Imperial Legitimation

Imperial Legitimation: The Iconography of the Golden Age Myth on Roman Imperial Coinage of the Third Century AD by Graham Barker. 

With a Foreword by Richard Abdy and Sam Moorhead. 

Hardback 

240 x 152 mm 

160 pages with colour illustrations throughout 

ISBN: 978-1-912667-47-5 

This fascinating study of the iconography of the Golden Age Myth on Roman Imperial coinage of the Third Century AD, which started as a master’s dissertation, also includes an overview of Saecular Games types down to AD 300. The first study of its kind, it also gives a reconstruction of the Games and appendices with texts from well-known classical authors. 

This book looks at the extent to which Roman imperial rulers of the third century AD employed the Golden Age myth for the purpose of legitimation. This is principally a study of the numismatic evidence alongside relevant written records and archaeology. The coins issued during the reigns of Septimius Severus and Philip I are examined in detail, as both emperors are on record as celebrating the Saecular Games (Ludi Saeculares) in the third century AD; these spectacular events came mark the end of one saeculum and the start of a new Golden Age.