Books About Ancient Coins

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by Tall Paul, Oct 3, 2025.

  1. Tall Paul

    Tall Paul Supporter! Supporter

    I know that there a ton of reference books etc. regarding ancient coins, especially Greek and Roman coins. Recently there were two recommendations that appeared in a CT thread(s) about ancient coins. The books were: The Roman Emperors written by Michael Grant and A History of Ancient Rome in Twelve Coins by Gareth Harney. The Grant book is full of information but at times it is a bit of slog.

    The Harney book is also full of information, not only about the Emperors but also provides all kinds of information through vignettes of Roman History. For example it touches on the Punic Wars and Hannibal, it describes the building of the Coliseum and events that took place there, but also other monuments such as Trajan's Column and the arched bridge across the Danube designed by Apollodorus a genius and engineer who implemented, designed and built many works commissioned by Trajan. The Harney book also covers the process of minting coins and provides a concise history of all the emperors and kings from the beginning of Rome's history. It is wonderful read.

    While I recommend both books, if I could only buy one it would be the book by Mr. Harney.
     
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  3. Blake Davis

    Blake Davis Well-Known Member

    I love to read ancient histories while looking at coins from the era I am reading about. I very much recommend any of these ancient authors:

    For Rome: , Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Livy, Tacitus (Annals and Histories), Suetonius (has to be Graves translation), Josephus (his "Jewish Wars" on siege of Jerusalem ca. 70AD; his "Jewish Antiquities" has a wonderful section on the assassination of Caligula), Dio Cassius, Julius Caesar, Sallust, Ammianus Marcellinus, Plutarch, Appian(highly recommended, underrated historian), Herodian - his section on Maximinus led me to a complete reappraisal of his reign - had he survived his military prowess might have saved the empire from the disasters that began a mere 12 years after his death), and the Historia Augusta (use with care), are all wonderful for Roman history.

    For Greek history: Plutarch (Roman and Greek history),Polybius (Greek and Roman), Arrian, Diodorus Siculus, Manetho (ancient Egypt), Thucydides, Xenophon, and Herodotus, Homer (well, maybe not) - what am I leaving out?;

    Byzantine history: Anna Komnene, John Skylitzes, Theophylact Simocatta, Michael Psellus, Procopius and Theophanes' Chronicle - there are others.

    I may be leaving some but all are available in fast moving readable translations. What is extremely depressing is that the above short list is just about every ancient Greek and Roman history that exists in book form - THIS MEAGRE LIST IS IT - and many of these are not complete - it can drive one mad because some of these end in mid-sentence.
     
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  4. GinoLR

    GinoLR Well-Known Member

    Writing Roman history has been a literary exercise since the very beginning. Under the Republic the main topic of Polybius was to show how and why a modest Italian city grew stronger and stronger, overcoming all its rivals and eventually conquering the powerful Hellenistic kingdoms. Under Augustus the main idea of Livy was to justify Augustus' regime. Under Trajan Tacitus' topic was to show why Trajan was actually the 'optimus princeps', much better than all his predecessors. etc. etc.
     
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  5. Blake Davis

    Blake Davis Well-Known Member


    Exactly - it Hrrek to some extent as well - Plutarch and others wrote so that great deeds of men should not be forgotten and as examples to others. Or was that someone else? Julius Caesar to celebrate his exploits for political purposes, Thucydides “for all time”. Livy wisely did not write about the more recent times until Augustus was dead but alas those books have not survived, not even fragments or extremely few.

    The sheer number of lost works is depressing - I’m reading Athenaeus who refers to title after title of lost works. Maybe if they learn how to read the burnt scrolls of Pompeii we might be able to recover something else - I thought the palimpsest project at the monestary whose name I forget, would make great finds but I have not heard much about it - the chances of finding substantial works from the great historians is extremely slim.
     
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  6. GinoLR

    GinoLR Well-Known Member

    The burnt scrolls of Pompeii are fascinating. Some could be deciphered in the 18th and 19th c. All were Greek and many were works by Philodemus of Gadara, an epicurean philosopher. There are other works by other epicurean philosophers and some fragments of Epicurus' works. It seems that this library was a specialized epicurean library... And if the other charred scrolls could be deciphered, it is possible that the On Nature or On Atoms and Void of Epicurus could be found. It would be the Grail.
    These fundamental works are presently lost, but had been adapted in Latin verse by Lucretius, "De Natura Rerum", a book which was preserved. Epicurus taught that the universe was not created by gods, but made of void and atoms that assembled to form everything that exists, according to physical ( i.e. natural) laws...
     
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