A Farewell to Methods?

Abstract

Klose’s contribution is focussed on Roman Imperial coins of the High Roman Empire bearing the motif of Imperial adventus. Looking at both the use of an allegedly stereotyped numismatic design and the combination of various motifs labelled adventus by inscription, special emphasis is put on the following questions: which categorisations of these scenes have been developed, which methodological approaches have therefore been followed up in modern research, and to what extent can these be regarded as appropriate means of interpreting the representations on the coins – in particular if one considers these numismatic depictions as elementary for the understanding of Roman state art (especially Roman historical reliefs)? Various issues that might possibly be obstructing a general understanding of the so called adventus-scenes are addressed to stimulate reflection on a detail of great influence in Roman state art.