The Imperial Image: the use of coinage to disseminate Augustus' image and titles, the messages carried by coin types (military success, peace, divine connection and dynasty), and the strengths and limits of coins as evidence.

What this dot point is asking

Coins were Augustus' most far-reaching medium of image-making. For this option you must understand how coinage disseminated his image and titles, the messages that coin types carried (military success, peace, divine connection and dynasty), and the strengths and limits of coins as evidence. The paper tests precise knowledge (AO1), analysis and evaluation of coins as sources (AO2 and AO3) and your own argument.

The answer

Coins as a medium of mass communication

The messages on the coins

Coin reverse types advertised the core themes of Augustus' image:

• Military success: a coin showing a kneeling Parthian returning a Roman standard, with a legend such as signis receptis ("the standards recovered"), presented the diplomatic return of the standards lost by Crassus as a glorious victory and the humbling of Parthia.
• Peace: types showing the closed doors of the Temple of Janus (shut only when Rome was wholly at peace) or symbols such as the olive branch, advertising the Pax Augusta.
• Divine connection: the DIVI F title, and types linking Augustus to Apollo, his patron god, asserting divine favour and descent.
• Dynasty: coins showing his intended heirs, Gaius and Lucius Caesar, promoting the succession within his family.

The strengths of coins as evidence

The limits of coins as evidence

Coins also have clear limitations:

• The images are tiny and the legends heavily abbreviated, so it is debated how far ordinary users actually "read" or understood the messages.
• A coin can convey only a simple message, where a monument or a poem could develop a richer idea.
• Coins tell us what the regime wanted to project, not how it was received, so they are evidence of intention, not of public opinion.

For these reasons coins are best seen as uniquely far-reaching but complementary to statues, buildings and poetry, not a substitute for them.

Examples in context

A strong essay on coinage would weigh its unmatched reach against the simplicity of its messages, concluding that coins complemented the other media.

Try this

Q1. Explain how Augustan coins conveyed the message of peace. You must refer to specific examples. [10 marks]

• What the marker wants. AO1 with AO3: give examples (the closed doors of the Temple of Janus, the olive branch) and explain how each advertised the Pax Augusta to those who handled the coins.

Q2. 'Coins tell us what Augustus wanted people to think, but not what they actually thought.' To what extent do you agree? [marked out of 20; real H408/22 tariff is 30]

• Cue. Argue that coins are strong evidence of the regime's intended messages but weak evidence of reception, while considering what other sources can add. Reach a judgement supported by named coin types.