The Latin term dextrarum iunctio literally translates to "the joining of right hands" and serves as a symbol of fidelity, loyalty, reconciliation or unity of factions. Being a Roman emperor in the half-century after 235 did not promise a long and profitable career. The empire ran through some twenty-six emperors, nearly all of whom died by violence, most at the hands of their own soldiers. In 260, Valerian was taken alive by the Persian king Shapur, the only Roman emperor ev

A billon tetradrachm of the empress Tranquillina (Alexandria, AD 243/4) and a silver 5 lire of Vittorio Emanuele III (Rome, 1926) both showing a frontal eagle: wings spread and drooping, head turned to the side, the whole bird filling the field. On one the bird is perched on a wreath, on the other on a bundle of rods. One is heavy, debased silver, struck in Egypt under Roman rule. The other is good silver from Mussolini's Rome, dated 1926. The are minted nearly seventeen cen

"When the Nile is in flood, it overflows not only the Delta but also the lands called Libyan and Arabian, in places as far as two days’ journey from either bank, and sometimes more than this, sometimes less. Concerning its nature, neither from the priests nor from any others could I learn anything." -Herodotus, The Persian Wars, II.19 Perhaps it isn't rocket science to answer the question - it certainly isn't hard to see an upside-down upper case uppercase Δ in this NASA pho

The Asklepieion, an ancient healing center in a city once known as Pergamon and today Bergama, Turkiye. Image Source: Travel & Beyond The Asklepieion was the sanctuary and healing complex of Asklepios (Latin Aesculapius), the god of medicine. It was located just outside the city of Pergamon on the plain below the acropolis. It functioned as something between a temple, a spa, a sanatorium, and a teaching hospital. Along with the sanctuaries at Epidauros, the cult's "mother" s

Today's coin of interest is a small provincial bronze with a portrait of Domitia wife of Domitian, pleasing green patina and a little dirt (literally and metaphorically). Suetonius was clearly not a big fan of Domitian - neither were the senators - when news of his death broke - Suetonius writes: "The senators on the contrary were so overjoyed, that they raced to fill the House, where they did not refrain from assailing the dead emperor with the most insulting and stinging ki

Silver Plaque with St. Paul Byzantine 550-600 CE. Public Domain Image with thanks to the NY MET. In the spring of 615 CE, in a Constantinople ringed by enemies, the imperial mint struck a coin that had no recent precedent. It was made of silver - a metal the city’s mint had largely abandoned for more than a century - and it carried, around the stepped cross on its reverse, a short Latin prayer that no Roman coin had ever borne before: dEUS AdIUtA ROmANIS ("God, help the Roman

A silver denarius of Septimius Severus, struck at the mint of Laodicea ad Mare between 198 and 202 CE, is a deceptively modest object - 17 millimeters in diameter and weighing 3.04 grams. The modesty underrepresents the significant geopolitical events at play. The first attractions are the fine style of the portrait, the cabinet tone, and the reverse legend VICTORIAE AVGG FEL. The coin carries a bearded portrait of the African-born emperor, advertising his self-claimed Antoni

In AD 286, the emperor Maximian learned that the commander of his Channel fleet, a Menapian officer named Marcus Aurelius Mausaeus Carausius, was partnering with pirates to build up his resources. He had been commissioned to clear the Channel of Saxon and Frankish raiders; according to Eutropius 9.22.

In the Spring of 251, the mint at Rome struck a sestertius for the young Caesar Hostilian. The reverse shows Apollo seated in calm dignity, lyre at his side, under the legend PRINCIPI IVVENTVTIS - a promise of dynastic stability. Within months that promise was broken. Decius and Herennius Etruscus were dead after a battle at Abritus with the Goths. Hostilian too would die soon afterwards, perhaps by plague, perhaps by murder. Modern historians disagree over whether the the Pl

BM1877 Alexandria GORDIAN III laureate cuirassed AKMANTΓΟΡΔΙΑΝΟCEV Homonoia stands left with double cornucopoia. LE to left. EF 3/3. Seaby (on reverse) The year AD 238 is often called the "Year of the Six Emperors". The year began with Maximinus Thrax as emperor, a career soldier of humble background who relied heavily on the army and showed little patience for the Senate. To fund his military campaigns, he imposed harsh tax demands across the provinces. The strain was especi

Seneca (writing 62-65 AD) classifies the thunderbolt alongside torches and shooting stars as "fire squeezed out of the air" (ignis aere expressus). He views them as transient, fleeting events caused by physical "defects" or pressures in the atmosphere rather than spontaneous divine whims.

All of today's coins are from the Rauceby Hoard or more precisely PAS Coin Hoard Unique ID: LIN-F6D516. For many of the coins in this collection, the questions of "where were the found & when" will never be known. For the coins from today's notes, we know a lot about them thanks the the UK Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) managed by the British Museum that records archaeological objects found by the public to advance historical ...

M. Antonius Polemon (active AD 50–54) was the grandson of Polemon I and a great-grandson of the orator Zenon. He remained in the family's home city of Laodicea. He was a high-ranking Priest (Hiereus) and city official. He is also the great-great-grandson of Mark Antony by way Polemon I (the magistrate's grandfather) who married Pythodoris (the magistrate's great grandmother), the daughter of Antonia who was the daughter of Mark Antony. The Coin Phrygia, Laodicea. Claudius (AD

Nero, 13.41 gram Billion Tetradrachm 24mm, Regnal Year 11 (64/65 CE) The Prefect of Egypt at this time was Gaius Caecina Tuscus (served AD 63–66). To fund the rebuilding of Rome and Nero’s "Golden House" (Domus Aurea), Egypt’s role as the empire’s breadbasket became critical. Grain requisitions (annona) and tax collection were aggressively enforced by the prefect Caecina Tuscus, leading to reported civil unrest and flight from villages to avoid taxation. Unlike many of his p

Detail from the best example of this coin that I could find ex CNG. The Assassination of Caracalla In early April of 217, the emperor Caracalla was on the move in northern Syria, traveling between Edessa and Carrhae to visit a local sanctuary of the moon god. Herodian, writing as a contemporary bureaucrat, describes the emperor stepping away from the column with a handful of attendants, drowsy from the pace of the march and the monotony of the road. "[ Herodian 4.13.4 ] At t

Tetradrachm : Marcus Aurelius Antoninus “Elagabalus” (r. 16 May 218 – 11 March 222 CE) Date/Mint: 218–220 CE, likely Antioch. Prieur gets to the level of identifying the style of individual engravers from previous issues of Caracalla and Macrinus and lists this coin as Emesa and others in Carrhae, Laodicea, and Unknown in his section on Antioch. RPC goes with " Uncertain mint of the Syrian Tetradrachms " e.g. RPC 7954 which is perhaps the safest option without some stro

Today's coin - cited by the auction house (Leu) with the less than informative: "from a European collection, formed before 2005" - was...

Now that the number of articles on SullaCoins is greater than 375 - I am finding that having an index is useful. I posted an index to the life of Sulla (Link: Index to Sulla ) a few months ago, and I am adding with this post and "Index to the Roman Emperors". Index: Emperor → relevant SullaCoins articles ( Multiple articles where applicable; citations are clickable links to the specific posts. ) Julio‑Claudian (27 BCE–68 CE) Augustus : Triumphs of Augustus ; Standards Rest

I don't have much from late Roman Empire (4th and 5th centuries CE) - this AELIA FLACCILA qualifies, a follis from Constantinople...

The Roman Concept of the Day: * Sulcus Primigenius or "Initial Furrow Understanding the Initial Furrow The term sulcus primigenius ,...