The E-Sylum:  Volume 11, Number 10, March 9, 2008, Article 23

DINING AND NUMISMATIC IMAGERY DURING THE ROMAN EMPIRE

[Sebastian Heath of the American Numismatic Society posted
a note about his in-process research on numismatic images
of dining in the Roman Empire.  It's lengthy, but here's an
excerpt from the introduction.  -Editor]

Dining is defined very broadly and the objects listed below
may well have been used in religious activities as opposed
to daily meals. There is no need, however, to draw a very
strong line between religion and daily life so that the
objects collected below do all bear upon the issue of dining
when the group is taken as whole.

The importance of empire extends beyond merely the definition
of the chronological bounds of the study, which at the current
time focusses on the second and third centuries. Roman imperial
coins, as well as most provincial issues, usually bore images
of the current emperor and/or his family so that they are
inherently "imperial" objects. Coins also have reverses whose
legends and imagery can be understood to communicate themes
of imperial propaganda, though the efficacy of this communication
is a hotly debated topic in the field of ancient numismatics.

Accordingly, when possible the list below will make clear
which image, imperial portrait or reverse message, is
displayed or reproduced. Doing so can make a small
contribution to the problem of the extent to which numismatic
imagery was actively examined and responded to by ancient
viewers. Preliminary conclusions along these lines are made
during the course of presenting the relevant objects.

To read the complete article, see:
Full Story

  Wayne Homren, Editor

	coinbooks.org Web

The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization 
promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org.

To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor 
at this address: whomren@coinlibrary.com

To subscribe go to: https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum