Coins are "texts" that circulated publicly in the ancient world. In these identical coins, juxtaposed to reveal both sides, the word Athens is legible on one face while the owl--symbol of the goddess Athena, patron of Athens--is legible on the other. That the written word for the city was accompanied by its visual symbol suggests that images were also used to impart information. The symbol conveyed a different meaning: in this example the owl also provoked a chain of visual and mental associations with the city, goddess, wisdom, and age.

Caesar Augustus was the first emperor of the Roman Empire. Placing his visage on state-issued coinage implied that he was synonymous with the state, an association between personal power and the body politic that later emperors--and even today's governors--did not hesitate to make.