Monnaie

Marseille (13) - Musée d'Histoire de Marseille

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Roman coins allow for the dissemination of the imperial image. Magnus Maximus is shown here in profile, in bust form. He wears the diadem, the toga and the cuirass, emblems of his function. The physical appearance of the character is partly reproduced: elongated face, straight nose. Certain details, such as the roundness of the eye, are more in keeping with the artistic conventions of the Late Empire. The Roman portrait is here halfway between the realistic representation of the individual, and the idealized representation of imperial power.