Eminentissimae foeminae: la dinastia giulio-claudia vista dalla Sicilia

The paper deals with the portraits of the female members of the Julio-Claudian dynasty that were found in Sicily (Tyndaris, Thermae Himeraeae, Solunto, Centuripe, Syracuse, Catania, ?Lipari) and in the surrounding small islands (Pantelleria/S. Teresa, Malta/Rabat, Gozo/Victoria). In addition to some portrait heads, a series of lesser known pieces, among which several fragments of iconic statues, rather neglected till now, are discussed. Iconography, associations and contexts are considered in order to assess the messages and functions of the statues, and the role these images played in the cultural discourse.