IN SEPTEMBER 2007 one French archaeologist got

lucky. He was diving in the murky waters of the Rhône

River at Arles, in the south of France, in search of

ancient remains on the riverbed. He emerged holding

a finely carved, life-size marble head. As he lifted it

up out of the water, in one of those classic discovery

moments, the director of the team shouted, “Putain,

mais c’est César—Damn, it’s Caesar.”

It was, in other words, a portrait of arguably the

most famous Roman who ever lived: Julius Caesar,

conqueror of Gaul, charismatic dictator, populist

autocrat, and, finally, victim of assassination on

the ides of March, 44 B.C. (an event immortalized

by William Shakespeare, among many other writers

and painters). He is one of the people from antiquity

who—alongside Cleopatra, perhaps—later gen-

erations have most wanted to meet face-to-face.

Tracking down the likeness of the real Caesar has

proved an irresistible sport.

BY MARY BEARD

WE’D LOVE TO MEET THIS MOST FAMOUS ROMAN FACE-TO-FACE,

BUT HOW DO WE KNOW WHAT HE ACTUALLY LOOKED LIKE?

I

IN THIS SECTION

Scat Scan Discovery

Water Lily Harvest

Mentoring Fossil Hunters

Chimp-Human Conflict

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC VOL. 241 NO. 2

EXPLORE

On the Trail of

Julius Caesar

ILLUMINATING THE MYSTERIES—AND WONDERS—ALL AROUND US EVERY DAY

FEBRUARY 2022 17