Browse Exhibits (2 total)

This exhibition features 4 coins that were minted under the rule of 4 of the Julio-Claudian emperors. The Julio-Claudian family ruled the Roman empire from 27 BC until AD 68, starting with Augustus and ending with Nero. The coins in this exhibition are from the emperors Augustus, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero. This exhibition focuses on coins that have a depiction of a goddess, specifically the goddesses Pax, Vesta, Ceres, and Victory.

Coins are a very significant and useful source when it comes to understanding the history of Rome and the Roman empire. They were used in everyday life which means they would have reached all parts of the empire. This ability for coins to reach a wide range of the empire allowed emperors to have better ways and opportunities to advertise their successes and goals to the public. The use of coins by the emperors to spread information allowed them to push any idea that they wanted the public to believe and were a very good source of spreading propaganda. Since these coins were minted and being spread at certain time points, it makes it a lot easier for modern historians to understand what ideas were being spread around the Roman empire. It also allows for a better understanding of what could have happened during a particular time period where written sources may be lacking.

One of the ways emperors used to spread their ideas and successes was with the use of goddesses on the reverse of coins. The usage of a goddess on the reverse of a coin had many significant meanings and the way the particular goddess was chosen was due to the relationship of the goddess to the emperor minting the coin. Goddesses were often represented on coins when an emperor wanted to be associated with a particular trait a goddess has or if the emperor wanted to suggest that the particular goddess on their coin approved of them as an emperor. Sometimes, the use of goddesses on coins was to link an emperor to a divine ancestor. Emperors would also use depictions of personification which are goddesses that are a human-like representation of an idea (eg Pax, who represents peace) on the reverse of their coins to spread a certain message. The messages that were typically associated with the use of personifications were to either show the emperors' virtues or to show the desired qualities of the empire as a whole.