Who Do You Admire Among the Anceints?

Oops, let me try this again...

Try this link: http://www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/milinda.pdf

 

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In terms of the Romans, I believe the modern notion of a "good Roman Emperor" is a myth.

On the one hand you have the effective Roman Emperors who ruled well and who's policy benefited the Empire. However, these men were cruel tyrants who were happy to kill anyone (either person or whole population) who caused a problem. Among the names that belong on this list are Augustus, Claudius, Vespasian, Trajan, Marcus Aurelius, Constantine I et cetera.

On the other hand you had a handful of Emperors (Severus Alexander and Gordian III come to mind) where were probably decent people, but who were utterly inept as rulers.

The demands of ruling at the time were far different than what is palatable to our modern morals. It is impossible for us, from the distance of 2000 years, to make any meaningful moral judgments. For that reason I just enjoy collecting their coins and learning about them, but I try to avoid liking or disliking individual Roman rulers.

 

Robert the Bruce. Our King.

 

I agree with Antoninus as well.

 

http://www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/milinda.pdf

How does this relate to Menander? Is Menander just another name for King Milinda? Did Menander write the Milinder Panha?

 

The link opens the book in PDF form. As explained in the PDF King Milinda is thought to be the Bactrian King Menander.

 

I would say the Emperor Trajan. However, Queen Boadicea of the Iceni was just as cruel as the Roman occupiers, when she sacked Roman cities, taking no prisoners. The man who would take the prize as greatest, "ancient leader" not featured on coinage is Hannibal. This guy was the greatest General of the ancient world, also had a nice personalty. Victor Mature did a good job of playing his role in the movie Hannibal (1960). Scipio Africanus was the opposite, a nasty piece of work.

 

The only ancient I have. For all I know it's a fake.



If true it's about 260BC Samarian

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Hi David,

Welcome to the board! Let me understand your post. Are you wanting some confirmation about this coin's status as being real or fake? If so, it would be more effective to start a new thread.

I can't help with the coin, but I'm sure some specialists will weigh in soon.

 

No I just said that because I believe based on picture I saw had a few details different.

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Man, I sure wish that you dudes didn't already agree with my choice, for I hate feelin' like a sheep ... baaaahh!!

=> oh, and I've only got a small handful of Roman Emperors where I've decided to collect more than one example (Augustus, Tiberius, Titus, Hadrian, Gordian-III, Trajan, Caracalla, Elagabalus) ...

=> but I have "15" sweet examples of my man ... yah ... A-Pius Rocks!!







I threw-in the tune just for style-points ... yah, he's just that cool

 

Marcus Aurelius and Thales of Miletus.

 

Ummm, did you say Marcus Aurelius?



... sorry ancientone, I couldn't resist ... it's one of my favourite coins

 

I really like her history... I am proud to be of Celtic descent:


CELTIC BRITAIN
the Inceni
Queen Boudicca, 61 AD.
AR Unit
1.03 g
Obv: Celticized head right
Rev: Celticizes horse galloping right.
Ref: vArs.794.

 

One of my favorites is perhaps one of the more underrated or less known person whom made a MAJOR impact on the Western World... Philip II of Makedon...


Makedon
Philip II
AR Tet
Pella mint
LIFETIME issue 353-349 BCE
Zeus
Horse star spearhd
Le Rider 102

Even the Celts loved him:


Celtic Imitation Philip II AR Drachm


And I really liked this book:

Philip II of Macedonia, Greater than Alexander
by Richard A. Gabriel

 

Ummm dude, are you goin' Greek? ...

Hey, anybody named Phil or Alex is gettin' my vote, my coin-friend!! (well played)

 

LOL, nope not going Greek...

But, I do snap up the Diadochi as one of my sub-collections...

I love Alexander (my Avatar is a derivative / dialect of his name.) But, I have always known what his father did to ENABLE Alexander to execute the mastermind's plans and conquer the known world... Philip was flat-out brilliant for his time!

 

@davidharmier60: Your coin is a silver drachm of Varahran I (272-275 AD) of the Sasanian, or New Persian, Empire. Can't tell from the photos whether it's real or not- it's damaged, and very porous, not to mention what looks like a double-strike on the obverse, but it could be a poorly preserved genuine coin.

As for admirable leaders from ancient history: I'm surprised nobody's mentioned Ashoka, king of the Mauryan Empire, who conquered almost all of the Indian subcontinent, then became ashamed at all the death his conquest had caused, converted to Buddhism, and supported the spread of Buddhist ideals of non-violence for the rest of his life. (Of course, it would have been even more credit-worthy if he had renounced violence before he had committed massacres, but this isn't a thread about ideal morally perfect leaders. We have to work with the history we have.)

 

Thank you for your comment... Help me, I understand this was minted during his reign?


India Maurya ser VIB AR Karshapana punchmark 270-175 BCE ASHOKA

 

My understanding is that the symbol of the three circles with the line through it might indicates his reign, but ultimately we don't know for sure if they are from him or his successors...


Mauryan Empire
King Ashoka & Successors, 270-175/50 B.C.
AR Karshapana, 16.2 x 12.61mm x 4 grams
Obv.: five punchmarks, mark one: 468 (sun symbol) two: 392 (Six-Armed Symbol); three: 374 (arches); four: 15 (three circles and line); five: 142 (human)
Rev.: One punchmark: 15 (three circles and line)
Ref.: Gupta & Hardaker 566, Series VIb, type VI IV C 142.