Browse Exhibits (1 total)

Introduction:

This exhibition is the result of an assignment for the Classics Department at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand. The purpose of this assignment was to examine imperial coins from the Julio-Claudian era and identify their importance for understanding key aspects of propaganda and ideologies in the Roman world for an audience with a non-scholarly background. The coins used in this online exhibition were sourced and are stored at the Otago Museum. Coins are an important tool for understanding the values and ideologies of a historical period. Emperors of the Julio-Claudian era would use coins to spread messages of power and legitimacy to solidify their rule.

Our group chose to focus on the relationships between deities and emperors. In particular, we focussed on Augustus and Apollo, Tiberius and Pax, Caligula and Vesta, and Nero’s relationship with both Jupiter and Roma. We were interested in this topic due to the fact that gods and religion were a hugely important aspect of Roman life, and we wanted to see how they were exploited by emperors to convey certain messages about their rule.

The Julio-Claudian emperors came after a period of instability and civil war, following the death of Julius Caesar; these emperors, starting with Augustus, used propaganda to stabilise the empire and their rule. This tradition continued after this era. Emperors would adopt specific gods to convey specific messages which would either link them or distance them from previous emperors and ideas.

This exhibition is laid out in chronological order so readers can see the progression of messages and ideas from the early coins, which focus on the empire and the acceptance of sole rule, to the later coins which tend to focus on the emperor himself.

We hope you enjoy your time learning about the different emperors and the gods they associated themselves with, and why they did so.