Byzantine Coins: FEL TEMP REPARATIO series

Описание: This video is about the FEL TEMP REPARATIO series of coins, introduced in 348 AD during Constantius II and Constans' coinage reform.

EXTRA INFORMATION: The problem of seeing these coins as propaganda
(excerpts taken directly from this paper: http://www.numisbel.be/2017_5.pdf )

“The imperial administration leaned towards conservatism and ambiguity in its choice of coin types. Recalling overly explicit types made ‘undesirable’ by events (like coins featuring Agrippina and Nero, and the former’s downfall) was no easy undertaking”

“While the emperor and his staff were certainly interested in exclusively spreading a positive message, Wol- ters stressed that this should not be understood as propaganda in the sense of the intentional spread of fake or manipulated information undertaken in the 20th century by authoritarian regimes.” … “preferring more neutral terms like ‘pu- blicity’ and ‘publicise’. Rather than the emperor instilling his ideology into the population, coin types were largely conceived by the mint administration and were meant to honour and flatter the emperor. In other words, the emperor became a principal part of the audience.”

“This image was no mere attempt at top-down propaganda, with the emperor instilling the ruling ideology into a hapless population, but was formed in line with the expectations of the target audience. How much of this was explicit is impossible to tell. The administration probably had some idea of which messages would ‘work’ and which would not. Allusions to charged political events were therefore rare”

“As noted above, the emperor himself should also be considered when discussing coin audiences. While the emperor probably handled few coins in day-to-day life (we cannot be sure if he actually ever saw any of the FTR bronze coins), the administration had to avoid anything that might paint their master in an unfavourable light, and hurried to present images that exalted the ruler, in his own eyes as well as those of his subjects.”

… the paragraph below is not related to propaganda but is also interesting, I really didn’t know how to fit this information in the video, but wanted to share it either way

“We can see how the reparatio felicium temporum of the coins promises a return to these happy times, not just morally and militarily, but also economically, by the introduction of a sound bronze coinage. In the second chapter of the Anonymus de rebus bellicis, the author complains that from Constantine on, “extravagant grants assigned gold instead of bronze (which earlier was considered of great value)”

🔗 LINKS
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📚 REFERENCES:
https://www.forumancientcoins.com/dou...
https://www.forumancientcoins.com/dou...
https://www.tesorillo.com/aes/_rev/in...
https://www.forumancientcoins.com/dou...
https://collectingancientcoins.co.uk/...
http://www.numisbel.be/2017_5.pdf

🖼️ PICTURES:
https://www.vcoins.com/
https://www.biddr.com/
https://en.numista.com/
https://coins.labarum.info/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constan...
Many of the pictures are from coins we sold on our ebay store The Spanish Galleon.

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