ABSTRACT
Livia was successful with the Tazza Farnese, and Octavian became Augustus, the first emperor of Rome. About forty years after the Tazza Farnese, Livia commissions another large Imperial cameo, the Gemma Augustea, this time utilizing the gemstone to convince Augustus to choose her son, Tiberius, as successor, with Germanicus (her grandson) and Drusus Major (her son) as two spares. In contrast to the earlier Tazza Farnese, the Gemma Augustea deals explicitly with the dynastic issue of showing succession, freely putting the next generation on display, and directly advertising familial relationships. Dating to the mature Augustan age, the Gemma Augustea also represents the second stage in the life cycle of iconography: the time when the symbolism has fully emerged and is easily understood. In a little over a generation since the Tazza Farnese, the iconography of the Gemma Augustea has become more Roman and complex. In the mature Augustan age, Imperial iconography has now been fully established.
