Ulpia Severina Augusta, wife of Emperor Aurelian is not named in ancient literature, however the Historia Augusta mentions her: Clothing...

"Better one sparrow in thy hand than a thousand on the wing" - Proverbs of Ahikar the Wise, 6th Century Assyria, #51

"It so happened that the two men were not in complete accord: so great is the desire for sole rule and so contrary to the usual practice is it for the sovereignty to be shared that each undertook to secure the imperial power for himself alone." - Herodian 8.8.4 Balbinus and Pupienus Maximus were co-emperors in the year 238 for about 3 months. Herodian, a historian who lived during this time, relates that their end at the hands of the Praetorian guard, might have been prevent

Humans have been making images of cattle for many millennia - this painting from Lascaux caves depicts aurochs (wild ancestors of domesticated cattle), horses and deer. The Magdalénien people of the Upper Paleolithic in western Europe that produced these paintings are estimated to have lived 12,000-17,000 years ago. Image from Prof. Saxx of a Lascaux cave painting, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons My latest ancient coin has a beautiful image of a bull facing on the obver

The Vikrama Samvat is a Hindu luni-solar calendar, which means it is based on both the phases of the moon and the solar year. It has...

My coin of interest today is a Roman Republican denarius from 103BC. The first one shown here was little used and well preserved from...

Buying ancient coins can be particularly challenging for those just starting out. EBay is especially full of forgeries, copies,...

Mustafa II was Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1695 to 1703. He ascended to the throne late in the The Great Turkish War (1683-1699)...

Where did the people of ancient Rome originate? How do we connect the varied myths of Rome's founding from Virgil's Aeneid to the...

This first coin was issued during the turbulent times of the Gracchi brothers, with unrest between the social reformers and the...

Henri de Longpérier, in his book about "money containers", detailed two excellently preserved chests discovered in Pompeii in 1868. "The...

Emperor Claudius: When the moon gets in a direct line with the sun over our heads and passes under its blazing orb, it obscures the rays...

Phorcys and Ceto were the father and mother of the Gorgons (Phorycides), three sisters, Sthenno, Euryale, and Medusa. When Perseus killed...

There are multiple versions of the story of Pandora. Hesiod, who is thought to have lived between 750 and 650 BC, describes the creation...

The Bronze head of Seuthes III from the Golyamata Kosmatka Tomb Today's coin is from an obscure King, from Odrysia a part of Thrace. Comparing the portrait on the coin with the bronze head of Seuthes III - there is little question about the resemblance of these two portraits. The reverse reads ΣΕΥΘΟΥ (Seuthes in the genitive - belonging to Seuthes). Greek Coins, Kings of Thrace (Odrysian), Seuthes III (circa 330/25-295 BC), AE (5.05g, 22mm), mint: Seuthopolis Obv: Bearded por

Demos (the people), Boule (the city council), and Gerousia (the council of elders) can be found as personifications of municipal...

"I compelled the Parthians to restore to me the spoils and standards of three Roman armies and to ask as suppliants for the friendship of...

"Harun al-Rashid receiving a delegation of Charlemagne in Baghdad", oil on canvas by Julius Köckert (1827–1918), 1864, held by the...

Voting with pebbles detail from an Attic Red-Figured Kylix, 490–480 BC, attributed to the Brygos Painter, active about 490 - 470 BC....

In antiquity, the city-state of Lacedaemon (Λακεδαίμων) with Sparta as its main settlement on the banks of the Eurotas River was located ...