W "rodzinnym kręgu" Postumusa albo icones et elogia tyrannorum Romanorum. Uwag kilka jak moneta stawała się źródłem

Abstract

The interest in the ancient Roman coin goes back to the times of Renaissance. It resulted in the production of rich numismatic literature: corpora, collection catalogues, as well as historical works based on coins or medallions of Roman origin, or treated as Roman. These works, written between the sixteenth and the first half of the nineteenth century, constitute the foundation of sources for this article. The article attempts to distill from that literature a fragment of the history of Roman times, perceived, but also constructed from the perspective of centuries through the images of the rulers of Imperium Romanum, and people associated with them. The example of the family circle of Postumus, filled with figures of Postumus junior and Iunia Donata and other unnamed family members of the ruler of „Imperium Galliarum” (approximately six or seven people), illustrates the models of creating, extracting from or making present in history the figures of rulers, and, more broadly, their close ones, about whom we generally know next to nothing from sources other than numismatic. The cases of Postumus Junior and Iunia Donata are utterly different. Postumus junior, the son of Postumus, is mentioned in Historia Augusta. One can observe attempts at reconciling the data from that Antique source with the interpretation of coins. In this context, nummary iconography in particular provided the possibilities for favorable interpretations of the figure of Postumus junior. On the other hand, in light of current knowledge, the figure of Iunia Donata, the alleged wife of Postumus, is a product of the early stages of the development of numismatic literature, which apart from authentic ancient items, also included forgeries and contemporary fakes.