IMC 2019: Sessions
Session 1537: Fashioning Imperial Authority: The Materialities of Power and the Constantinian Dynasty, 306-363
Thursday 4 July 2019, 09.00-10.30
| Sponsor: | Centre for Late Antique Religion & Culture, Cardiff University |
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| Organiser: | Nicholas Baker-Brian, School of History, Archaeology & Religion, Cardiff University |
| Moderator/Chair: | Shaun Tougher, School of History, Archaeology & Religion, Cardiff University |
| Paper 1537-a | Spitting Image: Imperial Portraits in the Constantinian Empire (Language: English) Index terms: Administration, Archaeology - General, Historiography - Medieval, Rhetoric |
| Paper 1537-b | Legal Materialities: Julian, Constantine, and the Restoration of Ecclesiastical Property (Language: English) Index terms: Administration, Byzantine Studies, Law, Religious Life |
| Paper 1537-c | Undressing the Emperors: Costume, Coins, and Continuity (Language: English) Index terms: Administration, Archaeology - General, Byzantine Studies, Numismatics |
| Abstract | This session analyses the materialities of power in relation to the promotion of the Constantinian dynasty, 306-363. The Constantinian emperors utilised a range of objects to fashion both a language and a narrative of legitimacy that facilitated the transmission of the dynasty's identity from imperial centre to provincial periphery. This session discusses the materialities of the dynasty, focusing on coins, imperial portraits, and legal constitutions. While these aspects of late Roman dynastic identity are not unique, the 'Constantinian turn' marked a change of direction in the role that objects played in the period's seismic political, religious, and legal transformations. |