39: Coin of Roman Emperor Nerva and solar eclipses

For this episode of Object Matters host Dr Craig Barker is joined by university administrator, historian and former museum administrator Dr Toner Stevenson. Toner is the co-author with Dr Nick Lomb, of the new book Eclipse Chasers (2023).

Using a coin of the Roman emperor Nerva, minted in 96 AD when he came to power, they discuss how his funeral two years later coincided with a solar eclipse and how humans have interacted with eclipses for millennia. From Australian First Nation astronomy to the successful 1922 Australian scientific expeditions to capture data to prove Einstein's theory that gravity could bend the fabric of time and space - a project commemorated in its centenary year last year in postage stamps and in minted coins - bringing us back to Nerva's coin.

Guest:
Dr Toner Stevenson is Head of the School of Humanities in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Sydney. She is also a Honorary Associate in the Discipline of History at the school. She gained her doctorate in Social Sciences in 2016, after a long career in museums with leadership roles at the the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, including the Sydney Observatory where she was able to combine her museology interests with her passion for astronomy. She witness a total solar eclipse in 2012.  

Host: Dr Craig Barker, Head of Public Engagement, Chau Chak Wing Museum and Director, Paphos Theatre Archaeological Excavations. Follow @DrCraig_B on Twitter and Instagram.

Objects details: Silver Denarius of Nerva, 96 AD, minted in Rome, Italy. Acquired before 2004 [NM2004.1667]