[go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/vrs/sthioe/v37y2019i1p5-24n2.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Role of Imperial Women in the Monetary Distributions (Liberalitas) in Rome in the Light of Numismatic Sources

Author

Listed:
  • Balbuza Katarzyna

    (Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań)

Abstract
Liberalitas was one of the most important forms of social activities of the Roman emperors. In quantitative terms, it is also one of the five most important imperial virtues. It appeared on coins as Liberalitas Augusti, which gave this virtue an additional, divine dimension. The first Empress to depict the idea of imperial generosity on the coins issued on her behalf was Julia Domna. In this respect, her liberalitas coins mark a breakthrough in the exposition of this imperial virtue. The well-known female liberalitas coin issues, or imperial issues with empresses’ portraits, date back to the third century and clearly articulate the liberalitas, both iconographically and literally, through the legend on the reverse of the coin. Other coins, issued on behalf of the emperors (mainly medallions), accentuate in some cases (Julia Mamaea, Salonina) the personal and active participation of women from the imperial house in congiarium-type activities. The issues discussed and analysed, which appeared on behalf of the emperors or the imperial women – with a clear emphasis on the role of women – undoubtedly demonstrate the feminine support for the emperor’s social policy towards the people of Rome, including the various social undertakings of incumbent emperors, to whom they were related. They prove their active involvement and support for the image of the princeps created by the emperors through the propaganda of virtues (such as liberalitas). The dynastic policy of the emperors, in which the empresses played a key role, was also of considerable importance.

Suggested Citation

  • Balbuza Katarzyna, 2019. "The Role of Imperial Women in the Monetary Distributions (Liberalitas) in Rome in the Light of Numismatic Sources," Studia Historiae Oeconomicae, Sciendo, vol. 37(1), pages 5-24, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:vrs:sthioe:v:37:y:2019:i:1:p:5-24:n:2
    DOI: 10.2478/sho-2019-0002
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.2478/sho-2019-0002
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.2478/sho-2019-0002?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:vrs:sthioe:v:37:y:2019:i:1:p:5-24:n:2. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Peter Golla (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.sciendo.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.