Book review: Claudius Caesar - Image and Power in the early Roman Empire, Josiah Osgood

jamesicus · Sep 20, 2018

I have been meaning to buy this book for over a year for I do appreciate the meticulous research and attention to detail that Professor Osgood exerts in producing his books. The time is also right for me, having just returned to my Ancient coin collecting roots as it were: Julio-Claudian copper and bronzes.

I have always been captivated by the saga of Claudius, and there is an enormous amount of biographical material relating to it available in numerous formats including, of course, the DVD sets of the iconic TV series “I Claudius” by Robert Graves.

I really like the different approach taken here by Professor Osgood in covering the Principate of Claudius. Although he does use most of the usual historic source writings to do that, he includes an enormous amount of photographs of monument inscriptions, statues, triumphal arches, grave stone dedications .... and so on - not only the usual ones in Rome, but also seldom depicted ones in widely scattered Roman Imperial provinces - to paint a more complete picture of the reign of Claudius. For instance, I had not seen the relief of Claudius about to slay Britannia with a knife before - there are many more like it. But best of all for me, and the Coin Talk community, is the profusion of photographs of Claudian coins that Professor Osgood uses to support and explain his postulations. In most chapters not many pages go by without some being included. I should mention that I ordered the paperback edition by mistake. I have always liked the Cambridge University Press hard back bindings and paper quality. As it is for me now, the photographs are not as nice as they could be for they are reproduced on soft, absorbent and cheaper paperback edition paper. But they are still great.

I am not very good at evaluating literary content, but here are two very detailed and comprehensive reviews:

http://ancienthistorybulletin.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/AHBReviews201214.AvelineOnOsgood.pdf

http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2011/2011-07-34.html

Edit: Oops, forgot to include some coin photos:

RIC Vol. I, CLAUDIUS, SESTERTIUS, Rome, No. 109, 42-43AD (38mm, 28.0gm)
Obverse depiction: Nero Claudius Drusus, bare head facing left
Inscription: NERO CLAVDIVS DRVSVS GERMANICVS IMP
Reverse depiction: Claudius seated left on curule chair holding olive branch -weapons and armor beneath
Inscription: TI CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG PM TRP IMP PP - S C (exergue)
Nero Claudius Drusus was the father of Claudius

RIC Vol. I, CLAUDIUS, SESTERTIUS, Rome, No. 112, 50-54AD (36mm, 28.2gm)
Obverse depiction: Claudius, laureate head facing right
Inscription: TI CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG PM TRP IMP PP
Reverse depiction: Civic Oak Wreath awarded by the Senate forsaving the Citizenry.
Inscription in four lines:
EX SC
P P
OB CIVES
SERVATOS
(within wreath)

RIC Vol. I, CLAUDIUS, SESTERTIUS, Rome, No. 99 41-50 AD, (36mm, 25.3gm)
Obverse depiction: Claudius, laureate head facing right
Inscription clockwise from bottom: TI CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG PM TRP IMP
Reverse depiction: Personification of Spes
holding flower in right hand and raising skirt with left hand
Inscription clockwise from bottom: SPES AVGVSTA - S C (exergue)