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 espe

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 ,...

Portraits from a variety of Roman republican and Roman Imperial coins. Aristotle Physiognomy is the historical practice of judging a...

Dora, also known as Dor, was an ancient port city on the Phoenician coast (modern Israel), situated north of Caesarea Maritima. It was a...

Hierapolis, located within Cyrrhestica, northern Syria, was a major religious center dedicated to Atargatis, the "Syrian Goddess"...

Clodius Albinus (c. 150–197 CE) was a Roman general and politician who was briefly emperor during the tumultuous Year of Five Emperors...

Kilikarch wearing a crown of busts, from the Adana Museum. Photo by E. Borgia c. 2018. The Kilikarchia  was a provincial magistracy in the Roman province of Cilicia during the mid-2nd to mid-3rd century AD, as evidenced by epigraphic and numismatic sources. Today's coin from Cilicia is one of those numismatic sources from Tarsus, Cilicia issued in the name of Elagabalus. This is a very rare Roman Provincial coin, with about 10 known, that refers to the administration of the

While this is not the prettiest coin - it is an interesting coin with a water-god and a fish on the reverse of a coin, from an place,...

This week, a mystery coin has been re-identified. Somewhere along the way, it lost its attribution.