Description
Book SynopsisUses the evidence of coins to explore how deities were used to communicate and negotiate imperial power under the Severan dynasty (AD 193–235). Demonstrates the dynamic nature of the imperial public image and the complex dialogue that existed between Rome and the wider empire in this period.
Trade Review'Under Divine Auspices will prove valuable not only for those interested in Severan propaganda, but for students of Roman history in general.' Julie Langford, Bryn Mawr Classical Review
'One of the strengths of [this] book is the way that coinage is interpreted within the broader cultural and visual context. It is a fluent and convincing book with a plethora of hard facts and statistics, and it is hoped that similar detailed numismatic studies of other reigns will be forthcoming. Rowan's [volume] will be very useful to scholars of the Severan period, those engaging with imperial ideology and numismatics more generally.' Alexia Petsalis-Diomidis, The Journal of Roman Studies
Table of Contents1. Introduction; 2. Contextualising a 'foreign' dynasty; 3. Septimius Severus, Liber Pater and Hercules; 4. Medical tourism and iconographic dialogues in the reign of Caracalla; 5. Elagabalus, Summus Sacerdos Elagabali; 6. Severus Alexander and the re-founding of Rome; Conclusion: divine ideology in the Severan dynasty; Appendix 1. Silver reverse types from Trajan to Severus Alexander; Appendix 2. Reverse silver dies of the 'stone on quadriga' type of Elagabalus; Appendix 3. List of hoards used.
