"having received also from Hermes an adamantine sickle he (Perseus) flew to the ocean and caught the Gorgons asleep. They were Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa. Now Medusa alone was mortal; for that reason Perseus was sent to fetch her head. But the Gorgons had heads twined about with the scales of dragons, and great tusks like swine's, and brazen hands, and golden wings, by which they flew; and they turned to stone such as beheld them. So Perseus stood over them as they slept, an

This little 2.27g coin from Patrae was made quickly, in quantity, at a moment, around the middle 30s BCE, on the edge of the war that would end the Roman Republic. Achaia, Patrae; circa 35 BCE, AR Triobol or Hemidrachm (15mm, 2.27g, 6h), Damasias, son of Agesilaus, magistrate. (15 or 16 of these coins in ACSearch) Obv: Head of Aphrodite (with features of Cleopatra?), right, wearing stephane, earringand necklace, her hair bound in a bun at the back Rev: ΔA/MACIAC in two lines

"The measure of contempt given our nation abroad (Italy, America, everywhere!), and after all deservedly so! — and this is decisive — because we tolerate this man's regime has become a factor for us of first-rate world political importance. Anyone who reads the foreign press for a few months must notice this. We are isolated because this man rules us in this fashion and because we tolerate it and whitewash it. No man or party who in any sense cultivates democratic, and at the

My coin of interest today was issued by Gaius Cassius Longinus, not long before Mark Antony defeated him at Philippi, where he committed suicide. Cassius is named as the leading instigator of the plot to kill Julius Caesar by Plutarch and Appian, but other sources lean to Brutus or are more vague. According to Plutarch, he had both personal and political grievances against Caesar. Cassius was married to Junia Tertia, the daughter of Servilia & Decimus Junius Silanus and half-

The official story is that Romulus was taken up to heaven. On the seventh of July, Romulus was conducting a public sacrifice outside the city, at a place called the Goat's Marsh with the senate and most of the people present. A sudden storm broke. The sky darkened, a cloud descended to the ground, and violent winds and rain scattered the crowd. When the weather cleared, Romulus was gone. He was never found, alive or dead.

"Scholars commonly credit the ancient Romans with publishing the first newspaper, Acta Diurna, or daily doings, in 59 BCE. Although no copies of this paper have survived, it is widely believed to have published chronicles of events, assemblies, births, deaths, and daily gossip." - History of Newspapers, Chapter 2.1 from an Open Textbook used by Washington State University (and others) Roman Media From the 1st century BCE in the Roman Republic and into the empire, coins were

The Lupa Capitolina was thought to be Etruscan from the 5th century until an analysis by Capitoline Museums in Rome in 2006-2013 suggested that the bronze casting technique was consistent with medieval foundry methods (11th or 12th century AD) - not ancient ones. The twins Romulus and Remus crouching beneath her were always known to be a later addition, attributed to Antonio Pollaiuolo in the 1490s. Public Domain Image via Wikimedia Commons . Today's coin of interest takes us

Over the last decade or so my collection has been growing from an interest in the late Roman Republican period - with Sulla and the events of the 80s BC as the seed for the collection. A portrait coin of Mithridates has been on my list for most of that time - and I haven't been willing to commit to the price for a tetradrachm of Mithridates VI. Today's coin fills that gap.

With ancient coins, left facing portraits are not inherently more valuable than right facing, however for some issues the left facing version is a rarity that specialists will pay more for. Left facing Roman imperial female portraits are particularly rare. For Roman republican coins left/right portrait is not a way to tell price. Here's the first left facing portrait on a Roman Republican denarius. This coin from 137 BC is a relatively common coin and is one of the least expe

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.

Palazzo Senatorio (Senatorial Palace) with statues of Castor (left) and Pollux (right) at the top of the stairs to the Campidoglio, Rome, Italy. The giant sculptures of the Dioscuri were originally made in the 2nd century CE and discovered in 1561 at the Temple of Castor and Pollux near Circus Flaminius. They were restored in 1582 under Pope Gregory XIII and placed here in 1582-1583. The year 96 BCE sat quietly between crises—but it should not be mistaken for calm. The death

A genuine ancient coin that has survived from 90 BCE and the "Social War" serves as a truth from that time. Everything else we "know" about this coin is "knowledge": what we write down, argue about, and base decisions on - i.e. the story we tell about that truth....

The New Year’s kiss is one of the most famous holiday traditions around. It can be a sweet way to ring in the new year with a partner, the slightly awkward result of too many glasses of Champagne, or the thrilling start of a new romance . - The New Year’s Eve Kiss Tradition, Explained , by Gia Yetikyel and Anna Grace Lee, December 27, 2025 Venus, goddess of Love, on the obverse of a denarius from the Roman Republic, 81 BCE For the link between the New Year's kiss and Roman Sa

The Battle at Actium in 31 BC, an early Roman Imperial monument, marble relief, first half of the 1st century A.D. (extensively restored in the 16th or 17th century) from the Collection of the Dukes of Cardona, Cordoba. Public Domain image via the Wikimedia Commons . Today's coin was issued in Antioch and comes with the story of the governor of Syria, blocking a team of gladiators from supporting Mark Antony after Actium. Anthony and Cleopatra died in August of 30 BC and the

2025 has been a better than average year across the board. 2024 wrapped up with surgery and a year later I am fully recovered with a very low chance of recurrence. On the coin front, I sold more than 150 coins and didn't add very many. I may have been more selective in buying this year - opting for quality over quantity - but it also feels like there were fewer coins available that I was interested in. Still no shortage of nice coins added this year. There is a long list o

In 86 BCE Sulla broke Mithridates’ European offensive with back‑to‑back victories at Chaeronea and Orchomenus, achieved under acute supply constraints after the sack of Athens. This cleared Greece of Pontic forces and opened the road to the 85 BCE peace at Dardanus. As Mithridates’ general Archelaus leveraged Greek defections (notably Athens under Aristion), Sulla crossed into Greece, besieged and stormed Athens/Piraeus, and financed siege operations by stripping nearby san

Detail from Les Sabines or The Intervention of the Sabine Women by Jacques-Louis David, 1799 , oil on canvas, Louvre , Paris. The...

Today's coin of interest is a scarce Republican denarius struck by L. Appuleius Saturninus in 104 BCE shows the helmeted head of Roma on...

Entry for the denarius of C Valerius Flaccus in Monnaies de la République Romaine by Ernest Babelon (1854-1924) Romans considered...

This coin is my latest RR denarius a story of family propaganda from ancient Rome in the run-up to and early phases of the Caesar–Pompey civil war. Albinus Bruti f, 48 BCE, AR Denarius (Silver, 18 mm, 3.72 g, 9 h), Rome. Obv: A POSTVMIVS COS, bare head of A. Postumius to right. Rev: ALBINV / BRVTI•F within wreath of grain ears. Ref: Babelon (Postumia) 14 and (Junia) 29. Crawford 450/3b. CRI 27. RBW 1578. Sydenham 943a. Notes: Lightly toned. Struck from somewhat worn dies