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Abstract. The standard personification of Africa in Roman art, namely a female figure wearing an elephant-scalp headdress, appeared in many media. This type survived the Middle Ages and was a favourite subject in the major art forms and in media such as textiles and ceramics. This discussion not only traces the transmission of the type and its main trends but also considers inter alia the attributes used with the personification, its function and changing appearance.
The standard personification of Africa in Roman art was a female figure wearing an elephant-scalp headdress. It was a very popular form in many media; although other types were used both in Antiquity and in later European art,1 this paper concentrates on the elephant-scalp and can do no more than sketch the transmission and suggest the main trends.
The type has received some attention recently. Opinions as to its origin differ," but it is unlikely that the elephant-scalp with small, round, lion-like ears and long neck pelt that appears on an aureus of Pompey is the earliest Roman example of 'Africa', as is sometimes claimed. However, during Pompey's lifetime and immediately afterwards, several issues of Republican and related coinage featured a bust that was probably intended to symbolise Africa;4 an elephant-scalp headdress, sometimes fairly realistic, appears on coins of Metellus Scipio/Eppius (RRC no. 461); Juba I (CNNM nos 89, 93)5 and Bogud of Mauretania (CNNM no. 103) who were minting for Pompey; Cestius/Norbanus (RRC no. 491) and Cornificius (RRC no. 509) in Rome; Juba II (CNNM nos 125-33) and Ptolemy of Mauretania (CNNM nos 400-02, 497) sometimes in conjunction with spears, a plough or ears of corn, that is, attributes that signified warfare and fertility, the qualities Romans associated with Africa.6
On coins of Cornuficius, Cestius/Norbanus and Juba II, "Africa' wears her hair in two or three long locks falling over her shoulder. They are not the same as the unique style that appears on denarii of Juba I (CNNM nos 84f.), assumed to be his portrait, and do not appear on his coinage that features Africa, nor on that of Bogud or Ptolemy. The so-called 'Libyan' locks were apparently not a necessary attribute for Africa. Nor did she have specifically 'African' facial features or dress; both followed...