Blog post by Oliver Turney
An emperor pairing himself with a god on a coin (as mentioned in the first part of the blog) is not unusual, however, we find many examples of this – Gordian, again from the third century, puts himself at the feet of Jupiter on the reverse of one of his coins to show his piety towards the king of gods and reverence for religion, perhaps in hope that it would help him ride through the many civil wars of that century; Domitian from the late first century AD, portrays the goddess Fortune with a cornucopia on the reverse of one of his coins, perhaps to show the success of one of the many military campaigns during his reign and to show the prosperity of the empire (as demonstrated by the cornucopia). Similar depictions of Fortune are common on coins, to commemorate the successes of the emperor, often militarily: Hadrian produced similar ones and it is often attested that he spent a lot of time out of Rome on military campaigns so this isn’t surprising! There are so many more instances of symbolism and gods on the coins of the emperors – the inscriptions can only say so much so the picture element of the coin has to be very clear and present the information that the emperor wants to show.
As well as gods and symbolism, the coins can show us actual historical events, which, for me, is their most exciting ability. The events of the civil wars during the first century BC are beautifully portrayed, with Mark Antony (one of the three men in power after the death of Julius Caesar) producing a coin showing his power as a general and then one with himself and Queen Cleopatra on: this relationship was one of the route causes of the conflict between him and Octavian (soon to be renamed Augustus). This culminated in the naval Battle of Actium in 31 BC, after which Antony and Cleopatra so famously took their own lives, and this victory over them, and over Egypt as a whole, is commemorated by Augustus in a coin bearing the faces of himself and his general Agrippa, with an image of a chained crocodile (a symbol of the Nile in Egypt) and the two victors wearing crowns of naval victory, referencing Actium. It is also telling of Augustus’ policy at the time, with him sharing the victory with his general on the coin, as he perhaps did not want to show his outright power immediately, as he did not want to meet the same end as his adoptive father, Julius Caesar, whose assassination was as a result of his autocratic rule during the forties BC. So, here it is clear that coins offered a means to also spread news of victory, and to show the people of the provinces of the empire who the leader is as, of course, it is the victors who generally mint the coins.
The commemoration of victories is a very common theme: as well as the aforementioned coins of Hadrian and Augustus, we see the successful culmination of the Jewish Wars in AD 70 being honoured on a coin of Vespasian (AD 69-79) whose head adorns the front of the coin, while the reverse shows a military trophy, to the right of which sits a mourning personification of Judaea. Although Vespasian had returned to Rome to become the new emperor the year before Jerusalem fell, he nonetheless links himself to this victory, looking to legitimise his reign. This was particularly important as he came to power after the “Year of the Four Emperors” in AD 69, so needed to establish control after such a turbulent time – ushering in a new dynasty, the Flavians. So, coins, among so many other possible insights, can also offer us a way to see how an emperor would look further establish himself at the top, drawing on successes from all across the empire.
The array of coins on display at Corinium museum really have to be seen to be believed, the stories they tell are so subtle and nuanced that it is very easy to miss them on your way around the museum, but they are well worth your time and it is a wonderful feeling to look at a coin and see it as less a piece of currency, and more as a window into a world of intrigue and civil wars and emperors.
