Lecture: Tracking the Roman Portraiture System through the Provincial Coins of Imperial Women
Dr. Fae Amiro (Mount Allison University) will be visiting Trent on Thursday, February 26th to give a guest lecture
Event Details
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Thursday, February 26, 2026
4:00 PM - 6:00 PM
Room: SC 115
Cost: Free
Dr. Fae Amiro (Mount Allison University) will be visiting Trent on Thursday, February 26th to give a guest lecture titled, “Tracking the Roman Portraiture System through the Provincial Coins of Imperial Women”. Dr. Amiro is an expert on the topic of Roman coinage, with experience both in the field and in the lab. Details for her talk can be found below, and we welcome any students interested in Roman history and archaeology.
When: Thursday February 26th, 4:00 pm
Where: Science Complex (SC) 115
Abstract for Dr. Amiro’s talk:
The eastern Roman provinces produced their own small change at hundreds of independent mints. Due to their small format, varied quality, and lack of cohesion, the portraits on these coins have not been methodically studied. However, as the largest corpus of imperial portraits produced in the provinces, by provincial people, and for provincial audiences, they are the best extant source for understanding the dissemination and reception of imperial images.
Portraits of imperial women are particularly useful due to their identifiable typology even in poorly copied specimens, resulting from their elaborate hairstyles. Additionally, while the emperor became the default, this was never the case for women, making each provincial coin portrait of a woman a deliberate choice on the part of the mint.
My study of the provincial coin portraits of imperial women from Claudius to Hadrian has revealed a few significant ways in which our standard understanding of the functioning of the coin system needs to be adjusted. It brings into question common assumptions about the consistency of the system over time by revealing significant variance in the treatment of imperial women on provincial coins both reign to reign and woman to woman. Because each coin portrait is accompanied by an inscription, the production of uncanonical portraits is also able to be studied, something which is nearly impossible for sculpture.
The provincial coin portraits of Roman imperial women are a crucial resource for understanding the communication between Rome and the provinces. The nuances of their appearance across time are revealing of the workings of the provincial coinage system and the individuals involved in making decisions in relation to it.
Contact Info
Faculty Organizer: Christine Davidson, christinedavidson@trentu.ca
Acad Admin Assistant: Ngoc Bui, agrs@trentu.ca