guy

Nice images of Hadrian's wall. http://perlineamvalli.org.uk/images.htm If this is a duplicate of another post, I will gladly delete this. guy also known as gaius

Thank you for the information. I was once asked about the orginal Latin of the famous quote I had posted about Blandinia Martiola. I know the CIL is XIII 1983, but I can't seem to find the orginal Latin. Can you help? Here is the translation in English:

Personally, I have no problem with what you have written. That said, there are other views: http://blog.ancient-future.net/2007/12/09/...s-of-christmas/ Here are sone of the key paragraphs to the article's argument:

A nice array of Parthian rulers: http://www.livius.org/pan-paz/parthia/kings.html Another good site by Douglass Mudd, expert on all things Parthian: http://www.americanhistory.si.edu/collecti...ames/parhom.htm A nice review of Rome and Parthia at war: http://www.allempires.com/article/index.ph..._roman_parthian guy also know as gaius

Doug Smith wrote a great article on Parthian coins: http://dougsmith.ancients.info/parthar.html A good quote from the article: "Not being a people to write down their own history, most of what is known about the Parthians comes from writings of their enemies, the Romans. This gives us an incomplete and biased view of what was a very complex civilization. In particular, we are weak in our understanding of things that happened in the Eastern part of their lands and during times when they were at peace with Rome. Included in out list of rulers are a few known only as 'Unknown King' and several about whom we know little more than their name. This is made worse by the practice of most kings to inscribe coins with only the name of the founder of their dynasty omitting a personal name. 'Arsakes' became rather like 'Augustus' on Roman coins. Early legends were in Greek but as time passed these letters become increasingly illegible. Some later issues bear personal names in Aramaic letters." [Emphasis mine.] A professor of Greek Classics looked at my Parthian coins and commented that although the coins had Greek written on them, they were illegible. This site is a fantastic resource for all things Parthian: http://www.parthia.com/ Great source for Parthian coins: http://www.parthia.com/pdc_gonnella.htm guy also known as gaius

As far as I know, we lack the writings to understand all the nuanced forms of Arianism as practiced almost two thousand years ago As mentioned before, the Jehovah's Witnesses have elements of Arianism in their belief system. I think that some (although not all) Unitarians also have elements of Arianism in their faith. (Note the name Unitarian as opposed to Trinitarian.) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unitarianism guy also known as gaius

Nice pictures from the Ancient world taken from a great site about Ancient Numismatics: http://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/t...s.php?album=150 guy also known as gaius

I hope this works. Here's my attempt to share the images of Parthian and Roman coins I discussed earlier: Visit My Website guy also known as gaius And several extra Parthians, some with a different reverse: On the reverse of the first coin (Vardanes I AD 40-47), the Parthian King is receiving a palm from the goddess Tyche (meaning "luck" in Greek, called Fortuna by Romans). Tyche was the deity of fortune and prosperity. Unlike the previous Parthian coins with the "seated archer" reverse, two of these coins are Tetradrachms, issued for provincial (local) use as opposed to for imperial (empire wide) use. Also included are three other Parthians: Artabanus III (AD 80-90) Orodes II (57-38 BCE), and Gotarzes II (AD 40-51): (You must be logged in to see the images)

I won't comment on this thread since I don't want to get into any theological debates. I have written, however, sympathetically in the past at this site about the heresy of Arius. For insight how the Orthodox Catholic church became the dominant Christian church in the Western Roman world, I recommend the book AD 381 by Charles Freeman. The bottom line as I see it: The concept of the Trinitarian godhead (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) was created to counter charges of paganism against a faith that believed in potentially two gods (God the creator and his crucified son) but was supposedly monotheistic. The concept of the Holy Spirit was formally adopted only after the Nicene Creed to deal with other theological issues. Arianism survived long after the death of Arius in AD 331 among the

It is debatable whether the Sol Invictus festival on December 25 was the source for the December date of the Christmas Holiday. Nevertheless, coins with the image of Sol Invictus are among the most fascinating Ancient coins: http://rg.ancients.info/constantine/Sol_other.html http://www.forumancientcoins.com/moonmoth/reverse_sol.html

Here's a nice site on Ancient Judaean coins: http://www.menorahcoinproject.org/index.htm guy also known as gaius

I was wondering whether anyone has read the new book by Rodney Stark about the crusades. Alhough it's title is unnecessarily provocative-God's Battalions:The Case for the Crusades, the book seems to have potential. It looks like an attempt to give balance to the view that the peaceful Muslim Empire was unjustly attacked by the murderous Christian zealots. http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Gods-Batt...e/9780061582615 It always seemed to me that historians have been too quick to accept the destruction of the remnants of the Christianized Roman Empire in Northern Africa, Asia Minor, and Visigothic Spain by the Muslim armies as inevitable and even a positive event. These same historians are quick to harshly condemn the expected push back by the Christian European forces. History shows, I think, the result of this sharp rupture of the GrecoRoman or even Sassanian traditions in many parts of the world by an invading Muslim force. And the results aren't pretty. One critic of the book wrote: "I would ask Mr. Stark, who historically have been responsible for more "terrorism" and "aggression" than the Christian world?" For many of us on this forum, the answer is obvious. guy also known as gaius

Here's my promo for the future HBO/BBC Galla Placidia miniseries: She was the beautiful daughter of a powerful and great emperor. She was the sister to two young and weak emperors. She was the wife and empress to a brave Roman general. And she was the lover of a mighty barbarian Gothic king. Her story is a true tale of passion, love, scandal, betrayal, and intrigue. Galla Placidia: A woman who witnessed the collapse of the Ancient Roman world around her. Galla Placidia: The woman who tried to save an Empire. Yep. I think the story has potential guy also known as gaius

Galla Placidia (392-450) is one of the fascinating people of the late Roman Empire. She would make a great topic for any movie or miniseries. Her resume is impressive: Daughter of the great Emperor Theodosius I. Younger half-sister of the Emperors Arcadius in the East and Honorius in the West. Grew up in the household of the Roman general Stilicho and his wife. Betrothed to Stilicho's son Eucherius until Stilicho's assassination. Captured by the Visigoth king Alaric. Married Alaric's successor, Ataulf till his assassination. Eventually freed to Rome and married Constantius III, eventual co-emperor with Honorius. Involved in the political intrigues of the Roman generals Bonifacius and Aetius. Mother and regent of the feckless Emperor Valentinian III. A potential movie about Galla Placidia would have everything: love, romance, tragedy, war, murder, and political intrigue. I'm not sure who would play the part of Galla Placidia. She would have to be, however, intellegent, scheming, but also beautiful and sensuous. Great movie. Can you hear me, HBO/BBC? Our esteemed author and friend to UNRV, Ian Hughes, could help with the screen play and act as an historical consultant. And I would volunteer my time and render my opinions at the rehearsals for the female lead of this movie. guy also known as gaius

Aurelia: Are you from Belgium? Isn't Dutch already mandatory there? Ik hou van Amsterdam. guy also known as gaius

An expert on Ancient coins wrote this about the longevity of circulation of Ancient coins. The specific coin discussed in this example is the famous Marc Antony denarius from 31 BCE used in circulation for two centuries: "Our final Imperatorial (and Republican) coin was issued in the period just before the Battle of Actium by the loser of this final fight for control of Rome. This final battle was to be at sea and Antony's sailors were paid in these coins showing a warship and military standards. Antony was short on resources to pay such huge sums so he added copper to the silver used for these coins. The alloy was, therefore, debased. After the battle (and Antony) had been lost, these coins remained in circulation. The fact that they were not good silver caused them to remain in circulation until the debasement of the regular Roman coinage reached the same level and made them desirable to be buried in hoards. Legionary denarii of Antony are common in hoards deposited over 200 years after their issue. Many of these coins are worn slick." This is taken from Doug Smith's excellent article on the web: http://dougsmith.ancients.info/voc2.html guy also known as gaius

Indeed - I suspect the hoarding was of earlier issues with more silver content. Forgive my extreme tangent, but are all U.S. pre-64 Dollars, quarters etc silver? In England it is all pre-47 stuff. I got this from the internet. I believe it is correct: 1964 was the date on the last 90% silver coins. Silver coins were actually made up through the early part of 1966 but the 1964 date was used on all of those. 1965 was used on the clad coins that were made in that year. So any dime, half dollar or quarter with a date of 1964 is 90% silver. The Kennedy Half Dollars produced from 1965 through 1969 were made with a 40% silver content. By 1971 half dollars had been changed to copper-nickel clad as well. In 1986 the U.S. once again started making silver dollars (Silver American Eagles) which are almost solid silver and they are still being minted today. However, although they have a face value of $1 and a bank can only give you the $1 for it, they trade at the price of silver bullion, currently almost $20. // As far as hoarding goes, it probably increased during times of economic and social stress. But which coins were more likely to be hoarded and removed from circulation? Of course, it was those coins which had an intrinsic precious metal value and not the debased worthless coinage. Coinage in the ancient world was used as much for its inherent value as its perceived value. Remember, a coin made in Rome would be used throughout a large empire and beyond. It is less likely that a debased coinage would be as readily accepted in commercial transactions in the distant reaches of the Empire.* The use of debased coinage would have exacerbated the already rampant inflation of the Third Century. This also explains the reluctance to use paper currency till more modern times. It was only relatively recently that precious metals weren't used in everyday coinage. *The concern about ancient forgeries would explain the frequent bankers' marks or test cuts on ancient coins. These scratches into the coin were made to assess the purity of the metal and assure authenticity. guy also known as gaius

Here's an intriguing thread on the internet by an amateur coin hunter in Germany. He used a metal detector to find his coins in a local forrest. I found it interesting that he found coins from different eras in one spot. Earlier I had writen at UNRV: David Vagi, in his book Coinage and History of the Roman Empire, states: "It is well documented both by literary and archaeological evidence that ancient coins circulated for centuries. An excellent example is the countermarking of older, worn coins in the east by the emperor Vespasian in the early AD 70s. The majority of these denarii were at least a century old at the time they were countermarked." He adds, "The issuance of Imperial cistophori by the emperor Hadrian (117-138) is similarly convincing. Most (if not all) of the planchets used were older cistophori issued some 100 to 150 years earlier. We have no reason to doubt that these "host" coins (the coins that were overstruck) had been in circulation up until the time they were withdrawn for re-coining." A possible analogy would be the modern use of Indian Head pennies in the US or Queen Victoria pennies in Great Britain[?]. I imagine that with the debasement of Roman silver coinage in the mid-200's, hoarding became more common. (When was the last time someone found a real silver coin in circulation; e.g., a Mercury Head dime or even a pre-1964 silver quarter?) Interestingly, Vagi asserts that the gold coinage typically did not suffer the same debasement as the silver coinage, but maintained their purity, even in the late Roman Empire. Gold coins, however, did suffer a reduction in size. Here's the thread: http://www.cointalk.com/t80765/#post749271 In the thread, the author writes: guy also known as gaius

I'm looking forward to your book! It certainly will be on my "must buy" list for 2010. guy also known as gaius

I am really happy for you (and very envious!). You are very fortunate to be able to spend an extended time to study a subject closeup and to enjoy life. Not since college have I been so lucky. Enjoy. Enjoy. Enjoy. guy also known as gaius

I'm hoping to use 2010 to find time to further delve into three subjects of potential interest in Ancient (and not so ancient) history. This year's goal to learn more about the GrecoRoman philosophers was a bust since I found much of the subject matter so dry and uninspiring. I read Ian Hughes' book Belisarius: The last Roman General. I enjoyed the book and it inspired me to read more about late antiquity and the early Middle Ages. I want to learn more about the role in history of the various peoples that became important during the fall of Rome and later transformation of Europe, including the Visigoths, Franks, Vandals, etc. Also, I want to learn about numismatics (coins and medals) of the Ancient world...without spending too much money on buying coins. Finally, although I find Greek philosophy too abstruse and Greek literature too boring, I do enjoy learning about the many personalities that played a role in Greek history (especially military history), including Pericles, Epaminondas, and Alexander the Great. I was wondering whether anyone else made goals for areas of study in the new year. guy also known as gaius

Sylla: Good pick up. I couldn't make out the details. I did find some similar coins from the later Bar Kokhba revolt (AD 132-136): http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsourc...condRevolt.html An interesting quote from the article: "The 24-26mm. bronzes of Bar Kochba picture a grape vine leaf and 7-branched palm tree. The seven branches of the palm tree could well allude to the holy 7-branched Temple Menorah, that was considered too holy to depict on coins (with the isolated exception of the small bronze Menorah coin issued in the last desperate days of the reign of Antigonus Mattathias)." Another example from the Bar Kokhba revolt: http://www.acsearch.info/search.html?searc...p;view_mode=1#4 guy also known as gaius

Jason: I appreciate your shared interest and input on this topic. One of my goals for 2010 will be to increase my knowledge about Ancient coins (without spending any money on coin purchases ). guy also known as gaius