Physiognomics in the Roman Empire

EE BENDERS DUDES Physiognomics in the Roman Empire In: The Classical Journal, 45 - 1950 Pe 277 - 282 En SU AN. | \asa Bon Frans EC. D 6-5076. EVANS (E. CJ. Phystognomies inthe Roman empire. (La physiognomonie dans l'Empire romain). Class. J., U. S.A, (mars,1950), 45, 277-282. — Les origines de cette science chez Pythagoge ; classifications antiques des nez ; l’homme irascibile ; Ta phystognononie de Suétone ; importance de Ja proposition ; Caligula ; Galien ; doctrine des humenrs. FSpet 24%.

Physiognomics in the Roman Empire Reviewed work(s): Source: The Classical Journal, Vol. 45, No. 6 (Mar., 1950), pp. 277-282 Published by: The Classical Association of the Middle West and South Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3293688 . Accessed: 25/03/2012 14:25 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. The Classical Association of the Middle West and South is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Classical Journal. http://www.jstor.org

We do it-so did the Greeks and Romans But they made an organizedscience of it. Physiognomics In the Roman Empire ElizabethC. Evans THE STUDY OF PHYSIOGNOMY, or the art of their subject matter. At the beginningof of interpreting characterfrom personal appearance,has engagedthe interest of many writersin the ancient world, especiallyin the second century of the ChristianEra.'But its origins are far older. Pythagoras has been calledthe "inventor"of the art, thoughGalen maintainsthat Hippocratesreally established it as a science, and as such it was always closely associated with the science of medicine. Aristotle in his genuine works deals with the subject frequently, and the little the first part is a clear statementof the basis on which the study rests: "Mental character is not independentof or unaffectedby bodily processes,but is conditioned by the state of the body; and contrariwisethe body is sympathetically influenced by the affections of the soul. There never was an animalwith the formof one kind and the mentalcharacterof another; the soul and body appropriateto the same kind always go together, and this shows that a specificbody involves a specific book, ascribed to Aristotle, vo-vLo'yvP0ovLKa2mental character."3The work has not come is the first systematic treatmentof such ma- down to us entire; for Polemo of Laodicea terial that has come down to us. The work knew a fullerversionof the two tracts united may be easily dividedinto two separateparts, in a single book, and makesuse of both parts. each probably composed by writers in the Earlierclassicalphysiognomywas chiefly deschool of Aristotle or strongly under his in- scriptive; the later mediaevalauthors develfluence. The two sections were apparently oped the predictiveand astrologicalside. united at a later date becauseof the similarity The Aristotelian manual discusses the methodsof studyingphysiognomy,what each part of the body may reveal as to character, ((Our author was born in Little Boar's Head, New the comparisonsto be observed between the Hampshire, and graduated from Radcliffe College in and nature of the male and the fephysique 1926, where she also received her Ph.D. in I930. From I930 to 1932 she was a fellow of the American Acad' male,and likewise comparisonsbetween men emy in Rome, whence she returnedto start her teaching and many animals in the same regard, escareer at Wheaton College (Massachusetts) in the fall peciallythe lion and the panther. of In she 1932. 1942 joined the faculty of Vassar College. Miss Evans' interests and teaching lie in the field of classical literature. She has also worked in Roman religion, and a volume on the Cults of the Sabine Terri' tory was published by the American Academy in Rome in 1939 as Volume II of its "Papersand Monographs." Her doctor's thesis dealing with the ancient physiogno' mists was published in Harvard Studies in Classical Philologyin 1935 as an article entitled "Descriptions of Personal Appearance in Roman History and Biogra' phy." Subsequent studies in this field which Miss Evanshas madelargelyher own have appearedin TAPA (see NOTESto this article). Noses Classified AN EXAMPLEMAYbe cited from the section on noses, where it is stated that bulbous noses belong to persons who are insensitive, swinish; sharp-tippednoses belong to the irascible, those easily provoked, like dogs; rounded, large, obtuse noses to the magnanimous,the lion-like;slenderhookednoses to the eagle-like, the noble; but hollow, rounded,and high curved noses indicate the lustful, like barnyardcocks; noses with a

very slight notch belong to the impudent, work on physiognomy,written in Greek,and the crowlike,while snub noses belong to per- perhapshis most importantwork, we have an sons of salacious habits who are compared Arabic translation,a Greek paraphrase,and a later Latin version. One of the markedfeato deer.4 In the second century of our era Polemo tures of Polemo'shandbookis the use of exis a most importantfigureto considerin this amples chosen to illustrate the theories set history of ancient physiognomy. He was forth, drawnfromhis personalobservationof bornabout88 A.D. at Laodiceain Asia Minor his contemporaries,for the use of such exand died about 145 A.D. He early went to amplessuggests a constant practicalapplicaSmyrna to study rhetoric, which he later tion of the principlesof physiognomy.Beside took up as his profession, and became the considering various aspects of ethnological famous orator of that city. He quickly physiognomy, he follows Aristotle in the achievedhigh honors there, and enjoyed the close parallelismto be observedbetween men friendship of the EmperorHadrian during and animals.He likewise could make use of travels in 123 A.D. When Hadrian came to physiognomy for the purpose of praise or Athens to dedicate the great temple of attack. His description of the EmperorHaOlympianZeus, Polemodeliveredthe oration drian,appears under the topic of the eyes. of the occasion.5Polemo's interest in physi- "Foreyes," he says, "that are clear and shinognomyhas as its basis the appearanceof the ing are good, unlessother signs corruptthem. orator while speaking.It is necessaryto re- Of this type surely are the eyes of the Emmemberthat the ars rhetoricaof Cicero's day peror Hadrian...gleaming, moist, keen, requiredcarefultrainingin actioor pronunti- large,full of light."8 atio. Cicero regards the countenanceas the The Angry Man image of the mind, and Quintilian likewise. THOUGH INTEREST in the study of physiogIn a good deliverythe head shouldbe carried naturallyand erect. If it droops,that is a sign nomy was especially commonin the second of humility; if thrown back, a sign of arro- century of the Christianera it appearseven gance; if it is inclined to one side, then one before this period, if we may judge from the gives the impressionof languor;if held stiffly literary referencesto the theories of the art. and rigidly, that is the mark of a rude and For example,Senecain the De Ira describes savagenature.6ForPolemoanotherreasonfor the angryman:"But you have only to behold interest in the field of physiognomy was the aspect of those possessed by anger to surely Dio Chrysostom'sbelief in its princi- know that they are insane. For, as the marks ples, for the distinguishedrhetorof Bithynia of a madmanare unmistakable-a bold and was a teacherof Polemoand likewise enjoyed threatening mien, a gloomy brow, a fierce the devoted patronageof Hadrian. Polemo expression,a hurriedstep, restlesshands, and also was closely associatedat one point in his alteredcolor, a quickand violent breathingcareerin Ionia with Timocrates,the philoso- so likewise are the marksof the angry man; pher, whom he called the "fatherof my elo- his eyes blaze and sparkle,his whole face is quence." That associationundoubtedlyhad crimson with blood that surges from the some influence on Polemo's later physiog- lowest depths of his heart,his lips quiver, his nomicalstudies as Timocrates"earlydevoted teeth are clenched, his hair bristles, and himselfto the study of writings on medicine stands on end, his breathing is forcedand and was well versed in the theories of Hip- harsh, his joints crack from writhing, he pocrates," who, we should remember,was groansand bellows, bursts into speech with called by Galenthe founderof the science of scarcelyintelligible words, strikes his hands together continually,and stamps the ground physiognomy.7 Only two of Polemo'sspeeches have sur- with his feet . . anger shows itself openly, vived, though he was considered an out- and appears in the countenance, and the standingleaderin rhetoricof his day. Of his greaterit is, the morevisibly it boils forth;-

PHYSIOGNOMICS IN THE EMPIRE for no violent agitation can take hold of the mind without affecting in some way the countenance."9 Likewisein the firstcentury A.D. Pliny the Elder comments on Aristotle's theories of physicalsigns for determiningdurationof life. He has little sympathy with such ideas, but because Aristotle wrote on the subject, he feels he must add some remarksabout it. He then continues: "Our own writer Trogus (Pompeius Trogus, the historian) has in a similar manner set down physiognomy as indicative of the moral disposition; 'A roundedforeheaddenotesan irascibletemper, it seeming as though the swelling angerhad left its traces... Longeyes aresignificantof a spiteful,maliciousnature... Largenessof ears is a sign of loquacity and foolishness.'"0 Among the Greekauthorsslightly later, Plutarch, a contemporaryof Suetonius, is the outstanding representativeof Peripateticbiographyin the early second century. In the life of Alexander the Great, Plutarch professeshis belief that for both the artistandthe writer physical features are significant as signs of the soul. "Accordingly," writes Plutarch, "just as painters get the likenesses in their portraits from the face and the expressionof the eyes, wherein the charactershows itself, but make very little account of the other parts of the body, so I must be permittedto devote myself ratherto the signs of the soul in men, and by meansof these to portraythe life of each, leaving to others the descriptions of their great contests."" Suetonius' Physiognomics SUETONIUS,ON THEOTHERhand,is a faithful follower of the Alexandriantradition in biography.As MagisterEpistularumfrom II9 A.D. probably to the year 122 A.D. he was closely associatedwith Hadrianandhis court. Given readyaccessto the imperialarchiveshe gatheredtheremuchof the materialpresented in the Livesof the TwelveCaesars,which appearedabout 121 A.D.12 A regular part of the plan of biography used by Suetoniusis the detailed portraitof the emperor. A number of scholars have 279 worked on the origin of the descriptionsof physiquein the Latinbiographies.Somehave sought it in a native Egyptianofficialmethod of identificationadopted by the Greek conquerors and transmittedto Alexandrianbiographers,and through them to Varro and Suetonius.Some have surveyed iconistic portraiturein GreekandLatinliteratureandhave refused to accept the Egyptian origin as the likely explanation,since in their opinioniconistic portraiturebelongs to all classical literature, though they recognize the importance of this type of descriptionin EgyptianGreek legal forms. In this connection the little handbookson physiognomydeservethe attention of the readers of Suetonius. It is quite clearthat Suetoniusin his Livesdid not makeconstantuse of physiognomicaltermsin his descriptions of personal appearance. Often it is impossibleto find exact parallels or precise interpretationsin the two handbooks. We must rememberthat our manuals have not come down to us in this original form. Portrait sculpture undoubtedly contributed to such likenessesin literatureand the elaboratedescriptionsused for purposes of identification in papyri certainly provided, through Alexandrianbiographers,another source of interest in the photographic description. Suetonius, we have seen, was employed at Hadrian'scourt from II9-121 A.D. Just before this period Polemo of Laodicea,a youngercontemporary,had been sent on behalfof the city of Smyrnato Rome and shortly afterwards was closely associated with the EmperorHadrian.l3The name of Polemo, if not this famous sophist himself, was surelyfamiliarto Suetonius. Forehead Inspection SUETONIUS DESCRIBESHOW the imperial family sought the advise of an inspector of foreheads, to determine the future of the young Britannicus."During this time they say that a metoposcopusbeing introducedby Narcissus, the freedmanof Claudius, to examine the featuresof Britannicus,positively affirmedthat he would never become emperor, but that Titus, who stood by, would."14But other evidence of Suetonius'

C. EVANS interestin physiognomy comesfromthe frag- that were bright and piercing in which mentsof his lost IlIpl BXao^uW,lvof which Augustus wished it believed there was a an epitomehas been published.Severalterms certaindivine vigor, (2) hair a little curly, (3) are defined from a physiognomicalpoint of and inclinedto a yellow color,and (4) stature view, apparently derived from the pseudo- which was low but this was concealedby the We mayassumethat goodproportionsof his limbs. Aristotelianhandbook.16 was The lion, accordingto the pseudo,Aristolike familiarwith the Suetonius, Polemo, fuller version of the Peripatetic manual on telian manual, possessed (I) gleaming eyes, physiognomy.No direct evidence that Sue- (2) a neck of due length with a tawny mane tonius had read Polemo's handbookcan be on it which is not (3) too closely curled and given. Yet the striking parallelismsbetween (4) a body well knit, neither stiff or too soft the ideasof Suetoniusand the pseudo-Aristo- and of moderatestature. In Polemo the man telian manualand of Polemo are of consider, devoted to the liberal arts is closely akin in able significance. I believe that we may formto a lion: he is of moderatestature,very fairly conclude that Suetonius, though he straight, of fair complexiontinged with red, does not alter the actual portrait of an em- his hair verging on yellow, not too curly, his peror, managesto emphasizecertain aspects eyes moist and shining and filled with joy. of the physique which the physiognomists Suetonius tells us that Augustus as a very would considerindicativeof either the virtu- young man devoted himself with great dilious or vicious nature of an emperor'scharac- gence to the study of eloquence and other ter. Forexample,Suetoniusoften uses phrases liberal arts. In other aspects of the physical relatingto the good proportionsof the human appearanceof Augustus, Suetonius likewise body as when he describesTiberiusas "broad seemsto regardthe Emperor'scharacteras exin the shouldersand chest, and proportion- cellent. He had eyebrows that meet, a sign of or Augustus: beauty, moderatesized ears, which according able in the rest of his frame,"16 "His stature was but low, but Julius Mara, to the physiognomistsare a mark of good thus, his freedman,says that he was five feet character,great vigilanceand strength in the and nine inches in height. This, however, performanceof duty, as is likewise a complexwas so much concealed by the just propor- ion between brown and fair which is indications of his limbs, that it was perceivable tive of intelligence, and an aquiline nose, only uponcomparisonwith sometallerperson which revealsa great-soulednature.Similarly Suetonius'analysisof the Emperor'slife and standing by him." characteris in generalfavorable.19 Importanceof Proportion THE PHYSIOGNOMISTSATTRIBUTE the great- Caligula'sPhysiognomy IF WE WERETO TURNto Caligula, again a est importance to right proportionsin the lion human body. The clearly representsthe striking parallelismbetween Suetonius and most perfect male type, and is thus endowed the physiognomistsoccurs in the estimate of with a well proportionedbody, and in char- the Emperor'sweaknesses, for his physical acter is generous and liberal, and proud, at appearanceis especiallyto be associatedwith the sametime gentle andjust and affectionate. the very disagreeablefeaturesof the panther The panther, on the other hand, is more and the goat.20Or if we were to study Ticlosely akin to the femininetype, but has its berius, from a physiognomicalpoint of view whole body ill articulatedand badly propor- his physicalmeritsand defects correspondto He was tioned. In characterit is mean and thievish the virtuesandvices of his character.21 and deceitful.7 large and strong of frame,a sign of courage, In the detailed portraits of the emperors well proportioned,above averagein stature, themselves, Augustus as described by Sue- which marksa man excellent in the performtonius can be associated with the lion.'8 anceof duty, and shows a just nature.He was Augustus, Suetoniussays, possessed(I) eyes broadof shouldersand chest, the characteris-

PHYSIOGNOMICS IN THE EMPIRE tic of a robust and courageous man. Sue- familiar with Polemo's manual during his tonius records that he carried on military training in medicine at Smyrna.Though he campaignswith efficiencyand success,he used does not refer specificallyto the manualhe his power for the public good, and Augustus does cite Polemo by name and refers in his weighing his vices and virtues believed that writings to the kivo-o'ypovTres the active the latter preponderated.On the other hand, practitioners in the field of which Polemo he was of pale complexion, which shows a was the leadingfigurein the first half of the tendency to fear, his eyes were unusually century. Galen'sresidencein Pergamum,and large,which indicates laziness,but they were his later work in Rome belongsin the second at the sametime very keen, a sign of injustice. half of that same century, and his death is He walked with his neck stiff and bent, a placed around zoo A.D. The doctrine of the mark of haughtiness, while his countenance humoursowes its originto Alcmaeonof Crowas stern with a cloudy brow, which sug- ton of the PythagoreanSchool, but it was gests strong willfulness as in the lion and the taken over by Hippocratesand worked out bull as well as a morosedisposition and per- in detail by Galen. Thus the concept gradufidy. The fact that he rarely talked with his ally evolved of four fluids circulatingin the companions,and remainedmostly silent sup- body, which maintainedthe proper mixture ported this appraisalof his disposition.While or balanceof health in the humanbeings.The Suetoniuspraiseshim for manyexcellenciesin theory was basedon the olderidea of the four his younger years, his account of the end of elements,earth, air, fireand water, but, since the Emperor'scareer is a bitter attack.22It the solid tissues of the body remainedfixed, became evident, he says, from many indica- it was in the fluids,blood, which was hot and tions in how much fear as well as hate he moist, phlegm, which was cold and moist, lived, and his cruel and sullen natureshowed black bile, which was cold and dry, and yellow bile, which was warm and dry, that up even when he was still a boy. the properkrasiswas producedin the body. Galen's Medical Interest IN CONTRAST TOSuetonius'practicalappli- Doctrine of Humours THE FOUR HUMOURS circulatingfreely afcation of physiognomicaltenets to the portraits of the Roman emperorsis Galen's in- fected the humantemperamentandin turn the terest in the subject from a medicalpoint of outward appearanceof the individual.One of view. The basis of his approachlies in the Galen'swritingson the subject,which maybe doctrine of the four humours.He points out calleda smallhandbookon the theoriesof the that the physiognomistsare prone to define physiognomists,dealswith the theme that the the characterof a man from his outward ap- faculties of the mind follow the mixtures of They say a man has a chest like a the body.24The discussion draws widely on pearance.23 lion and is consequentlyspirited,but legs like many sources. Galen assures us that he has a goat, and is therefore lascivious. They de- frequently observed that the powers of the scribewhat they have seen, but in his opinion mind are closely connectedwith the humours they omit the reasonsfor such characteristics. of the body. This opinion was not his own, Polemo's handbook, for example, forms a but that of many teachers and philosophers, practical guide to the recognition of certain including Plato, Aristotle and the Stoics, types of men, but does not suggestthe reasons whom he cites freely. He quotes Aristotle why these characteristicsoccur.With Galen, extensively on the nature of the blood and however, we find a definiteattempt to relate then takes over directly from Aristotle's the outward appearance of a man to his Historia Animalium certain specific physicharacter, and to determine the connexions ognomical signs based on parallelismswith between the humours of the body and the animals. Following this discussion he turns temperament.The distinguishedphysicianof to the field of ethnological physiognomy, the second century may well have become where as a devoted follower of his master,

"the divine Hippocrates,"he treats at length the influence of physical environment on health,disease,and temperament,a discussion largely based on the Hippocraticessay Airs, Waters and Places.This little work of Galen offershis most significantideas in the study of physiognomy, his belief in the doctrine of the humours, his faith in the essential parallelismin the nature and physique of men and animals,his study of ethnic physiognomy, his strong conviction, Aristotelian in origin,that the best temperedor blendedperson is one who is halfway between extremes in thinnessandfatness,softnessandhardness, warmth and cold. Thus by these means he goes far beyond the practising physiognomists of the second century in his ultimate concept of the relationof man to his environment and the effect of that environmenton man'sappearanceand character. NOTES 1 This generalpaper is based directly on three earlie studies: "Descriptions of Personal Appearance in Roman History and Biography," Harvard Studies in Classical Philology 46 (I935) 43-84; "The Study of Physiognomy in the Second Century A.D.," TAPA, 72 (I94I) 96-Io8; "Galen the Physician as Physiognomist," TAPA, 76 (194S) 287-298. 2 Ed. by R. Forster, ScriptoresPhysiognomonici (Leip. zig,I893). 3 8o0a. (trans. T. Loveday and E. S. Forster). 4 8IIa. 5 See HSCP (cited in n. I), 49- I. 6 Inst. Or. II. 3, 65 if. (after H. E. Butler). 7 TAPA, 72 (I941) IOO.(trans. W. C. Wright). 8 Ibid., 97-98. For the text of Polemo's handbook cited above. see F6rster, ScriptoresPhysiognomonici, 9 I.I, 3 ff. (trans.J. W. Basore). 10N.H. II. 274 (cf. Arist. Hist. Anim. i. 9, p. 49Ib). Trans. J. Bostock and H. T. Riley. 11i. 3. (trans.B. Perrin). 12HSCP., 6o-6I. 13Ibid. 14Tit. 2. (trans. A. Thomson and T. Forester). 15 HSCP., 62. 16Tib. 68; Aug. 79. (trans.Thomson and Forester). 17Pseudo-Arist.8o9b-8ioa. 18 HSCP., 65-67; Aug. 79. 19Aug. 21, 33, 5I, 66, 67, 72. 20HSCP., 67-68; Calig. 50. 21 Ibid., 68-70; Tib. 68. 22 Tib. S7, S9, 6I, 63, 66, 69. 23 Mixt. 2, 6 (Ed. Kihn), 624. 24 3t3Xiov OTL TraS TroV crdlaros raXlvov Trjs vUvx7sbva'ELs eirovTaL. Kpao'eo' Ed. by I. Miller in ScriptaMinora of Galen (Leipzig, 1891). See TAPA. 76 (i945) 294-298. 3 . ftnbrel, t(Ebbit'n One of the country'sgreatteachers,Edwin L. Findley,passedaway at his homein Cleveland last fall at the age of 79. Generationsof high-school students knew him genially as "Ed Findley"; he had served not only as a classroom teacher, but also as principal of two high-schools,East and South. Ed Findley was one of the last of the scholar-teachersin the older traditionwhose trainingqualifiedthem to teach equally well on the high-school or college level. He had taken his M.A. at Johns Hopkins; he had been a student of Gildersleeve.He wore his learninglightly, but it was always present; and his students were given all that they could assimilatefrom a full mastery of the two classicallanguagesand their grammar. A distinguishedcitizen of the community, an active workerin good causes, Ed Findley needed no formalphilosophy to remindhim of the unity of schooland society. In addition to manycivic organizations,Mr. Findley was always active in classical organizations.In I937-38 he served as president of the Ohio ClassicalConference. Like all good teachers,Ed Findley will be rememberedwith gratitude and affectiongratitude for the larger lesson, affectionfor the man. As a teacherEd was also a personal friend of his students, eager to help them learn. And help them he did with a kindly personality,full of fun, good-humoredteasing, a vast fund of humorousstories-and a great reverence for learning and the right things. Ed was one who gladly taught. And manyaregladthat he did. N.J.D. In May "ATHENS ALBUM" Courtseyof Archeology