The Study of Physiognomy in the Second Century A.D.
Author(s): Elizabeth C. Evans
Source: Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association , 1941,
Vol. 72 (1941), pp. 96-108
Published by: The Johns Hopkins University Press
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/283044
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96
Elizabeth
C.
Evans
[1941
VIII.-The Study of Physiognomy in the Second Century A.D.
ELIZABETH C. EVANS
WHEATON COLLEGE
This paper is concerned with the popularity of the subject of physiognomy
in the second century of the Christian Era. It examines the comments of certain
representative writers of this period, both Greek and Roman, in order to study
their general references to physiognomical theory, and the types of portraits
found in their writings, which are capable of physiognomical analysis. The
authors discussed include Polemo of Laodicea, Maximus of Tyre, Dio Chrysostom,
Lucian, Apuleius, Julius Pollux, Phrynichus, Sextus Empiricus, Marcus Aurelius,
Plutarch, Artemidorus, Aulus Gellius, Galen, and Clement of Alexandria.
In an earlier study of the descriptions of personal appearance in
Roman history and biography 1 I attempted to show that the
iconistic descriptions of the Roman emperors in the pages of Suetonius' De Vita Caesarum, a regular part of the schemata of those
biographies, were more or less influenced by the doctrines of the
physiognomists on the interpretation of character from the physique.
That Suetonius was familiar with the pseudo-Aristotelian handbook
on physiognomy can be demonstrated from the scant remains of his
lost IHEp' j#Xaar5-q,tWcv. That he was a contemporary of the distinguished sophist Polemo is a well-known fact, though we have no
direct evidence to show that Suetonius had ever read Polemo's tract
on physiognomy. At the same time it is apparent that there existed
throughout the second century a fairly widespread interest in the
study of this so-called "science," an interest which was observable
in the latter part of the first century, reached its height in the second
century, continued to some extent in the third, and became marked
again in the fourth. Our present discussion is concerned with the
popularity of the subject of physiognomy in the second century of
the Christian Era. It may be illuminating, therefore, to examine
the comments of certain representative prose writers of this period,
both Greek and Roman, to study their general references to physiognomical theory and the types of portraits found in their writings,
which are capable of physiognomical analysis.2 The Sylloge locorum
I " Descriptions of Personal Appearance in Roman History and Biography,"
HSPh 46 (1935) 43-84.
2 A brief summary of these references is to be found in the article cited in note 1,
pages 57-60.
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Vol. lxxii] Physiognomy in Second Century A.D. 97
physiognomonicorum found in Fbrster's Scriptores Physiognomonici,
Volume 2,3 has been the basis of all parts of the discussion and on it
I have constantly drawn.
First of all we may turn to Polemo of Laodicea. From his
rhetorical work unfortunately only two speeches remain and they
give no adequate indication of the high regard in which he was held
in his own day as one of the distinguished leaders of the New
Sophistic. Actually his most important work may have been his
little handbook on physiognomy, written in Greek, of which we
have an Arabic version.4 While Polemo in this work was largely
indebted to the earlier pseudo-Aristotelian tract, he achieved considerable reputation for his own contribution to this field of study.
One of the striking features of the handbook is the use of examples,
chosen to illustrate the theories set forth, drawn from his personal
observation of people of his own day. Mesk's I careful study of
these illustrations indicates their particular importance for a
knowledge of Polemo's contemporaries. Under the topic of the
eyes, to which Polemo devotes a good third of his work, he cites
examples from the past only twice. The rest come from the study
of unnamed contemporaries such as a man from Cyrene, two from
Lydia, one from Corinth, and indeed from people all over the eastern
Mediterranean basin. In a similar fashion Polemo provides
observations for other parts of the body. Thus it becomes important to keep in mind that Polemo's use of such examples suggests
a practical application of the principles of physiognomy. Nor
does Polemo neglect that branch of the study by which various
races are distinguished through differences of appearance and
character. It is quite clear, likewise, that he could make use of
physiognomy for the purpose of encomium and invective. His
laudatory description of the Emperor Hadrian, with whom he was
3 R. Forster, Scriptores Physiognomonici (Leipzig, 1893) 2.237-352.
4 Cf. Forster, Scr. Phys. 1.lxxvi-lxxviii. In this article Polemo's work, translated
from the Arabic by G. Hoffmann, will be cited by page number in volume 1 of Forster's
edition.
5 Josef Mesk, "Die Beispiele in Polemons Physiognomonik," WS 50 (1932) 51-67.
Among unnamed contemporaries the man from Qwrnyn (Polem. 138) is probably to be
identified as Lusius Quietus, one of the consulars who plotted against Hadrian. See
A. von Premerstein, "Das Attentat der Konsulare auf Hadrian im Jahre 118 n. Chr.,"
Ki Beiheft 8 (1908) 46-71. In J. Marouzeau, APh 9 (1934) 304 is to be found the
summary of a note by J. Carcopino, "Lusius Quietus l'homme de Qwrnyn," Istros
1 (1934) 5-9, which I have not been able to consult, to the effect that Qwrnyn is to be
identified with either Cyrene or Cerne.
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98
Elizabeth
C.
Evans
[1941
on the most friendly terms and through whose patronage he gained
his greatest personal success as well as many gifts for his adopted
city of Smyrna, appears under the topic of the eyes. "For eyes,"
he says,6 "that are clear and shining are good, unless other signs
corrupt them. . . . Of this type surely are the eyes of the Emperor
Hadrian, . . . gleaming, moist, keen, large, full of light."
At the same time one reads his caustic description of the eyes of
Favorinus of Arles, an intimate friend of Plutarch, and a sophist
who likewise enjoyed the powerful patronage of Hadrian. This
man came to Rome fairly early in his career, but he spent many
years in Asia Minor. There a bitter quarrel arose between him
and Polemo in Ionia, because the people of Ephesus favored Favor-
inus, and those of Smyrna, Polemo.7 Polemo, therefore, describes
with utter contempt the physical weaknesses of a man who was from
the land of the Celts.8 He was lustful and dissolute beyond all
measure. His eyes belonged to the type found in the basest men;
for when the eye is open, and possesses a brilliance such as that of
marble, and when the vision is sharp, these signs, he declares,
bespeak much shamelessness.9 He then proceeds to attribute to
Favorinus the pitiful physical characteristics of a eunuch.10
Maximus of Tyre, one of the popular lecturers of the second
century, provides a key to the interest displayed by rhetorical and
sophistic writers of this period in the subject of physiognomy, when
he discusses the proper delivery of an oration: AlCrOVi KXa7yavros, X7
Xfov-ros fpvX-qaaifvov, yvwplam a'v s -rq Xlflr-qpc Trs aKO?7S TIPV pC/unv roV
8e7y7yoQ/IEvov. el be /.d 45avX6repov i1Xos av5po's ,.sl Aa&eveEvrTepov AXeytaL Tr
T XOV XkOvros 'OS o pUX1YO7U XfOVTOS KaL aleTWV KXayyr7s, apa o'VK 5tQov
EKO7paUOaL rTj aKOp, r6orpov . '6a v rO OEyy061uEVOV, X'yrTTra 6&LX? Kal 46,
6 Polem. 148. The anonymous Latin handbook on physiognomy found in Forster,
Scr. Phys. 2 (hereafter cited by volume number and page number) adds this statement
in 2.51-52: unde intellegendum est optimos esse contrarios id est perlucidos oculos, si
nullum extat aliud indicium quod impugnet. tales Palemon auctor refert fuisse
oculos Hadriani imperatoris: xapo2rous, humidos, acres, magnos, luminis plenos.
7 Philostr. VS 1.8, 490. This quarrel continued in Rome.
8 Polem. 160-162. The name of Favorinus is not mentioned, but he can be
identified from Anon. Physiog. Lat. 2.57-58: oculi . . . a Palemone quidem auctore
referuntur, qui eunuchum sui temporis fuisse hunc hominem descripsit. nomen quidem non posuit, intelligitur autem de Favorino eum dicere.
9 Polem. 160: ubi oculus apertus est habetque coruscationem qualem marmor
habet, acie acuta, parum pudicitiae indicat.
10 Lucian presents a similar description of this sophist in less caustic terms, Demon.
12-13; Eun. 7. Cf. Philostr. VS 1.8, 489.
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Vol. lxxii] Physiognomy in Second Century A.D. 99
604r1,epos, ri alTro's, i rt TaXXo vc3ou appep KaL 6vyuovi pT
eKeLVos-and here he refers to the famous physiognomist of the fifth
century B.C.-6e6 ls rjj 7rpo43oXil rv 640aX).&v, -roS TroVi Ic,aos TV7rlS
aT'v!WwJ', 'yipLELv Tr6 'Oos, KaL KaTa/Aarrebe7Oal ris /vXfs 6dl TrWP
opWcAvew, 4uaaTELar auaa7 . . . de 6' eTTL /IarTELap ril uIvxj OEaOaL o0v aLa
a6qvbpc^v o6v5 a6ueOp&w avj436Xwv, rolS jAdV 640aXjAo?s rapaXwpwPTrOV i-r7V
XP/U'aTLov Te KaL aX?7/ATaOV KaL T?s (V TOlTOlS 6os KaL "6tas 6ALX'av, ni
6k &co7 kOLXpveVT0oV Tr r^s /vXfs 'Oos, OV' KaTr Tovs ToV 7roXXcoi' Xo-yuL7os
a7roxp-q 7rpos 97raLvov Xo\6yov yX-r-ra evkroxos, 1 6olAa,rwpv bp6/ios, q' p'i,uara
'ATTlKra, X replo6ot edKa/s7Es X &puo'ia CrypL1
This passage, when considered in conjunction with the later
descriptions of the sophists' appearance while speaking before the
public, throws a good deal of light on the use of the principles
of physiognomy among this group. The relation between careful
training in actio or pronuntiatio and the idea that the countenance
is the image of the mind was uppermost in the thoughts of Cicero
and Quintilian.12 The question may well be asked how far the
momentary appearance of the orator is to be regarded as connected
with the study of physiognomy. The answer is to be found, I
believe, in a statement in the pseudo-Aristotelian handbook 13 that
one phase of physiognomical analysis takes as its basis the characteristic facial expressions which are observed to accompany different conditions of mind, such as anger or fear. Philostratus, whose
Vitae Sophistarum was written in the early decades of the third
century, devotes himself conscientiously to the great figures imme-
diately preceding his generation, especially to the contemporaries
Herodes Atticus and Polemo. Of the latter he writes: T%)V 6U
K7)f7fl 14 sOU avp6s, r e s /AeXEras kxpiaaro, E'r& IA&v KaL 'Hpw'bov 1apeiv kv
11 25.3 (ed. Hobein). It is of significance to note that Maximus of Tyre is probably to be identified with Cassius Maximus, the friend of Artemidorus, to whom he
dedicated the first three books of the Oneirocriticus. See C. Blum, Studies in the DreamBook of Artemidorus (Upsala, 1936) 23, and cf. below pp. 105-106.
12 Cf. HSPh 46 (1935) 46-47 for a discussion of this matter.
13 805a.
14 For the meaning of " scenic effects " see W. C. Wright, Philostratus and Eunapius
("Loeb Classical Library," New York, 1922) 574. This phrase refers to the "outfit
or get up of a sophist who declaims. The term includes all the 'theatrical properties'
of the sophist: his voice, expression, smile, dress, and any mannerism of diction or
deli(Tery. It is twice used of Polemo, who was the model, the mirror of fashion for the
sophist; they imitated his effects as though he had been a popular actor." For example Ptolemy of Naucratis had a great reputation among the sophists. He was a
pupil of Herodes Atticus, but he did not wish to imitate him but "came rather under
the influence of Polemo. For the impetus and force of his style and the ample use of
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100
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Elizabeth
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[1941
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lratp? avrflS KwXOV'T /.ttlala/.(aTl Eptp, Ei'5ELKPVV/pOp r6 TO aXvrws
4pafEP, KaA KpoalVet 'EW 7-oZ TsI' V7rO oEecop' XcO&)LS OV'oE' pElOu A OP0V 'O1UfpLKO
r7rov.15 Polemo 16 contracted "his proud and haughty temper," 17
we are told, from Timocrates, the philosopher, with whom he
associated for four years in Ionia, and whom he called " the father
of my eloquence." 18 That association may well have had an
influence on Polemo's later physiognomical studies, as Timocrates
early " devoted himself to the study of writings on medicine and was
well versed in the theories of Hippocrates." 19 As we shall see
shortly, Galen,20 the great medical writer, is our main source for the
information regarding the foundation of the science of physiognomy
by Hippocrates.
Another reason for Polemo's interest in the field of physiognomy
was surely Dio Chrysostom's avowed belief in the validity of
rhetorical ornament he borrowed from the equipment [OfK77'S1 of Polemo. Also it is
said that he spoke extempore with marvellous ease and fluency" (Philostr. VS 1.25,
595, trans. W. C. Wright).
15 Philostr. VS 1.25, 537. The reference in Homer is to 11. 6.507. Cf. also Philostr.
VS 1.25, 539: "When the Emperor Marcus [Aurelius] asked him: 'What is your opinion
of Polemo?' Herodes gazed fixedly before him and said: 'The sound of swift footed
horses strikes upon mine ears' (Hom. II. 10.535), thus indicating how resonant and far
echoing was his eloquence" (trans. W. C. Wright). Cf. Philostr. VS 1.25, 533 on
Polemo's appearance on the occasion of the dedication of the temple of Olympian Zeus
at Athens, when he delivered the oration in the presence of Hadrian.
16 For other sophists contemporary with Polemo see the description of Favorinus
while speaking. Philostr. VS 1.8, 491: AtaXe7oy/vo, v bi aLVTOl) Kara T7)v 'Pw'svY lAEora
77V cTrov?7s lravTa . . . alXXa K'KELE'OVS WeX7E Tr TE 1XV TOO 0e'7YaToS KaL Tq. o7paiVOVTL
Tro) f3X1EpuaToS KaL Tq pt)Coj.L4 T1rS 7XWTT)S.... Cf. also VS 1.25, 542. There is a brief
description of Herodes Atticus VS 2.1, 564. Scopelian, another teacher of Polemo,
is skillfully delineated in Philostr. VS 1.21, 519. This tendency to describe the ap-
pearance in public of sophists of this period is to be observed further: Marcus of Byzantium (Philostr. VS 1.24, 528); Aristocles of Pergamum (VS 2.3, 567); Varus of
Perge (VS 2.6, 576); Philagrus of Cilicia (VS 2.8, 580ff.); Adrian the Phoenician of
Tyre (VS 2.10, 587); Alexander of Seleucia (VS 2.5, 570).
17 Philostr. VS 1.25, 535 (trans. W. C. Wright).
18 Id. VS 1.25, 536 (trans. W. C. Wright).
19 lbid.
20 Anim. Mor. Corp. Temp. (ed. Kuhn, Leipzig, 1822) 4.797-798. See below pp.
107-108.
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Vol. lxxii] Physiognomy in Second Century A.D. 101
its principles. Dio, the beloved teacher of Polemo, likewise enjoyed the devoted patronage of Hadrian. Though a number of
passages 21 might be cited from Dio's speeches that are pertinent
to the subject, I should like to call attention to one. In the fourth
oration 22 on Kingship Alexander the Great is represented as conversing with Diogenes on the subject of the real king, and the
cleverness of artists in depicting their subjects. Dio continues:
OVKOVP Kal jAeis An' XeLpovs Asrn5e OavXoTepoL irepL roVS XO6yovs avUpzev n E
irepL ras abvrv rexvaas Tt 7rXarrElV Kal a45oLOUv roVS rporovs roV rplt7rXOV)
5aL,Aovos rTtV rptwpw ftwv,-namely, the three prevailing types of lives
which the majority usually adopt:-TmV evavrLav EaLP KaL avrLorpoq5ov
ElrLELKVPU.EVOl riS rcV XeyoOpsevwv wvooyvwuO'wV EP/9reLplaS Kal /aVrLK7S. OL
AEv 'yap a7ro T-S AOpnS KaL TOVl rAOV A TO y tyLVCWYKOVUL KaL a7rayyE4XXovoLv,
Aets e& a97ro% T(tV nwP Kat rwV epywV xapaKT-pa KaL iopqv a4Lav 9KELXwY
0'rao-w,uez.
Lucian's interest in the physiognomists is primarily concerned
with the portraiture actually achieved on the basis of physiog21 Passages in Dio suggesting the influence of physiognomy are: 7.33; 8.30; 30.4;
31.162; 32.29; 32.54; 32.74; 33.17; 49.12; 62.6; 63.4. In the famous debate by Prodicus
on Heracles at the Crossroads the description of Basileia and Tyrannis in Dio 1.69-84
and the description of Virtue and Pleasure in Maximus of Tyre 14.1 bespeak an interest in physical appearance as related to character. More important for our purpose
is the fairly often quoted passage on certain citizens of Tarsus in Dio's First Tarsic
Oration, which obviously shows familiarity with the doctrines of the physiognomists
(33.53) and which is followed by the story of a man "who had made it his special business to recognize instantly the character of each individual and to be able to describe
his qualities, and he had never failed with any person " (trans. H. Lamar Crosby, " Loeb
Classical Library "). The account of the recognition of a KL'vaLLos which directly follows
this statement is also told in Diogenes Laertius, 7.173, of Cleanthes, the Stoic philosopher, who was skilled in the art of physiognomy. Dio Chrysostom undoubtedly took
his story from some Stoic source. Cf. also 33.49-51. Finally we may mention Dio's
portrait of himself (12.15). In this great Olympic oration, dealing with man's first
conception of God, Dio refers to himself as follows: " But notwithstanding I declare to
you . . . great as is your number you have been eager to hear a man who is neither
handsome in appearance nor strong, and in age is already past his prime, one who has
no disciple . . . but who simply wears his hair long" (trans. J. W. Cohoon, "Loeb
Classical Library"). Cf. orations 35.2 and 72.2, where Dio refers to long hair as the
mark of the philosopher in derisive tones. In connection with 35.3 Dio declares:
" However I fear that fools get no good from their long hair, not even if they get shaggy
to the very heart-as in the case of Aristomenes, the Messenian, who caused a great
deal of trouble for the Spartans, and who, though taken captive many times, always
managed to escape from them-he, we are told, when at last he met his death, was found
to be in that condition" (trans. H. Lamar Crosby, "Loeb Classical Library"). The
physiognomical interpretation of the hairy heart is to be found in Pliny the Elder, HN
11.184-185, where it is stated that such people are exceptionally brave and resolute,
and the same story of Aristomenes is told.
22 4.87-88.
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102
Elizabeth
C.
Evans
[1941
nomical theory rather than in the expression of belief simply in the
theory itself. Representative of his skillful use of the physiognomical manner of description for amusing satire is the portrait
of the professor of public speaking. The thrust possibly may be
directed at Julius Pollux, the lexicographer.23 2v LX o 7rp 7 enV e&p
EXOcv (i.e. the easy road of oratory) eupl)cYets 7roXXovS KaL aXovs, '
TO9ToLots KaL 7avfa opov Trva KaL 7ra yKaXov avapa, &taoYeoaXev/IEvov Tr #bto
eTLKfKXaoY/.LEVOV TOV avXeva, yvYaLKELOP rTO 3XE'AAa, uEXLXpoA rTO xw
1hpwov alro7rl4orra, Tr- baKrbXW aKpq r V KE&aX lP KYPO4EPOV, OXtLyas 4e.v
ovXas 5e Kal vaKLvOLvas ras rptXas dOerliovra, 7ravaj3p6v rpa l2bapaidraX
ri KLvvpav il ai'r6v 'Aya'Wwva . . . XEyw be' s aro roi'rWP yYVwpLtOLs a
oqe oEe oVio Oneo-tOV xp-a Kal LtXoV 'A4pobtrp KaL Xaptot 5taXcWot
Equally biting is his attack on the ignorant book collector, a Syrian ,2
and equally ludicrous are his descriptions of the parasite26 and
various types of conventional, long-bearded philosophers.27
23 See A. H. Harmon, Lucian ("Loeb Classical Library," New York, 1925) 4.133.
24 Rh. Pr. 11-12. For examples of various types of portraits see Abd. 28 (sexdifferences); Alex. 3; Anach. 25 (young man in the prime of condition); Bacch. 2
(Dionysus and Silenus); Bis Acc. 28 (Oratory on the Syrian); DMeretr. 1; 2; 3; DMort.
1; 9; 10; 24; 25 (Thersites); Dem. Enc. 1 (Thersagoras); Demon. 18; Deor. Conc. 4
(Dionysus); Ep. Sat. 1.24 (on the rich); Eun. 7; Gall. 14 (Simon); JTr. 30 (Apollo);
Nav. 2 (young Egyptian), 6, 10; Nec. 11 (millionaires and money-lenders); Nigr. 11
(actors); Par. 41, cf. 4; Philops. 5. 23, 24 (Socrates); Pr. Im. 4; Salt. 74-75, 77; Somn.
6 (sculpture vs. education); Timon 16-17 (on a man taking a maid for his wife); 54
(Thrasycles); Cal. 16-17 (tyrant, money-lender); VH 2.34 (dreams); Vit. Auct. 7, 10
(Cynic); 12 (Cyrenaic); 13 (Democritean, Heraclitan). Lucian does not lose sight of
the importance of the orator's appearance in public speaking. Cf. Salt. 35; and Rh. Pr.
15, 16, 19, 23, and esp. 20.
25 Ind. 7. Cf. Hom. II. 2.212 and also Ind. 23.
26 Par. 41.
27 Fug. 4 (cf. 19) (on the sham philosophers): ELaTL rtLpest, Zei, &p jAeratXj.iqy TC
TE 7rOXX6OP Kai, TWJv 0tXoo-O)o6pOTwp, TO /Aip o-X?)Aja Ka' (3X/L Ka; #a'bLL/a j7/Lv O/.LOLOL K
Ka-ra Ta w a&ra' YTLaXjEJot. 6.ttoOaL 701p 'r' /tol TLTT@eyOaL Kat TroPvolAa Tr 7ETepOP
7rL-yp&qLov'TaL, /=6aOt)Tal Kal 6u/LX7rTa& KaL OLaoYrTat ?IAWP etpat XE7OPTeS. Cf. ibid
proclamation of Hermes for KavOapos done in the manner of the conventional proclamation for runaway slaves, though it has the added quality of depicting the inner
nature of the despised Cynic by reference to his quick temper and harsh voice, qualities
that would not be listed in ordinary slave proclamations; cf. HSPh 46 (1935) 44,
63-64): E' TLS etLeP i&vparobop lla4AayoVLKor TiOJv &7or 2;Xiiir77s fapfiapwv, opolAa TOL
OIOJ' &irc?i KT?flIaTWJ', lflrOXpOP, P XpWq Kovptav, kp 7evPe 3Oa , r2pap kt77f/eMPOP KaG Tp
4iArex6,/epov, 6pyiXov, a5ijovaov, rpaXt4Xovop, Xoibopov, ,A77vWPeLv ebrl pff7T)c a&T6O.
29 (cf. 5, 10, 21) the philosopher appears as follows: "E7retra bi o6vo,a oelApov Tlr7 &p
rEpIOLEJ'e0 KaL ra's o4pvs e'rapavTEs KaL Ta ,AETTwra pvJTLb&o-aPTEs KaL TOVS -ros w 'wv
oaraoraIevoJt repLEpXorTaL k, 7rrWXaYTo-, axi7AaTr KaTa7rTuvoTa 7'7077 repUfYTxXOvrES, &/I
Ma1XLo-Ta TOLS pa-yLKOLS 'KELPOLS b7OKpLTaLs, 'v p &vex TLS Ta rrpoo-reLa KaL T-rp X
lrao-rov &IKEP7J' arTOXv, TO KaTaXeL7r6Iev6v ko-TL 7eXOLOJ &vJpWlrLOp erTra paxICov
a7CoPa uAe1ALa6oXAvov. For philosophers see Cyn. 1, 14, 17, 19, 20; Eun. 8; G
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Vol. lxxii] Physiognomy in Second Century A.D. 103
To Apuleius 28 there was attributed for many years the anony-
mous later Latin paraphrase of Polemo's handbook on physiognomy, because Albertus Magnus 29 misinterpreted a brief passage
in the little treatise.30 But the work has long since been shown on
grounds of style to belong to the end of the third or the beginning
of the fourth century after Christ, the tract of an unknown author.
In the genuine works of Apuleius among passages which are pertinent to our subject occurs one at the opening of his treatise on
Plato and His Doctrine,3' where he tells a dream of Socrates, in
which the philosopher thought that he beheld a cygnet flying from
an altar in the Academy, sacred to Cupid, and settling in his lap.
Afterwards a full fledged swan, it winged its way to heaven, en-
trancing the ears of men andgods with the music of its song. When
Socrates mentioned the dream to some of his friends, Ariston happened to be present for the purpose of offering him Plato for instruction. As Socrates cast his eyes on Plato and saw from his
external appearance his inner disposition, he said, " This, my friends,
is the swan from the altar of Cupid."
The description of Lucius in the Golden Ass 32 is an excellent
iconistic portrait, which lends itself to physiognomical interpreta-
tion. When Byrrena, his mother's kinswoman, meets him in the
market place she observes that he is tall, but nicely proportioned,
slender without being thin, his complexion is rosy but not too red,
his yellow hair is simply arranged, his grey eyes are watchful and
endowed with a flashing glance just like an eagle's, his face is hand-
some in all its features, and he has a graceful and unaffected gait.
The physiognomists emphasize good proportions 33 as one of the
first essentials of upright character, while yellow hair 34 and a
flashing glance 35 constitute the marks of intelligence and e4vxl
Herm. 18, 19, 86; JTr. 16, 26; Par. 49; Philops. 29; Pisc. 12, 13; Pro Merc. Cond. 12,
25, 33; Symp. 7, 16, 28.
28 ;Frster, Scr. Phys. 1.cxxxvii-cxIv.
29 De Anim. 1.2-3.
30 Forster, Scr. Phys. 2.49.
31 1. One might cite as examples of descriptions, where qualities of character are
connected with physical appearance, though they are not always strictly physiognomical in nature, Apol. 4, 15, 16, 43, 59. Particularly important for its physiognomical
implications is Apol. 24. See also Met. 1.6, 19, 20, 23; 5.22; 9.30; 10.2; 10.10.
32 Met. 2.1-2.
33 Ps.-Arist. 814a. See HSPh 46 (1935) 64.
34 Ps.-Arist. 809b; Polem. 250.
36 Ps.-Arist. 812b.
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104
Elizabeth
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A rosy complexion 36 is auspicious and grey eyes 37 belong to a bold
spirit as in lions and eagles.
Lexicography quite naturally was not untouched by the study
of physiognomy, and a goodly number of relevant examples may be
cited from Julius Pollux 18 and Phrynichus,39 some excerpted from
known earlier sources, some from unknown. Passages taken from
such a writer as Sextus Empiricus,'0 the physician and philosopher,
in his Outlines of Pyrrhonism bespeak a ready acquaintance with
the tenets of the "science." The Stoic interest in the subject is
represented by Marcus Aurelius,4' to whom also the ideas of Galen
in this realm must have become familiar during their association,
while the Greek physician was resident in Rome. Significant
passages from Tcov els 'avrov have been cited in my earlier study of
this topic.
Plutarch,42 the great figure in Peripatetic biography in the early
second century, following as he does the ethical aim of this school
of biography, shows his adherence in a number of passages 4
to the Aristotelian doctrine of the "mind's construction in the face."
In the Life of Sulla 44 he relates that on the occasion of the visit
of Orobazus, ambassador from the King of the Parthians to Sulla,
"a certain man in the retinue of Orobazus, a Chaldaean, after
looking Sulla intently in the face, and after studying carefully th
movements of his mind and body, and investigating his nature
according to the principles of his peculiar art, declared that this
man must of necessity become the greatest in the world, and that
even now the wonder was that he consented not to be first of all
men." His actual appearance as described by Plutarch does not
follow the strictly iconistic form of Suetonius, for, as Miss Misener
points out, "Plutarch wishes to present to his readers a fully
36 Id. 806b; 807b. Polem. 244; 246.
37 Ps.-Arist. 812b.
38 See the passages cited by F6rster, Scr. Phys. 2.281-282, esp. Onom. 2.135.
39 See Forster, Scr. Phys. 2.300-301.
40 P. 1.85; cf. M. 5.95, 96, 97, 99, 101.
41 See HSPh 46 (1935) 58-59, note 3.
42 D. R. Stuart, Epochs of Greek and Roman Biography (Berkeley, 1928) 168ff.
43 HSPh 46 (1935) 57-58. To those references may be added Amat. 21 (see
Forster, Scr. Phys. 2.340); Ad principem ineruditum 2; Quomodo quis sent. prof. virt. 1
Attention is called to an article dealing with a study of the popularity of physiognom
in Elizabethan England by Carroll Camden, "The Mind's Construction in the Face,"
Renaissance Studies in Honor of Hardin Craig (Palo Alto, 1941) 208-220.
44 5.5-6 (trans. B. Perrin. "Loeb Classical Library").
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Vol. lxxii] Physiognomy in Second Century A .D. 105
founded personality," 45 in a "style of portraiture far removed from
the impersonal photographs of the papyri," 46 which served only for
identification. Plutarch allows his readers to gather the size and
proportions of Sulla from existing statues 47 and concentrates his
attention on the color and character of Sulla's eyes and face. T'7v
be TOV oAAaTwv yXaVKorfrTa betVwCs 7rLKpaV KaL 'aKpaTov ovoav X Xpoa To-l
7rpooWo7roov 5of3epwTEpav (7lOlft 7pOUL66tv. ieXVt To' yap To' epbOu7a TpaXv
KaL 70op6av KaTa/.L/y/.L&OV rp XEvKOrflL. rpOS O KaL ToVvoAa X('YovoUtv
avTir yeveoOaL tris xpoas E7Il-ETOV, KaL Tcov 'AO'vvo VyEOpLOrwv E'71EeKW/E TL
es Tou-To rot?Kas
OVKaLLVoV T@O 6 ?.zuXas asdX4Tw 7e7lao evov.48
It is well to remember that to the physiognomists keen and piercing
eyes 49 are a good sign of courage, though the 64OaXAO's yXavKos also 50
means want of humanity, and an unbending nature. A white
countenance 51 mixed with blotches of red indicates daring and
fierce anger. These characteristics of Sulla can be readily observed in Plutarch's account of the man.52
That the doctrines of the physiognomists could be eyed with
suspicion may be inferred from the writings of Artemidorus, who
flourished toward the end of the second century. To be sure,
Artemidorus' special field of activity lay in the interpretation of
dreams, a subject highly regarded in antiquity, and his Oneirocriticus
is the outstanding treatise on that topic. He naturally looked with
ill disguised concern on any competition that might be offered to his
particular skill.
45G. Misener, "Iconistic Portraits," CPh 19 (1924) 110.
46Ibid. 111.
47 Ibid. On Plutarch's attitude towards sculpture as reflecting the appearance
and character of a man see De Alex. M. Fortuna aut Virtute Or. 2.2: Movos yap ouros,
(Lysippus) cos EOLKE, KarTe*VvE Tro) XaXKCi TO iOos abTOU Kal avvet4epe Tro /lop4+l T?7V
pET?V. oI ' cXoL TriV ArOaTpOiv TOV TpaXjX0V Ka( TCOV O6uAuaTWV TriV &FiXV8atV Kal
,pOrvTa l Zoiw-Oact O'EXO'Tes ob &te4XXaTTOV cbrov TO 'ppEVWr03V KatL XeoVTrbes.
48 2. Among portraits found in Plutarch may be cited: Ages. 2.2-3; Alc. 1.3-4;
Alex. 4.1-3; Ant. 4.1-2; Arat. 3.1; Cat. Ma. 1.3; Cat. Mi. 1.2; Cic. 3.5; Dem. 2.2; Fab.
17.5; Flam. 1.1; Lys. 1.1; Mar. 2.1; Phil. 2.1-3; Phoc. 5.1; Per. 3.2-4; Pomp. 2.1-2;
Pyrr. 8.1; Rom. 6.1-2 (Rom. and Rem.), 7.3-4 (Rem.); for the appearance of the orator
while speaking see Dem. and Cic. 1.6; Per. 5.1; TG and CG 2.2-5.
49 A sign of ebVWvXha, Ps.-Arist. 812b.
60 Cf. Polem. 246. Glaucus color indicates defectum humanitatis et indolis rigorem.
61 A sign of audacia and vehemens iracundia. Polem. 244.
12SUll. 6.8, 30.4-31.1; Lys. and .5u1. passim.
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106
Elizabeth
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Evans
[1941
In discussing those things which are to be believed he warns 53
us that whatever dreams come from the gods are reliable, next
those from priests, kings, rulers, parents and teachers. Parents
bring us into existence, and teachers instruct us how to live. Thirdly
the seers are to be trusted, at least such as are not given to deception. But whatever the followers of Pythagoras may say, or the
physiognomists, or the diviners from Ao-rpayaXoL, or from cheese,
or by a sieve, their words are lies and unsubstantial. They bewitch
and defraud those whom they chance to meet.
The second century saw, likewise, the rival skills of the two
founders of the study of physiognomy set forth. Aulus Gellius,54
on the one hand, describes the admission requirements for the school
of Pythagoras: "It is said that the order and method followed by
Pythagoras, and afterwards by his school and his successors in
admitting and training their pupils were as follows: At the very
outset he 'physiognomized' the young men who presented themselves for instruction. That word means to inquire into the character and dispositions of men by an inference drawn from their
facial appearance and expression, and from the form and bearing
of their whole body. Then, when he had thus examined a man and
found him suitable, he at once gave orders that he should be admitted to the school and should keep silence for a fixed period of
time; this was not the same for all, but differed according to his
estimate of the man's capacity for learning quickly. But the one
who kept silent listened to what was said by others; he was, however, religiously forbidden to ask questions, if he had not fully
understood, or to remark upon what he had heard. Now no one
kept silence for less than two years, . . . But when they had
learned what is of all things the most difficult, to keep quiet and
listen . . . they were then allowed to speak, to ask questions, and
to write down what they had heard, and to express their own opinions." Unfortunately we are not told what was the nature of their
facial expression or bearing at the end of this trial period.
53 2.69. Cf. 1.1. Passages pertaining to dreams about various parts of the body,
e.g. 1.17 (large head); 1.18 (hair); 1.20 (horse hair); 1.23 (forehead); 1.24 (ears); 1.25
(eyebrows); 1.27 (nose); 1.28 (cheeks); 1.30 (philosopher's beard); 1.40 (shoulders);
1.41 (breast) actually show little in common with the interpretations found in the
physiognomical handbooks.
54 1.9 (trans. J. C. Rolfe, "Loeb Classical Library"). Cf. R. A. Pack, " Physio
nomical Entrance Examinations," CJ 31 (1935) 42-43. He shows the debt of Rob
Burton in his Latin play, the Philosophaster (Act. 1, sc. 6), to this passage.
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Vol. lxxii] Physiognomy in Second Century A.D. 107
While we know from several other accounts 55 of Pythagoras'
life that he was considered the founder of the study of physiognomy,
there is also the familiar statement of Galen 56 that the "divine
Hippocrates" was responsible for the beginnings of the "science."
Galen's views on the subject must have exerted wide influence in
the second half of the second century, when as the friend and
physician of Marcus Aurelius, he became a distinguished lecturer
and doctor in Rome. He quotes 57 Hippocrates as saying that "in
those who practise medicine without a knowledge of science of
physiognomy the judgment goes to seed, wallowing in darkness."
Galen agrees with this view and adds that the physiognomical part
of astrology is the greatest part. Thus he associates the study of
physiognomy with that of astrology,58 with which it was connected
in later times. Galen's use of physiognomical material 59 comprises
in part direct quotations from his master Hippocrates, and from
Aristotle, particularly the Historia Animalium, and in part his own
observations in the medical field.
The doctrine of the four humours,60 associated with Hippocrates,
55 Hippol. Haer. 1.2; Porph. VP 13; Iamb. VP 17. Cf. HSPh 46 (1935) 47 and
note 3. Other versions of Pythagoras' practice occur in Porphyrio and lamblichus.
According to E. Rohde, Der Griechische Roman3 (Leipzig, 1914) 273ff.; Kleine
Schriften (Leipzig, 1901) 2.137ff., the account in Porphyrio may be referred to Anton
Diogenes, that in Iamblichus to Apollonius of Tyana. See Forster, Scr. Phys. 1.xiii,
note 3. Forster believes that Nicomachus Gerasenus was probably less accurately
used by Porphyrio than by Iamblichus and perhaps by Aulus Gellius (Scr. Phys.
1.xiii-xiv). Cf. also Aulus Gellius 4.11. See A. DeLatte, Essai sur la Politique Pythagoricienne (Liege, 1922) on "La Societe Pythagoricienne," 8-10, 25, for Timaeus and
Aristoxenus as sources for this aspect of the life of the Pythagorean group under discussion. For a very recent analysis of the sources (especially Dicaearchus, Aristoxenus,
and Timaeus) used for the history of the Pythagoreans see Kurt von Fritz, Pythagorean
Politics in Southern Italy (New York, 1940).
56 Anim. Mor. Corp. Temp. (ed. Kuhn) 4.797-798.
57 Prognost. de Decubitu (ed. Kuhn) 19. 530.
58 See Ptol. Tetr. 2.2 on the characteristics of the inhabitants of the general clime
3.11. On body form and temperament, cf. 3.13. These observations are based on
astrological phenomena. With them should be compared Gal. Anim. Mor. Corp.
Temp. (ed. Kuhn) 4.798-804.
59 See the passages collected in Forster, Scr. Phys. 2.241-249, 283-299.
60 The blood contained the warm-moist quality, the yellow bile, the warm-dry,
black bile, the cold dry, and phlegm, the cold-moist. See H. 0. Taylor, Greek Biology
and Medicine (Boston, 1922) 18ff. These humours varying in their proportions in each
person determined by their blending and interrelation the good health and disease of
each one. Cf. In Hippoc. de Nat. Hom. 1 Comm. (ed. Kuhn, 15.97). There is, says
Galen, an argument which has no small degree of probability according to which the
four humours are shown to be useful for the creation of character proper to each person.
He points out again that the character follows the blendings in the body. The keenness of the mind or understanding has its origin in the yellow bile, constancy and
stability -in the black bile; simplicity and stolidity, however, come from the blood;
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108
Elizabeth
C.
Evans
[1941
Aristotle, and other ancient writers and accepted by Galen, forms a
fundamental basis for the study of human temperament, as the four
elemental qualities of the human body affected the inner character
and outward appearance of the individual. The Hippocratic work
on Airs, Waters and Places 61 laid the foundations for this " science "
of physiognomy, for it is, as Henry Osborn Taylor puts it, " the
earliest essay known on the influence of physical environment on
health, disease and temperament." 62
Finally, we may consider what the early Church fathers of the
second century, Tertullian and Clement of Alexandria for example,
have to offer that is relevant to the present discussion. Typical
is a passage from Clement,63 in which he deprecates unseemly
laughter in the Pedagogue, in discussing the conduct of the converted and the need of simplicity in the social life of the Christian.
He says sternly: i) Ae'v 'yap KacO ap/Aovtav ToV irpor7roV KaOa7rep op-yavov,
KO7ILOS aJeJoLs /AetlfaL/Aa KEKX77Tal . . . . . .6E 'K/AEX7'S TOV 7rpOO-W7OV EKXVUOLS
el JLEV y7rv yVvatKWV 'yIVOLTO, KlXXtLOs rpooa-yopeverat, 74XWS 65 .fYTl lOpVLKOS-
fF 6E 1rL ai'apcWv, Kayxaa/,os, -yXc oos krti' OurOS /V fl7)8?7a Ka7VfplC)V.
Awxpos b- iv XyA rt aivv4io? 4wvi'v avrovi, 4,olv 7 -ypa44 (Eccles. 21.20
avl7p b5E ravoOp'yos /.o'yLs 2oUxvX uetbLa'Ea. ?)pvl,Ulov -yet rz'v ravoipyov
vvv, TOP EPaPTWJs Tq, /.Lcopq) &laKEtLEvov. Let us piously hop, that Cle-
ment's readers took his sound advice to heart.
the nature of phlegm is useless for the formation of character, since it appears to have
its origin in the first chemical changes of food. Lynn Thorndike (History of Magic and
Experimental Science (New York, 1929) 1.176) adds that "contemporary doctors confused his [Galen's] medical prognostic with divination," in what he has to say concerning the outward signs of hot and cold internal organs. In the Ars Medica " he devotes
a number of chapters to such subjects as signs of a hot and dry heart, signs of a hot liver,
and signs of a cold lung. Among the signs of a cold brain are excessive excrements from
the head, stiff straight red hair, a late birth, malnutrition, susceptibility to injury from
cold causes and to catarrh, and somnolence" (ed. Kuhn, 1.325-326).
61 H. 0. Taylor, op. cit. 25-26. Cf. also Misener, CPh 19 (1924) 104.
62 See reference to Galen in note 60.
63 2.5, 46. Clement was a student of Herodes Atticus. For Clement's interest
in physiognomical theory see Forster, Scr. Phys. 2.303-309. See especially Paed.
3.11, 74 where Zeno the Citiaean thinks it fit to represent the image of youth (veau'iov)
in a physiognomical manner: icrw, 4'qcrI, KaOapo' rhO rpoc'o7rov, 6opVs IA' KaceLO/LEA'f ,Ar75i
6oq,a avarew7rTacAoEvov Iq a&vaKfKXaa,uAvov, /Arl ir-rtos 6 rpa&X?Xos j.oq6b 'vLseva ra TroU
.r,uaros ,X, &XX [r'a jAer&opa] EvrPoLos 0/oLota, opO6vovs 7rpos TOV X&yoV, 4v6T7S Kai
KvaTOKW)X?7 T,Y pOpqS jp7al. V KO.& a-XaTLLOL Ka' KLVVPOELS /A778PV kpv8oo-aOL To6s a'KOXa'aToLs
X7ri0os. ai8c's jsev b7racOeirCO Kac appevco7rfa. . . .Likewise his imaginary portrait of
Heracles (Protr. 2.30) is based on Hieronymus and Dicaearchus, and "use," as Miss
Misener observes (CPh 19 [19241 107-108): "the descriptive terms . . . used in
peripatetic manuals on physiognomy and the contemporary Egyptian papyri." A
direct reference to the physiognomists occurs in Strom. 1.21, 135: 7K 7-cpaLT)pr)a6ws KaL
EfKO6Trw 7rpOeLp77K6TrS, KaOcrep ot 4va-oyPvwjovoiovres acrpofl Te KaL LVTE1A .. .. For
Tertullian see Forster, Scr. Phys. l.lxx, and 2.255, 331-332. Cf. also a similar point of
view to that of Clement quoted above in De Cult. Fem. 13.
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