DOI issue:
Artykuły/Articles
DOI article:Okoński, Mateusz: Images of Central European "externae gentes" in Trajan's Monetary Iconography and Their Role in the Propaganda of the Imperial Era
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.57341#0113
IMAGES OF CENTRAL EUROPEAN EXTERNAL GENTES...
type is only characteristic for Trajan’s times. Thus, it can be said at this point that,
although Trajan’s coinage was to some extent derived from the earlier issues, it
created certain characteristic features and patterns that were later adapted by other
rulers. The coins associated with the conquest of Dacia included all of the elements
of Trajan’s imperial propaganda - from conquest, through triumph, to showing
the province as pacified and civilized. This completes the characteristics of Trajan’s
coinage in the context of Roman coins from other periods.
However, how do the coins look in comparison to other groups of monuments
from the Trajan era? Was the enemy motif equally popular, e.g. in architecture,
sculpture or other visual arts? Do we find these motifs and scenes in other fields of art?
The exceptional prosperity and wealth that Rome enjoyed in the times of Trajan
meant that during this era numerous architectural works were carried out, and all
branches of art developed smoothly and undisturbed. Images of foreign peoples, and
especially the Germans and Dacians, appeared frequently, both in architectural
and full sculpture, as well as in fine figurative art. In the case of the latter, one should
note the particularly interesting fact of using motifs directly referring to imperial
propaganda by Roman citizens, such as theprefectuspraetoriae - Tiberius Claudius
Livianus.97 Due to the richness of monuments and works of art from the Trajan era,
we will only focus on the most important representations used on coins.
A special place in the whole range of means of imperial propaganda is occupied
by those that were placed in Rome itself and in other cities of Italy. These include,
without a doubt, Trajan’s Forum, with its famous column which served as a monument,
the tomb of the emperor and his family, and a kind of pictorial chronicle of the Dacian
wars.98 99 The whole forum served as a monument proclaiming the glory of the emperor
and was full of figures and reliefs with the images of Dacians. At the entrance to
the Forum stood a triumphal arch, the keystone of which was probably a low relief
that now adorns the base of the Roma monument, which stands in the courtyard
of the Palazzo dei Conservatori." We see her as a woman in a funeral pose, sitting
on a pile of shields. We can look for a connection here with monetary iconography,
in which a figure of a woman or a man in a similar configuration appeared, sitting on
a weapon pile or under a trophy.100 The forum was also decorated with monumental
97 He probably commissioned the production of bronze relief vessels depicting a rider attacking a Dacian
warrior. Perhaps he distributed them to his proteges in the form of gifts. For a broad discussion of the battle scene
vessel (from the London collection) and other vessels of this type, see SCHÄFER 1989: 283-317.
98 SADURSKA 1980: 165-166. For the value of the column as a historical source for Dacian wars, see
BENNETT 1997: 92 (there further literature).
99 OSTROWSKI 1985: 78; BIEŃKOWSKI 1900: 31, fig. 5. Similarly, as in the case of coins with the image
of the emperor, riding in a ceremonial dress on a horse in front of which is a defeated Dacian, we may have
suspicions that these statues were reflected on the coins.
100 See e.g. WOYTEK 2010: 169, 190, 243, 244, 245, 276, 283.
type is only characteristic for Trajan’s times. Thus, it can be said at this point that,
although Trajan’s coinage was to some extent derived from the earlier issues, it
created certain characteristic features and patterns that were later adapted by other
rulers. The coins associated with the conquest of Dacia included all of the elements
of Trajan’s imperial propaganda - from conquest, through triumph, to showing
the province as pacified and civilized. This completes the characteristics of Trajan’s
coinage in the context of Roman coins from other periods.
However, how do the coins look in comparison to other groups of monuments
from the Trajan era? Was the enemy motif equally popular, e.g. in architecture,
sculpture or other visual arts? Do we find these motifs and scenes in other fields of art?
The exceptional prosperity and wealth that Rome enjoyed in the times of Trajan
meant that during this era numerous architectural works were carried out, and all
branches of art developed smoothly and undisturbed. Images of foreign peoples, and
especially the Germans and Dacians, appeared frequently, both in architectural
and full sculpture, as well as in fine figurative art. In the case of the latter, one should
note the particularly interesting fact of using motifs directly referring to imperial
propaganda by Roman citizens, such as theprefectuspraetoriae - Tiberius Claudius
Livianus.97 Due to the richness of monuments and works of art from the Trajan era,
we will only focus on the most important representations used on coins.
A special place in the whole range of means of imperial propaganda is occupied
by those that were placed in Rome itself and in other cities of Italy. These include,
without a doubt, Trajan’s Forum, with its famous column which served as a monument,
the tomb of the emperor and his family, and a kind of pictorial chronicle of the Dacian
wars.98 99 The whole forum served as a monument proclaiming the glory of the emperor
and was full of figures and reliefs with the images of Dacians. At the entrance to
the Forum stood a triumphal arch, the keystone of which was probably a low relief
that now adorns the base of the Roma monument, which stands in the courtyard
of the Palazzo dei Conservatori." We see her as a woman in a funeral pose, sitting
on a pile of shields. We can look for a connection here with monetary iconography,
in which a figure of a woman or a man in a similar configuration appeared, sitting on
a weapon pile or under a trophy.100 The forum was also decorated with monumental
97 He probably commissioned the production of bronze relief vessels depicting a rider attacking a Dacian
warrior. Perhaps he distributed them to his proteges in the form of gifts. For a broad discussion of the battle scene
vessel (from the London collection) and other vessels of this type, see SCHÄFER 1989: 283-317.
98 SADURSKA 1980: 165-166. For the value of the column as a historical source for Dacian wars, see
BENNETT 1997: 92 (there further literature).
99 OSTROWSKI 1985: 78; BIEŃKOWSKI 1900: 31, fig. 5. Similarly, as in the case of coins with the image
of the emperor, riding in a ceremonial dress on a horse in front of which is a defeated Dacian, we may have
suspicions that these statues were reflected on the coins.
100 See e.g. WOYTEK 2010: 169, 190, 243, 244, 245, 276, 283.