"The people of the Roman Empire encountered the emperor in many different ways, such as through statues in public places, his portrait on coins or his name in inscriptions. In these encounters, his subjects were not merely recipients of imperial self-expression, but also expressed their own ideas and expectations. This work makes use of the rich Latin and Greek source material for the so-called unofficial titulature. These honorific epithets are analysed in their diachronic development from Augustus to Severus Alexander (27 BCE - 235 CE) and discussed in their thematic, media, functional and social contexts. The study fleshes out the important role played by the subjects in the representation of rulers and offers new insights into the importance of this phenomenon for the reciprocal communication between emperors and subjects"--