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PORTVM TRAIANI: AN INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO THE IMAGERY OF TRAJAN'S HARBOUR AT PORTUS
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 16 November 2022
Abstract
This is a collaborative in-depth study of Trajan's sestertii with a bird's-eye view of the harbour at Portus (RIC 631–2), struck in AD 112–14. It is based on a new numismatic analysis of the coin type, featuring a corpus of 46 specimens and a critical study of their reverse dies, as well as on recent archaeological research at the port that allows for a better understanding of the harbour buildings and their chronology. The article provides the first detailed comparison of the structures shown on the nine reverse dies with those on the ground. The new interdisciplinary assessment of the evidence leads to a new hypothesis regarding the occasion of the coin issue: it probably commemorated the inauguration of the harbour's distinctive hexagonal basin, through which the new port facility became operational.
Il contributo consiste in uno studio approfondito, frutto di una collaborazione, sui sesterzi di Traiano con vista a volo d'uccello del porto di Portus (RIC 631–2), coniati nel 112–114 d.C. Lo studio si basa su di una nuova analisi numismatica del tipo monetale, con un corpus di 46 esemplari e uno studio critico dei conî dei rovescio, nonché su recenti ricerche archeologiche nel porto, che consentono una migliore comprensione degli edifici portuali e della loro cronologia. L'articolo fornisce il primo confronto dettagliato delle strutture raffigurate sui nove conî dei rovescio con quelle effettivamente esistenti a Portus. La valutazione interdisciplinare di tutte le testimonianze condotta porta a una nuova ipotesi circa l'occasione dell'emissione monetale probabilmente essa commemorava l'inaugurazione del caratteristico bacino esagonale del porto, attraverso il quale la nuova struttura portuale divenne operativa.
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- Copyright © British School at Rome 2022
Footnotes
with contributions by Dragana Mladenović1
Collaborative research on this project goes back as far as 2010/11, when Simon Keay and Bernhard Woytek started to compare the archaeological and numismatic evidence for the Trajanic port of Rome following a lecture on Portus by Simon at the Society of Antiquaries of London. On 22 January 2013, they both contributed papers to the workshop ‘The Concept, Chronology and Construction of Trajanic Buildings at Portus, Ostia and Rome’, held at the British School at Rome. A full draft of this paper by the two had been finished well before Simon's untimely passing on 7 April 2021. The present version of the article benefits from additional contributions by Dragana Mladenović, who had been working with Simon in Portus from 2006, co-directing the Portus project with him from 2012. She co-authored the final versions of the sections on ‘The Design of the PORTVM TRAIANI Coins in Its Artistic and Numismatic Contexts’, the ‘Comparative Analysis of Coin Imagery and Archaeological Remains’ and the ‘Discussion’ and is responsible for the section ‘A Mirror Image?’. Thanks for help in the lengthy phase of preparation of this article are due to Maria Gabriella Angeli Bufalini (Rome, Museo Nazionale Romano), Ian Atkins (Wessex Archaeology), Kay Ehling (Munich, Staatliche Münzsammlung), Nathan Elkins (New York, American Numismatic Society), Rodolfo Martini (Milan, Civiche Raccolte d'arte), Johan van Heesch (Brussels, Royal Library) and Klaus Vondrovec (Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum). Dragana Mladenović and Bernhard Woytek share the deepest regret that Simon Keay did not live to see this article published.
References
REFERENCES
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H. Mattingly (1936; reprinted with revisions 1976) Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum III: Nerva to Hadrian. London, The Trustees of the British Museum.
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B. Woytek (2010) Die Reichsprägung des Kaisers Traianus (98–117) (Moneta Imperii Romani 14). Vienna, Austrian Academy of Sciences Press.
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C.H.V. Sutherland (1984) The Roman Imperial Coinage I: From 31 BC to AD 69 (second edition). London, Spink.
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H. Mattingly and E.A. Sydenham (1926; reprinted 1989) The Roman Imperial Coinage II: Vespasian to Hadrian. London, Spink.
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I.A. Carradice and T.V. Buttrey (2007) The Roman Imperial Coinage II, pt 1: From AD 69–96. Vespasian to Domitian (second fully revised edition). London, Spink.
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H. Mattingly and E.A. Sydenham (1936) The Roman Imperial Coinage IV, pt 1: Pertinax to Geta. London, Spink.
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H. Mattingly, E.A. Sydenham, and C.H.V. Sutherland (1949) The Roman Imperial Coinage IV, pt 3: Gordian III–Uranius Antoninus. London, Spink.
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M.H. Crawford (1974) Roman Republican Coinage, 2 vols. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
H. Mattingly (1936; reprinted with revisions 1976) Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum III: Nerva to Hadrian. London, The Trustees of the British Museum.
B. Woytek (2010) Die Reichsprägung des Kaisers Traianus (98–117) (Moneta Imperii Romani 14). Vienna, Austrian Academy of Sciences Press.
C.H.V. Sutherland (1984) The Roman Imperial Coinage I: From 31 BC to AD 69 (second edition). London, Spink.
H. Mattingly and E.A. Sydenham (1926; reprinted 1989) The Roman Imperial Coinage II: Vespasian to Hadrian. London, Spink.
I.A. Carradice and T.V. Buttrey (2007) The Roman Imperial Coinage II, pt 1: From AD 69–96. Vespasian to Domitian (second fully revised edition). London, Spink.
H. Mattingly and E.A. Sydenham (1936) The Roman Imperial Coinage IV, pt 1: Pertinax to Geta. London, Spink.
H. Mattingly, E.A. Sydenham, and C.H.V. Sutherland (1949) The Roman Imperial Coinage IV, pt 3: Gordian III–Uranius Antoninus. London, Spink.
M.H. Crawford (1974) Roman Republican Coinage, 2 vols. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.