Nathalie Dagmang 2010-24702 BFA Sculpture

The Romans were influenced mainly by the Greeks who have shown great power in terms of politics and economy. Because of this, it was said that the Romans did not initially produce coins out of economic or military necessity but out of the pursuit to operate like the civilization of Greek city states.

Coins depicting emperors of Rome

The imageries shown on ancient coins are implications of who they honor and give importance to. Unlike the Greek coinage, Romans usually used images of their ancestors and reigning individuals. These show that Greeks regard Gods and Goddesses as the ones in highest power while Romans consider its emperors as God-like or even more powerful than the Gods. However, it is also possible that the emperors were the one who tried to impose themselves as the most powerful. The imageries on the coins may have served as a part of their propaganda on imposing their reign over the people, to make them treat the emperors like how they treat Gods. Some emperors even used their portraits as reference for images of Gods that were put on coins. Comodus, for example minted a series of coins where his portrait showed a bust with lion-skin, like how Hercules was usually depicted, together with his claim that we was the Roman incarnation of Hercules. It was Julius Caesar who had first issued coins with his own portrait, and not of Romes dead ancestors. In Greece, the use of portraits of living people was not widely accepted at that time and was considered a sign of arrogance. The political message that their coins bring is also somewhat different. Their coins usually show the power of the state itself (not just the emperor) through images of the states patron Gods or heroes. For example, after their victory in the Persian wars, Athens issued a coin that depicted the owl of Athens with its wings outstretched and olive leaves in hand. This symbolized the power and victory of Athens and its love for peace as was symbolized by the olive leaves.