THE ICONOGRAPHIC CHOICES OF THE MINUCII AUGURINI: RE-READING RRC 242 AND 243

Abstract

The coinage of the Minucii Augurini (RRC 242 and 243) has received extensive scholarly commentary (Crawford 1974, 273-6; Wiseman 1996; Evans 2011; Elkins 2015, 21-2), but a holistic comparative approach to the iconography of these two types leads to new conclusions regarding likely compositional prototypes in other media, the motivations behind the design choice, and the attributes and identification of the figures. All this helps explain compositional variations between the two coin types that previous scholars have found problematic. A wide range of comparative evidence is used including glass paste intaglios, Etruscan tomb decoration, relief depictions and archaeological finds of priestly implements, further coin imagery, and literary testimony, especially Plut. Mor. 89F.

Keywords

• roman republican coinage
• numismatic iconography
• gens minucii
• priestly implements
• monumentality
• glass paste intaglios