According to Velleius Patercolus, “sprung from the noble family of the Julii, and tracing his descent from Venus and Anchises, he [Caius Caesar] surpassed all his fellow-citizens in beauty of person.” (Historiae Romanae 2, 41. 1).

Looking this portrait, identified as the Tusculum-Aglié type, Patercolus’ words turn out be at least flattering. This portrait shows the face of a man who has passed the fifty, characterized by a large balding forehead, small and protruding eyes, long nose with a bit curved septum, prominent cheekbones on sunken cheeks, thin lips and strong square-jawed. The head shows some cranial congenital irregularities: the excessive growth of the left parietal bone and the elongated shape of the skullcap. The thin neck shows a pronounced Adam’s apple. The Tusculum Caesar strikes the observer for his sly smile and his gaze of superiority pointed toward him. The calligraphic rendering of the hair suggests that this statue is the copy of an original bronze portrait dating from Caesar’s time.

Similarities with the portrait reproduced on the “denarii” coined by M. Mettius in 44-43 BC, date this portrait in the last months of the dictator’s life or in those immediately following his death.

The lively presence suggested by the Tusculum-Agliè type is lost in a more recent portraiture type known as “Chiaramonti-Pisa type”, commissioned by Augustus after the deification of Caesar (42 BC). According to this new style the irregularities and the signs of aging are softened, and the forehead is framed by a fringe made by locks modeled as “pincer” and “scissors”, so as to accentuate the similarities between the emperor and his adoptive father.