Before the inevitable is stated, yes, I’m aware that the Roman Republic and Empire consisted of many different tribes and ethnicities. However, just as today you can roughly gauge the nationality of some people by their appearance, I’m sure there was a predominant “look” among Roman citizens from the core regions in the Italian peninsula.
Also, do modern Italians bear much resemblance to the ancient Romans? After millennium of mixing with Ostrogoths, Byzantine Greeks, Normans, Vandals, Franks, and travelers from all over the Mediterranean I’d imagine that there has been some drift.
Less than you might think. Rome wasn’t just a mix of nationalities; it was a crossroads of the entire Med region and was so even in ancient times. Rome itself had Greek, Etruscan, Celtic and other ethnic ancestry, not to mention to array of slaves who tended to become freemen and eventually citizens over time. Ethnically speaking, there’s not much evidence that Romans in ancient times looked all that much different from the people living in that city today.
That said, there are some differences. Modern Italians are almost certainly taller than their ancestors and that may be partly genetic, and there’s much more Germanic ancestry. Everything has to be taken with a certain amount of shrugging: we simply cannot compare modern ethnic groups to past ethnic groups because we don’t have any reliable genetic or phenotypical analysis of the past.
Of course there’s a huge variation dependent entirely on the time period you’re interested in. My studies specialized in the era known as the Revolution – the transition from Republic to empire, so I can provide some specifics therein.
The “first families” of Rome took their lineage very seriously, and so for the more well-to-do, the bloodlines were kept as unpolluted as possible. So if you consider (as they certainly did) the members of the aristocracy as the “true” Romans, this would be the place to start.
The Romans of this class were typically of a paler hue than their southern neighbors. The olive-skin swarthy complexion so commonly associated with Italians today is to a large degree imported from Greece, North Africa, and the Middle East.
Classical Romans took pride in being people of the land – the family farm was held to be the heart and soul of the nation. So a lean, healthy frame was regarded as ideal. Men were expected to be tanned from outdoor activity; for women, pale skin was preferred.
There’s good evidence to show a surprising variety in natural hair color. A study of Roman naming conventions, for example, will turn up not only individuals but entirely families with cognomen based on hair color. Rufus (red), Rutilus (red-gold), Canus (gold or gray), Flavus (blonde), Ahenobarbus (bronze-bearded), Niger (black hair or skin), Helva (dun), and, of course, Calvus (bald). The name Caesar is thought by many to mean “a fine head of hair” – ironically, the most famous bearer of that name was the inventor of the comb-over.
For more information, there’s a world of portraiture to explore – not just the busts and bronzes of the high and mighty, but many family portraits survive in mosaics or murals.
