Don

Presenters

Gwynaeth McIntyre, University of Otago

Abstract

Coins featuring two youths on horseback with the legend NERO ET DRUSUS CAESARES on the reverse were minted on three separate occasions during Caligula’s principate (37/38 C.E., 39/40 C.E., and 40/41 C.E.). Several scholars have suggested that republican coin types featuring the Dioscuri, one of the most iconic types in the midrepublic, may have served as a model for these issues. However, some scholars have suggested that this imagery may instead refer to statues commissioned by Caligula that were to be set up in Rome by Claudius in 37 C.E. (Suet. Cl. 9.1).

Building on previous scholarship on temples and other monuments on coins, this paper explores how we distinguish images on coins that might faithfully depict a particular statue, might refer to a particular statue but not necessarily provide an accurate representation, and those whose imagery might look “statue-like” but are modeled on something else entirely. This analysis is of particular significance to the coins at hand because although many equestrian statues had previously been erected to commemorate deceased family members, and these same equestrian statues appeared on coins as part of the depiction of triumphal and honorific arches, definitive representations of stand-alone equestrian statues on coins have not been identified on Julio-Claudian coinage. Moreover, there is no conclusive evidence for what form the statues of Caligula’s brothers took or if they were even erected.

By exploring how coin types could evoke memory, circulate ideas, and present images of power in terms of statuary in particular, we can gain insight into the models used for coin types, intention of those responsible for choosing the images, and how audiences would have viewed these miniature monuments.

  AIA-1J