FORVM`s Classical Numismatics Discussion Board
Numismatic and History Discussion Forums => History and Archeology => Topic started by: LordBest on February 13, 2020, 12:42:18 am
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Royalty Now (@royalty_now_ on Instagram) are making portraits of historical figures as they would look today, and there are some of particular interest to ancient coin collectors:
Julius Caesar
Cleopatra VII
Alexander the Great
Caligula
They've also done a number of European historical figures from the 16th-19th centuries. All are based on surviving portraits.
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The boys look fairly plausible, but that Cleo, no. From what I understand her sex appeal came from her magnetic personality not her looks. That recreation envisions her as an ancient Khardashian!
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Well, Plutarch has this to say about her looks:
"For her beauty, as we are told, was in itself not altogether incomparable, nor such as to strike those who saw her; but converse with her had an irresistible charm, and her presence, combined with the persuasiveness of her discourse and the character which was somehow diffused about her behaviour towards others, had something stimulating about it. There was sweetness also in the tones of her voice; and her tongue, like an instrument of many strings, she could readily turn to whatever language she pleased..."
-Life of Antony (XXVII.2-3)
Saying her beauty wasn't incomparable is a backhanded insult to be sure but not exactly a devastating critique of her looks. Beauty ideals change over time, too, so it's entirely possible she looks better to our modern eyes than she did to her contemporaries.
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Pretty cool. They look like they belong in a Netflix movie "The Mediterraneans"