THE IDENTITY OF THE MISSING TOGATUS AND OTHER CLUES TO THE INTERPRETATION OF THE GEMMA AUGUSTEA

Summary. (see Figs. 1 and 3) In previous attempts at an interpretation of what is depicted on the famous Gemma Augustea in Vienna, little if any attention has been paid to the missing figure whose toga folds can be seen between the spokes of the chariot wheel near the left-hand edge of the cameo. This figure is undoubtedly of crucial importance. According to the hypothesis advanced in the present paper, the cameo represents the glorification of Germanicus (no. 2) following his successes in the Pannonian war AD 6–9. He is welcomed by his stepfather Tiberius (no. 1, the missing togatus) and ceremonially presented to the emperor (no. 6); the younger Drusus is also in attendance (no. 4). Augustus is crowned supreme victor by the Magna Mater (no. 7), whose assistance he had invoked at the beginning of the war. In the lower register are barbarian captives and personifications: on the left, beneath a trophy in process of erection by Roman soldiers, the Pannonian leader Pinnes, and 'Pannonia'(nos. 14–15); on the right the Dalmation leader Bato, and 'Dalmatia'(nos. 21–22). The latter are receiving rough treatment at the hands of Bendis and Neoptolemos (nos. 19–20), tutelary representatives of Thrace and continental Greece, respectively. After Germanicus' death in AD 19 Tiberius' figure was deliberately removed, presumably at the instigation of Germanicus' widow Agrippina. If so, the cameo is likely to have been confiscated and transferred to the Imperial Treasury on her banishment in AD 29.