sulla80
City of the Sun
Veterans Day honors active and former US service members and is celebrated, in the US, today, November 11th. My coin today comes from a...
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sulla80
Nov 4, 20236 min
Attis & Cybele
This coin stands out for the biga of lions (chariot drawn by 2 lions) and the unusually deep and jagged indent on the obverse, "al marco"...
157 views
sulla80
Oct 28, 202313 min
Prelude to Munda
The later Republican period of Rome was marked by civil wars and the eventual transition to empire under Octavian/Augustus. There is a...
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sulla80
Oct 28, 20235 min
Roman Grasshoppers
The Gates of Janus were an important symbol of war and peace in Rome: they were opened when Rome was at war (most of the time) and closed...
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sulla80
Oct 22, 202310 min
Alexandria ad Issum
Each week, these notes share an ancient coin, context for the coin, relevant art, modern references and ancient sources. Sometimes we...
106 views
sulla80
Oct 15, 20237 min
Soldier Emperor
Today's coins of interest are from Probus, a soldier emperor, who rose up from the ranks and served four emperors before being proclaimed...
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sulla80
Oct 7, 20237 min
Figs, Sophists, and Sulla
My primary collection centers on the lifetime of Sulla and his reign as consul and dictator in Rome. Today's coin of interest falls in...
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sulla80
Oct 1, 202312 min
Iberian Denarii
These notes started with the questions of "what differentiates a Palenzuela type Iberian denarius minted in Osca from one that is not...
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sulla80
Sep 28, 202310 min
Hadrian's Stable Earth
It seems that the uptick in interest in Rome is having an effect on the popularity of my musings on what has, up until now, felt like an...
160 views
sulla80
Sep 23, 20237 min
The Fabian Strategy
The U.S. Naval War College in Newport Rhode Island teaches a Fleet Seminar Program for Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard officers of...
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sulla80
Sep 21, 20233 min
Nakrasa, Lydia
An usual location for a Roman Provincial coin of Hadrian is as good a reason as any to add it to a collection. I didn't recognize...
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sulla80
Sep 16, 20234 min
Pro Plancius
Although today's note will start with a trending TikTok theme, it will eventually lead to a Roman Republican denarius and the question of...
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sulla80
Sep 3, 20237 min
The Emperor's Jealousy
Germanicus had a complicated royal family tree: he was the son of general Nero Claudius Drusus who was the son of Livia Drusilla and...
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sulla80
Aug 27, 20234 min
Heroes, Gods & Wild Boars
The Greeks & Romans had multiple of myths about fierce boars running wild. Wild boars were common in ancient Greece and they made worthy...
748 views
sulla80
Aug 19, 20236 min
Consualia
The Consualia was a harvest festival, held on August 21 (or 18). Consus, the name of the god, is from condere, “to store up.” The...
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sulla80
Aug 13, 20233 min
The Great God Darzalas-Serapis
The coin that we share today is from Roman emperor Gordian III and was issued in Odessus, Moesia Inferior which is today the city of...
966 views
sulla80
Aug 5, 20236 min
Seleucid End
With the end of the Third Mithridatic War, Rome became the supreme power in control of all the Mediterranean. Pompey celebrated a victory...
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sulla80
Aug 1, 20234 min
Perikles, Lycian Dynast
It doesn't take long browsing the notes on this site to see that degree to which my interests have strayed from the coins of the 1st cent...
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sulla80
Jul 22, 20234 min
The Last Days of Sulla
Samnite soldiers depicted on a 4th Century BC frieze from Nola in the National Archaeological Museum of Naples via Wikimedia Commons...
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sulla80
Jul 9, 20234 min
Vespasian in Alexandria
What an ancient coin costs is always a factor of who sees it. The range of ancient coins is so broad that inevitably there are...
170 views
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