step six money talks exercise
See Figs. 1-10, AUGUSTANFAMILY.pdf
*What was the relationship between Octavian/Augustus and Agrippa before Agrippa’s marriage to Julia in 21 BC? What about after 21 BC? Why is Agrippa wearing a rostral crown on FIG.1? What do you make of the image of twining (i.e. back to back portraits) on the obverse (hint: refer back to COINLEGENDS.pdf – slides 8 and 9 about Janus and the Dioscuri as well as FIG.7, AUGUSTANFAMILY.pdf below)? Why do you think this coin type was minted in Gaul and circulated for so long (series I (FIG.1): 28/27-9 BC, series 2: 8-3 BC, series 3: AD 10-14)?
*What type of leadership role and specific event does FIG.2 refer to (hint: Cassius Dio, Roman History 54.26.3-9)?
*How is Livia depicted on FIG.3a? Why is she holding a laurel branch? How is she depicted on FIG.3b? Who appears on the obverse of FIG.3b? What religious position (and what was its significance?) did Livia attain upon the deification of Augustus in September of AD 14 by Senatorial decree?
Read:
http://eugesta.recherche.univ-lille3.fr/revue/pdf/2014/Thakur-4_2014.pdf
For further reference, see:
Sutherland, C.H.V. (1941) ‘Divus Augustus Pater: a study in the aes coinage of
Tiberius’ NC 1: 97-116.
Notice that the first numismatic portrayal of a woman is a Hellenistic queen, Arsinoe II (FIG.4), and that Fulvia is the first living Roman woman to be depicted on a coin (FIG.5).
Read:
http://www.humanities.mq.edu.au/acans/caesar/CivilWars_Cleopatra.htm
For further reference, see:
Wyke, M. (1992) ‘Augustan Cleopatras: female power and poetic authority’, in
Powell, A. (ed.) Roman Poetry and Propaganda in the Age of Augustus, Bristol,
98-140.
*What can you say about the child and the Isiac imagery on this coin of Cleopatra VII (FIG.6)? Where does she appear on Roman coins (hint: RRC 543/1)? Also, name another woman (besides Fulvia) that appears on Antony’s coinage (hint: the sister of Octavian) as well as yet another woman that appears on Augustan “mainstream” coinage (hint: the daughter of Augustus and wife of Agrippa).
*Describe Gaius and Lucius Caesar’s pose and titles on the reverse of FIG.7. Does their positioning remind you of any other coins we have looked at, and what do you think is the significance (hint: refer back to COINLEGENDS.pdf – slides 8 and 9 about Janus and the Dioscuri as well as FIG.1, AUGUSTANFAMILY.pdf above)? Why do you think this coin type was minted for so long (2 BC-AD 9) and in such bulk?
* Some bronze coins issued at the mints of Lugdunum and Rome in the period from AD 9 to AD 14 depict the head of Tiberius on the obverse (FIGS.8a, 8b, and 9). What is the significance of these obverse portraits? What can you say about the titulature (i.e. the imperatorial acclamations)? What can you about the laureate wreath that Tiberius wears on FIG.8b and FIG.10 as well as about his pose on FIG.10? What do these Tiberian coins tell us about Tiberius’ role as a general and triumphator as well as about his relationship to Augustus?