He was born in North Africa,but to a Roman family that had settled there - this has led to him being labelled an African emperor, and discussion of his race. I've discussed the only surviving painted portrait of him here: PhDiva: Ancient Painted Portraits 101. Whether his skin was depicted darker because of his race or because it was the conference to depict men as darker than women I will leave up to the reader.
If you enjoyed this video by Adrian Murdoch, and check out his book on The Emperors of Rome; Kindle UK,Kindle US, etcclick here to continue reading this post
Source: blogspot.com