﻿AN 
  ANTIQUE 
  MARBLE 
  BUST. 
  421 
  

  

  her 
  misfortunes 
  ; 
  and, 
  what 
  is 
  more 
  pertinent, 
  her 
  looks, 
  as 
  I 
  find 
  mentioned 
  

   in 
  the 
  Life 
  of 
  Octavia, 
  which 
  is 
  generally 
  ascribed 
  to 
  the 
  Abbe 
  St 
  Real.* 
  

  

  With 
  regard 
  to 
  coins 
  and 
  medallions, 
  I 
  have 
  not 
  found 
  them 
  of 
  much 
  use. 
  

   Through 
  the 
  kindness 
  of 
  friends 
  in 
  the 
  British 
  Museum, 
  1 
  have 
  had 
  casts 
  from 
  

   the 
  unique 
  gold 
  coin 
  there, 
  and 
  from 
  some 
  copper 
  coins 
  of 
  Thessalonica. 
  I 
  have 
  

   also 
  consulted 
  an 
  engraving 
  of 
  the 
  Vienna 
  medallion 
  in 
  the 
  " 
  Numismata 
  Aus- 
  

   triaca," 
  but 
  all 
  with 
  little 
  benefit. 
  Without 
  going 
  into 
  details, 
  I 
  may 
  mention 
  

   that 
  I 
  have 
  not 
  spared 
  myself 
  a 
  weary 
  pilgrimage 
  through 
  Spanheim, 
  Rashe, 
  

   Golzius, 
  iEneas 
  Vicus, 
  King, 
  Pelerin, 
  Mionnet, 
  Ackerman, 
  Smith, 
  and 
  Eckhel, 
  — 
  

   with 
  this 
  result, 
  that 
  the 
  greatest 
  uncertainty 
  attaches 
  to 
  the 
  coins 
  of 
  Octavia. 
  

   In 
  the 
  copper 
  coins 
  of 
  Thessalonica, 
  for 
  instance, 
  the 
  female 
  head 
  is 
  generally 
  

   thought 
  to 
  be 
  one 
  of 
  Liberty, 
  and 
  not 
  of 
  Octavia. 
  Again, 
  the 
  only 
  coin 
  which 
  

   bears 
  the 
  name 
  " 
  Octavia" 
  on 
  it, 
  is 
  considered 
  by 
  many 
  (Mr 
  Burgon 
  of 
  the 
  British 
  

   Museum 
  among 
  others) 
  to 
  be 
  false, 
  the 
  true 
  one 
  giving 
  Livia 
  ; 
  and 
  as 
  to 
  the 
  

   coins 
  (Cistophori) 
  with 
  Antony's 
  head 
  beside 
  a 
  female 
  head, 
  there 
  is 
  great 
  reason 
  

   to 
  suppose 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  not 
  Octavia's, 
  but 
  Cleopatra's. 
  Indeed, 
  I 
  have 
  been 
  shewn 
  

   by 
  my 
  friend 
  Mr 
  William 
  Scott, 
  an 
  engraving 
  of 
  one 
  with 
  the 
  name 
  " 
  Cleopatra" 
  

   actually 
  occurring 
  on 
  it. 
  For 
  our 
  purpose, 
  it 
  is 
  enough, 
  perhaps, 
  that 
  not 
  two 
  of 
  

   the 
  coins 
  agree 
  in 
  their 
  representation 
  of 
  Octavia, 
  if 
  it 
  be 
  Octavia 
  that 
  they 
  give. 
  

  

  5th, 
  Will 
  it 
  be 
  thought 
  fanciful 
  if 
  I 
  add, 
  as 
  some 
  corroboration, 
  though 
  

   trifling, 
  that 
  the 
  bust 
  is 
  in 
  perfect 
  harmony 
  with 
  all 
  we 
  know 
  of 
  the 
  history 
  and 
  

   character 
  of 
  Octavia. 
  I 
  think 
  we 
  may 
  trace 
  in 
  it 
  that 
  wonderful 
  beauty 
  which 
  

   we 
  know 
  was 
  not 
  eclipsed 
  by 
  her 
  rival 
  Cleopatra 
  — 
  that 
  gentleness 
  which 
  made 
  

   her 
  so 
  forgiving 
  of 
  her 
  unworthy 
  lord, 
  — 
  that 
  serenity 
  which 
  was 
  unruffled 
  amidst 
  

   countless 
  wrongs, 
  — 
  that 
  affection 
  which 
  tied 
  herf 
  to 
  the 
  last 
  to 
  his 
  house 
  and 
  

   kindred, 
  — 
  and 
  that 
  pensive 
  look, 
  the 
  "from 
  Iceta 
  parum" 
  even 
  in 
  youth, 
  which 
  

   foreshadowed 
  in 
  her 
  case 
  a 
  broken 
  heart. 
  \ 
  I 
  am 
  not 
  sure 
  that 
  all 
  these 
  things 
  

   could 
  be 
  said 
  of 
  any 
  other 
  individual 
  of 
  those 
  times. 
  As 
  it 
  seems 
  to 
  me, 
  the 
  bust 
  

   has, 
  for 
  example, 
  too 
  much 
  feeling 
  for 
  Livia, 
  the 
  hard 
  step-mother, 
  as 
  Tacitus 
  § 
  

   calls 
  her, 
  and 
  too 
  much 
  purity 
  for 
  either 
  of 
  the 
  Faustinas 
  ; 
  and 
  so 
  of 
  many 
  others, 
  

   if 
  we 
  cared 
  to 
  follow 
  out 
  this 
  view. 
  

  

  6th, 
  and 
  lastly. 
  In 
  looking 
  over 
  the 
  Florentine 
  gallery 
  the 
  other 
  day, 
  I 
  was 
  

   struck 
  by 
  an 
  observation 
  which 
  I 
  could 
  scarcely 
  avoid 
  making, 
  of 
  the 
  simple 
  way 
  

   in 
  which 
  it 
  was 
  usual 
  for 
  ladies 
  to 
  dress 
  their 
  hair 
  in 
  the 
  time 
  of 
  Augustus, 
  much 
  

   as 
  in 
  our 
  bust. 
  I 
  might 
  refer 
  to 
  the 
  heads 
  of 
  Livia 
  and 
  Antonia 
  Augusta 
  in 
  

   that 
  collection, 
  as 
  instances. 
  But 
  very 
  soon 
  the 
  taste 
  for 
  that 
  simplicity 
  declined, 
  

   and 
  then 
  we 
  have 
  Agrippina, 
  Messalina, 
  Nero's 
  Octavia, 
  Plautina, 
  Poppsea, 
  and 
  

   a 
  host 
  of 
  others, 
  all 
  revelling 
  in 
  most 
  fantastic 
  locks, 
  some 
  of 
  them 
  artificial, 
  or 
  

  

  * 
  (Euvres 
  de 
  S. 
  Real, 
  III., 
  295. 
  f 
  Merivale's 
  Roman 
  Empire, 
  3. 
  283-4. 
  

  

  + 
  Seneca, 
  " 
  Ad 
  Marciam." 
  

  

  § 
  Tacitus, 
  Annals, 
  I., 
  10. 
  " 
  Gravis 
  in 
  rempublicam 
  mater, 
  gravior 
  domui 
  Cesarum 
  noverca." 
  

  

  VOL. 
  XX. 
  PART 
  III. 
  5 
  X 
  

  

  