Portrait of Antonia Minor (Front)

Continuing a dynasty can be much harder than starting one. The successors of Augustus, the first Roman emperor, worked hard to demonstrate their connection to Augustus and hence their right to rule. Antonia Minor, shown here in this large cameo, was Augustus's niece and the mother of possible heirs to the throne.

The cameo depicts Antonia wearing a veil and a diadem in the guise of a priestess of the cult of the deified Augustus. Stars and a portrait of Augustus wearing a laurel wreath decorate the diadem. The cameo was probably carved after Antonia's death in A.D. 37, during the reign of her son Claudius, the fourth Roman emperor.

Small-scale portraits carved in the round from precious stones were probably once set into statues made of gold or silver, although no complete examples survive today. Elaborate cameo carvings such as this one were part of the production of commemorative luxury goods at the Roman imperial court.