Editing Beard (section)

====Rome====
Shaving seems to have not been known to the [[Ancient Rome|Romans]] during their early history (under the kings of Rome and the early Republic). Pliny tells us that P. Ticinius was the first who brought a barber to Rome, which was in the 454th year from the founding of the city (that is, around {{BCE|299|link=y}}). [[Scipio Africanus]] ({{BCE|236–183}}) was apparently the first among the Romans who shaved his beard. However, after that point, shaving seems to have caught on very quickly, and soon almost all Roman men were clean-shaven; being clean-shaven became a sign of being Roman and not Greek. Only in the later times of the Republic did the Roman youth begin shaving their beards only partially, trimming it into an ornamental form; prepubescent boys oiled their chins in hopes of forcing premature growth of a beard.<ref>{{harvnb|Peck|1898}} cites Petron. 75, 10</ref>

Still, beards remained rare among the Romans throughout the Late Republic and the early Principate. In a general way, in Rome at this time, a long beard was considered a mark of slovenliness and squalor. The censors [[L. Veturius]] and [[P. Licinius]] compelled [[M. Livius]], who had been banished, on his restoration to the city, to be shaved, to lay aside his dirty appearance, and then, but not until then, to come into the [[Roman Senate|Senate]].<ref>{{harvnb|Peck|1898}} cites Liv.xxvii. 34</ref> The first occasion of shaving was regarded as the beginning of manhood, and the day on which this took place was celebrated as a festival.<ref>{{harvnb|Peck|1898}} cites Juv.iii. 186</ref> Usually, this was done when the young Roman assumed the ''[[toga virilis]]''. [[Augustus]] did it in his twenty-fourth year, [[Caligula]] in his twentieth. The hair cut off on such occasions was consecrated to a god. Thus [[Nero]] put his into a golden box set with pearls, and dedicated it to [[Jupiter Capitolinus]].<ref>{{harvnb|Peck|1898}} cites Suet. Ner.12</ref> The Romans, unlike the Greeks, let their beards grow in time of mourning; so did Augustus for the death of [[Julius Caesar]].<ref>{{harvnb|Peck|1898}} cites Dio Cass. xlviii. 34</ref> Other occasions of mourning on which the beard was allowed to grow were, appearance as a ''reus'', condemnation, or some public calamity. On the other hand, men of the country areas around Rome in the time of [[Marcus Terentius Varro|Varro]] seem not to have shaved except when they came to market every eighth day, so that their usual appearance was most likely a short stubble.<ref>Varro asked rhetorically how often the tradesmen of the country shaved between market days, implying (in chronologist E. J. Bickerman's opinion) that this did not happen at all: "quoties priscus homo ac rusticus Romanus inter nundinum barbam radebat?",[http://archimedes.fas.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/dict?name=ls&lang=la&word=nundinus&filter=CUTF8 Varr. ap. Non. 214, 30; 32] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304051754/http://archimedes.fas.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/dict?name=ls&lang=la&word=nundinus&filter=CUTF8 |date=2016-03-04 }}: see also E J Bickerman, ''Chronology of the Ancient World'', London (Thames & Hudson) 1968, at p. 59.</ref>

In the {{CE|second century|link=y}} the Emperor [[Hadrian]] (r. 117 - 138), according to [[Dio Cassius]], was the first emperor to grow a full beard; [[Plutarch]] says that he did it to hide scars on his face. This was a period in Rome of widespread imitation of Greek culture, and many other men grew beards in imitation of Hadrian and the Greek fashion. After Hadrian until the reign of [[Constantine the Great]] (r. 306–337) all adult emperors appear in busts and coins with beards; but Constantine and his successors until the reign of [[Phocas]] (r. 602 - 610), with the exception of [[Julian the Apostate]] (r. 361 - 363), are represented as beardless.<ref name=smith/> The wearing of the  beard as an imperial fashion was subsequently revived by Phocas at the beginning of the 7th century and this fashion lasted until the end of the Byzantine Empire.