’s architecture.

One great thing is that there are dozens of statues of Augustus that were created during his lifetime, and they all share very similar features, so it’s quite easy to imagine his facial structure. Each one shares a low brow, strong nose and small chin, with well-proportioned lips and good cheekbones. The Romans - and Augustus himself - greatly admired Greek sculpture, and the youthful, idealized look of his portrait statues is a result of that. So Augustus himself may look too young or too handsome in this sculpture - probably both. Where it gets tricky is his coloring. There is a long history of whitewashing Romans, especially by those who would say they were Nordic-looking. Romans are considered “white” as a classification of race, but obviously caucasian people look incredibly different across cultures. 

We only know about the appearance of Augustus through the historian Seutonius, who was writing over a hundred years after the death of Augustus but may have had sources now lost to us. He describes Augustus as having Bluish Grey eyes and light brown or even reddish hair, describing him as very good-looking, with skin “between dark and fair.” The latin words used to describe his coloring have controversial modern translations and can be interpreted very differently, so it’s important to note that this is only one interpretation of how he could have looked. 

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Portraits: Left base: Bust of Emperor Augustus, contemporary to his time. Courtesy of Walters Media Archive. Right base: iStock photo.

What did Augustus look like? History & Recreation Video