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Inflation, Debasement, and Politics
Inflation for the moment seems to be relaxing a bit, the price of gas, one of the more daily visible symbols, was $3.30 a gallon...

sulla80
Feb 5, 20237 min read
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Coins of Massalia
Marseille Greek Colony, P. Puvis de Chavannes, 1869, oil on canvas, commissioned in 1867 by the city of Marseille for the west wing of...

sulla80
Jan 15, 20238 min read
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Fighting for Liberty
In 27 BC, the Roman Senate granted Octavian the title of "Augustus" and he became the first Roman Emperor, effectively ending the Roman...

sulla80
Jan 14, 20235 min read
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Ludi Saeculares
My coins of interest today recognize the Ludi Saeculares (Secular Games). This post explores the origins from the time of the Roman...

sulla80
Dec 27, 20227 min read
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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...

sulla80
Dec 10, 20227 min read
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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...

sulla80
Nov 26, 20225 min read
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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...

sulla80
Nov 23, 20228 min read
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Top 10 Ancients 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...

sulla80
Nov 20, 20226 min read
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Rome & Africa
The modern countries, bordering the Mediterranean, west of Egypt, in northern Africa (Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia)...

sulla80
Oct 30, 20229 min read
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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...

sulla80
Oct 2, 20226 min read
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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...

sulla80
Aug 28, 20226 min read
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"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...

sulla80
Jul 16, 20227 min read
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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...

sulla80
Jul 10, 20225 min read
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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...

sulla80
Jul 6, 20222 min read
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Reading the Ancient Stars
August Signs I picked up this little coin mostly for the well executed scorpion. It is a little bronze weighing, 2.88mg and 13mm in...

sulla80
Jul 1, 20224 min read
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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...

sulla80
Jun 8, 20227 min read
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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,...

sulla80
Jun 5, 20224 min read
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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...

sulla80
May 22, 20228 min read
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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...

sulla80
May 20, 20227 min read
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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...

sulla80
Apr 22, 20223 min read
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