Decoding the Message. Reviewing Propaganda, Communication and Local Identities on the Coinages of Classical and Hellenistic Crete
Synopsis
Editorial
Propaganda, as a means of communicating information, is primarily used to influence an audience and promote an agenda. It may not be objective and may be presenting facts selectively to encourage a particular synthesis or perception since the motives are usually political or religious. Although it has been a popular subject of research both in archaeology and history, its concept is barely researched for coinages of the autonomous Greek poleis and tends to focus rather on Roman (mainly Imperial) coinages. Whenever the subject is touched in Greek numismatics, scholars (archaeologists and historians) tend to downplay the role of coins as a means for “propaganda” or “message diffusion”, let alone neglect to appropriately address and classify possible propaganda phenomena regarding the classifications established by social scientists.
The aim of this volume is to review the deliberate will of the issuing authorities to take advantage of coinage as a means for “propaganda” or “message diffusion”, the models of communication and propaganda through coinage, as well as stages and components of the process of propaganda; to re-consider propaganda and communication on the Greek coins attempting to discern the main axes of the monetary propaganda of the classical and Hellenistic era. Consequently, research attempts to target propaganda messages encoded on coins struck by the various Cretan mints from the 5th to the 1st c. BC. The analysis of the imagery placed on Cretan coins, weight standards and common denomination issues may indicate that different types of propaganda were in the first instance intended for other cities and ethnicities. They commemorated important traditions ‒thus supported locality and ethnicity‒ denoted political or economic alliances, let alone implied supremacy over secondary cities or economic control of less powerful communities. In this context propaganda and communication on Cretan coins is explored in three distinct areas: cultic iconography, symbolisms of ethnicity and ways of economic control.
Early drafts of the papers included in this volume were originally presented at The International Numismatic Congress in Warsaw in 2021, in the session entitled: “Reviewing the topic of propaganda, communication, and local identities on the coinages of Classical and Hellenistic Crete”.
Many thanks are owed to Dr Elpida Kosmidou and Dr Nick Salmon, for their useful remarks on earlier drafts of this volume, Ms Maria Achiola for her immense editorial assistance, Dr Asimina Vafiadou for the production of the introductory map of Crete and Ms Vicky Chatzipetrou for saving the manuscript from various language errors.
Manolis I. Stefanakis
Chapters
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Nikos Petropoulos, “Propaganda and communication on ancient Greek coins: setting the principles”
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Manolis I. Stefanakis, “Cultic imagery as a means of communication and propaganda on the coinages of Classical and Hellenistic Crete”
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Federico Carbone, “Propaganda, communication, and ethnicity on the coinages of Classical and Hellenistic Crete”
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Vassiliki E. Stefanaki, “Economic control as a form of propaganda among Cretan mints: the so-called ‘monetary alliances’ between Cretan city-states”
