The Beards and Hairstyles of the Roman Emperors 

No.

@@TexasFriedCriminal lol

Thats snake oil . Come on mate ... youre better than this .

This is the most appropriate sponsor of all time, well played sir!

That setup was fucking majsestic

to be honest, this video finally taught me what the term 'neckbeard' means, after hearing the word for at least 15 years in context of nerdy gamers and forum dwellers.

@@Blackadder75 I'm still not sure they have a consensus on it. Glad to know I'm not the only one though. Also, for me a beard is anything under the face. Anything above is just a mustache with extras like sideburns (Papers, Please taught me about those).

Nero behaved like a redditor as well

literal neckbeard KEKW

If Nero had been born in the 21st century he definitely would have been a gamer lol

Augustus' portraits were often times idealized and did not represent the actual look of the emperor, though. Only those that have been commissioned as Augustus was young are closer to his actual appearance. Same applies to Caesar and many others. Official portraits tend to blend together the physical traits of many emperors into one. There are of course exceptions. :)

@@luciosergiocatilina1 Well, yes, but in terms of relatability to the viewer, busts are far better than not-great paintings.

@@TheHylianBatman I mean, it's not like the king is going to commission someone from Byzantium to paint him or her.

@@JonatasAdoM Fair enough. I just wish they didn't need to go all the way to Byzantium.

I actually think this reflects your own personal training/knowledge/experience of the period and its artistic conventions. Make no mistake, people at the time could just as easily look at a portrait of William the Conqueror and know exactly who it was... but for reasons other than the precise hair/facial structure.

The last one of Philip the Arab is especially striking to me. It's like you can see what he was thinking in that moment. What an insane level of craftmanship

@@11energize I wholeheartedly agree my guy, that statue is totally insaneo style 😎

I doubt the emperors submitted to sticking their faces in wax. Sculptors, just like painters, can capture a likeness without taking a physical mold. I've seen videos on RU-vid of sculptors doing quick portrait sessions with clay, and making phenomenal likenesses (might have been on Proko, or a related channel). And I suppose those clay maquettes could be used as references for the later stone carving.

I think it's safe to say they were a pretty advanced society.

They really were clever, and talented craftsmen!

Think of it as a challenge!

There are some *amazing* portraits of Flavian women with these elaborate tiaras, essentially, of curls. Jaw-dropping towers of corkscrew curls that are nearly as tall as the woman's face, and I'd imagine anxiety-producing for both modern sculptors and hairstylists.

For me William looks like Medieval II depicted him. Although I know how the Emperors look, I tend to picture them in the actors that have played them.

yes. but coins with the portraits may give an imagination how charlemagne looked like.

There is a contemporary equestrian statue of charlemagne which gives you a pretty good idea. As for William, he's depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry, which non-naturalistic style still gives you his distinguishing features.

Of all the folks I watch on YT, toldinstone does the best at that seamless transition. It always gives me a chuckle.

If Manscaped ever feels like making me a sponsorship offer, I can promise a very entertaining video...

Somehow, this needs to happen.

Even if for one video.

@@toldinstone This must happen. Every yin needs a yang.

It was a chainmail neckbeard.

@@histguy101 If anyone dares anything, you'll have the Emperor's face hairs in your hands!

The Byzantines had Eunuchs, but did the western Romans of old? I got the impression that Europeans didn't like Eunuchs.

@@fattiger6957 I’m not 100% but the Western Romans never had. The frequent use of Eunuchs began under Diocletian and Constantine the Great. Then greatly expanded on during Eastern Roman times. Eunuchs was an oriental culture aspect

Justinian didn't seem to have a beard

@@tonit4233 the early Eastern Roman Emperors varies with beards to no beards. When the time entered the late 6th and 7th centuries beards became prevalent.

@@fattiger6957 What gave you that impression? Eunuchs were common across the Mediterranean, in Greece and Rome. They were common all over the ancient world.

It works because it is on topic

The entire video exists as an ad for keeps 😂

We put our comments at the same time

Elagabalus must have been his co-moderator.

lmao

My man Domiatian may be sensitive but not at all in denial of his hairloss.

Which was of course likely based on the Neronian court in its decadence (though also influenced with the nouveaux riches attitude displayed by many freedmen). Petronius was famously the "arbiter elegantarum", so he had a first row seat. Until he bled himself to death.

I never knew that Heraclius ever visited Rome or was crowned there, that's a new fact for me.

Caracalla had permanent bi-atch face! You can tell from his busts, not to mention in his fratricide, that he was a very unpleasant fellow.

Gene stealers at it again

That's the most overlord alien name associated to history I've ever seen (no, I'm not making any connections to the History Channel). It fits him.

yeah 1500 to 2000 years!

Fat does seem to have become fashionable during Nero's reign, along with his wacky hairstyles

At least on Nero's coins, the thick neck and heavy face might be references to Hercules. Or he may - like Vitellius after him - simply have preferred to be shown as he was.

My pleasure!

Hahaha the father of them all

I caught myself thinking about clicking the link even though my hair is full and luscious

true. those emperors knew how to impress and glorifies people of their times and future generations.

if you gavent watched other videos made by toldinstone, you should, because its good.

if you havent watched other videos made by toldinstone, you should, because its good. for example hidden treasures in the batican museums or why so many statues naked. both are a while old so you need to scroll through.

You might want to check out the Google preview of my book; Ch. 2 is: "How did the Greeks and Romans shave?"

Very carefully

I have seen people shave with machetes so it shouldn't have been a problem to use a sword.

@@lucario2188 still have to be careful

@@lucario2188 I won't second guess you about this, however, I find it hard to believe that Roman men were walking around with swords to their face. Something smaller, maybe.

A swallow does not a summer make

@@CatnamedMittens GAYYY

Of all the statues and busts shown in this video, only 2 had a damaged nose, and those 2 were clearly damaged elsewhere, as in they fell at some point. When a stone statue falls, the first thing to break is the nose.

@@histguy101 Nobody Nose for sure...

Christus Regnet yeah I probably wasn’t counting, it would be cool if someone could offer a plausible theory

🙄

It often was done by iconoclasts to damage someones portrait with just one easy strike. You can see this on portraits of donators of english cathedrals for example. It would be interesting to see whos portraits nose was damaged by whom in history and why...

I totally agree with you. But I think Domitian recalling Agricola was his biggest mistake a totally pacified Britain could have prevented a lot of headaches for the Romans.

@@theicepickthatkilledtrotsk658 There’s certainly a valid argument for that, but at the same time it was part of a deliberate strategy on Domitian’s part. Like Augustus he believed that the Empire had expanded to as large as it could be, and further expansion would only serve to exhaust and over extend it. And while it’s true that Agricola had just smashed the Caledonians in a massive victory, so had Septimius Severus some one hundred years later. And as we know the Caledonians simply resorted to guerrilla warfare until the Romans left, so it’s entirely feasible that simply would have happened a century earlier. It’s also possible that a Roman Caledonia would serve as a bleeding ulcer for the Romans, considering the cost to benefit ratio of holding Britain was at times questionable. It is feasible that a Roman Caledonia would do little more then produce major rebellions that had to be put down every decades. But then again it is really hard to know either way.

@@dantecaputo2629 Strictly strategically speaking it would have been better to conquer the entire island or not be there at all. The fact that the island was never pacified meant that the province needed to be turned into a fortress. So many soldiers and additional resources were needed to be allocated there. A lot of things change over those 100 years. As for Septimius Severus, he was the only emperor totally committed to conquering Caledonia. He brought the largest foreign army on British soil, turned Eboracum into effectively the capital of the empire for that short period. When the Caledonians resorted to guerrilla warfare. He launched a brutal genocidal campaign against them that depopulated whole areas. He would have most likely succeeded but he died from gout. His two sons had no interest in finishing what he started and returned back to Rome.

Agreed

you cant say he was an okay ruler if you never lived under his rule. You are most likely reading from his supporters and his fans rather than people who actually lived and suffered through his rule as emperor

And little round glasses like John Lennon’s.

Octavian's statues are more human than zucc.

I got a contract for Keeps (they didn't specify the topic), and immediately decided to make this video.

@@toldinstone Cool! Thanks for sharing, you did a great job working in their ad!