Contorniate

 ( Culture Of Ancient Rome ) 

A contorniate, or contourniate (UK pronunciation: ), is a type of ancient Roman medal or medallion of bronze issued in the fourth and fifth centuries CE, having a deep furrow on the contour or edge, as if the object had been turned in a lathe. The extant contorniates show portraits of various earlier emperors (especially Nero and Trajan) or of cultural figures such as Homer, Solon, Euclid, Pythagoras, Socrates, Sallust, Apollonius Tyaneus, and Apuleius, as well as athletes, whose victories are symbolized by palm leaves and chariots, either bigae or . The medals were not used as currency, but may have been distributed as New Year's gifts in association with public spectacles, including chariot races and pantomime.Phillip Grierson, "Contorniate," Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium.

The standard catalog of these medals is by Andreas and Elisabeth Alföldi, Kontorniat-Medaillons (Berlin, 1976), (v. 1) and (v.2).

• Mittag, Peter Franz (1999). Alte Köpfe in neuen Händen. Urheber und Funktion der Kontorniaten Old. Antiquitas, series 3, volume 38. Bonn: Habelt, .

• , a collection catalog from the University of Tübingen (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on contorniates.