Digital Transformations Hub
Antoninianus coin 

What happened two thousand years ago today?

This project shows you just that through the Mint Imperials blog: a series of posts based on anniversaries from the ancient world, accompanied by historical information and images of authentic ancient coins.

 

Project overview

This is a student-led project designed to commemorate historical anniversaries through the medium of timely blog-posts and twitter updates. Each historical event is selected by a team of volunteer students, who also source an ancient coin which is used to generate an accompanying image.

The images are created using the digital equipment and expertise on offer in the Digital Humanities Centre to produce high-quality photographs. This is a delicate task, since we aim to show as much of the ancient surface as possible but not exaggerate any wear, while ensuring appropriate care of the coins used in the image creation.

Finally, we put together a 300-500 word piece of writing explaining what happened, a biography of the main person or people concerned, and the historical significance of the event.

Research outputs

The research is presented via the Mint Imperials blog and twitter feed.

Each blog post is comprises a photograph of an ancient coin, numismatic attribution, and 300-500 words about the significance of the event. Posts are made available in conjunction with the event's anniversary.

The images are also presented to the holders of the coins, for potential use in curatorial work.

Images created by the project have been utilised in a forthcoming television documentary on the fall of the Roman Empire, and a recent retrospective exhibition by the Boots company.

 

Project team

The project is led by Dr Will Leveritt, and the output produced by undergraduate and postgraduate students in the School of Humanities.

Mint Imperials project team
PersonProject roleAcademic studies
Dr Will Leveritt Founder and current director. Teaching Associate in Ancient Visual Culture, Department of Classics
Mike Welbourn Historical co-ordinator
Responsible for for verifying the historical accuracy of the project's output.
PhD Ancient History
Sarah Jordan Photographer
Creates and edits the ancient coin images.
BA Ancient History (third year)
Ramiz Khan Digital marketing
Runs the project's twitter page - twitter.com/mint_imperials
MA Ancient History
Rob Stone Writer
Specialising in Late Antiquity blog entries and coin captions.
PhD Ancient History
Michael Wuk Writer
Specialising in late antiquity and the later empire (2nd-7th centuries AD), with particular interest in military affairs, oaths and loyalty, alongside patristics and martyr accounts.
PhD Ancient History
Tom Ingram Writer
Specialising in the Roman Near East.
MA Classics
Lydia Kilbey Writer
Specialising in the Roman Republic.
BA Classical Civilisation (third year)
Harry Tanton Writer
Specialising in Late Republican politics.
BA Ancient History (third year)
Ellen Smithies Writer
Specialising in ancient art and visual culture. 
BA Art History and Classical Civilisation (second year)
Juliet O'Brien Writer
Specialising in Roman history, with particular interest in the early Principate.
BA Ancient History and History (second year)
Benedict Segal Writer
Specialising in the Roman World with an emphasis on the Republic.
BA Classics (second year)

 

Digital Transformations Hub

Humanities Building
University Park
Nottingham, NG7 2RD

telephone: +44 (0) 115 951 3191
email: artsdigitalhub@nottingham.ac.uk