Imagines Maiestatis: Barbarian Coins, Elite identities and the Birth of Europe

• Applicants: Professorin Dr. Sabine Klein; Dr. David Wigg-Wolf
• Subject Area: Prehistory and World Archaeology
• Term: from 2015 to 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 277069523

Interaction between Rome and the barbarians who lived to the north of the Empire was to shape the face of European society after the fall of the Roman Empire in the West. The contacts between the two worlds were a significant contributory factor in the formation of the new elites who were subsequently to settle in the territory of the old Empire and form the kingdoms of medieval Europe. In order to appreciate fully this transformation, we need to understand how and why the new elites were formed, and this can best be achieved through the symbols that they employed and the objects on which these were represented.IMAGMA will therefore investigate a specific, exemplary aspect of this fundamental, defining transition. It will access a previously neglected group of material: imitations of Roman coins produced by the developing elites right across the Barbaricum north of the Roman frontier, and used by them to demonstrate their status. These provide an unparalleled microcosm of this cultural meeting, a unique synthesis of Roman and indigenous. Furthermore, coins offer particularly rich potential, reflecting a wider range of functions and intentions, from official production to private usage, than almost any other class of material culture.IMAGMA analyses this representational art as a medium of expression of new social identities that resulted from the contacts between Rome and the barbarians. It considers transfer of know-how, ideas and technology, the role of iconography, self-representation of elites and coins as symbol of power. A major role will be played by scientific metal and material analysis. IMAGMA will thus provide a significant contribution to understanding how Europe came into being after the collapse of the world of Antiquity, placing it in a long-term historical perspective. It will be conducted as an interdisciplinary research programme involving the participation of (art and economic) historians, archaeologists, numismatists and material scientists drawing on new theoretical approaches on the origins and function of coinage from the field of historical anthropology. IMAGMA will provide innovative, meaningful enrichment to a joint German-Polish team that has a long-standing history of successful research in the field.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Poland
• Co-Investigator: Professor Dr. Aleksander Bursche