sulla80
Lysimachos, Pergamon and Cistophori
I have been slowly adding Cistophoric tetradrachms from various cities in Asia minor, and today was looking back at one of my first posts...
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sulla80
Jan 1, 20225 min read
New Beginnings & Ancient Symbols
It is a new year, 2022! Appropriately, today's post opens with new beginnings and Aeneas arriving from Troy to the shores of Italy and...
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sulla80
Dec 31, 20215 min read
Coins to Rebuild Apameia
After wandering a bit into medieval Islamic coins and the Mongol khans of the 13th and 14th century, I inevitably return to 1st century...
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sulla80
Oct 17, 20213 min read
First, Greatest and Most Beautiful
"The site of the Cilician city known during the period of the Roman Empire as Caesarea, Caesarea by Anazarbus, or Anazarbus , is some 28...
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sulla80
Aug 14, 20217 min read
Alexander the Great in Asia
The newest addition to my collection is tied to Alexander the Great at a turbulent time near the end of his life or shortly after his...
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sulla80
Aug 8, 20218 min read
"Sullan Era" Tetradrachms
This note will start with a drachm from Cappadocia, a key point of conflict between the Roman republic and the Kingdom of Pontus. There...
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sulla80
Aug 4, 20213 min read
Mysterious AE from 1st Century BCE
My coin of interest today is a mysterious AE from the late first century with no shortage of competing views on whose portrait appears on...
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sulla80
Jul 10, 20212 min read
Tisna River God
My coin of interest today comes from Asia minor, the west coast of modern Türkiye, just south of Pergamon and east of Kyme. This coin has...
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sulla80
May 13, 20213 min read
Seleucia ad Calycadnum
Researching ancient coins and the people behind them, my knowledge of ancient geography is regularly challenged. Today's post shares 4...
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sulla80
May 1, 20213 min read
Pylaimenes II/III Euergetes
Heinrich Kiepert, Paphlagonia, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons Paphlagonia was in northern Anatolia and was bordered by Bythnia to...
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sulla80
May 1, 20212 min read
Seleukid Instability
"If we set aside the language of Seleukid royal discourse, it is far from obvious how we should discriminate between legitimate kings and...
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sulla80
Apr 13, 20215 min read
Not the Usual "12 Caesars"
Suetonius is responsible for setting the 12-Caesars benchmark that all ancient coin collectors have to live with. There are other sets...
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sulla80
Mar 28, 20215 min read
Roman Provinces & Corruption
Gate to the agora (assembly place) of ancient Kibyra I think it is only fair to offer caution that this thread wanders a bit far from...
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sulla80
Mar 13, 20215 min read
Herakles, Slave to Omphale
My coin today comes with the story of Herakles and Omphale and is a very rare coin that is impressively well engraved, struck and well...
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sulla80
Feb 7, 20213 min read
A 12th Century Artuqid Mash-up
Recently I've been wandering from ancient into medieval coins and this one takes me far away from the Roman republic. When I originally...
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sulla80
Feb 6, 20213 min read
A Tetradrachm of Antiochus VII Euergetes
In 2002 a tetradrachm was found with an obverse die of Seleucid King Antiochus VII and a reverse die shared with a tetradrachm of...
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sulla80
Jan 28, 20213 min read
Aristotle's Library and a Coin of Troas
The central figures in Raphael's fresco, "The School of Athens" are Plato and Aristotle. With gestures that reflect their body of work,...
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sulla80
Dec 31, 20207 min read
Romans in Asia Minor & Cistophori
“The cistophorus, with its writhing serpents and over-elaborate ornamentation, is perhaps the ugliest coin in the Greek series....
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sulla80
Dec 26, 20206 min read
Coins from Abdera, Thrace
This year I have explored the coins of Asia Minor or the Anatolian peninsula. Anatolia was named by the Greeks, anatolḗ means “sunrise"...
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sulla80
Dec 5, 20206 min read
Lion and Sun, გურჯი-ხათუნი
In 1237 CE, Ḡīāṯ-al-Dīn Kayḵosrow II became sultan when his father, Kayqubad I (1219-1237 CE), died. He would reign until his death in...
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