Moisés ANTIQUEIRA (Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Paraná, Brazil)
ACCOMPANIED BY THE GODS: DIANA AND HERCULES ON THE IMPERIAL COINAGE OF AEMILIAN (253)
Keywords: Aemilian, third-century imperial coinage, divine association, Diana and Hercules.
Abstract: In the summer of 253 CE, Aemilian was acclaimed emperor by the legions in Moesia. It was not an unusual event at the time when successive rulers were proclaimed by their soldiers in the Lower Danube. However, given the absence of kinship links between Aemilian and his predecessors, the legitimation of his position could not be based on dynastic principles. Moreover, allusions to religious themes were abundant on coin types struck for him at the Roman mint. I am particularly interested in reverse types featuring Diana Victrix and Hercules Victor, where both deities were represented as the source of Aemilian’s victories. In this sense, the presence of Aemilian in Italy not only shifted the dynamics of politics in Rome but also affected representational patterns on imperial coinage.