Nero, 13.41 gram Billion Tetradrachm 24mm, Regnal Year 11 (64/65 CE)  The Prefect of Egypt at this time was Gaius Caecina Tuscus (served AD 63–66). To fund the rebuilding of Rome and Nero’s "Golden House" (Domus Aurea), Egypt’s role as the empire’s breadbasket became critical. Grain requisitions (annona) and tax collection were aggressively enforced by the prefect Caecina Tuscus, leading to reported civil unrest and flight from villages to avoid taxation. Unlike many of his p

Detail from the best example of this coin that I could find ex CNG. The Assassination of Caracalla In early April of 217, the emperor Caracalla was on the move in northern Syria, traveling between Edessa and Carrhae to visit a local sanctuary of the moon god. Herodian, writing as a contemporary bureaucrat, describes the emperor stepping away from the column with a handful of attendants, drowsy from the pace of the march and the monotony of the road. "[ Herodian 4.13.4 ] At t

2025 has been a better than average year across the board. 2024 wrapped up with surgery and a year later I am fully recovered with a very low chance of recurrence. On the coin front, I sold more than 150 coins and didn't add very many. I may have been more selective in buying this year - opting for quality over quantity - but it also feels like there were fewer coins available that I was interested in. Still no shortage of nice coins added this year. There is a long list o

Ptolemy V Epiphanes (c. 210 - May 180 BCE) died unexpectedly at the age of 30, leaving the kingdom in a precarious state. His reign had been marked by native Egyptian revolts, the loss of overseas territories, and a heavy reliance on the goodwill of Rome. His heir, Ptolemy VI Philometor, was a child of only six years upon his accession in 180 BC. The survival of the dynasty depended entirely on the stability of the regency. Cleopatra I "Syra as regent Initially, the regency w

2nd/3rd Century CE relief showing a Kushan King (probably Huvishka) making a donation to Buddha (a Bodhisattva). Museo d'Arte Orientale, in the historic 18th-century seat of Palazzo Mazzonis, Torino, Italy Huvishka, the documented successor of Kanishka I, ruled for more than three decades. His reign is best reconstructed from inscriptions and an exceptionally rich coinage. What stands out from his reign is an imperial mint that deployed a broad pantheon on coins, a shift of m

In the late fourth to early third century BC, amid the shifting alliances and hard-fought wars that would determine the destiny of southern Italy, the Greek city of Neapolis struck a series of silver nomoi whose beauty and symbolism remain among the most evocative of Magna Graecia. This coin preserves the identity of an independent Greek polis negotiating the rise of Roman power, preserving local myth, and asserting civic pride through images deeply rooted in Neapolitan memor

National Archaeological Museum of Naples. From Boscoreale, Villa of P. Fannius Synistor. Personifications of Macedonia (on the left) and Persia (or Asia, seated); or possibly a representation of the Macedonian ruler (see the circular shield with a star), or Antigonus Gonatas and his mother Phila. Public Domain image via Wikimedia Commons . According to Greek belief, Pan could cause irrational terror in humans and animals, especially when his midday rest was disturbed. His sud

I found this coin irresistible for its French revolution connection. Great Britain, temp. Hanover. Emsworth (Hampshire) Æ Half Penny Token (9.73g, 28mm, 6h), AD 1794 Obv: EARL HOWE & THE GLORIOUS FIRST OF JUNE., bust to left Rev: A MAP OF FRANCE 1794 around foot to left on map, surrounded by square border; FRANCE GLORY HONOR RE/LI/GI/ON. On the edge it reads "CURRENT EVERY WHERE". Ref: Dalton & Hamer 18. Historical hook.  This coin expresses the patriotic sentiment around

In 86 BCE Sulla broke Mithridates’ European offensive with back‑to‑back victories at Chaeronea and Orchomenus, achieved under acute supply constraints after the sack of Athens.  This cleared Greece of Pontic forces and opened the road to the 85 BCE peace at Dardanus.  As Mithridates’ general Archelaus leveraged Greek defections (notably Athens under Aristion), Sulla crossed into Greece, besieged and stormed Athens/Piraeus, and financed siege operations by stripping nearby san

Tetradrachm  : Marcus Aurelius Antoninus “Elagabalus” (r. 16 May 218 – 11 March 222 CE)  Date/Mint:  218–220 CE, likely Antioch. Prieur gets to the level of identifying the style of individual engravers from previous issues of Caracalla and Macrinus and lists this coin as Emesa and others in Carrhae, Laodicea, and Unknown in his section on Antioch. RPC goes with " Uncertain mint of the Syrian Tetradrachms " e.g.  RPC 7954  which is perhaps the safest option without some stro

Today's coin - cited by the auction house (Leu) with the less than informative: "from a European collection, formed before 2005" - was...

Yazid I was the son of Mu'awiya , the second caliph of the Umayyads, and the sixth caliph overall. (Note: for a coin of Yazid's father...

Detail from Les Sabines or The Intervention of the Sabine Women by Jacques-Louis David, 1799 , oil on canvas, Louvre , Paris. The...

Today's coin of interest is a scarce Republican denarius struck by L. Appuleius Saturninus in 104 BCE shows the helmeted head of Roma on...

Now that the number of articles on SullaCoins is greater than 375 - I am finding that having an index is useful. I posted an index to the life of Sulla (Link: Index to Sulla ) a few months ago, and I am adding with this post and "Index to the Roman Emperors". Index: Emperor → relevant SullaCoins articles ( Multiple articles where applicable; citations are clickable links to the specific posts. ) Julio‑Claudian (27 BCE–68 CE) Augustus : Triumphs of Augustus ; Standards Rest

Entry for the denarius of C Valerius Flaccus in Monnaies de la République Romaine by Ernest Babelon (1854-1924) Romans considered...

It has been a long time since my last visit to the Cloisters in NY. It is an oasis of medieval history, strangely out of place on the...

I don't have much from late Roman Empire (4th and 5th centuries CE) - this AELIA FLACCILA qualifies, a follis from Constantinople...

The Roman Concept of the Day: * Sulcus Primigenius or "Initial Furrow Understanding the Initial Furrow The term sulcus primigenius ,...

For many years I have admired the gold coins of the Kushan kings and finally decided it was time to move from admiring to owning. This...