Artist Uses Modern Technology Tech To Show Us What Roman Emperors Looked Like

Have you ever wondered how Roman emperors looked like in real-life? We’ve mostly seen them in sculptures and paintings but have been left wondering about what their true appearances were.

Fortunately, 3D model artist Haroun Binous took it upon himself to do the hard work of transforming sculptures into colored images. He started over one year ago and now his amazing facial reconstructions have since attracted a lot of attention online.

Apparently, Haroun combines facial recognition AI, Photoshop, and historical references to make the impossible possible. According to him, he was mostly self-taught when he was starting to learn the needed software but eventually sought guidance from his buddy Daniel Voshart.

You can check out Haroun Binous’ facial recreations below:

#1. Hadrian

#2. Augustus

#3. Aurelian

#4. Caracalla

#5. Caligulae

#6. Commodus

#7. Lucius Verus

Haroun shared that bringing the Roman emperor statues “to life” takes a lot of hard work. In fact, he has to spend about 3 days just to recreate one.

Part of the work he needs to do is to research the emperors’ physical features. Among his favorite resources include H. V. Canter’s “Personal Appearance in the Biography of the Roman Emperors,” along with the works of Suetonius and Pliny.

#8 .Diocletian

#9. Constantine The Great

#10. Julian The Apostate

#11. Marcus Aurelius

#12. Claudius Gothicus

Currently studying in Switzerland, the Tunisia-born artist confessed that Septimius Severus has been the most challenging emperor to work on so far.

“When an emperor has a lot of hair and a nice beard, it means a big problem for me as AI does the job well processing the face, but not the curly hair,” he pointed out.

#13. Geta

#14. Gordian I

#15. Quintillius

#16. Claudius

#17. Didius Julianus

#18. Macrinus

#19. Tacitus

#20. Severus Alexander

#21. Tiberius

#22. Florianus

#23. Gordian II

#24. Nero

Moreover, he likewise shared about his admiration for Caesar Agustus, the first ever Roman emperor, “I think he is my idol for what he did and how he was as a person,” he said.

#25. Numerian

#26. Maximinus Thrax

#27. Pertinax

#28. Constantius II

#29. Licinius

#30. Titus

For those interested to see more of Haroun Binous’ impressive facial reconstructions, you can go check out his page on Facebook.