THE HAIRDO OF JULIA DOMNA.

THE HAIRDO OF JULIA DOMNA. Janet Stephens has done a number of videos which illustrate Roman hairdressing techniques. Here is one of Julia Domna, the wife of emperor Septimius Severus, and mother of the emperors Geta and Caracalla. The article by Abigail Pesta says that it was a stone bust of Julia Domna that first got Stephens interested in Roman hairdos. Stephens wondered how the hairdo had been built. Pesta quotes Stephens: “It was amazing, like a loaf of bread sitting on her head.” The videos feature coins and statues showing the various hairstyles and show the Roman instruments for hairstyling being used. The hairdos were too complex to do by oneself. Rich ladies had a slave, an ornatrix; poor ladies would have had a friend. Here is a video showing the hairdo of Plotina, wife of the Emperor Trajan. It had the advantage for me of showing me—after a life time of hearing the words and not understanding—what teasing or back combing is like.