The Goat-City

An arched structure of access to the cavea of the Aigai theater.

A canting type is a coin design that makes a pun on the name of the issuing authority, almost always a city, by depicting an object, animal, or plant whose Greek name sounds like (or is identical to) the city's name. The term "canting" is a modern name borrowed from heraldry, where "canting arms" (armes parlantes) do the same thing for a family name.

Ancient visual puns: the city's name, spoken in pictures. You didn't need to read to know whose coin you held.

• Rhodes (Caria / island): Rhodos linked with Greek ῥόδον (rhodon) = rose.

• Selinus (Sicily): Selinous linked with Greek σέλινον (selinon) = wild celery (or parsley).

• Side (Pamphylia): Sidē linked with Anatolian Greek dialect σίδη (sidē) = pomegranate.

• Melos (Cyclades): Mēlos linked with Greek μῆλον (mēlon) = apple.

• Leontinoi (Sicily): Leontinoi linked with Greek λέων (leōn) = lion.

• Ankyra (Galatia): Ankyra linked with Greek ἄγκυρα (ankyra) = anchor.

  
  

You get the idea, this list is not comprehensive, there are others.

The domestic goat (Capra hircus) was one of the first animals to be domesticated, in the Zagros Mountains (along the western border of Iran) circa 10,000 years ago. (iNaturalist)

A Coin of Aigai

Here's my canting type coin of the day: Aigai (Aeolis): Aigai linked with Greek αἴξ, gen. αἰγός (aix, aigos) = goat.

Greek, Aeolis, Aigai, AE (4.14 g, 17.2 mm), late 4th–3rd c. BC.

Obv: Laureate head of Apollo right.

Rev: AIΓAI, head of goat right.

Ref: SNG von Aulock 1593; SNG Copenhagen 1–5; BMC 6–8; SNG Tübingen 2679

This is a civic bronze of Aigai in Aeolis (modern Nemrutkale, near Yuntdağı Köseler, Manisa Province, Turkiye), from the city's earliest and longest-running bronze series. Apollo, the city's tutelary deity, appears on the obverse; a goat's head and the ethnic AIΓAI on the reverse. At 4.14 g / 17.2 mm it  is the large module of that series (most surviving examples are tiny ~1 g, 10 mm fractions).

The tablet describing the envoy to Rome to discuss the unfair/inconsistent goat tax

This wasn't just wordplay. Goat-herding was an important economic activity in this mountain city. A 2nd-3rd-century AD marble inscription excavated from Aigai's council building (deciphered in 2022 and shown above, transcription not published) records the citizens complaining about tax collectors' greed in levying the goat-skin tax, and sending an envoy to Rome named Fortunatus to formally raise the complaint to the emperor. The emperor responded by fixing the tax and imposing a penalty on tax collectors who attempt to collect more. We can clearly read the emperor's name Antoninus in the middle of the tablet:

ΒΑΣΙΛΕΙΟΝ ΑΝΤΩΝΕΙΝ/Ω

History of Aigai

Aigai was settled by Aeolians on the heights of Mt. Aspordenon (Yunt Dağı). Although legend put its origins around 1100 BC, excavations find nothing earlier than roughly the late 8th/7th century BC. It remained a modest settlement through the Archaic and Classical periods with its rugged, isolated highland site - hard enough to reach that it preserved a degree of independence even under Persian pressure.

It passed successively under Lydian, Persian, Macedonian, and Seleucid control after Alexander the Great, and its bronze coinage began at the end of the 4th or early 3rd century BC. Attalus I of Pergamon took the city definitively in 218 BC, and under Attalid patronage Aigai entered its golden age, its area nearly quadrupling by the later 2nd century.

This growth may have been connected to Pergamon's trade in parchment which was developed when Egypt blocked access to papyrus as a way to limit the growth of Pergamon's library (a competitor to the Library of Alexandria). What does this have to do with Aigai? Aigai's goat-rich economy made it a plausible supplier of skins for that parchment trade.

"...according to Varro, when owing to the rivalry between King Ptolemy and King Eumenes about their libraries Ptolemy suppressed the export of paper, parchment was invented at Pergamum; and afterwards the employment of the material on which the immortality of human beings depends spread indiscriminately."
-Pliny, Natural History 13.70

Aigai's Final Chapter

Aigai was sacked by Prusias II of Bithynia (war of 156-154 BC), then compensated by Rome, and passed to Rome with the rest of the Attalid kingdom under Attalus III's bequest in 133 BC. Its only significant silver is a scarce stephanophoric tetradrachm (Apollo / Zeus) struck around the mid-2nd century BC. In AD 17, it was damaged by an earthquake and rebuilt with Tiberius's help. It continued to mint Roman provincial bronze down to about the reign of Gallienus (260-268 AD). It was abandoned with Gothic raids in the third quarter of the 3rd century.

Reference:

• Manisa Celal Bayar University, Department of Archaeology. Aigai Excavations and Research. Manisa Celal Bayar University. Accessed June 28, 2026.

• Altuntaş, Leman. "1800-Year-Old Marble Inscription Found in Turkey’s Aigai Excavations Deciphered." Arkeonews. October 2, 2022.

• The History Blog. "Inscription Reveals Roman Flat Tax on Goat Skins." The History Blog. October 3, 2022.

• Anatolian Archaeology, “Excavation of the Temple of Athena Began in the Ancient City of Aigai”, Anatolian Archaeology, October 15, 2021.

• Aeternitas Numismatics. “Aigai: A City in the Mountains of Aeolis. History and Coinage.” Aeternitas Numismatics, July 31, 2018.

• Adler, Ada, ed. Suidae Lexicon. 5 vols. Leipzig: B. G. Teubner, 1928–1938.

• Suda On Line. “Αἴγες.” In Suda Lexicon (Adler edition), entry alphaiota 28. Edited by Ada Adler. Suda On Line (SOL), Stoa Consortium.

• Melinda A. Zeder, Brian Hesse, The Initial Domestication of Goats (Capra hircus) in the Zagros Mountains 10,000 Years Ago. Science 287, 2254-2257(2000).

As there is no published transcription of the stone - here is my best effort transcription and translation. Note: a few sentences at the top of the stone are too hard for me to read from the images that I have.

Top fragment (A) — heading, worn

A1

[...] Λ̣Τ ΕΝ [...]

[— fragmentary —]

(too worn to read)

A2

[...] ΙΡΟϹ ΑΕΟ ΙΝΙΟΝ [...]

[...]-ΙΡΟΣ   [...]-ΙΝΙΟΝ [...]

"...[Name ending ‑iros]... [name ending ‑nion]..." (proper names, partially lost)

A3

[...] ΔΡΟΝ Κ ΤΗΤΟΡΑ Ε [...]

[ΑΝ]ΔΡΟΝ   ΚΤΗΤΟΡΑ   [...]

"...[Name]‑andros, the landholder..." (κτήτωρ = owner/proprietor)

A4

[...] ΚΗ ΟΥϹΙ[Ι]ΕΙϹ ΑΛΤΤΟ[Υ]

[ΚΑ]Ι   ΟΥΣΙΑ[Σ]   ΑΥΤΟΥ

"...and of his estate..." (οὐσία = estate, property)

A5

[...] ΑΥΟϹ ϹΕ ΑΥΤΟΥϹ Γ [...]

[Ε]ΑΥΤΟΥΣ [...]

"...themselves..." (reflexive - the landholders acting on their own behalf)

A6

[...] ΚΑΛ[.] ΑΝ [...]

[ΤΩΝ] ΚΑΛ[ΟΥΜΕΝΩΝ] [...] (?)

"...[of those] called...?" (uncertain)

Lower fragments (B left ‖ C right) - decree and rescript

‖ marks the fragment join

L1

[...] ΡΑϹΗ  ‖  [lost]

[unresolved]

(lost)

L2

[...] ΥΤΟ Ο ΠΡΟ  ‖  ΥΗΕΝΟ [...]

[...] ΠΡΟΣ   [...]ΥΜΕΝΟ[Υ] (?)

"...to/towards... [participle in ‑μένου]..." (probably part of the embassy formula)

L3

[...] ΟΡΤ ΟΥ  ‖  [.] ϹΜΑ [...]

[Φ]ΟΡΤΟΥ[ΝΑΤΟΣ]   [ΠΡΕΣΒΕΥ]ΣΑΜ[ΕΝΟΥ]

"...Fortunatus, [having served as ambassador]..." (standard genitive absolute for the envoy)

L4

[...] ΑΗΙϹΑΜΕΛ  ‖  Ϲ ΠΡΟϹ ΤΟ ΛΑΗ ΤΤΗ [...]

[...] ΠΡΟΣ ΤΟΝ [ΑΥΤ...] (?)

"...[was sent] to [the emperor?]..." (partially unresolved)

L5

[...] ΤΟΝ ΒΑϹΙ  ‖  ΛΕΙΟΝ ΑΝΤΩΝΕΙΝΟΝ [...]

ΤΟΝ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΙΟΝ ΑΝΤΩΝΕΙΝΟΝ [ΚΑΙΣΑΡΑ]

"...the imperial Antoninus [Caesar]..." (τὸν βασίλειον Ἀντωνῖνον Καίσαρα; all accusative, agreeing)

L6

[...] Ω ΚΑΙϹΑ[ΡΑ]  ‖  ΙΕΓΛΕΖΑ ΗΕΝΟ ϹϹ [...]

[τ]Ω ΚΑΙΣΑ[ΡΑ]   ΕΞ-ΕΛΕΞΑΝ[ΤΟ?]   [...]

"...[to/of the] Caesar... [they levied?]..." (ἐκλέγειν = to collect/levy; very uncertain)

L7

[...] ΚΤΙΙϹ ΚΑΛ  ‖  ΟΥΗΕΝΕΗϹ ΑΙΓΗϹ ΕΔ [...]

[ΤΗ]Σ ΚΑΛΟΥΜΕΝΗΣ ΑΙΓΗΣ [/ ΑΙΓΕΙΗΣ]

"...of the (city) called Aigai / of goat-skin..." (αἰγείη = goat-skin; the αἴξ / goat pun)

L8

[...] ΚΑΙ ΟϹΑ ΤΟΝ Ο ΒΑϹΙΛΕΥϹ ΖΤΗ [...]

ΚΑΙ ΟΣΑ ΤΟΝ   Ο ΒΑΣΙΛΕΥΣ   [verb - ΖΤΗ unresolved]

"...and all that [him], the emperor [ordered/granted]..." (ὁ βασιλεύς nom.; governing verb lost in ΖΤΗ cluster)

L9 

ΡΥϹΘΗΝΑΙ   ΥΠΕΡ   ΤΟΥ [...]

ΡΥΣΘΗΝΑΙ   ΥΠΕΡ   ΤΟΥ [ΔΗΜΟΥ]

"...to be relieved, on behalf of the [people]..." (ῥυσθῆναι aor. pass. inf.; upsilon certain, kills στηρισθῆναι)

L10

[...] ΜΗ ΤΟΙΟΥ  ‖  ΙΟ ΤΙ ΓΕ ΜΕϹΘΑΙ ΠΗ [...]

[...] ΟΤΙ ΓΕ ΜΙΣΘ[ΟΥΣ]ΘΑΙ [...]

"...seeing that [the levy] was being farmed out..." (μίσθωσις = tax-farming lease)

L11

[...] Ο ϹΕΤΑ  ‖  [.] ΕΠΙ ΓΙϹ ΓΗϹ ΤΗ ΛΛΗ ΕΙΤ [...]

[...] ΕΠΙ ΓΗΣ ΤΗΣ ΑΛΛΗΣ [...]

"...upon the other land..." (ἐπὶ γῆς τῆς ἄλλης; links to κτήτωρ in top fragment)

L12

[...] Ι ΒΟΥΛ  ‖  ϹΕΙΑ ΠϹΕΙ ΓΩ ΤΑΜΕΙΩ

[Η] ΒΟΥΛ[Η]   [...]   [ΤΩ] ΤΑΜΕΙΩ

"...the council... to the treasury..." (βουλή; τῷ ταμείῳ = to the imperial fiscus)

L13 

[...] ΧΡΥϹΗ  ‖  Υ ΛΕΙΤΡΑϹ ΠΕΝΤΕ ΛΙ [...]

ΧΡΥΣ[Ο]Υ   ΛΙΤΡΑΣ   ΠΕΝΤΕ

"...five pounds of gold..." (χρυσοῦ λίτρας πέντε; the penalty fine to the fiscus)

L14 

[...] Ι ΤΑ  ‖  ΑΡΧΟΝΤΑ ΑΥΤΟΥ

ΑΡΧΟΝΤΑ   ΑΥΤΟΥ

"...the magistrate in charge of it..." (ἄρχοντα αὐτοῦ; the tax official)

L15 

[...] ΝΙ  ‖  ΚΑΙ ΥΠΑΡΞΑΝΤΑ Α [...]

ΚΑΙ   ΥΠΑΡΞΑΝΤΑ [...]

"...and the one having previously held office..." (καὶ ὑπάρξαντα; the predecessor bound by the penalty)

L16

[...] ΛΛ  ‖  Η ΒΑΝΕΙΟ ΘΟΡΟϹ ΑΡΟ [...]

[unresolved]   ΘΟΡΟΣ (?)

"...[tax type: unresolved]..." (bath reading withdrawn; ΘΟΡΟΣ ≠ ΦΟΡΟΣ here)

L17

[lost]  ‖  ΚΑΙ ΡΥΕ ΓΙ ΤΗΡΙ Θ[⊕] ΟΛΜ [...]

ΚΑΙ [...]ΤΗΡΙ[ΟΝ] [numerals?]

"...and [‑terion]... [sum or date?]" (⊕ = circled numeral or sum symbol; unresolved)