New discoveries of Roman portraits from Cyrene

Abstract

The city of Cyrene was distinguished from the other cities of the region of Cyrenaica by the abundance of Roman portraits discovered in its cemeteries. The ‘portrait’ is a self-form of the deceased, a bust of him, and consists of the head, neck, shoulders, and sometimes, part of the chest. These portraits were mostly sculpted of marble and, in a few examples, of sandstone, bearing the same features of the deceased. They also express his feelings and psychological status and reflect his surrounding circumstances. Despite many studies and research have been conducted on the portraits discovered in the region of Cyrenaica, particularly in Cyrene city,  the constant discovery of this type of bust until now has shown the necessity of keeping up with each related discovery and the need to conduct a descriptive and analytical study on every portrait of this type. This study aims to highlight the important role of Cyrene city in the appearance of portraits in Roman times. It is worth mentioning that the portraits were not produced for a special group or a specific gender but for both men and women of different ages. Additionally, the style of carving these portraits is similar to that of Rome, meaning that Cyrene was not isolated from the rest of the Roman Empire at that time.