Dear all,
With this, we are happy to announce the next Ancient World Seminar. On
Monday 16 April 2018 dr. Marleen Termeer (Leiden University) will give a
lecture on:
*Heads or tails? Early Roman expansion and the introduction of coinage*
*Abstract*
"Look at a coin from your pocket. On one side is “heads”- the symbol of the
political authority which minted the coin; on the other side is “tails” -
the precise specification of the amount the coin is worth as payment in
exchange."
Hart 1986, 638
The earliest Roman coins were produced surprisingly late. They date to the
late fourth century BC, about three centuries after the introduction of
coinage in the Aegean. The adoption took place in the context of Rome’s
first large-scale expansion on the Italian peninsula, and seems to be
related to increased military activity in this pe...riod. In this context,
coin production in Italy as a whole intensified, with many communities in
Italy minting their own coinages.
In this lecture, I will ask how we should understand coinage as a social
and cultural phenomenon in this context. Do coins work in the same way as
described in the quote above? In a context where Rome is only starting to
establish its power on the Italian peninsula, and many different
communities produce their own coinages, what is the relation between state
authority and coinage? And how was coinage used? Was it adopted as a widely
used currency, or was the function of coinage more restricted? These
questions are at the core of a research project that I am currently
initiating, and which I will present in this lecture.
*Speaker*
Marleen Termeer is a lecturer in Classical and Mediterranean Archaeology at
Leiden University. After finishing her PhD at the University of Groningen
in 2015, she started to work in Leiden as a postdoc in the Landscapes of
Early Roman Colonization Project (LERC). In these contexts, her research
has focused on cultural and socio-political changes in Mid-Republican Rome
and Italy, a formative period in the development of the Roman world. She is
now preparing a project on early Roman coinage from this perspective.
The session takes place in *room 253 (second floor)* of the Faculty of
Theology and Religious Studies, Groningen, 16.15 – 17.30.
Join us for drinks afterwards!
--
Eelco Glas
PhD candidate in Theology and Religious Studies
on behalf of the CRASIS team
University of Groningen
CRASIS is the Groningen institute for Interdisciplinary Studies in Culture,
Religion and Society of the Ancient World. Follow CRASIS on Facebook
<https://www.facebook.com/rug.crasis> or find out more about us on
www.rug.nl/crasis.
Attachment:
1804 Termeer.pdf
Description: Adobe PDF document
