Archaeological Institute lecture: 'Augustus' War against Antony and Cleopatra as Seen through the Coins'

This Archaeological Institute of America lecture, titled "Augustus' War against Antony and Cleopatra as Seen through the Coins," is presented by Dr. Roberta Stewart of Dartmouth College.

Augustan propaganda conjured up Cleopatra as a threatening female outsider. This lecture brings the evidence of the coinage into the discussion of Cleopatra's pearls, part of her self-representation as a powerful monarch. Her images were interpreted not only as markers of a woman who lavished attention on a luxurious lifestyle but one of threatening female sexuality. Tracking the iconography of Cleopatra and of defeated Egypt allows us to evaluate their Roman and Mediterranean associations in a medium of mass communication and so to see more clearly the Augustan claims about women and empire.

This event is sponsored by the Classics department.