The condemnation of memory inexorably altered the visual landscape of imperial Rome. Representations of 'bad' emperors, such as Caligula, Nero, Domitian, Commodus, or Elagabalus were routinely reconfigured into likenesses of victorious successors or revered predecessors. Alternatively, portraits could be physically attacked and mutilated or even executed in effigy. From the late first century B.C. until the fourth century A.D., the recycling and destruction of images of emperors, empresses, and other members of the imperial family occurred on a vast scale and often marked periods of violent...
The condemnation of memory inexorably altered the visual landscape of imperial Rome. Representations of 'bad' emperors, such as Caligula, Nero, Domiti...