Circulating Imperial Ideology: Coins as Propaganda in the Roman World Corey J. Ellithorpe A dissertation submitted to the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of History. Chapel Hill 2017 Approved by: Richard J.A. Talbert Fred Naiden Marcus Bull Luca Grillo David Wigg-Wolf © 2017 Corey J. Ellithorpe ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ABSTRACT Corey J. Ellithorpe: Circulating Imperial Ideology: Coins as Propaganda in the Roman World. (Under the direction of Richard J.A. Talbert) This dissertation examines the role of Roman Imperial coinage in the communication of Roman ideology and propaganda. From a database of more than 300,000 Roman Imperial coins of the Principate, each containing detailed archaeological data and linked to GIS-mapping software, a variety of interconnected analyses are conducted to provide a better understanding of how Roman coinage was used a medium of Imperial propaganda. The body of numismatic evidence of imperial Rome consists of millions of surviving individual coins, out of which thousands of iconographical combinations of type and corresponding inscriptions have been identified. I examine the role that coinage played as a mobile medium of politically persuasive communication for Rome to numerous groups. Within a larger political propaganda program at work during the early Roman Empire, coinage functioned as the most ubiquitous, tangible, immediate, variable, and integrated element. I argue that coinage functioned as a conscious instrument of political propaganda that enabled varying messages to be purposefully disseminated to different geographical regions and to distinct ranks of Roman society. This was a structured and efficient communication machine capable of fine-tuning the presentation of a particular message to meet the emperor’s current concerns. Moreover, I argue that a desire to manipulate public opinion is the mainspring for the vast range of coinage types found in Roman imperial coinage. iii To my wife, Sarah. None of this could have been achieved without you. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS There are many people without whom this dissertation would not have been possible. I owe the greatest of thanks to my graduate advisor and chair of my dissertation committee, William Rand Kenan Distinguished Professor Richard J.A. Talbert. It was during the fall of 2008 when I first made contact with him expressing keen interest in pursuing a PhD in ancient history under him at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. After a series of emails, he invited me to visit the campus, sit in on some classes, meet affiliated faculty, and more importantly to have the chance to meet face-to face to discuss my research interests and other matters related to the graduate program in greater depth. I immediately knew upon the beginning of this visit that UNC was the institution that I wanted to attend, and, more importantly, that I wanted to have the opportunity to be a student of Talbert’s. He possessed all of the desired attributes that one seeks in a potential advisor: impressively erudite; heavily published; a regularly-cited scholar whose name is found in the bibliographies of some of the field’s most important works; and one whose research demonstrates a long history of being involved in many projects at the cutting edge of the discipline. Yet, aside from possessing these rare qualities that place him in the company of a small handful of the most influential contemporary scholars of ancient history, it was a far rarer combination of attributes that made instantly clear just how lucky and privileged his students surely are: his approachability, kindness, deep care and concern for those training under him, and the overwhelming adoration that graduate students and undergrads at UNC hold for him. I should mention, that I owe a deep thanks to the graduate students of his in 2008 (Brian Turner; Lance v Lagroue; Graeme Ward; and Ross Twele) who took the time to inform me of just how privileged they all were. Lastly, he also possessed the rarer-still quality to be able to be honest when such honesty may be hard to hear. For this, I am most grateful. I was not admitted into the program that next year, but Professor Talbert kept in contact with me, and regarding my application, informed me that I was not yet ready for graduate school. He told me that I should consider a post baccalaureate program in Greek and Latin to increase my ancient language training. I did just that. It was then that I attended the University of Pennsylvania for an intense year-and-half of intensive Greek and Latin training. I applied again to UNC, as well as to four terminal MA programs. I was accepted to all four and was wait-listed for the PhD program at UNC. Not surprisingly, those offered direct admission under Talbert accepted, and I had only the four MA programs before me. Still yet, Professor Talbert advised me regarding the potential MA programs. After a series of conversations with him, as well as my wife and family, UArizona was (rightly) believed to be the best next step. During my two years at UArizona, Talbert and I maintained contact. During the application season for fall 2012, I had a variety of acceptances. There was no conflict in choices once I had heard back from UNC. During the formative stages of this dissertation and throughout the various chapter drafts, Professor Talbert provided, always, the most thorough of commentary and suggestions. I should apologize to him for my (often) long-winded and periphrastic style, which he had to suffer through and propose countless edits in order to bring the dissertation to its current state. I cannot offer enough thanks nor express enough gratitude to him for his tireless and diligent efforts in ensuring that this dissertation arrives at the completed form that it has today. vi I also owe great thanks to David Wigg-Wolf, the only professional numismatist on my dissertation committee. He first advised me during the summer seminar at the American Numismatic Society in 2011, for which he was the visiting scholar. David is not only responsible for providing the most valuable comments and suggestions for the appropriate scientific approach to this dissertation, but also for initially sparking my deep love and scholarly interest in the field of numismatics. I also owe a debt of gratitude to the other members of the dissertation committee, Distinguished Professor Marcus Bull, Professor Fred Naiden, and Professor Luca Grillo, who, though while only classified as ‘readers,’ provided a great deal of insight and comments for me to consider throughout the last three years. I owe deep thanks to Vaclav Shatillo, my friend and former colleague in the terminal MA program in Classics at UArizona for offering translation aid in the otherwise impenetrable Soviet-era numismatic scholarship, all composed in Russian. To the following people or organizations, too, I owe thanks: Professor Donald Reid for masterly leadership of Hist-905: Dissertation Design, as well as my fellow classmates during the Spring 2014 semester. The library staff at UNC’s Davis Library, in particular those who work in the Interlibrary Loan Department, who helped to scan and deliver 693 various works for me. Parts of this dissertation were presented in draft at various conferences over the years, and many thanks are owed to those who offered comments, criticisms, and suggestions on them. XV International Numismatic Congress in Taormina, Sicily (September 2015): Nathan Elkins, Cristian Găzdac, Florian Haymann, Ben Hellings, Kamil Kopij, Katarzyna Lach, Johannes Nollé, David Schwei, and Philippa Walton. King’s College, London (May 2015): Laura Forster, vii Patrick Griffith, and Peter Heather. Institut für Klassische Archäologie, Eberhard Karls Universität, Tübingen (October 2015): Stefan Krmnicek and Ioannis Mylonopoulos. Lastly, I would like to thank my family. Without their undying support and love, I could not have survived the years of stress and strain that graduate school and the composition of a dissertation present. Thank you all. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABBREVIATIONS ..................................................................................................................... xiii GLOSSARY ................................................................................................................................ xxi Introduction ................................................................................................................................. xxv Outline of Chapters .............................................................................................................. xxxiv Chapter One ...................................................................................................................... xxxv Chapter Two...................................................................................................................... xxxv Chapter Three................................................................................................................... xxxvi Chapter Four .................................................................................................................... xxxvi Chapter Five ..................................................................................................................... xxxvi Chapter Six...................................................................................................................... xxxvii The Database