“There are many rats depicted on ancient coins, this one has an actual rat.” - Frank Robinson, ancient coin dealer, in one of his online auction listings My latest denarius completes a two rat set from the Roman republic. As these coins were being minted, the conditions for Sulla’s rise to power were taking shape. Micipsa, King of Numidia, had died in 118 BC leaving two sons, Hiempsal and Adherbal, and his brother’s son, Jugurtha, to rule Numidia. Jugurtha soon had Hiempsal k

‘With these beans I throw I redeem me and mine.’ -Ovid, Fasti Book V, Lemuria Flora von Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz by Thomé,...

In response to several requests, today's post provides an entry point to other notes on this site. There are many coins that a collector...

In his introduction to “The Roman Republic”, Michael Crawford writes: “Some parts of the story may perhaps seem unduly dramatic; I can...

Lex Titia, passed by the senate on November, 27 43 BCE, formed the "2nd Triumvirate", and granted broad authority to Mark Antony, Lepidus...

This note will start with a drachm from Cappadocia, a key point of conflict between the Roman republic and the Kingdom of Pontus. There...

My coin of interest today is a mysterious AE from the late first century with no shortage of competing views on whose portrait appears on...

The history of the Roman Republic has no shortage of dramatic figures and events, and yet the story of Cato the Younger (Cato Minor)...

My denarius of interest today was issued by a relative of Lucius Cornelius Sulla. The relationship between this moneyer and the dictator,...

The question often posed by family members caught up with me this morning: "Is your collection done?" A fair question, but not one I have...

In the second major battle of the second Punic wars, the Carthaginian general, Hannibal, defeated the Romans on Lake Trasimene. Quintus...

Suetonius is responsible for setting the 12-Caesars benchmark that all ancient coin collectors have to live with. There are other sets...

Lucius Cornelius Sulla, Crabb, George. Universal Historical Dictionary; Vol. 1. London: Baldwin, Cradock, and Joy, 1825. This coin from...

Here are five coins from father and son, the last one a coin that just arrived today. The denarius of the father, from the time of the Social Wars, 91-87 BC, that led to the Romanization of Italy. The son, with a similar coin, minted in 61 BC about 30 years later - the reported dates for the son's coin are varied - I prefer the dates of Hersh-Walker which use Mesagne hoard evidence to reorder some of the dates from Crawford. For more on the Charles Hersh and Alan Walker pub

Gate to the agora (assembly place) of ancient Kibyra I think it is only fair to offer caution that this thread wanders a bit far from...

My first coin today is a Syro-Phoenician Tetradrachm of Caracalla, from Sidon with Europa on the reverse. Sidon is named for King Sidon...

This coin prompted a bit of exploration of the cursus honorem, the ladder of a political career in ancient Rome. It also added the word...

Marius and Sulla tore at the fabric of the Roman republic with their personal ambitions which led to civil wars for the Roman Republic in...

Gaius Marius (b. ~157 BC - d. 13 January 86 BC) was the rival of Sulla in the Roman Civil Wars between 87-80 BC. Marius was seven times...

One of the cryptic codes that you can recognize in Crawford’s Roman Republican Coinage (RRC) is “RE” as for this coin in the sentence on...