Table of Contents

List of Abbreviations
Preface

Introduction: The Power of Images in the Reign of Nerva

Chapter 1. Nerva as Supreme Military Commander
Chapter 2. Nerva, The Senate and People of Rome, and Italy
Chapter 3. Nerva and the Roman Empire
Conclusion: The Visualization of Rhetoric

Appendix 1. The Typological Makeup of Nerva's Imperial Coin Emissions
Appendix 2. Nerva's Coin Types and Their Dates of Production
Appendix 3. The Relative Frequencies of Denarius Types by Emission
Appendix 4. Identifiable Base-Metal Coins and Their Regional Distribution (Hoards and Excavations)

Bibliography
Index

About the Author

Nathan T. Elkins is Associate Professor of Art History (Greek and Roman) at Baylor University. He is a Fellow of the American Numismatic Society (New York) and a Fellow of the Royal Numismatic Society (London).

Reviews

"E., an associate professor of art history (Greek and Roman) at Baylor University, argues in this fascinating and attractively produced book that a significant clue to answering the above question, which he largely does in Nerva's favour, lies in the study of the coinage issued during his reign. As a numismatist E show boundless enthusiasm and prodigious learning." -- Ray Morris, Classics For All
"[A] welcome look at what does survive from Nerva's reign... Elkins makes a strong case for connecting the imagery of Nerva's coinage to the laudatory ideals expressed in contemporary poetry and rhetoric, offering us a new perspective on Nerva's reign. By examining the frequency of types among hoards and excavated finds as well as their locations, the author makes a convincing case for audience targeting in the issuance of the coin types. Historians, art
historians, and numismatists will find much to think about in this book." --Susann S. Lusnia, American Journal of Archaeology
"Throughout the book, Elkins displays a masterful command of the numismatic evidence and contemporary scholarship." -- CJ-Online
"[O]ffers a wide range of readers new food for thought about the production and consumption of Nerva's image across the Roman empire, reading the rhetoric on coinage in dialogue with other material culture, literary texts and elite discourse ... For many today Nerva remains a bit of a blank, a two-dimensional figure to whom it is easy to attach clichéd assumptions. Elkins' book presents a thoughtful counterbalance." -- Alice König,
BMCR
"... there is no doubt that Elkins' study offers a stimulating new look at Nerva himself and the processes behind imperial image- production during his reign." --Alice König, Bryn Mawr Classical Review
"An excellent, detailed study of late first century CE Roman coin types, distribution patterns, and the dynamic roles of mint officials. Elkins' work is a must-have for scholars and students alike interested in Roman numismatics and political iconography produced during the brief but critical reign of Nerva." DLDiane Atnally Conlin, University of Colorado Boulder
"This book is essential for any student of the late first century AD. Rejecting received opinions of Nerva's principate, based on hostile writers, Elkins uses the coinage of Nerva himself, subjects it as a medium of art (akin to the poetry, panegyric, inscriptions and monuments lacking for this short reign) to thorough and sophisticated analysis and finds in it nothing apologetic. This is a different Nerva from the weak and failing emperor of the few works
previously devoted to him. But Elkins' book has a wider scope. Putting Nerva up against predecessors and successors and finding him presented just as confident and unassailable as they entails discussion,
no less illuminating, of notorious problems such as 'propaganda,' the emperor's role in choosing coin types, and the elucidation of imperial 'virtues.'" DLBarbara Levick, Oxford University
"A much needed reassessment of Nerva's reign through the lens of coinage. Elkins provides new insights into the coinage of Nerva, and sets the ideology of this period in context." DLClare Rowan, University of Warwick