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https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/17918
Title: | Liberator or Tyrannus? The Ideology of Libertas in Usurpation and Civil War | Contributor(s): | Taylor, Tristan (author) | Publication Date: | 2015 | Open Access: | Yes | Handle Link: | https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/17918 | Open Access Link: | https://classicalstudies.org/annual-meeting/146/abstract/liberator-or-tyrannus-ideology-libertas-usurpation-and-civil-war![]() |
Abstract: | Ideas of libertas were powerfully resonant in Roman political ideology (eg, Stylow 1972, Wirszubski 1960), particularly in moments of transitions of power. Thus, L. Brutus was celebrated by Tacitus as founding the consulship and libertas (Ann. 1.1) and Augustus in his Res Gestae claims as his first achievement the liberation of the state from an oppressive faction (Res Ges. 1.1). The theme of libertas thus seems ideal for exploitation in justifying the deposition of a reigning emperor or usurper. This paper will explore the extent to which this possibility was exploited by usurpers from Galba through to Magnentius, with a focus on imperial coinage, which is often the only way that we have access to the ideology of failed imperial claimants. It will be argued that the first successful usurper, Galba, made extensive use of the theme of libertas. He made his proclamation of rebellion at a ceremony of manumission (Suet. Galba 10.1) and coins were also struck in Spain during his usurpation echoing those celebrating libertas that had been struck in Brutus' name after his assassination of Caesar, featuring two daggers and a pilleus (RIC I p. 205 no. 24; Crawford 1974, no. 508/3). | Publication Type: | Conference Publication | Conference Details: | SCS 2015: 146th Annual Meeting of the Society for Classical Studies, New Orleans, United States of America, 8th - 11th January, 2015 | Source of Publication: | 146th Annual Meeting Abstracts (The Figure of the Tyrant) | Publisher: | Society for Classical Studies | Place of Publication: | Philadelphia, United States of America | Fields of Research (FoR) 2008: | 210306 Classical Greek and Roman History | Fields of Research (FoR) 2020: | 430305 Classical Greek and roman history | Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2008: | 970121 Expanding Knowledge in History and Archaeology | Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2020: | 280113 Expanding knowledge in history, heritage and archaeology 280114 Expanding knowledge in Indigenous studies |
HERDC Category Description: | E3 Extract of Scholarly Conference Publication | Publisher/associated links: | https://classicalstudies.org/annual-meeting/146/abstracts |
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Appears in Collections: | Conference Publication School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences |
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