2005 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Aristocratic Consciousness of Family in the Roman Republic : a Research on Coin Types
| Project/Area Number |
16520432
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
History of Europe and America
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| Research Institution | Iwate University |
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Principal Investigator |
YASUI Moyuru Iwate University, Faculty of Education, Assistant Professor, 教育学部, 助教授 (70241502)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2004 – 2005
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| Keywords | Roman Republic / Roman Coinage |
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| Research Abstract |
The aim of this study is to clarify how the aristocrats in the Roman Republic were conscious of their families, through the analysis of coin types. From 189/0 B.C.to the second triumviral times, 97 kinds of types are found which (seem to) describe family glories. If one categorizes them according to their contents, there are those which describe 1)legendary ancestors (16 kinds), 2)military glories of ancestors (45), 3)civil or administrative deeds of ancestors (15), 4)religious deeds of ancestors (16), priesthood of ancestors (15), 6)et cetera (9). One can see the general tendency that the central motive of the coin types is the distinguished services for the state by the family of the responsibles for the mint (in most cases, the three mint masters, tresviri monetalis). This shows the connection between the aristocratic pride of family and national consciousness in the Roman Republic. On the other hand, the facts that there appears often the legendary world and priesthood of ancestors, shows also the complexity of family pride. The aristocrats are, of course, not uniform. Consular families are inclined to display ostentatiously the glorious deeds of their ancestors, while new men have no other way than to describe a legendary origin of the family. From 130's B.C.as a turning point, the family motive became dominant style of coin types. This change scholars attribute to the Gabinian law in 139 B.C., but whatever the trigger, that should be thought to be the result of the change of mind about the way of expression in coin types.
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