On April 9, Augustana’s Classics department hosted the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) lecture in Hanson Hall of Science, featuring guest speaker Roberta Stewart. The talk, titled “Augustus’ War against Antony and Cleopatra as Seen through the Coins”, explored Stewart’s research in Augustus War and Ancient Rome era coinage.
The college is a member of the AIA’s Western Illinois Subdivision, which is the world’s oldest and largest archaeological organization. The lecture was sponsored by the Classics department, the AIA and the Harry S. B. Johnson Endowment for Classics.
Stewart is currently a professor of classical studies at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, where she also explores history through the lens of women, gender and sexuality studies. Additionally, Stewart is the author of two books, “Plautus and Roman Slavery” and “Public Office in Early Rome”, along with her dissertation.
Before the Augustus War, Roman society was stuck in a cycle of violence, but where it abruptly ended with Cleopatra drew Stewart’s interest, she said.
“The lecture explores two questions that I’ve had; one is about systemic violence and cycles of systemic violence, which and how they end,” Stewart said.
The coins showcased the symbolism of what was happening at the time and allowed historians and archeologists to track the propaganda of the time, Stewart said. She also said they served as messages to other countries, functioning like conversations.
Some examples of this are beards and pearls found on coins. Stewart said beards symbolized grief in a long-term state and pearls were meant to show luxury.
“The pearls identified people as extravagant; they became a moral argument, an omen,” Stewart said. “[And] the idea of moralizing pearls worked, not that women weren’t wearing them, but the public face could not be associated with pearls’ moral war against extravagance.”
Later, she said pearls would soon be socially immoral and a bad omen in Rome, representing that Mark Antony (83-30 BC) had already lost. Antony was a Roman political power and general who had relations with the Egyptian queen, Cleopatra (69-30 BC).
At the time, Stewart said Antony was relying on Cleopatra for money, in order to fund his armies and to prove that she was in power. She said Cleopatra had coins minted with her on the head of the coin, and this therefore emasculated Antony, since it was traditional at the time for the male-dominant power to be the head.
Stewart was invited to present through the AIA and said she will continue touring other colleges to share her lecture. Professor of Classics and Chair of Classics Department Kirsten Day said every few years the AIA sends a speaker to campus.
“One of the most impressive things is how much messaging can be done through propaganda and coinage, the amount of propaganda in coin conversations,” Day said. “[There are] a lot of parallels; the messaging goes on and hits us subconsciously.”
Day said the department’s lectures provide extracurricular learning opportunities for students and contribute to broader conversations about the world. She said she hopes the student community engages with and benefits from the talks.
First-Year Ruby Tolnai attended the lecture for her Classical Epic course with Continuing Lecturer and Assistant Professor of Classics Mischa Hooker. Tolnai said one of her favorite subjects is propaganda and how it functions throughout time.
“Antony being feminized and Cleopatra being almost masculine in the Roman side of the perspective, that’s what really caught my interest,” Tolnai said.