Today's coins are 2 denarii from 116-117 BC from the Roman republic. They are beautifully toned and well executed examples with more than 60 years of provenance going back to 1964 and held for all of that time in the personal collection of Robert W. Hoge, a distinguished American numismatist who purchased the coins in his late teens. These two coins come from the personal collection of Robert W. Hoge, acquired during his teenage years, and highlight two distinct and importa

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 the late 15th century, the Timurid Empire was fragmenting, and Qunduz (modern Kunduz in northern Afghanistan) became the seat of an...

Kings of Mauretania, Bocchus II (or early Juba II) ŠMŠ mint Shemesh, circa 49-33 BC, Æ 16.00mm, 3.53 g Obv: Bearded head left,...

This coin struck me as curious - copying 4th century Roman style portraits in the 12th century.  Al-Malik al-Ṣāliḥ, was the Zengid emir...

Head of Pompey the Great, 1st century AD, Marble, 41 cm tall, from the Tomb of the Licinii, Via Salaria, currently at the Ny Carlsberg...

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.

The Queen of Sheba: according to the biblical narrative (2 Chronicles 9:1-12; 1 Kings 10:1-13), the Queen of Sheba learns of King Solomon...

Dora, also known as Dor, was an ancient port city on the Phoenician coast (modern Israel), situated north of Caesarea Maritima. It was a...

Suetonius describes how Julius Caesar broke all norms with his return to Rome in 46 BC, after defeating the Pompeians in North Africa. ...

While Lavinium was building, the following omens are said to have appeared to the Trojans. When a fire broke out spontaneously in the ...

Circa 50 BCE, Marcellinus struck coins honoring his ancestor, Marcus Claudius Marcellus, victor over Viridomarus and conqueror of Syracuse..

Antiochus III was defeated by the Romans in two successive defeats, first at Thermopylae and afterward in Magensia and forced to accept ...

Kroton (aka Croton, which today is modern Crotone in Calabria, Italy) was founded around 710 BC by Achaean Greek settlers, according ...

Juno-Sospita-Antefix (Latium, c.500-480 BC), Altes Museum, Berlin, Jean-Pierre Dalbéra from Paris, France, used under CC BY 2.0...

The Eravisci  were a Celtic tribe that settled in the region later known as Pannonia, corresponding broadly to parts of modern-day...

Rome turned against its allies and against itself, redefining the Roman city-state, and paving the way for future upheavals...

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

The Civil War between Julius Caesar and Pompey the Great ended with Pompey's assassination shortly after his defeat...

There is little known about the moneyer of today's coin of interest, Petillius Capitolinus, one of the last moneyers to strike independent..