teacher of rhetoric and author of most Roman oratory handbook, Quintilian has discussed about the hand and arm gestures, the emperor's raised hands carry the message of mighty force of absolute power to his soldiers and civilians, and when a hand is raised above shoulder height, the gesture is probably signalling the warning as " illa cava et rara et super umeri altitudinem elata. The adlocutio scenes depicted in sculpture and on coins and medallions are almost identical to this raised-arm salute. And for the hands of the bent arm, their fingers on the hands are pointing downwards. Among the straight arms, one palm is open but held vertically on the others, both thumb and index fingers are extended with others bent back. Trajan conducting sacrifice, half of the crowd raise arms extended straight and another half bent at the elbow. As depicted in the Trajan's Column, Scenes LXXXIV-LXXXV. The Roman salute in military contexts, is often seen as the right hands raised from the soldiers to their leader's head. The coinages of adlocutio tell the differences between the ways each emperor addressing the army.ĪE of Caligula with adlocutio cohortium Many Roman AE/ As coins are with adlocutio of emperors. The spear in the left hand is a symbol of Augustus' ruling power over the empire. The breastplate relief in front of him depicts the gods. The small Cupid besides the right leg claims the divine lineage and status. This feature also adds civilian portrait to the statue besides military aspect. This indicates the heroicization of Augustus could be posthumous. The bare feet of Augustus may seems incongruous as compared with the cuirassed details in the chest. The outstretched right hand raised by Augustus can be seen as power and authority, even in the point of view of gods in ancient Rome, right hand represents divinity, and this characteristic is also illustrated by Cancelleria Reliefs with the emperor's right hand raised among the gods. Much information about adlocutio can be interpreted by these sculptures. Characteristic of the formula is the outstretched hand of speech as well as the contrapposto pose with the weight clearly shifted to one leg. Gestures and body language are crucial for the study of adlocutio in ancient times, as addressing to thousands of soldiers was less penetrable by voice compared to body language and gestures which were more powerful, infectiously raising the army's enthusiasm. The convention is regularly shown in individual figures like the famous Augustus of Prima Porta or can be put into a narrative context as seen in the Aurelian panel. The adlocutio is one of the most widely represented formulas of Roman art. Such relief scenes also frequently appear on imperial coinage. It is often portrayed in sculpture, either simply as a single, life-size contrapposto figure of the general with his arm outstretched, or a relief scene of the general on a podium addressing the army. The research of adlocutio focuses on the art of statuary and coinage aspects. In ancient Rome the Latin word adlocutio means an address given by a general, usually the emperor, to his massed army and legions, and a general form of Roman salute from the army to their leader. The Augustus of Prima Porta is an example of an adlocutio pose.
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