M. Aemilius Scaurus & M. Caecilius Metellus chosen as consuls in 638 AUC (ab urbe condita or 'from the founding of the City'). Image from...

A Roman republican denarius from a moneyer with a family name that traces to the legendary origins of Rome (7th century BC) and the...

During the time of Lucius Cornelius Sulla, Rome was already beginning to interfere in the governance of Egypt. Cicero references an unpublished agreement between Sulla and Alexander I (Ptolemy X) or II (Ptolemy XI) to bequeath Egypt to Rome. "What will become of Alexandria, and of all Egypt? How much it is out of sight! how completely is it hidden! how stealthily is it abandoned entirely to the decemvirs! For who is there among you who is ignorant that that kingdom has become

While this post will start in "modern" times with a "modern" coin, I will ask the reader's patience...eventually it will go back to...

After the death of Alexander the Great in June of 323 BC, his generals fought each other and divided up his empire. Seleukos I took the...

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...

Since my first note (November 2020) on countermarks of Attic standard tetradrachms, I have added three more coins, so my notes needed some...

February 19, 197, the armies of Septimius Severus and Clodius Albinus clashed in Lugdunum (modern Lyon, France), and concluded the civil...

Perhaps it is not surprising in these notes pages that Lais of Corinth attracted my interest because of the reverse of an ancient coin....

Seleucid King Antiochus The Great (223-187 BC), expanded his empire by installing Artaxias as the governor (strategos) of Greater Armenia and Zariadres as governor of Sophene. Then when Antiochus was defeated by the Romans in 191 BC and shortly before the signing of the Treaty of Apamea in 188 BC, these two generals of Antiochus, turned to Rome and were recognized as independent kingdoms. "According to historians, Armenia, which was formerly a small country, was enlarged by A

The winged bull's head crown of this Nezak Shah is worth a closer look. These eastern neighbors to the Sasanians left behind many coins,...

According to this US Inflation Calculator , which must be good because it was ranked highest by Google, if I purchased a coin in 1978 for...

Boeotia provides an early example of representative and federated democracy. "Ancient democracies and federations of states" is a theme...

Some questions are best avoided. When faced with three beautiful coins, it seems that asking "Which is fairest?" is perhaps not a good...

The coin I initially used to illustrate this was pretty ugly, nearly unidentifiable. I have since replaced it with a much nicer coin:...

I wrote an earlier post on Rome v. Parthia - in May 53 BC, when at Carrhae, Mesopotamia a member of the Sūrēn (Surena) family won a...

Eventually this post will reach two denarii that were issued to commemorate Julius Caesar's victories in the Gallic Wars with Celtic...

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...

An event during Alexander the Great's conquest of the Achaemenid Empire is potentially depicted on the reverse of my coin today, with a...

The featured coin today is a tetradrachm of Nero from Antioch. It is dated by both the regnal Year of Nero (RY 8) and by a Caesarean Era...