Nathan T. Elkins
Dr. Nathan T. Elkins
Deputy Director
Dr. Nathan T. Elkins joined the staff of the American Numismatic Society in August 2021 as a Visiting Research Scholar, before being named Deputy Director. Formerly, he was an Associate Professor of Art History (Greek and Roman) and Director of the Allbritton Art Institute at Baylor University. Other former posts include the directorship of Undergraduate Research and Scholarly Achievement (URSA) at Baylor University, a postdoctoral appointment in the Department of Coins and Medals at the Yale University Art Gallery, and Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter at the Institut für Archäologische Wissenschaften at the Goethe Universität Frankfurt and with the Fundmünzen der Antike Projekt of the Mainzer Akademie der Wissenschaften.
At the late-Roman period excavations at Yotvata and Huqoq in Israel and at ‘Ayn Gharandal in Jordan, he has worked as the field numismatist. He was elected a Fellow of the American Numismatic Society in 2015 (associate member since 2003) and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London in 2020. He is also an active member of the Archaeological Institute of America, having served on its Cultural Heritage Policy Committee, its Publications Subventions Committee, chairing its Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award Committee, and twice went on the AIA’s lecture circuit. Dr. Elkins has also served the ANS as co-editor of the American Journal of Numismatics, responsible for contributions on the ancient world, since 2018.
Research
Frequently integrating numismatic evidence in an interdisciplinary framework with literature, inscriptions, archaeology, art, and architecture, Nathan Elkins is primarily interested the expression of Roman imperial ideology and visual communication. He regularly lectures internationally and nationally and is the author of three books: Monuments in Miniature: Architecture on Roman Coinage (American Numismatic Society, 2015); The Image of Political Power in the Reign of Nerva, AD 96-98 (Oxford University Press, 2017), recipient of the 2018 Numismatic Literary Guild’s best book award on an ancient or medieval topic; and A Monument to Dynasty and Death: The Story of Rome’s Colosseum and the Emperors Who Built It (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2019). Additionally, he is the co-editor of three books: (with S. Krmnicek) ‘Art in the Round’: New Approaches to Ancient Coin Iconography (Verlag Marie Leidorf, 2014), (with J.D. Evans) Concordia Disciplinarum: Essays on Ancient Coinage, History, and Archaeology in Honor of William E. Metcalf (American Numismatic Society, 2018) and (with L.K. Cline) The Oxford Handbook of Roman Imagery and Iconography (Oxford University Press, 2022). Two additional co-edited volumes are underway: (with S. Bell) The Spectacle of Everyday Life in the Roman Empire: Sport and Spectacula in Material Culture and Social Practice, and (with U. Wartenberg) The American Numismatic Society Handbook of Method and Theory in Ancient Numismatics (provisional title). His next single-authored book will be on the representation of Libertas in the Roman Empire.
Publications
Recent books, articles, and chapters:
“The Career of Cornutus Tertullus and the Significance of Diana Planciana and the Temple of Artemis at Perge on Nerva’s Coinage,” Memoirs of the American Academy in Rome 68: 3-28.
“Nerva Caesar, Emperor 96-98,” in V. Pagán (ed.), The Tacitus Encyclopedia, vol 2, (Chichester and Malden, MA: Wiley, 2023), pp. 742-744.
(with L.K. Cline) (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Roman Imagery and Iconography (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2022).
“From Augustus to Commodus,” in M. Alram, J. Bodzek, and A. Bursche (eds.), Survey of Numismatic Research, 2014-2020, 2 vols. (Warsaw, Krakow, and Winterthur: International Numismatic Council, 2022), pp. 443-482.
“Provenance and Legal Issues,” in M. Alram, J. Bodzek, and A. Bursche (eds.), Survey of Numismatic Research, 2014-2020, 2 vols. (Warsaw, Krakow, and Winterthur: International Numismatic Council, 2022), pp. 55-64.
“Working a Case on Looted and Smuggled Ancient Coins as an Expert Witness,” in L. Hashemi and L. Shelly (eds.), Antiquities Smuggling: In the Real and Virtual World (London and New York: Routledge, 2022), pp. 178-190.
“Libertas and Freedom from Financial Burdens in the Reigns of Trajan and Hadrian,“ American Journal of Archaeology 125.2 (2021): 223-245, which received the 2021 Numismatic Literary Guild’s article award on an ancient or medieval topic.
“Domitian’s Aftermath: Nerva’s Rome and the Augustan Legacy in Sculpture and Coinage,” in R. Marks and M. Mogetta (eds.), Domitian’s Rome and the Augustan Legacy (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2021), pp. 251-266.
“Coins,” in A. Futrell and T. Scanlon (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Greek and Roman Sport and Spectacle (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2021), pp. 351-362.
A Monument to Dynasty and Death: The Story of Rome’s Colosseum and the Emperors Who Built It (Baltimore and London: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2019).
“Publicizing Victory: The Frequency and Audience of Flavian ‘Judaea Capta’ Coins from the Imperial Mints,” Israel Numismatic Research 14 (2019): 117-130.
“The Circulation of Nerva’s Neptune Coins in Britannia,” in S. Krmnicek and J. Chameroy (eds.), Money Matters: Coin Finds and Ancient Coin Use. (Bonn: Habelt Verlag, 2019), pp. 75-81.
“Money, Art, and Representation: A Look at the Roman World” in S. Krmnicek (ed.), A Cultural History of Money in Antiquity (2500 BCE–500 CE). (London: Bloomsbury, 2019), pp. 105-121.
“Coinage Programs and Panegyric in the Reign of Trajan: Imagery, Audience, and Agency,” Memoirs of the American Academy in Rome 63/64 (2018/2019): 169-201.
N.T. Elkins and S. Krmnicek (eds.), ‘Art in the Round’: New Approaches to Ancient Coin Iconography (2014)
N.T. Elkins, Monuments in Miniature: Architecture on Roman Coinage (2015)
N.T. Elkins, The Image of Political Power in the Reign of Nerva, AD 96-98 (2017)
N.T. Elkins and J.D. Evans (eds.), Concordia Disciplinarum: Essays on Ancient Coinage, History, and Archaeology in Honor of William E. Metcalf (2018).
N.T. Elkins, A Monument to Dynasty and Death: The Story of Rome’s Colosseum and the Emperors Who Built It (2019)
L.K. Cline and N.T. Elkins (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Roman Imagery and Iconography (2022)