The Roman concept of the day: sulcus primigenius  or "initial furrow". A definition via Sextus Pompeius Festus , a grammarian, from the...

Today's post begins with the hope of making some sense of the weight standards for a set of staters in my collection. A number of...

This map (a detail from The Historical Atlas by William R. Shepherd, 1923 ) illustrates the western edge of Asia Minor, also known as...

Pompey had already earned a reputation for cleaning up messes when the Roman Senate passed Lex Gabinia (67 BCE) and Lex Manilia (66 BCE), which handed Pompey near‑unlimited imperium over the eastern Mediterranean. Gabinius’ law handed him 500 ships, fifteen legates and fiscal carte blanche; Manilius then united that navy with Lucullus’ veteran army. Pompey had cleaned up the rebels in Spain who were led by Q. Sertorius (The Sertorian War) and commemorated his victory in 74 BC

Detail from the Altıkulaç Sarcophagus (5th–4th c. BCE) discovered in Çingenetepe Tumulus (Çanakkale), today in the Troy Museum , features...

This week's coin of interest is a large 32mm coin (an AE Dirham of the Danishmendids). It was a steal at 20 EUR - yes it is ugly, yes it seems to be some sort of hot mess with a flan crack and maybe over-struck on some earlier coin? An unusual an interesting coin nonetheless...

In AD 100/101, during the reign of Emperor Trajan (regnal year 3 of Trajan’s rule), the city of Caesarea in Cappadocia (central Anatolia)...

In 133 BCE, King Attalos III of Pergamum died without an heir and bequeathed his entire kingdom to Rome. Aristonikos, who claimed to be an illegitimate son of Attalos’ father King Eumenes II, rose to challenge Rome’s takeover. Aristonikos took the dynastic name Eumenes III, presenting himself as the rightful king and rallying support for his cause.

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

Kilikarch wearing a crown of busts, from the Adana Museum. Photo by E. Borgia c. 2018. The Kilikarchia  was a provincial magistracy in...

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,...

Today's note is all about the pomegranate and more than 300 years of coins from Side (Σίδη), Pamphylia (Παμφυλία). For those who would...

Saturnalia in Red: an AI generated abstract image evoking the spirit of Saturnalia. Saturnalia is December 17th. I was excited to open...

Cilicia was a Persian military base in the 4th century BC and after Alexander defeated Achaemennid King Darius III at Issos it was...

2024 has had ups and downs - it seems that every year I start with same thought. This has been an unusual year with and earth quake,...

The Seljuks of Rum, who ruled over much of Anatolia from the late 11th century, faced increasing pressure from the Mongol invasions...

Today's coin of interest was minted by Mazaeus who served as Satrap of Cilicia for Darius III of Persia and for Alexander III who...

The site of Kebren is located in the central area of the Troad, on the slopes of Çal Dağ, which translates to "mountain of shrubs", a weste

Paul the Apostle (2BC–64/65) stayed in Ephesus for about two and a half years from 53-56 BCE. In Acts 19.24-28 there is a story of Paul...

Mustafa II was Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1695 to 1703. He ascended to the throne late in the The Great Turkish War (1683-1699)...