By the beard of the emperor…

As I’ve sensed some interest/fascination for this topic, it’s time to take a closer look at Heraclius’ magnificent facial hair:

Hipster, hobo, holy man - Heraclius beard in context.

As often observed, Heraclius’ representation on coins highly differs from his cleanly shaven predecessors (see Maurice here). In the first years of his reign, Heraclius looks quite decent. But in the late 620s, his beard reaches ZZ top size...

So, seriously, why the big beard?
In research, you find several approaches: some say that this is simply how Heraclius looked after years on the battlefield… that he suffered from PTSD after what he saw in Mesopotamia and let himself go a bit.

But seriously…
Coins didn’t just show how the emperor actually looked like (even though we see more ‚individualistic‘ representations from Phocas on; see below); the images were deliberately drafted pieces of PR and meant to convey a specific message.

Some say the bearded representation copied the images of Persian emperors. I wouldn’t fully dismiss this idea, but the beard of Chosroes II looks much more groomed than Heraclius’. Were the Romans just incapable of cutting a nicely groomed beard? I don’t think so…

So, what’s the message?
In my opinion, the beard bears religious (or more specifically: ascetic) connotations.
Let me show you what I mean…

In his panegyrical poems, George of Pisidia modelled Heraclius’ engagement as supreme commander in the war against the Persians on the ascetic practice of Holy Men; see Viermann, Merging Supreme Commander and Holy Man (forthcoming). See Georg. Pis. Exped. Pers. III.94-103

Could it be that the coins promote a similar message? - Heraclius’ beard not copying Sassanian royal imaginery but the representation of ascetics and Holy Men? Here’s my favourite stylite for comparison.

What do you think?

Thanks @MVipsaniusA! These contemporary portraits of holy abbots work even better for my argument than the stylites. https://twitter.com/MVipsaniusA/status/1293180212536995841