Introduction

The soon-to-be-famous ancient playwright Terence (ca. 195–159 BCE) was brought to Rome as an enslaved person by Roman senator Terentius Lucanus.[1] Lucanus took Terence under his wing and educated him, teaching him everything he knew. With guidance from the senator, Terence wrote six plays and became a remarkable playwright of the era. One of Terence’s most notable quotes, “Homo sum, humani nihil me alienum puto,” roughly translates to “I am a man, I find nothing that is human alien to me.”

To our modern conceptions, Terence’s words are pertinent. Western democracy established itself as egalitarian, bearing everyone to be created equal under the law. However, these words do not reflect the real discriminatory conditions of society. Despite being taken into slavery in Rome from Carthage, Terence was thoroughly Romanized. Although we can never realize what must have gone through the writer’s mind when he wrote such a quote, his story shows us one example of an African rising to prominence in the Roman social sphere. However, how much can the poet’s words be attributed to societal conditions? Asking questions and carving a space for research can lead to further discussion on the nature of how Romans viewed Africans.

The Roman era in North Africa can be studied through the lens of the concept of Romanization. Tens of thousands of soldiers came in droves after the defeat of Hannibal during the third Punic War, which marked the end of the Carthaginians. What followed was a time of Roman acculturation, monumentalization, and hybridization across North Africa that would lead to people like Terence being glorified in the centuries to come.[2] The Romans built breathtaking monuments to dedicate themselves as the new leaders of this new land.[3] It was a time of prosperity for the Romans who considered the African soil to be the agricultural backbone of their growing empire.[4] This rapid growth and expansion came with more exchanges with the African peoples. It is debated whether the Romans had a concept of a distinctly African or Black race. In 2004, Benjamin Isaac, a scholar of ancient history, published The Invention of Racism in Classical Antiquity where he argued that the roots of racist stereotypes go back to classical antiquity.[5] Taking it a step further, in 2006 Isaac analyzed the “Proto-Racism” of Greek and Roman tradition in an article.[6] Nevertheless, during this period we begin to see positive remarks from ancient authors and depictions of African elites and non-elites in sculpture. When analyzing these representations of native and North Africans, a few questions start to emerge: If ancient historians discriminated against these individuals, what do their sculptural representations say? Were they depicted similarly to their Italian neighbors? If so, can we say that they were equals?

The Romans’ view of their new African subjects is nuanced and paradoxical. I argue that although Roman artists depicted politically powerful North Africans such as Juba II of Mauretania (ca. 50 BCE–24 CE) and Septimius Severus (ca. 145–211 CE) with reverence, common Black Africans were depicted as dehumanized household items with exaggerated physical characteristics.

Background - Why is depiction important?

Before analyzing and comparing the material culture surrounding both elite and common Africans, we need to understand the importance of art, architecture, and sculpture itself. Roman art and sculpture combine and extend to other notable cultures of their time.[7] Many other Mediterranean cultures influenced them, but no more than that of the Greeks.[8] Roman artists were inspired by the Greek style, especially in architecture, portraiture, and historical reliefs. In the public scene, one of the main purposes of Roman art was to commemorate important individuals, including emperors, to showcase the power and prowess of Roman culture. During the first and second centuries CE, decorative marble monuments and portrait busts of ancestors—as well as of the now all-powerful emperors—graced public and private buildings. They would do so, again, by taking influence from Hellenistic elements of physiognomy, emotional expression, movement, and a heightened sense of the ideal body.[9] The Hellenistic period (323–31 BCE) saw artists break free from classical precedent to make use of greater detail to convey complex emotions, unusual subjects, and more muscular body types. Hellenistic sculptures were emotionally expressive with dynamic body movements. As Rome expanded from a republic into an empire, they began to employ materials from their military conquests. The Greek sculptural style across the Roman Empire and into its southern peripheries in Africa was apparent in the temples, baths, and theaters sprawled across the territory.

Roman patrons and artists were aware of the significance of their art when it was used in a public display. When depicting whom Romans considered to be elites there are several observable features. Whether or not the subject is nude, for instance, is an indicator of a variety of things. Nudity in the Greek and Roman tradition was reserved routinely for depictions of gods, athletes, warriors, or enslaved people.[10] The former two were depicted this way to represent heroic nudity. Although this varies by gender, heroic or ideal nudity is a convention in classical scholarship referring to the numerous depictions of using nudity as a symbolic representation of someone who is a hero, deity, or divine being. We shall see that one African emperor was depicted this way to deify himself to his Roman counterparts and African kin.

Although they were heavily influenced by the Greeks, the Romans distinguished themselves stylistically in sculpture amongst the peripheries of the rapidly expanding empire.[11] In North Africa, public portraits and freestanding sculptures were often accompanied by other monumental architectural works such as arches, fountains, or amphitheaters. However, this does not apply to all of North Africa. The mass market for Roman sculpture generally was composed of elite, plebeian, and provincial patrons and consumers whose tastes and desires were different depending on where they were. The judgment of quality and manufacturing of these works was therefore not simply a matter of aesthetics but involved complex and highly variable conditions of the workshop, the art market, and public and private patronage.

Across the empire, one of the more important aspects of Roman sculpture was the public display of leader portraits.[12] Imperial portraits were set up in temples and public places, reminding its inhabitants of the power of living rulers. To do this, these Roman sculptors used wood, white, marble, stone, and bronze. They achieved great public commissions in bronze, sometimes replicating Greek originals, but more frequently departing from those models to create impressive new works. Bronze statues were erected as a mark of the highest honor or as a sign of the greatest importance of the subject and were often gilded to enhance their visibility and splendor in the sun.

*Augustus of Prima Porta*. c. 20 BCE-15 CE. Marble. Vatican Museums, Vatican City, Italy.
"Statue-Augustus" by maxiperea is marked with Public Domain Mark 1.0.

Roman artistic goals are evident in the statue above. The Augustus of Primaporta was discovered at the Villa ad Gallinas Albas at Prima Porta in April 1863.[13] Although discovered in a tall white marble, it is said to be a copy of a bronze original that once stood to shine directly in the sunlight. The statue clears seven feet and exhibits symbols found in the position, breastplate, and figures surrounding him.[14] The subject: the first emperor and founder of the Roman empire—Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (63 BCE–14 CE).15] The adopted son of Julius Caesar ruled as supreme leader of Rome and its territories in 30 BCE. His reign solidified him as a religious, military, and social juggernaut, and was deified to perfection in numerous depictions.[16]

Augustus is standing in contrapposto, a hallmark of his venerated Greek counterparts where one leg supports much of the weight in a balanced pose. He stands tall, youthful and is a confident leader reminiscent of the Doryphoros by Polykleitos (ca. 489–419 BCE) depicted similarly to the Greek athletes of before.[17] He is pointing forward, symbolizing himself as a powerful orator, and wears a chest plate decorated with symbols of his victory.[18] To his right sits the god Cupid riding along a dolphin messaging to the viewers simultaneously how he is blessed by the gods, as his father Caesar claimed he was a descendant of Venus, and of his great naval military victory against Cleopatra (ca. 70–30 BCE) in 31 BCE.[19] The piece sees Augustus as a military leader with balanced gravity rather than vainglory.[20] This statue in its totality can serve as a piece of comparison when discussing further how some Africans were depicted and displayed similarly to non-African Roman elites.

How did Romans depict Africans?

Juba II

The Romans, ever trying to expand their empire, were caught in a series of conflicts with the Carthaginian empire in the south known as the Punic Wars. After the Roman military concluded the third and final Punic War (149–146 BCE) with the destruction of Carthage and annexed its subsequent territory of modern-day Tunisia, involvement for the next two centuries was sporadic.[21] After defeating the Carthaginians, Rome declared war on Jugurtha (ca. 160–104 BCE), a rebellious king in North Africa who, in a power struggle, ended up killing Italian settlers in 111 BCE. They then established several client kings in 46 BCE to moderate the region before formally annexing Mauretania, modern-day Morocco to Central Algeria, in 40 CE. In 27 BCE, Rome united what they called Africa Vetus (Old Africa) and Africa Nova (New Africa) as Africa Proconsularis under Octavian (Soon to be Augustus). Among these client kings were a pair of notable Africans. These were the two kings, Juba I of Numidia (ca. 85–46 BCE) and his only son Juba II (See Figure II).[22] Juba I of Numidia aligned himself with Pompey the Great (106– 48 BCE) during the civil war between him and Julius Caesar (100–44 BCE). Towards the end of the conflict, Juba I was defeated and subsequently committed suicide.[23] Sparing his son’s life, Julius Caesar took the young Juba II to Rome as a part of the procession. From that point on, he would be entrusted to be raised by Augustus, according to sources due to Juba’s intellect.[24]

Growing up in Caesar’s family, Juba II was treated equally amongst his adopted siblings. Though he was not a Roman by birth, he grew to be a fluent Greek and Latin speaker and gained Roman citizenship.[25] He married Cleopatra Selene (40–5 BCE), daughter of the famous Roman general Mark Antony (83–30 BCE), and Greek-Egyptian ruler Cleopatra (ca. 70–30 BCE), in 30 BCE, when Augustus gave him the throne of Numidia. For almost fifty years, Juba II ruled the kingdom from Caesarea (now Cherchel, Algeria). During his reign, he remained a strong ally to the Romans through several military campaigns and was a renowned scholar for his time. Juba II published several books on natural history, archaeology, botany, and geography. He was a lover of the arts and having been educated in Greek and Latin culture, his adoration of these styles influenced his portrayal.

Bust of Juba II, ca. 20 BCE, bronze, Museum of History and Civilizations, Rabat
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The above shows a head of Juba II. It was made during his reign in the 20s BCE and was found in Volubilis, the western capital of Mauretania.[26] The bust is entirely made of bronze, which suggests that this portrait was meant to be viewed outdoors where the sun can gleam off the African ruler. The material itself is a signal that this portrait is being dedicated to a person that the Romans deemed to be of the highest honor.[27] This dedication signifies that Juba II was a key leader to the Romans. Shortly after his father's death, his loyalty to Rome was still worthwhile. This not only supports the idea that the Romans were willing to consider Africans as a part of Rome, but that Africans were also willing to adopt themselves a Roman identity; compelled or not.

Septimius Severus

This image of Septimius Severus supports this same argument as a prime example of Roman acceptance of Africans through sculpture.[28] Lucius Septimius Severus was the first Roman emperor of African descent.[29] Although scholars tend to disagree on the exact origins of his family, it is known that he was born in Leptis Magna in modern-day Libya. His father, P. Septimius Geta (189–211 CE), married Fulvia Pia (125–198 CE), who came from a family of wealthy settlers in the region. Early in his career, he rose to prominence as a senator in 170 CE and married shortly after to another woman of Punic origin named Paccia Marciana. After she died of illness, he married Julia Domina from Syria in 187 CE.[30] After nearly a decade of a tumultuous rise to power that ended in rigorous competition with several other candidates, Severus declared himself a member of the deified reign of emperors—the Antonines. He claimed himself to be the son of the past emperor Marcus Aurelius (121–180 CE) to legitimize himself as the sole emperor of the Roman empire in February, 197 CE.

Septimius Severus was described as a shrewd and ambitious man. His policy was noted for filling the senate with more African senators, raising the status of many different African communities, building a strong defense system in North Africa, beautifying Leptis Magna in modern-day Libya, and blending African and Roman religions with his preference toward local religions.[31] Although these policies seem to engage directly with the positive development of the region, there are still questions that scholars have regarding whether he had a true affinity for the African territory rather than being motivated by his ambitions as an emperor. The portraits were used to propagate his image.[32]

The bronze statue of the African emperor employs the Greek Classical use of male nudity and athletic body type to display a sense of the heroic ideal. The statue stands over six feet tall and much like the Augustus of Prima Porta, he is shown relaxed, leaning on one leg, in a contrapposto position but completely naked. The Greco-Roman hallmarks of heroic idealism show themselves here because, as discussed earlier, Severus wanted to portray himself as a god. To be closely associated with a certain deity, Severus had to depict the idea in his portraits as clearly as possible. To do this, he displayed himself in a glistening bronze in peak physical condition. His arms are stretched in a position that depicts himself as an orator. This gives a decree to whoever is in his vicinity which again is suggestive of the Augustus of Primaporta. His thick hair and beard are tightly curled, which is an indicator of his African ethnicity. Additionally, it is a callback to his deified Marcus Aurelius with the same hairstyle.[33] Similar to previous emperors, this was a successful use of propaganda. It was accepted by his military and across the empire. The statue was universally hailed as the son of Marcus Aurelius, marking a reentry of an older divine empire.[34]

Black Africans in Roman Art

Leaders such as Juba II and Septimius Severus had the resources to choose how they wanted to be portrayed. Given that these leaders are not typical of the ancient African experience, how can the depiction of everyday Africans whom the Romans called “Aethiopians” contribute to the discussion surrounding Roman thought of Africans as a whole?[35]

While Romans used sculpture to commemorate important individuals, it often acted as a commentary on different cultural identities. Defeated ‘barbarians’ were often portrayed as beautiful luxury servants, exotic figures belonging to alien cults, sinister magicians, and admirable sages.[36] At times Romans did go to war with several African tribes to quell different rebellions but these were mostly not depicted as defeated enemies. The Romans had a fascination with the black somatic difference that floated along the lines of appreciation, prejudice, and curiosity. Pliny’s view of the monstrous African was the culmination of the quintessential “other” in the Roman mind.[37] The Black Africans’ exotic appearance was fascinating to the Romans, but unlike other “barbarians,”Africans were generally not viewed as a military threat. In England, for example, although there is some epigraphic evidence to suggest that everyone from African emperors to enslaved people reached the brink of the empire in Britannia because of military, religious, or family associations, Roman artists were mostly not in direct contact with their African peers.[38]

The material culture depicting non-elite Africans appears in varied materials and at multiple scales, including utilitarian wares, furniture attachments, industrial fixtures, small glasses or balsamaria, and decorative objects at a range of scales, including jewelry, incised or engraved materials or intaglios, vases, busts, figurines, and statuettes.[39] These portrayals of Africans in the form of household objects were found across the Roman empire. The contradiction between these materials and those discussed earlier with Septimius Severus and Juba II is their level of accuracy between the Roman artist and the African subject and the amount of honor and respect these statues implicitly convey. The depiction of these Black Africans ranged everywhere from social realism to pure fantasy.[40] While trying to appeal to their patron, Roman artists would elevate the physical difference within these subjects without knowing what the exact difference was in functional items.

Oil Lamp in the Shape of an African Slave, bronze, ca. 1st Century CE, National Archaeological Museum of Aquileia, Italy. Photo Arienne King
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We can get a sense of the complexity that these subjects portray by looking at this oil lamp. It is shaped like an African man made in the first century CE. Roman and Hellenistic art made this a pattern. It was an artistic motif made by these cultures to exoticize the sense of otherness in foreign subjects including Africans , especially in lamps.[41] The upper neck of the lamp extends as both functionally a part of the lamp and as the mouth of the young male. This piece has direct erotic connotations, indicating that this subject may have been an enslaved person who was sexually exploited, as many were. The young male depicted is exoticized because of his otherness—contrasting well with the Romanized venerated style of Juba II or Septimius Severus. This was a continuous theme across these types of objects to heighten the sense of the ‘other.’ It wasn’t only to differentiate oneself from the new African neighbors but to pieces like the lamp of the African male were symbolic affirmations of a Roman hierarchy.

Viewing a face or body different from one’s own allowed viewers to confront their status, affirming their belonging to a community that shared similar physical features. Ordinary viewers of these images had limited encounters with Black populations, despite the numerous ethnic and cultural differences within the empire. Hence, these objects had the adverse effect of creating a general exotic African type in the Roman consciousness. The objects were not exclusive to slavery but to any disreputable profession such as low-class servants and entertainers.[42] While it is unclear if the Romans created or experienced a degree of discrimination like our modern conceptions of racism, they used these objects as a means of cataloging differences in the empire. The Romans exoticized Black Africans using sculpture. Additionally, by typifying them into sexual proclivity, servitude in miniature depiction, indecorous posture, narrative isolation, and a heightened sense of physical difference, Black bodies, and cultures were marginalized by the Romans.[43] Scholars such as Frank Snowden Jr. argued that given the time and dedication it took these artists, it indicates an “obvious aesthetic attractiveness of Negro models” and that these portrayals indicate that the artists were “free from prejudice in their depictions of blacks.”[44] While the evidence that this paper brings does not necessarily disagree with this argument, the objects themselves bring complexity to the issue. The artists have paid great attention to detail but as previously discussed, they lacked the actual proximity to these people to depict them accurately. Thus, they relied on pseudoscientific ideas of environmental determinism to make assumptions about these people.[45] Benjamin Isaac writes, “Such descriptions are, of course, not based on objective observations of reality. They are expressions of ethnic stereotypes and proto-racism.”[46] However, despite this marginalization, scholars must accept that rendering and creating Black Africans in a high-quality decorative, creative medium still creates nuance in the conversations surrounding these objects. Contemplation and stimulation from these figures who were physically different from most of their viewers in Roman Italy necessitated a reconciliation with one’s identity and the identity of the other either in opposition or acceptance.[47] Perhaps then, the conversation surrounding whether the Romans who enjoyed these objects were prejudiced is prone to speculation.

Conclusion

Considering the material evidence, it is reasonable to conclude that the depictions of Africans by Romans varied on who exactly the Africans were. Some depictions followed the classic imperial propagandizing examples of Juba II and Septimius Severus being depicted in a bronze Hellenistic fashion that can indicate that they were venerated as deities. On the contrary, there are depictions of everyday Black Africans that make it difficult to offer one frame that the Romans had for the Africans. Instead, the Romans’ fascination with the phenotypic differences between them contradicted the viewpoint of total equality in the Roman empire. It is true indeed that the Roman Empire deified and celebrated African Romans in sculpture. However, these depictions are not and should not be treated as monolithic to describe the entirety of black African portrayal. The material culture of African non-elites suggests that Africans were portrayed to heighten their somatic differences—thus marginalizing and appropriating their attributes without a strong familiarity with the subject.

Notes

[1] Sesto Prete, “Terence,” The Classical World 54, no. 4 (1961): 112. https://doi.org/10.2307/4344491.
[2] Susan Raven, Rome in Africa (Hoboken, NJ: Taylor and Francis, 2012), 79–99.
[3] Paul Lachlan MacKendrick, The North African Stones Speak. (Chapel Hill, NC: Univ. of North Carolina Press, 1980.)
[4] Raven, Rome in Africa, 79-99.
[5] Benjamin Isaac, The Invention of Racism in Classical Antiquity (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2004). http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt4cgcwr.
[6] Benjamin Isaac, “Proto-Racism in Graeco-Roman Antiquity.” World Archaeology 38, no. 1 (2006): 32–47. https://doi.org/10.1080/00438240500509819
[7] Martin Henig, “Roman Art and Architecture,” Oxford Art Online. Accessed November 21, 2023. https://www.oxfordartonline.com/page/roman-art-and-architecture.
[8] Diane Favro, David W. Gill, Eugene Dwyer, Martin Henig, William L. MacDonald, F. B. Sear, T. F. Blagg, et al. “Rome, Ancient.” Oxford Art Online, 2003. https://doi.org/10.1093/gao/9781884446054.article.t073405
[9] Sean Hemingway, and Colette Hemingway, “Art of the Hellenistic Age and the Hellenistic Tradition,” The Met’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/haht/hd_haht.htm.
[10] Larissa Bonfante, “Nudity as a Costume in Classical Art,” American Journal of Archaeology 93, no. 4 (1989): 543–70. https://doi.org/10.2307/505328.
[11] Diane Favro, et al. “Rome, Ancient.”
[12] Diane Favro, et al. “Rome, Ancient: Portraiture.”
[13] Augustus of Prima Porta. c. 20 BCE-15 CE. Marble. Vatican Museums, Vatican City, Italy. https://jstor.org/stable/community.14745947.
[14] Christopher J. Simpson, “Where Is the Parthian? The Prima Porta Statue of Augustus Revisited,” Latomus 64, no. 1 (2005): 82–90. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41544785.
[15] Julia Fischer, “Augustus of Primaporta.” Smarthistory Augustus of Primaporta Comments. Accessed November 26, 2023. https://smarthistory.org/augustus-of-primaporta/.
[16] Joshua J. Mark, “Augustus,” World History Encyclopedia, May 4, 2018. https://www.worldhistory.org/augustus/.

[17] "Polykleitos." In The Grove Encyclopedia of Classical Art and Architecture, edited by Campbell, Gordon (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2007).
[18] Harald Ingholt, “The Prima Porta Statue of Augustus,” Archaeology 22, no. 3 (1969): 177–87. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41667995. (177-178)
[19] Chris Scarre, Chronicle of the Roman Emperors: The Reign-by-reign Record of the Rulers of Imperial Rome (London: Thames and Hudson, 2014), 16-27.
[20] Chris Scarre, Chronicle, 20.
[21] Marilyn J. Evans, “North Africa, Roman,” Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology (New York: Springer, 2014), 5314–23. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0465-2_1474.
[22] Portrait Bust of a Young Ruler (Juba II of Mauretania?) Profile. Late 1st century BCE? Bronze. https://jstor.org/stable/community.13555095.
[23] Arienne King, “Juba II,” World History Encyclopedia, November 26, 2023. https://www.worldhistory.org/Juba_II/.
[24] J. W. Haywood, “Juba II. African King,” The Classical Journal 49, no. 6 (1954): 254–254. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3292852. 254
[25] Raven, Rome in Africa, 55–56.
[26] Françoise Foliot, "Bronze Bust of Juba II," World History Encyclopedia. Last modified August 31, 2020. https://www.worldhistory.org/image/12639/bronze-bust-of-juba-ii/.

[27] Diane Favro, et al. “Rome, Ancient: Sculpture.”
[28] Statue of Septimius Severus Type II Front View. ca. 196-200, bronze. https://jstor.org/stable/community.13587841.

[29] M. Tahar Jerary, “Septimius Severus The Roman Emperor, 193-211 AD,” Africa: Rivista Trimestrale Di Studi e Documentazione Dell’Istituto Italiano per l’Africa e l’Oriente 63, no. 2 (2008): 173–85. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25734499. 175-176
[30] Patrick Hurley, "Septimius Severus," World History Encyclopedia. Last modified April 11, 2011. https://www.worldhistory.org/Septimius_Severus/.

[31] Jerary, “Septimius Severus,” 176
[32] Drora Baharal, “Portraits of the Emperor L. Septimius Severus (193-211 A.D.) as an Expression of His Propaganda,” Latomus 48, no. 3 (1989): 566–80. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41541190.

[33] Baharal, “Portraits,” 577–578.
[34] Baharal, “Portraits,” 566–80.

[35] Sinclair W. Bell, “Images and Interpretation of Africans in Roman Art and Social Practice,” The Oxford Handbook of Roman Imagery and Iconography (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021) 426. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190850326.013.25.
[36] Hella Eckardt, “Seeing Black: Africans in Roman Britain,” in Objects and Identities: Roman Britain and the North- Western Provinces (Oxford, 2014), 64–5.

[37] Nat Plin, 5.8. Eckardt, “Seeing Black: Africans in Roman Britain.”
[38] Eckardt, “Seeing Black: Africans in Roman Britain”

[39] Bell, “Images and Interpretation of Africans,” 434.
[40] Bell, “Images and Interpretation of Africans.”

[41] Lisa Trentin, “Images and Interpretation of ‘The Other’ in Roman Social Practice.” The Oxford Handbook of Roman Imagery and Iconography, December 8, 2021, 404–24. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190850326.013.18
[42] Sarah Bond, Trade and Taboo: Disreputable Professions in the Roman Mediterranean (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2016).

[43] Bell, 'Images and Interpretation of Africans.”
[44] Frank M. Snowden, “Misconceptions about African Blacks in the Ancient Mediterranean World: Specialists and Afrocentrists,” Arion: A Journal of Humanities and the Classics 4, no. 3 (1997): 28–50.

[45] Benjamin Isaac, “Proto-Racism in Graeco-Roman Antiquity,” World Archaeology 38, no. 1 (2006): 32–47. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40023593.

[46] Benjamin Isaac, “Proto-Racism,” 35.
[47] Lisa Trentin, “Images and Interpretation of ‘The Other’ in Roman Social Practice.”

Joseph Ambrosino

Joseph (Joey) Ambrosino is a 3rd-year student at the University of South Florida studying Political Science and History with a minor in Psychology. He created USF's very first Black Wellness Club; a student organization dedicated to bridging psychological concepts and research to the black experience in America. His passion for history, and more importantly people, led him to be awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to participate in the Black Humanities Institute at the University of Bristol. In his free time, Joseph practices the piano for his church, skateboards with his brother back home in Lakeland, and helps out with the Judy Genshaft Honors Choir as both Secretary and Bass.

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