Browse Items (299 total)

The history of Thurii, one of the last Greek settled colonies, starts with the history of the colony Sybaris. Founded in 720 BCE, it was conquered by neighboring Croton in 510 BCE. After several unsuccessful attempts to re-occupy the city, Thurii was…

The Attalid King Eumenes II of Pergamon first introduced the cistophori (basketbearers), the main denomination of coinage in Asia Minor for 300 years, around 166 BCE. The last Attalid king, Attalos III, died in 133 BCE, leaving his kingdom to the…

Samnium was located between the silver minting Greek colonies of the south and the colonies of the north that favored bronze. This prime location meant that these middle cities-states did not mint their own coinage until relatively late, around 290…

This coin, a fake replica of a coin minted under Mithradates II in Parthia around 123-188 BCE is one of many coins from the ancient world that have been counterfeited.

Herodotus accounts the adventures of the Phocaians, a people from the area of Turkey who were displaced by the spread of the Persian kingdom. These people (Hist. 1. 167) settled in an area they named Hyele, on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea, around…

The Thessalian League was a loose confederation of several Thessalian city-states. The largest city, Larisa, functioned as the seat of the league. The alliance existed even after the Roman province of Macedonia was founded in 146 BCE.

Apollo…

This coin is one of the very first issued by one of the most famous/infamous individuals from the ancient world: Julius Caesar. A powerful senator, consul and military general during the late Roman Republic, Caesar used his military success to…

Demetrios II Nikator ascended to the throne at only 14-16 years of age. This coin is from the first years (145-138 BCE) of his relatively long but tumultuous reign. In order to take control of the dwindling Seleucid empire, Demetrios had to overcome…

Herakleia was founded as an outpost by an alliance of Thurii and Tarentum. Near the destroyed city of Siris, Herakleia is most notable for the place where king Pyrrhus of Epirus defeated a Roman army in the first major battle of the Pyrrhic war, in…

Metapontum (Greek: Metapontion) was an Achaean colony on the Italian coast. Located between two rivers, the area was famed for its rich croplands. They were even able to afford sending a “golden harvest,” probably golden replicas of sheaves of…