What is the cultural significance of Augustus of prima porta?

Answer 1

The statue of Augustus of Prima Porta was commissioned by the senate in honour of Augustus. This statue is part of the shift from republican to imperial art and of the kind of art Augustus promoted for his personal Propaganda to legitimise his becoming an absolute ruler.

Augustus is depicted both as a god and as an "imperator" (a victorious commander). He is barefoot because gods were depicted barefoot. A cupid riding a dolphin appears to support the statue. Cupid was the son of the goddess Venus. Julius Caesar had claimed that his family descended from Venus. Augustus, as the adoptive son of Caesar, continued this claim.

Augustus is also wearing the paludamentum, the cloak of military commanders. He is saluting the army with his raised arm. His armour has a relief with the retrieved standards that the Roman legions had lost when they had earlier been defeated by the Persians. Losing the standards was considered a great dishonour. Augustus negotiated the return of the standards with the Persians and used this for his personal propaganda. He presented this as a symbolic victory and a boost to Roman pride. He pretended that the Persians had submitted to the Romans.

This statue is part of the many icons of the personal propaganda and personality cult which Augustus created for himself. He portrayed himself, as the saviour of the Republic (even though he dispensed with it and created his own absolute ruler) the upholder of Roman religious traditions, the restorer of peace, the commander of the army and a god. The precedent for personal propaganda and personality cult was set by Julius Caesar who also created his own personal iconography and a religious cult around himself based of Venus. Subsequent emperors also created personality cults.

As mentioned above, this statue was part of the shift from Republican to imperial art. Republican Rome frowned on personality cults. This no longer was the case. Moreover, it adopted the iconography of the Greek rulers of the Hellenistic period. Republican sculptural busts depicted old and wise leaders which symbolised the virtues of dingnitas, itergitas et gravitas. Now youth and strength became the symbols of leadership in emulation of Alexander the great.