The Egyptian Elite as Roman Citizens: looking at Ptolemaic Private Portraiture

This publication presents an analysis of private, male portrait sculptures as attested in Egypt between the end of the Ptolemaic and the beginning of the Roman period. The analysis of Ptolemaic/early Roman portraits employs a multifaceted approach, integrating detailed stylistic evaluation, philological analysis of inscriptions, and historical and prosopographical investigation of the individuals depicted. The emergence of this type of sculpture has been contextualised both geographically and chronologically, as it belongs to a wider Mediterranean horizon. The analysis has revealed that members of the Egyptian elite decided to be represented in an innovative way, echoing the portraits of eminent Romans of the late Republic, whose identity was surely known in Egypt.