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Sep 6, 2021 9 tweets 6 min read Read on X
Ancient Coin of the Day: The last few days have been a bit coin-light, so let’s get back to it with a look at some electrum issues of Thebes, starting with this hemidrachm ca. 360-340 BC. #ACOTD #Numismatics #Thebes

Image: ANS 1959.73.1. Link - numismatics.org/collection/195…
These fabulous coins come from a series of electrum coins issued by Thebes which is in itself interesting given the lack of gold mines in Boeotian territory, entailing that the dating of these issues has come under recent scrutiny.
The Obverse of this series shows a bearded and ivy-wreathed Dionysus. Dionysus was said to have been born in Thebes, and then famously returned to that City where its king, Pentheus, refused to acknowledge Dionysus' god-head.
This episode ended with Pentheus being torn apart by the frenzied Maenads, the female worshippers of Dionysus, including Pentheus' own relatives: his mother, Agave, and aunt, Autonoe.

Image: Kimbell Art Gallery (AP 2000.02). Link - kimbellart.org/collection/ap-…
The Reverse shows another well-known scene, the drakonopnigon: the infant Heracles strangling the serpents sent by Hera. The scene and the mintmark, ΘΕ, are set in an incuse square. Note also the dotted Θ that appeared on Theban coins after 426 BC.
The drakonopnigon had featured on Theban silver staters in the latter half of the 5th Century BC. Heracles was also born in Thebes, giving the city rightful claim to use him in their numismatic iconography.

Image: British Museum (EH,p395.53.Theb). Link - britishmuseum.org/collection/obj…
By the beginning of the Fourth Century BC the design of the drakonopnigon scene had largely been amended to make the depiction of Heracles as an infant the more typical type, as on this example.

Image: ANS 1941.153.480. Link - numismatics.org/collection/194…
Recent work on the electrum series has suggested that the coins may have been struck at a time of increasing Boeotian influence in the Aegean, perhaps minted as a means to build relationships with states in the north-eastern Aegean where electrum was regarded as a premier metal.
For more on this, see:

GARTLAND, S.D. “The Electrum Coinage of Thebes.” The Numismatic Chronicle (1966-), vol. 173, 2013, pp. 23–32.

jstor.org/stable/43859723

#ACOTD #Numismatics #Thebes

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More from @DocCrom

Jul 24
#LatinForTheDay – 24 July #Propertius 🧵

“errat, qui finem vesani quaerit amoris:
verus amor nullum novit habere modum.
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"...aridus et sicco gurgite piscis erit,
quam possim nostros alio transferre dolores:
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Sep 5, 2023
#EpigraphyTuesday – The Tombstone of Prima Florentia: ca. 2nd Century AD. Discovered in 1930 at Portus, a heart-breaking inscription, which also reflects the all-too-common domestic violence of the ancient world. #Latin

Image: Parco archeologico di Ostia antica; AE 1987.0177k Image
The stone was set up by a girl’s parents to commemorate her short life and brutal end: as the text refers to the murder of a teenage wife by her husband.
Text:

"Restutus Piscinesis
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May 30, 2023
#LatinForTheDay – May 30 #Ovid 🧵

“[...] dum talia secum
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May 30, 2023
#EpigraphyTuesday – The rather magnificent tombstone of Longinus Sdapeze, a member of ‘ala I Thracum’, a unit which may have played a role in the Claudian invasion of Britain AD 43. #Latin 🧵

Image: Colchester & Ipswich Museums (COLEM:1928.345). Link – cim-web.adlibhosting.com/ais6/Details/c… Image
Discovered in 1928 and showing evidence of ancient damage, including the break across the main inscription panel, the actual head of Longinus was not found until subsequent excavations in 1996.
Text:

“Longinus Sdapeze
Matyci (filius) duplicarius
ala prima Tracum pago
Sardi(ca) anno(rum) XL aeror(um) XV
heredes exs testam(ento) [f(aciendum)] c(uraverunt)
h(ic) s(itus) e(st)” Image
Read 8 tweets
May 30, 2023
Ancient Coin of the Day: A gander at some coins from Britain prior to the Claudian invasion of AD 43, in particular those of Cunobelinus, the origin of Shakespeare’s Cymbeline. #ACOTD #Numismatics #Britain 🧵

Image: British Museum (1977,0434.6). Link - britishmuseum.org/collection/obj… Image
Cunobelinus was a local British ruler who exerted control over a large area of south-east England, ca. AD 10-40, with a capital at Colchester. He claimed to be the son of Tasciovanus, who had ruled a kingdom centred to the north of the Thames.
The Obverse of this coin shows an ear of spelt, with the flanking Legend CA-MV, i.e. ‘Camulodunum’, Cunobelinus’ capital. Strabo (4.5.2) notes that grain is a major export of Britain, so the emblem could refer to Cunobelinus’ international trade. Image
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Mar 29, 2023
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Virgil, Aeneid 9.107-121
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