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..

Dionysos leading the Horae (Seasons), marble, Roman 1st century AD ( image public domain ) Today's coins of interest are two...

In Melville's Moby Dick, Captain Ahab stands in his boat, harpoon in hand, and in the final moments of his chase of the great white whale...

Clodius Albinus (c. 150–197 CE) was a Roman general and politician who was briefly emperor during the tumultuous Year of Five Emperors...

Kilikarch wearing a crown of busts, from the Adana Museum. Photo by E. Borgia c. 2018. The Kilikarchia  was a provincial magistracy in...

While this is not the prettiest coin - it is an interesting coin with a water-god and a fish on the reverse of a coin, from an place,...

Today's note is all about the pomegranate and more than 300 years of coins from Side (Σίδη), Pamphylia (Παμφυλία). For those who would...