ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses a particular type of imagery often associated with royal women in the Hellenistic period, that of their “jugate” depiction in profile and in close-up, side by side with their kings (or, less often, next to their sons or brothers). The type was specifically devised by the early Ptolemies in order to signify dynastic continuity and political stability. It was soon adopted for the depiction of deities (chiefly Sarapis and Isis), and eventually exported to other dynasties, such as the Seleukids, as well as the rulers of Pontos, Bactria, and India. It was later adopted by Roman gem-cutters and jewelers, both of the late republican and the early imperial periods. A number of monumental cameos depicting royal couples in this scheme, traditionally associated with the Ptolemies and the early Hellenistic era, may in fact be early imperial.
