Nathan T. Elkins

Nerva, who ruled from 18 September AD 96 to 27 January AD 98, left little for the art historian or archaeologist on account of his short reign. In view of the paucity of decorated monuments or other visual evidence, studies of Nerva focus on the historical circumstances governing his reign with respect to the few relevant literary sources. This book, by contrast, takes the entire imperial coinage program issued by the mint of Rome to examine the self-representation, and, by extension, the policies and ideals of Nerva's regime. The shortness of Nerva's reign and the problems of retrospection caused by privileging posthumous literary sources make coinage one of the only ways of reconstructing anything of his image and ideology as it was disseminated and developed at the end of the first century. The iconography of this coinage, and the popularity and spread of different iconographic types-as determined by study of hoards and finds, and as targeted towards different ancient constituencies (the senate, soldiers, etc.)-offers a more positive take on a little studied emperor. Coinage, often ancillary to the research done by ancient historians, takes its place in this study as a visual panegyric similar to contemporary laudatory texts that taps into how the inner circle of Nerva's regime wished to be seen. After establishing the methodological premise, the four chapters of the book trace the different reverse types and how they would have resonated with their intended audiences, finally concluding with an examination of the parallels between text and coin iconography with previous and subsequent emperors in the first and second centuries AD, including Trajan.

Among the ancients, the regular representation of the built environment on coins was a purely Roman phenomenon.  In the Greek world, architectural representation on coinage was very uncommon; when it did appear it referred directly in some way to the local identity of the issuing state.  Coins of the Persian satrapies only rarely depicted fortifications in conjunction with traditional Persian emblems of royalty and power and temples of the chief deities in the minting city.  The Roman use of the iconography of building was fundamentally different.  From the first occurrence in 135 BC through the late Roman Empire, the architectural image on coins from Rome commemorated or politicized the monument in question.  By the mid-first century BC and into the Imperial period, architecture was commonplace in the repertoire of Roman coin iconography.

The subject of the representation of monuments is one of the most beloved (and belabored) topics in studies of Roman coin iconography.  It is also a theme in dire need of re-exploration.  Appealing to numismatists, archaeologists, topographers and art or architectural historians, architectural representations on Roman coins have been appreciated and studied primarily for the evidence they yield for the appearance or reconstruction of lost monuments. While numismatic representations may provide some evidence for the reconstruction or historical study of Roman monuments, there are a number of methodological problems.  This traditional and often uncritical approach to architectural representations has often treated the images as ‘snapshots’ or ‘blueprints’ of lost monuments, although creating wholly accurate representations of buildings – if the building even existed at the time that the coin was minted – was not the goal of the die engravers or the issuing authorities.  And less frequently have architectural representations been understood in the context of a moneyer’s or an emperor’s wider ideological or visual program as deployed on the coinage.  As a consequence, the actual phenomenon of architectural representation on Roman coinage has been inadequately studied in favor of more myopic considerations. 

Why was Rome the only ancient civilization that habitually depicted built monuments on its coinage?  Why did Greek urban centers with marble-clad monuments and politically charged building programs feature their great monuments on coins only after Roman domination?  What social and cultural developments prompted Roman moneyers in the late second and first centuries BC to depict buildings on coins for the first time?  What circumstances led to the decreasing frequency of architectural coin types in the third and fourth centuries AD until they ultimately disappeared from the Roman coinage in the fifth century?  And why were these late Roman depictions more symbolic in their lack of reference to specific constructions?  These are questions to be explored.  This book departs from the treatment of the images as sources for the appearance of ancient monuments and explores instead the historical, art historical, social, and cultural contexts of the iconography of building on Roman coins as it developed and evolved from its emergence in the late second century BC to its disappearance from the Roman coinage in the fifth century AD.

The various explanations scholars have proposed for the significance of Diana/Artemis on the coinage of Nerva are not altogether compelling and, thus, her presence on these issues continues to spark speculation and debate. Diana the huntress appears on denarii of December 96 CE, struck in Rome; the Temple of Artemis at Perge features on cistophori of 97 CE, minted in Rome for circulation in the province of Asia. The depiction of the Pamphylian temple especially confounds, as cistophori did not circulate to any significant degree in Pamphylia. Nerva’s promotion of the career of C. Iulius Cornutus Tertullus of Perge, the friend of Pliny with whom Pliny became prefect of the Treasury of Saturn in early 98 CE, provides a potential context to understand these images. Cornutus Tertullus was husband to Plancia Magna, priestess of Artemis at Perge, and may have been an adopted Plancius himself; the Plancii of Perge were devoted to the cult of Artemis. Diana on the denarii resembles the cult statue of the Temple of Diana Planciana in Rome, which bears the eponym of the family.

"'A City of Brick': Architectural Designs on Roman Republican Coins and Second-Style Wall Painting," in P.G. van Alfen, G. Bransbourg, and M. Amandry (eds.), FIDES: Contributions to Numismatics in Honor of Richard B. Witschonke (New York, 2015), 321-333.

There is a debate as to the significance of Aequitas on Roman Coinage. Some scholars read her as a reference to mint operations and economic stability, while others read her appearance as evoking the quality of fairness possessed by the emperor. In the case of Nerva, this paper argues the latter with specific attention to the simultaneous appearance of Iustitia and contemporary literature that praises Nerva's fairness and sense of justice.

The Ancient Coin Collectors Guild (ACCG) has launched multiple legal challenges aimed at undermining import restrictions on ancient coins into the United States in bilateral agreements with foreign countries.  One key component of the ACCG's argument is that the State Department has inappropriately restricted certain types of coins according to where they were made rather than where they are found, as mandated by the 1983 Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act.  Although the ACCG has thus far been unsuccessful, it has not been pointed out that existing import restrictions on coins, in fact, have been written to include coins that tended to circulate locally and that are found primarily within the borders of the country with which the bilateral agreement is made.  The ACCG's argument is thus on shaky ground.  As the ACCG continues to press ahead with new litigation, it is worth drawing attention to realities and probabilities of ancient coin circulation as they pertain to protected coins

The Colosseum is well understood as a dynastic monument that was key to the Flavian building programme and to Flavian ideology. From this point of view it has been approached as the fulfilment of Augustus's ambition for a large-scale amphitheatre, as serving to diminish Nero's memory as it was constructed on the atrium of his dismantled Golden House, and as a victory monument built with the spoils of the Jewish War. One important political aspect of this dynastic monument has been largely overlooked: its connection with emperor worship. Outside Rome, it is well known that amphitheatres served as a venue for the procession and placement of imperial cult images; in Rome, the Circus Maximus and the theatres were venues for the display of imperial images and attributes brought in during their respective pompae. Through the deployment of textual, topographical and visual evidence, this article demonstrates that the Colosseum also had a pulvinar that displayed images and attributes of the gods and divi brought in during the pompa. The location of the pulvinar and the mechanisms by which it was serviced are explored, as are the ideological implications of cultic activity in the Colosseum.Il Colosseo è considerato un monumento dinastico, chiave del programma edilizio e dell'ideologia flavia. Da questo punto di vista è stato considerato in molti modi: compimento del desiderio di Augusto di un anfiteatro di grandi dimensioni, o ancora la sua edificazione è stata letta come volontà di oblio di Nerone, essendo stato costruito sull'atrio della demolita Domus Aurea e anche come monumento legato alla vittoria di un evento bellico, costruito con le prede della guerra giudaica. Tuttavia un importante aspetto politico di questo monumento dinastico è stato ampiamente tralasciato: la sua connessione con il culto imperiale. Al di fuori di Roma, è ben noto come gli anfiteatri servissero come sede per la processione e per collocarvi le immagini di culto imperiali. In Roma il Circo Massimo e i teatri erano sedi in cui venivano esibiti le immagini imperiali e gli attributi portati durante le rispettive pompae. Attraverso l'analisi di testi, fonti topografiche e iconografiche, il presente articolo dimostra come il Colosseo fosse fornito anche di un pulvinar, in cui venivano esposte immagini e attributi degli dei e divi portati nella processione. Vengono esaminati la localizzazione del pulvinar e il meccanismo di manutenzione, nonché le implicazioni ideologiche dell'attività cultuale all'interno del Colosseo.