To be fair, the book arrived on the last afternoon of 2018, but I ordered the coins today: Kevin Butcher "Coins in Roman Syria" I am impressed at how large and exhaustive this book is, it is much more impressive than Charles Davis' low price of $65 would suggest. To compliment the book I also ordered these two coins from Antioch: (Please post your coins of Roman Syria) Nero AE24: Domitian AE29
Neat coin @Roman Collector. One interesting tidbit that I learned from the Butcher book today is that they don't really know what the "SC" on the reverse of these coins was for. Syria was an Imperial province, so there is not reason for the Senate to have approved the coinage. There is the theory that it was merely imitative of the Imperial coinage which was issued with Senatorial approval, but Butcher seems to discredit that idea due to the duration (Augustus to Valerian).
Very nice coins! My fave topic... And I want to get that book and McAlee's! (Edit: Just bought Butcher's book!) What's in front of Nero on your new coin? Is it a lituus? Or an "O"? Another theory is that it represents the province, Syria Coele. Here are a few that I haven't shared yet: Caracalla, AE22 Claudius, AE20 Antoninus Pius, AE22 I just LOVE the differences and uniqueness of the wreaths and SCs!
I can't recall how much I paid for my copy, but it wasn't cheap! Fantastic book purchase! I also recommend Butcher's Roman Syria and the Near East to flesh out the region's history and give some historical context to the coins.
@Aethelred does the book mention anything about the addition of the Delta and Epsilon to the reverse between Caracalla and Macrinus? Then all of a sudden they are on nearly everyone from Macrinus on....? Anyone else have any ideas ? Seems similar to the other Greek letters prior to that time, but these end up being the only in this combination after that change of hands, where before it was a variety of Greek letter options (possibly thought to be mint but still there's uncertainty).
It is proof that the Romans founded Charleston long before the British ever arrived. The mint at Colonia Charlestonia used the SC inscription to refer to the wider province as a whole.
Great coins Aethelred, great start for 2019 , congrats S C Serapi Comiti = companion and god of the emperor ? S C abbreviation for silicet = permitted ? I'll stick with Senatus Consultum for now.
Nice coins @Aethelred and good score on the book. I didn't think I had any coins of Roman Syria to post but a quick search turned out that I do: Philip I the Arab (244-249 AD) Æ 8 Assaria of Antioch, Seleucia and Pieria; 28.1mm, 12.175g, die axis 180o; 2nd issue, Antioch mint. Obv: ΑΥΤΟΚ Κ Μ ΙΟΥΛΙ ΦΙΛΙΠΠΟC CΕΒ - Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust of Philip right, from behind. Rev: ANTIOΧEΩN MHTPO KOΛΩN - Towered, veiled, and draped bust of Tyche right, Δ-Є / S-C across fields, ram leaping right with head turned back above, star below. F+/VF Ref.: McAlee 977; BMC Galatia p. 215, 527 Ex.: Butte College Foundation, ex Lindgren
Great coin @dadams, Philip the Arab is one of those emperors that I've always been interested in, I only wish more were know about his life, but it is sort of a "lost period" in Roman history.
Justin - Here is an article (.pdf) Butcher himself wrote that is interesting: NUMERICAL LETTERS ON SYRIAN COINS: OFFICINA OR SEQUENCE MARKS?
Printing it now! Thanks, Doug! Edit: I thought I'd seen it before... I'm familiar with the article (though I hadn't read it in it's entirety) and posted it before too: https://www.cointalk.com/threads/an...-random-number-generator.327436/#post-3242290 I am going to read it all through tonight though! Thanks again!!
I chose a bronze As of Hadrian and a bronze coin of Tiberius. Both were struck in Antioch. The reverses are different anyhow.
I was just doing some googling about the Delta and Epsilon post-Caracalla thing and came across this little bit of I go from Forvm' moonmoth: "What does "Delta Epsilon" stand for on coins of Antioch? The letters Delta Epsilon, Δ Є, appear on many coins of Antioch, often very large. There are two possible explanations. One is that it stands for something like Demosia Exousia or ΔHMAPXIKHΣ EXOYΣIAΣ, Greek for Public or Tribunician Power. The other, proposed by Butcher in "Coinage of Roman Syria", is that it stands for Δ EΠAPXEIΩN, "of the four eparchies," and is related to the imperial cult at Antioch (and later at Laodicea). The letters S C often also appear on coins from Antioch, and probably stand for Senatus Consulto, as they do on Imperial bronzes." (http://www.forumancientcoins.com/moonmoth/footnotes.html) And along the topic of Syrian Antioch, I was searching my university online library for "Syria coins roman" and came across this doctoral dissertation that seems deep and interesting (!!!): Neumann, K. M. (2015). Mapping the transformation of roman antioch: The coin evidence (Order No. 3734638). Available From ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. (1739017585). Abstract: "This dissertation analyzes the immediate and long-term effects of Roman annexation on the important metropolis of Antioch on the Orontes in northern Syria. Compared to many other urban centers of the ancient Mediterranean, direct textual and archaeological material for Antioch is minimal and does not provide a consistent standard by which to measure the city's development over time and space. Many questions thereby remain about how a former Seleucid capital became an integrated and assimilated part of the Roman Empire. This dissertation argues that ancient coin finds provide a substantial and quantifiable dataset that when mapped can provide a starting point for identifying and examining larger patterns of political, economic, and social change rendered by Roman annexation. Where, when, and in what quantities coins appear can speak to limits in their circulation and movement, as well as to the activity and policies of the different authorities issuing them. The primary focus of this project is on the distribution of central, provincial, and civic coins produced by the mint at Antioch from the late Seleucid period (223 BCE) through the early centuries of the late antique period (423 CE). In order to draw out meaningful patterns in the data, this project applies a new methodology using Google Earth as a visualization platform for the distribution of coins finds. Patterns established in Google Earth are then examined through quantified analysis of individual site assemblages and regional groupings from the city of Antioch and sites within Syria, Mesopotamia, the southern Levant, Asia Minor, and the western Roman Empire. This dissertation both reinforces and challenges traditional conclusions about the Roman annexation of Antioch and the East. On the one hand, the coin finds reinforce the gradual and transformative policies of the Roman Empire, which took advantage of regional structures and encouraged civic diversity while establishing regional boundaries and influencing the civic hierarchy. On the other hand, this dissertation challenges standard assumptions concerning the unchanged status of Antioch within the Roman Empire. The Romans did capitalize upon Antioch's established position at the top of the civic hierarchy as the former Seleucid capital, but this did not necessarily guarantee the city's supremacy. Instead, this distribution study reveals how the Roman government drew upon the resources of the city to the point of limiting the Antiochenes' self-expression and undermining their regional stature in an increasingly competitive civic climate. The tensions that subsequently erupted in the late second and third centuries CE gradually disappeared, however, as the city was finally integrated into the Roman Empire in the late antique period."
