Did the Romans find fatter people more attractive? If fatness was a sign of wealth and prosperity, was this the primary reason why it would have been considered attractive, or did the Romans just like fatties?
We have a few surviving images - busts and coins and mosaics - of women in ancient Rome. In some places, we can cross-reference these images with accounts by historians (when they went out of their way to mention a woman's beauty)
Firstly - we can deduce from these images that fatness, at least in women, was at least not the norm. This mosaic depicting beautiful women from a certain Roman villa wearing something very similar to what we would call a "bikini" - shows them all lean, and they bare quite a bit of skin. Their depiction of beauty in this mosaic approaches something very similar to what we (or at least what I, personally) would call beauty. Thinness is apparent in those, too, that the ancient historians describe as beautiful. See Poppaea Sabina, wife of emperor Nero, known for her beauty. It should be noted that in their busts the Romans didnt exactly "lose ten pounds for the camera" - see my good friend Vitellus, but where women are shown they are pretty universally thin.
Likely one of the biggest things for the Romans was the hairstyle. Notice how every single one of the girls on that mosaic from Villa Romana del Casale has a different hairstyle? Yeah, its like that everywhere. Just about every Roman woman seems to have a different hairstyle. See Zenobia, an eastern, admittedly, empress from the third century who was known for her beauty. Notice how Poppaea has a different hairstyle altogether than Zenobia or any of those girls on the mosaic. Your clothing and jewelry also said a lot about you - particularly in ways to express your wealth and power. The Romans liked thin women, but your hairstyle and fashion (much like they are today) were massively important as well.
Late edit: I originally stated that the mosaic I posted was from Pompeii. I was incorrect, it is from Villa Romana del Casale in Sicily.
A similar/Parallel discussion on Fatness in the roman empire (http://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/18i9x1/how_fat_was_fat_in_ancient_rome/) does also get into the beauty and attraction discussion.
Pre-Republic, Imperial, or after the fall?
