Historisches Institut

Literary sources, inscriptions and coins present Antoninus Pius as an emperor perfectly representing the traditional ideal of a pious emperor who promotes traditional Roman and Ital- ian cults. On the other side his medallions which were meant to some extent as gifts for his close friends show a series of unusual gods and mythical scenes. Some of these medallions seem to reflect the emperor’s personal religious belief. Gods connected to mysteries like Ceres and Cybele as well as healing gods like Aesculapius seem to belong to the emperor’s religious strategies to handle difficult situations as illness and death within his family – and thus reflect a more or less ‘powerless’ side within the topic of ‘power and religion’.

During imperial times the use of a depiction of the emperor in a quadriga on Roman imperial coins and medallions underwent several changes. While such coins were produced only on occasions of real triumphs during the first century – with a significant peak under the Flavians – Antoninus Pius used these images to propagate a processus consularis. Septimius Severus then expanded the range of occasions. Some coins were struck to promote his sons as successors, others were produced without any readily identifiable specific occasion. Thus the image was available to symbolize the emperor's status and general capacity for victory. But the following emperors used the image mainly as reflection of the processus consularis. For that reason Probus had to invent a new depiction when he wanted to promote his real triumph in AD 281. His solution was the amplification of horses from four to six. A few years later Carinus and Numerianus solved the problem by adding a legend hinting directly at Carinus' triumph. During the tetrarchy things changed again. The usual depiction for the processus consularis was at first replaced by an elephant drawn quadriga and later on by the standing emperor. For that reason the traditional depiction of the emperor in quadriga was again available. Since the Constantinian dynasty it was generally used on the occasion of the emperor's jubilees or other festivities until it disappeared during the seventh century.

During imperial times the use of a depiction of the emperor in a quadriga on Roman imperial coins and medallions underwent several changes. While such coins were produced only on occasions of real triumphs during the first century-with a significant peak under the Flavians-Antoninus Pius used these images to propagate a processus consularis. Septimius Severus then expanded the range of occasions. Some coins were struck to promote his sons as successors, others were produced without any readily identifiable specific occasion. Thus the image was available to symbolize the emperor's status and general capacity for victory. But the following emperors used the image mainly as reflection of the processus consularis. For that reason Probus had to invent a new depiction when he wanted to promote his real triumph in AD 281. His solution was the amplification of horses from four to six. A few years later Carinus and Numerianus solved the problem by adding a legend hinting directly at Carinus' triumph. During the tetrarchy things changed again. The usual depiction for the processus consularis was at first replaced by an elephant drawn quadriga and later on by the standing emperor. For that reason the traditional depiction of the emperor in quadriga was again available. Since the Constantinian dynasty it was generally used on the occasion of the emperor's jubilees or other festivities until it disappeared during the seventh century.