sulla80
Ludi Saeculares
My coins of interest today recognize the Ludi Saeculares (Secular Games). This post explores the origins from the time of the Roman...
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sulla80
- Dec 10, 2022
- 7 min
Cassius, Conspirator
My coin of interest today was issued by Gaius Cassius Longinus not long before Mark Antony defeated him at Philippi where he committed...
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sulla80
- Nov 26, 2022
- 4 min
The Road to Philippi
Both coins shared today are sometime labeled by auction houses as "castrensis moneta mint in Italy?". The description is one that...
30 views
sulla80
- Nov 23, 2022
- 8 min
Romans in Judaea
Ruins of Herod's Castle in Fortress Massada, Israel, used under license from Shutterstock. Vespasian and his sons used their success in...
32 views
sulla80
- Nov 20, 2022
- 6 min
Top 10 for 2022
"CXXXII. The offering is to be made in this way: Offer to Jupiter Dapalis a cup of wine of any size you wish, observing the day as a...
203 views
sulla80
- Oct 30, 2022
- 9 min
Rome & Africa
The modern countries, bordering the Mediterranean, west of Egypt, in northern Africa (Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia)...
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sulla80
- Oct 2, 2022
- 6 min
Norbanus, Casualty of Sulla’s Return
The Roman republic of the first century BC is my home base for collecting. My latest AR denarius, from 83 BC, was issued by Gaius...
28 views
sulla80
- Aug 28, 2022
- 5 min
A Late Republican Cistophoric Tetradrachm
Since I first wrote about this coin four years ago, this 2017 ANS book by William E. Metcalf has become one that I've frequently...
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sulla80
- Jul 16, 2022
- 6 min
"Freedom" for Thessalians in 196 BC
This article was originally issued in July 2021, as we celebrated the 4th, in the United States, and the American Declaration of...
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sulla80
- Jul 10, 2022
- 5 min
Julius Caesar v. Pompeians
The First Triumvirate was a powerful coalition between Julius Caesar, a young and charismatic populist, two more senior leaders who both...
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sulla80
- Jul 6, 2022
- 2 min
A Fresh Start
This past week these notes pages tipped over 200 posts - which gives me an excuse to think about how to better organize these posts going...
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sulla80
- Jun 8, 2022
- 7 min
The Cimbrian War
If you look beneath the surface and consider what happened and what it felt like to the people who lived in these times, the environment...
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sulla80
- Jun 5, 2022
- 4 min
The Master of Terence?
Terrence was a former slave who became a famous playwright from the Roman republic. He wrote six comic plays in the mid 2nd century BC,...
32 views
sulla80
- May 22, 2022
- 7 min
Finding M.CAECILIVS.Q.F.Q.N
M. Aemilius Scaurus & M. Caecilius Metellus chosen as consuls in 638 AUC (ab urbe condita or 'from the founding of the City'). Image from...
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sulla80
- May 20, 2022
- 7 min
Horatii & Curiatii triplets
A Roman republican denarius from a moneyer with a family name that traces to the legendary origins of Rome (7th century BC) and the...
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sulla80
- Apr 22, 2022
- 3 min
Roman Republican Sphinx
My coin of interest today is a Roman Republic denarius with a sphinx on the reverse, the style of the sphinx is similar to this 1st...
85 views
sulla80
- Mar 27, 2022
- 4 min
Tigranes II the Great
Seleucid King Antiochus The Great (223-187 BC), expanded his empire by installing Artaxias as the governor (strategos) of Greater Armenia...
95 views
sulla80
- Mar 2, 2022
- 2 min
The Judgement of Paris
Some questions are best avoided. When faced with three beautiful coins, it seems that asking "Which is fairest?" is perhaps not a good...
132 views
sulla80
- Feb 12, 2022
- 6 min
United Tribes of Gaul
Eventually this post will reach two denarii that were issued to commemorate Julius Caesar's victories in the Gallic Wars with Celtic...
46 views
sulla80
- Feb 5, 2022
- 6 min
Perfect, Rare or Beautiful?
This post starts with a few thoughts on the ingredients that make up an attractive ancient coin and will eventually get to a coin of...
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