Alexei Alexeev, University of Ottowa
One of the most impressive examples of Roman Imperial numismatic propaganda is the heroic type portraying a resolute emperor with dignified laureate head, confident leftward profile, and naked upper torso seen from rear. The sitter is depicted with his left shoulder covered by an elaborate “classical” aegis and his back crossed by a balteus (sword-belt). The obliquely protruding spear reinforces the general leftward thrust of the composition. The original models for this type were the Antonine emperors and co-rulers Lucius Verus (161–169 CE; without a spear) and Marcus Aurelius (161–180 CE). In 173 CE, the latter was portrayed on the obverse of a splendid bronze medallion exquisitely designed and skilfully executed by a superb master-engraver (Gnecchi 1912; Volume II: Page 27, № 2; Table 59, № 5).
What were this type’s likely iconographic prototypes? What place does this type occupy in the evolution of Roman heroic numismatic portraiture? What numismatic types can be considered as the associated metatypes – the later creative elaborations of the Antonine heroic aegidophoric type?
Several regional artistic traditions – from Hellenistic Greco-Bactria and Cimmerian Bosporus to Middle/Late Republican and Early Imperial Rome – contributed artefacts with iconographic expressions that can be considered prototypical to the type in question.
In the numismatic domain, Eucratides I (171–145 BCE) laid the foundations by introducing the type of heroic nude bust, including the view from rear and a (brandished) spear. His younger contemporary Menander I elaborated the design by adding (crucially) a left-shoulder aegis. From the 130s to the 80s BCE, a succession of Indo-Greek rulers followed suit. Almost simultaneously, from 112 to 53 BCE, several Roman Republican moneyers produced coinages with the heroic (viewed from rear) depictions of Hercules, Apollo, Mars, Amphitrite, and Roma. Later on, this tradition was extended to the Roman Provincial issues (representations of Ares, Artemis, Poseidon, Asclepius, Dionysus, Mithras, and Perseus). Nero (54–68 CE) introduced the aegidophoric portraiture to Roman numismatic repertoire. The protruding spear in front of the regal sitter appears for the first time on the coins of Bosporan king Kotys II (123–131 CE) picturing Hadrian.
However, the most direct prototypes are found not among the antecedent coinages but in the first-century glyptic art represented by the extant engraved gems with aegidophoric depictions of Augustus (e.g. the Blacas Cameo), Tiberius, and Claudius. For an interpretation of the aegis’ complex design, the Gonzaga Cameo and intaglios portraying Perseus of Macedon and Trajan are particularly instructive.
After Marcus Aurelius, the heroic aegidophoric type was replicated on the coinages of several succeeding emperors, from Commodus to Maximian Herculius. It also inspired an alternative type, wherein the aegis was substituted by the round shield. This numismatic metatype was introduced by Septimius Severus and endured until the spectacular final flourishing during Crispus’ tenure as caesar. Its variant with the “dressed” sitter became very popular during Caracalla’s reign.
The Antonine heroic aegidophoric type’s impressive retrograde and anterograde connections of lineage determine its very important place and pivotal role in the history of Roman numismatic portraiture.