This volume from the American Academy in Rome represents the interests of the AAR, its fellows, residents, and the larger international community who use its excellent library and facilities. The Memoirs series (MAAR) presents a selection of ambitious articles on subjects represented by the AAR. These topics include, but are not limited to, Roman archaeology and topography, ancient and modern Italian history, Latin literature, and Italian art and architectural history.

Volume 55 includes the following essays: "The 'Joslyn Augustus' and 'Good, Bad and Altered' Symposium at Creighton University," by Gregory S. Bucher and Meghan C. Freeman; "Is This Our Princeps? Reflections on an Unusual Augustan Head in Cedar Rapids," by Richard De Puma; "Recutting Roman Portraits: Problems in Interpretation and the New Technology in Finding Possible Solutions," by John Pollini in collaboration with William Storage; "Reconfiguring Roman Portraits: Theories and Practices," by Eric R. Varner; "A Corpus of Inscriptions: Representing Slave Marks in Antiquity," by Deborah Kamen; "Fortune's Extremities: W. Lutatius Catulus and Largo Argentina Temple B: A Roman Consular and His Monument," by Eleanor W. Leach; "Urban Real Estate in Late Republican Rome," by Scott E. Craver; "Hadrian and the Oracles of Antinous (SHA Hadr. 14.7)," by Gil H. Renberg; "Bread and Water: Septimius Severus and the Rise of the Curator aquarum et Miniciae, " by Rabun Taylor; "The Aura of the Numinous and Its Reproduction: Medieval Paintings of the Savior in Rome and Latium," by Nino Zchomelidse; "Bronzino and Apuleius: An Allegory with Venus and Cupid (London, National Gallery NG651),"by Ross S. Kilpatrick; "New Evidence on Piranesi's Circle in Venice and Rome: The Ambassador Francesco Venier and Carlo Lodoli," by Louis Cellauro; and "Caracalla and the French Revolution: A Roman Tyrant in Eighteenth-Century Iconography," by Susan Wood.