I have this coin that I am hoping someone will do a translation of the writing on it; BAΣIΛEΩΣ POIMHTAΛKOV --- KAIΣAPOΣ ΣHBAΣTOY so as to give us all what it says or means in general English...?
Very nice example Semi autonomous coinage of Thracia, c11BC-12AD KAISAROS SEBASTOU, Bust of Augustus right BASILEWS ROIMHTALKOU, Busts of Rhoemetalkes and his wife right 9.82 gr Ref : Sear #5396 Q
That's a very nice coin, @Steven Michael Gardner. Here's a similar coin, but it's unclear who is on the coin because experts disagree. Augustus or Tiberius? Rhoemetalces I or his grandson, Rhoemetalces II? Pythodoris, the wife of Rhoemetalces I or the unnamed wife of Rhoemetalces II? RPC, the most up-to-date in terms of scholarship, attributes it to Tiberius and Rhoemetalces II. Although RPC calls the jugate busts side the obverse, it's clear from my coin that this side was the one struck by the hand-held die and the hammer; it's thus the REVERSE and I label it as such. Kings of Thrace under Roman rule. AE 24 mm, 6.88 g. Uncertain mint of Thrace. Obv: ΑΥΤΟΚΡΑΤΟ[ΡΟΣ ΚΑΙΣΑΡΟΣ ΣΕΒΑΣ]ΤΟΥ, bare head of Augustus or Tiberius, right. Rev: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩ[Σ ΡΟΙΜΗΤΑΛΚΟΥ], jugate bust of Rhoemetalkes I or II, diademed, and queen (Pythodorus?), right. Refs: RPC I, 1721; BMC 3.209,23; Sear 5405; Youroukova 201–3, pl. XXIV; Forrer 207.
Oh come on, really... that is all it says & means. I for sure thought there would be some words of wisdom to some deity or the gods or something than just ID-ing the individuals on the coin...? Thank you for the trans!
I have always seen these in auctions etc but never as far as I remember with a minting place. Is there no research to point to the mint that produced these?
What the replies have not mentioned is that the words of the legends are in the genitive case, that is, indicating possession. So a more accurate translation is [money] of King Rhoemetalkes [and] of Caesar Augustus.
That’s interesting. Most Roman coin legends are in the dative—a kind of dative of respect. Money minted to/for/in recognition of the ruler. I wonder how ancient men and women would’ve understood the role of the genitive or dative case for these legends.
The Greek genitive in this context denotes agency: the genitive singular for individuals, the genitive plural for cities (i.e. "the people of..."). Many Greek coins employ the genitive in this fashion. The op follows this traditional formula. Roman imperial coins typically name the emperor in the Latin nominative case, while provincials follow suit in Greek. The op is unusual in this respect as a provincial issue but would fit in perfectly with the majority of Hellenistic coins. The Latin dative is used occasionally in a commemorative or dedicatory sense (e.g. DIVO CLAVDIO).
That’s helpful information. I guess I should’ve clarified that it’s Roman reverses that are often in the dative. Thanks for the info on the Greek.
Actually, most Roman coin inscriptions are in the nominative case; there are exceptions, of course, most notably being those of Trajan, where his name and titular are in the dedicatory dative. I have even seen one or two "Greek Imperials" with the emperor's name in the accusative case, but I can not recall from what city. If they were literate, contemporary users would have readily understood the grammatical nuances of the use of the oblique (i. e., non-nominative) cases. For Latin and Greek, being inflected languages, the changing ending of nouns obviates the need of prepositions such as "to", "for", "with", etc., upon which English relies to structure a sentence.