DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.15101#0081
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readily recognized; but they indicate a countenance differing much
from the one before us, especially in the arrangement of the hair.
We may add that the general character of this bust is unlike that
of any of his family, while it is much more analogous in workman-
ship to that of the later times of Severus or Macrinus. The form
of the beard is not unlike that of Pertinax, but the upper part of
the head is different. We may also remark, that the nose having
been restored greatly increases the difficulty of identifying this
pourtrait. It is probable that it represents an imperial personage,
but we do not think it can be determined, from such evidence as
is at present available, whom it really denotes.
The original name of JElius Caesar was L. Ceionius Commodus ;
but he changed it on his adoption by the Emperor Hadrian
when he was attached to the Gens MYia, and received the title of
L. iElius Verus Caesar, being the first person on whom the
appellation of Caesar was conferred, with the object of indicating
the next heir to the imperial throne. Nothing is known of his
early career, and even the date of his adoption varies, according
to different writers, between a.d. 135 and a.d. 137. It is certain,
that on the coins struck during his second consulship, which was
in the latter year, a.d. 137, he is designated L. iElius Caesar.
Shortly after this he obtained the rank of Tribune, and was
nominated Governor of Pannonia. He did not, however, long
enjoy this office, for he died January 1, a.d. 138, and was interred
in the Mausoleum of Hadrian.(3)
This bust was bequeathed by the late R. Payne Knight, Esq.,
in 1824. The nose and several folds of the paludamentum have
been restored. It is in Parian marble, and 2 feet 3 inches in
height, without its pedestal.
3 Dio. Cass., lxix. 17, &c. Spartian, Vit. Hadriani, c. 23.
readily recognized; but they indicate a countenance differing much
from the one before us, especially in the arrangement of the hair.
We may add that the general character of this bust is unlike that
of any of his family, while it is much more analogous in workman-
ship to that of the later times of Severus or Macrinus. The form
of the beard is not unlike that of Pertinax, but the upper part of
the head is different. We may also remark, that the nose having
been restored greatly increases the difficulty of identifying this
pourtrait. It is probable that it represents an imperial personage,
but we do not think it can be determined, from such evidence as
is at present available, whom it really denotes.
The original name of JElius Caesar was L. Ceionius Commodus ;
but he changed it on his adoption by the Emperor Hadrian
when he was attached to the Gens MYia, and received the title of
L. iElius Verus Caesar, being the first person on whom the
appellation of Caesar was conferred, with the object of indicating
the next heir to the imperial throne. Nothing is known of his
early career, and even the date of his adoption varies, according
to different writers, between a.d. 135 and a.d. 137. It is certain,
that on the coins struck during his second consulship, which was
in the latter year, a.d. 137, he is designated L. iElius Caesar.
Shortly after this he obtained the rank of Tribune, and was
nominated Governor of Pannonia. He did not, however, long
enjoy this office, for he died January 1, a.d. 138, and was interred
in the Mausoleum of Hadrian.(3)
This bust was bequeathed by the late R. Payne Knight, Esq.,
in 1824. The nose and several folds of the paludamentum have
been restored. It is in Parian marble, and 2 feet 3 inches in
height, without its pedestal.
3 Dio. Cass., lxix. 17, &c. Spartian, Vit. Hadriani, c. 23.