Gamifying Augustus...Catch a falling coin and put in his pocket!
A Bit of Background
I created Coins of Augustus (hosted at ) out of a genuine need that came up in my teaching. In both OCR A Level Classical Civilisation and Ancient History, students are expected to use coins as sources. In theory, they鈥檙e great evidence - in practice, students often struggle to know what they鈥檙e looking at or how to use them in essays.
My interest in coins really developed through attending 桃色视频 University teacher days, where I had the opportunity to work with Dr Clare Rowan. Those sessions showed how much potential coins have in the classroom when they鈥檙e approached in the right way. I鈥檝e tried to reflect that in my own teaching鈥攁t one point I even made chocolate moulds of Augustus鈥� comet coins, which definitely made them more memorable! You can find out more about that here: Imperial Indulgence.
This game is aimed mainly at A Level students. A lot of existing material on Roman coinage is quite academic and not always easy for students to use. I wanted something that was clear, practical and fun to use. This is especially important for the 30-mark essays, where students are expected to bring in wider evidence beyond that listed in the specification.
About the Game
The main focus of the site is quite simple: helping students understand what the coins look like, what message they鈥檙e putting across, and what that message actually means. Augustan coins are perfect for this because they鈥檙e a great example of political messaging. Every image and inscription is there to promote Augustus in some way, whether that鈥檚 linking him to the gods or reinforcing ideas about peace and stability.
When choosing which coins to include, I started with the ones on the OCR specification, but I also added others that students could use as wider evidence. That reflects what the exam is really asking them to do: not just recognise sources, but use them thoughtfully to support an argument.
Building the site itself was also a bit of a learning curve. I used AI to help generate the code, and it definitely wasn鈥檛 straightforward鈥攊t took quite a lot of trial and error to get it to do what I wanted. But that process was useful in itself, and it showed me how these tools can support teaching if you鈥檙e willing to experiment a bit. Learning to share and get it hosted was another learning curve!
You can download futher data on the AI prompt here.
The site is designed to work both in lessons and for independent study. Students can go through it at their own pace, but it鈥檚 also something that can be used directly in class. This matters because a lot of students respond well to visual material. As Jon Callow points out, images have a strong and immediate impact, and they are often easier for students to recognise and remember than written information (Callow, 2012). In a similar way, Richard Mayer argues that students learn more effectively when information is presented through a combination of words and images, rather than words alone (Mayer, 2020). That鈥檚 really at the heart of the site鈥攊t鈥檚 about making complex ideas easier to grasp by showing them clearly.
The feedback from students and teachers so far has been very positive. People like that it鈥檚 accessible and easy to use, but there have also been some helpful suggestions. Some have said that the games is too short (I could easily add some more coins of the period). Others have mentioned that it would be useful to have quizzes or scoring built in so that it links better with platforms like Microsoft Teams or Google Classroom. That鈥檚 definitely something I鈥檇 ideally like to look into.
Overall, the project shows how digital tools can be used to support subjects like Classical Civilisation. It鈥檚 about taking something that can feel quite abstract or difficult and making it clearer and more approachable. Hopefully, it helps students feel more confident not just in recognising these coins, but in actually using them as evidence in their writing.
References
Callow, J. (2012) The rules of visual engagement: Images as tools for learning. Screen Education. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net (Accessed: 15 June 2026).
Mayer, R.E. (2020) Multimedia learning. 3rd edn. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.