p.110 Archaeological context establishes the date of a colossal head of Livia from the Temple of Augustus and Roma in the old forum of Leptis Magna, since her portrait appeared here in a family group that, according to the inscriptions on the temple and on two of the statue bases, was set up in A. D. 23 or soon afterward, while the Augusta was still alive. (Figure 35)¹²¹. The scale of the figure establishes beyond doubt, however, that she and the current emperor Tiberius are beings of a far more awe-inspiring status than that of other members of the imperial family in the group. The latter included Germanicus and Drusus II, the two heirs of Tiberius who had both p.111 suffered untimely deaths. They appeared in chariots, accompanied by their wives and mothers, all of whom appeared in life-sized scale. But overlooking this group, which probably stood on the platform of the temple, on a porch visible to passers-by in the forum, were four enormous figures, of Augustus, Dea Roma, Tiberius, and Julia Augusta (Livia). The inscription indicates that this whole group was set up at the same time; the differentiation of scale, therefore, places the living emperor and his living mother on a closer footing to the gods than to the young men whose deaths the group commemorated.

The colossal statues were probably acrolithic: the heads are hollowed in back to lighten the massive load, which suggests that bodies of some lighter and less costly material had to support them, while the scale relative to that of the temple suggests that they were probably represented sitting down, on thrones, rather than standing. Their backs must have been placed against the wall of the pronaos, since the heads were obviously never meant to be seen from behind¹²². The image of Augustus was the largest: the surviving head measures 92 centimeters from chin to crown, approximately the same scale as the fragmentary head of Dea Roma, but 24 centimeters larger than that of Livia and 18 centimeters larger than that of the living emperor Tiberius. The status of the deified emperor compared to that of his living relatives was still maintained.

Nonetheless, the presentation of the Augusta on a scale more than twice life-size marks a significant change in the nature of her image. Indeed, of the eleven colossal portraits of Livia that Kreikenbom has recently catalogued, not one can be dated before the death of Augustus¹²³. In every case, either archaeological context or the use of the later coiffure, the type attested on the Salus Augusta coins, establishes a date no earlier than the principate of Tiberius. In the head from the Leptis Magna group, the portrait type with the nodus coiffure receives a very free, and quite dramatic, interpretation: the enlarged eyes have a dramatic upward gaze, enhanced by the twist and turn of the neck, while the rippling waves of hair around her face, have a looser and more artfully disorderly appearance than in the primly tidy portraits of Augustus’s lifetime. Deeply carved grooves separate the strands, both in the nodus and in the hair drawn back p.112 over the ears, and create a rising and falling surface very different in effect from the smooth surfaces with their shallowly engraved strands of replicas such as the bust from Arsinoë (figures 22—23)¹²⁴. Some of these features, like the exaggeration of the size of the eyes and the deep carving of the strands of hair could be dictated by the scale, which requires bold treatment in order for forms to read clearly from a considerable distance above eye-level, but the colossal portraits of Augustus and of Tiberius in the same group display a far more restrained treatment, and greater fidelity to established prototypes. The sculptor of Livia’s head, in contrast, seems to have felt the need to use the devices of Hellenistic royal portraits in order to express the Augusta’s new status. Not every city and colony of the empire treated her image quite so extravagandy during her lifetime, but the local patrons of Leptis Magna seem to have felt a special affection for Livia, whom they honored with at least three extant colossal statues, and one more life-size statue that does not survive but that, according to the inscription on its base, was dedicated to the “DIVAE AUGUSTAE.”¹²⁵

¹²¹Tripolis Museum, from Leptis Magna, marble head, hollowed out in back, h., chin to crown 68 cm. Aurigemma 1940, 50—56, figs. 32—34; Poulsen, 1946, 45—46 fig. 37; Gross, 1962, 106—109; Bartels, 1963, 31—32; Fittschen-Zanker 3, 2 n. 6n, under no. 1; Kreikenbom, 1992, 179 no. III 36, with full literature, pl. 11a; Rose, 1997, 182—184, cat. no. 125, pl. 221; Winkes, 1995, 181 no. 105. On the inscriptions that establish the date: Aurigemma 1940, 21—27; Trillmich 1988, 51—60. Aurigemma believed that the group must date to the lifetime of Germanicus, who appeared in a life-sized figure in the associated chariot group, but Trillmich, reinterpretating the Latin inscriptions on the bases, establishes that the group must be no earlier than A. D. 23, the last year of the life of Drusus II, and probably constitutes a posthumous honor to both young princes.

¹²²On the reconstruction of the group and its placement: Aurigcmma, 1940, 24—25; Gross, 1962, 107; Rose, 1997, pls. 217 A and B.

¹²³Kreikenbom, 1992, 179—186 nos. III. 36—46.

¹²⁴Bartels, 1963, 31—32.

¹²⁵Standing colossal statue of Livia as Cybele, from the temple of Ceres-Tyche near the theater of Leptis Magna, Tripolis Museum, inv. 26, h. 310 cm. Winkes, 1995, 184 no. 107; Mikocki, 1995, 156 no. 37 pl. 14, with earlier literature; Kreikenbom, 1992, 180-81 no. III 39, pl. 11c. Enthroned statue of Livia with diadem and infula, also from the Old Forum: Aurigemma, 1940, 70—74 figs. 47—50 (as Antonia Minor); Kreikenboin, 1992, 185 no. III 45, pl. 11d, with literature; Winkes, 1995, 182—183 no. 106. Inscribed statue base: Aurigemma, 1940, 32 fig. 16.