Influencers by Style?

In antiquity it was common to copy the style of famous women, for example the Augustae. Looking at statues, busts or maybe even the coins were the best sources for imitating them. Hairstyles were very important in the Roman world:

In fact, the importance of hair was such, that even if a woman walks adorned with golden clothing, jewels and everything else in this world, for all that, if she has not styled her hair, it is not possible to regard her as dressed. Apuleius, Metamorphosen II 9, 1-5. Translated by Wiebe Snoeij

That is what the ancient author and philosopher Apuleius reports about the importance of hairstyles in the second century AD. So what do you think of Plautilla’s hairstyle on this coin - maybe you even recognize it? We can distinguish five different hairstyles of Plautilla on her coinage. In this case, you can very clearly see the plaits and the bun: seven horizontal plaits on the side of the head gathered into a bun at the back of the head. Looks like a melon, don’t you reckon? Therefore in German research it is called: Melonenfrisur.

There is actually a great variety of Roman hairstyles. In other portraits the bun is either flatter or bigger, sometimes deeper in the neck, covering the ears entirely or not at all.

Quite funny, that this was how women on coins influenced people, isn't it? Are you wondering for what other reason women were represented on imperial coinage? Check it out in the longread, or, flip the coin…