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THIS SYRIAN BORN NIECE of Roman Emperor Septimius Severus became the first woman to openly and officially rule the Roman Empire. On her coin, Julia Mamaea appears with heavily curled hair and wearing a crown.
She first came to power with her mother when her son, Severus Alexander, ascended to the throne at the age of 14. He was thrust into the position when hIs predecessor Elagabalus was murdered by the Praetorian Guard. The two women, both named Julia, were named co-regents for Alexander because of his youth. The two openly administered affairs of State for the under aged Alexander. Julia ruled ably at first, reversing scandalous policies of her predecessor, appointing 16 distinguished senators as her advisors, and making the distinguished lawyer Ulpian her chief advisor and head of the Praetorian Guard. When Alexander reached adulthood after the death of Julia's mother, Alexander conferred on Julia the title of consors imperii . The position, which meant partner in rule, had been previously offered to co-emperor Lucius Verus by Marcus Aurelius. The appointment of a women to the position was unprecedented at the time. Romans, however, were not unaccustomed to the idea of being governed by a woman. Julia's aunt Julia Domna had been remarkably visible in administering governmental functions for her husband Emperor Septimius Severus and her son Emperor Caracalla. During Julia's reign, Julia received the title of Mater Castorum (mother of the camps) and Mater Senatus (mother of the Senate) and largely avoided scandals. Her contemporaries described her as virtuous. She consulted with the Christian theologian Origen about Christian doctrine. Even so, Julia could ruthless when her interests called for it however. When her son married Barbia Orbiana in 225 and her father was made co-emperor, Julia had Barbia removed from the palace and ordered the murder of her father (and co-emperor). You might think it would be hard to find any common ground between a Roman Empress and a Presidential candidate what with times being so different. You might try foreign policy however. Some think that is a shortcoming of Hillary and international affairs were certainly not Julia's strong suit. As consul imperii she accompanied her son on military missions with the Legions.. And with him she tried to settle a major dispute with the Alammani. She got a 'deal' with the Alammani but the terms were so unpopular with members of Rome's 22nd Legion that they lynched both her and her son, raising their own Maximinius to the throne. HUNDRED OF YEARS after his demise medals with his image stamped onto them were awarded to athletes at the Olympics Games. So he was remembered in ancient times differently, perhaps, than he is now.
As Rome's emperor he was the most powerful man of his time. He wielded power confidently and sometimes ruthlessly. But he also loved poetry and music and frequently performed his compositions in public. One reported private performance earned him infamy. He was wild about chariot races and games. So much so, that he even drove a ten horse chariot in the Olympic Games much to the dismay of his advisors. He was so enthusiastic about charioteers, in fact, that he styled his hair in their unique fashion combing it up and forward as shown of his coin. While his hairstyle disturbed his advisors it also contributed to his popularity with the masses. It was important to him to be popular with the masses. While most historians question whether he ordered the burning of Rome in 64 AD, others believe the massive fire that consumed much of Rome during his reign and killed many was a deliberate act of an emperor who wanted to make Rome great again by clearing the way for his own public building projects. He was said to have sung the "Sack of Illium" in stage costume and possibly played the lyre while the city burned. Whether he was the architect of Rome's destruction or not, he did make Christians the scapegoat for the fire and ordered the systematic persecution of its members as punishment. Tradition holds that Christ's disciple Peter was among the many crucified during this persecution. In Peter's case, the belief is that he was crucified upside. He acted with confidence driven, you might say, by an inner compass that justified almost any action that secured his power or advanced his agenda. He ordered the murder of his mother and first wife. And some believe he personally killed his second wife by kicking her at a public function while she was near full term in her pregnancy. In the end, Rome's legions revolted against him and the taxes imposed to fund his massive building projects. To avoid capture, he ordered his personal secretary to take his life, saying "What an artist dies in me" while contemplating his 'suicide.' His death was followed by a year of civil war during which four different individuals claimed the crown of Rome's emperor. Of course, we cannot know the full picture of Nero's life with any certainty. The records are too old and incomplete. But the coin does give us a glimpse of his hairstyle and we know his reign was eventually 'trumped' by the leaders of his legions. Which raises the all important question? Is there a reason the Donald wears his hair the same way? And, will Americans be Trumped this election cycle? Come back next week for 'Hillary'd". SORRY FOR THE DELAY IN POSTING. Technical difficulties. Today's post introduces the ancient money portion of our focus. As we note in the right hand column. "Money is the constant. Companies need it to grow. Ancients invented it." Above you will find the images of 16 ancient coins and an opportunity. Each of these coins were hand stamped from hand engraved dies and widely circulated before the birth of Christ. Some were issued centuries before. The opportunity is in the form of a contest. Whoever identifies the most coins correctly by five p.m. on Sunday, September 25 wins a pre-publication proof copy of Ancient Selfies signed by the author. Send your entry to Clinton@readjanus.com (if you post it as a comment everyone see your answers). Identify the figure on the coin or the issuer of the coin to win. In the case of a tie, the first entrant sending in their tie entry will be declared the winner. Ancient Selfies will publish in print and ebook form later this year. It provides an anecdotal history from 550 BC to 40 BC using the coins rulers issues to illustrate the times and, in so doing, invites readers to experience an ancient world that created the foundations for our modern civilization in a new and tangible way. Ancient rulers realized the power their coins had to broadcast images that could shape impressions and deliver messages to their subjects and trading partners. (See our earlier posting on Who invented the Selfie.) With carefully selected images, they used their coins to convey messages of strength and power, to celebrate accomplishments and beliefs and, sometimes, to deceive. In the process, they left a record of images that let us see the ancient world as the ancients themselves saw it. Good luck with your entry! IT DEPENDS ON who you ask and what you mean by invented.
Was the selfie invented by Robert Cornelius in 1839 when he produced a daguerreotype image of himself? Cameras were so primitive then he had to remove the lens cover, run to position, stand for a minute and then run back and put the lens cap back on. He claimed invention when he marked the back of the finished photo "The first light Picture ever taken." Or was it the developer of the Brownie Kodak camera in 1900 that made self-portraits more widespread? If you think the selfie is tied to front facing cell phone cameras maybe you give the nod to the Sony Ericsson company for the Z1010 mobile phone they released in late 2003. Some say the first use of the word selfie appeared in an Internet forum in 2002. But if you think that the essence of the selfie is a self-portrait that can be widely distributed then you need to look much further back in time. My candidate? I nominate Cyrus the Great. He was the first to distribute his image using a relatively new and widespread media – coins - sometime between 550 and 539 BC. Leader of the largest empire the world had seen, his territory stretched from the Mediterranean Sea into the Indus Valley including all of the ancient Near East, Southwest Asia and parts of Central Asia and the Caucasus. Cyrus used the coin medium perfected by the great Lydian leader Croesus when he defeated Croesus’ army and annexed his territory. While coins existed earlier, Croesus had standardized the weights and purity of his coins in a way that made them into international medium of exchange. With such wide distribution, ancient coins became a perfect way to communicate with a large and mostly illiterate population. But Croesus never put his own image on his coins. It was left to Cyrus to make that innovation when he had an image of himself kneeling and drawing a bow placed on the coinage he adopted from Croesus. The image (shown above) may be crude by modern standards but so was the technology. The dies used to hand stamp the images onto his coins were engraved by hand. Above, from the Ancient Selfies™ collection, front side of a coin issued by Cyrus the Great. A CONTEST TO INTRODUCE ANCIENT MOOLA. Pictured above are the faces of 16 coins that were issued before the birth of Christ. Some were issued centuries before.
How many can you identify? We will accept the name of the figure shown on the coin or the name of the coin's issuer as correct answers. The person with the most correct identifications will win a pre-publication proof copy of my upcoming book Ancient Selfies signed by the author. You can send your entries directly to the author at clinton@readjanus.com. (You could also post your entry as a comment but that would give your answer to other entrants.) Entries are due by five p.m. Eastern time on Friday, September 23. In case of a tie, the earlier entry will be be the winner. Ancient Selfies celebrates a resource few people know much about - ancient coins. It uses these coins to illustrate the personal lives and accomplishments of the leaders who, thousands of years ago, built the foundations of our civilization. As the world's first social media (see my earlier post), these coins provide a unique, first person glimpse into their ancient world. Good luck with your entry! Need a hint? Most of these people spoke Latin or Greek. |
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