127. Bust of Commodus as Hercules,

Roman, 180-193 C.E. Marble,

height: 133 cm. Musei Capitolini, Rome.

 

 

This portrait of the Roman Emperor Commodus shows him in the guise of Heracles, the great hero of myth. Commodus was one of the more deranged and tyrannical emperors, and one of his follies was to imagine himself as Heracles. He changed his name to Heracles Romanus and forced the Senate to declare him a god. This portrait is in some ways typical of the portraiture of the time. It shows the emperor as young and bearded, which was the standard style since Hadrian. His face is given a classicising, elegant appearance, yet the hooded eyes were particular to Commodus and show this to be, at least to some degree, a likeness. The emperor’s hair and beard have finely-chiselled curls. Otherwise, however, the portrait is rather unusual. Commodus is draped in the lion skin worn by Heracles, held in place by the knotted front legs of the beast. He holds Heracles’ club in one hand, and the apples of the Hesperides, from the mythical labours of Heracles, in the other. Other than the lion skin, he is bare-chested, another sign of his supposed divinity.