When in Rome, Reuse as the Romans Do: Moving Statues Around the Ancient Roman Empire

In Iowa, people tend to buy secondhand goods like household furnishings and clothing for economic reasons. In ancient Rome, emperors and other prominent members of society also acquired secondhand items, including statues, but for reasons other than economic ones. The appeal of this action, especially for emperors, may have been to visually represent Roman dominance over another culture or to legitimize their authority by visually connecting it with an earlier time period and person. Statues were not necessarily reused within their cities of origin, but were sometimes moved to other countries to serve a new purpose. This poster examines a selection of these moved and altered statues in conjunction with their origin and location of discovery in order to better understand the appeal and purpose of this action. By conducting this research, the body of knowledge within this medium is expanded and therefore available to the general public of Iowa and surrounding areas.