Images of power in the Roman Empire: Mass media & the cult of emperors

Contemporary leaders understand the power of an image to influence public opinion but are they following a pathwell-trodden by Roman emperors? This project aims to illuminate the role that media and images played insecuring and sustaining imperial power during the Later Roman period from the Flavians to the Theodosians (69-450 CE). The comparison of coins, statues and monuments with narrative portraits and legal texts will shed newlight on the dynamic ways that popular media were used to mediate between emperors, imperial officials,provincial elites and the wider populace. Expected outcomes include a better understanding of how leadersinteracted with mass media in the Roman world and its implications for contemporary society.