Many people hated history class because they said it was just about a lot of wars and killing people. That was true of modern history, particularly, for they were teaching events – not how or why they took place in the broad context. History is so much more. It is a catalog of our […]
QUESTION: Marty, I heard that JP Morgan had a huge ancient coin collection of Greek and Roman coins. Have any of his coins ever come up for sale? DX ANSWER: Oh yes. Not often. Here is a gold aureus of Antoninus Pius (138-161AD). You can typically buy one for around $4,000. This one was […]
QUESTION: What do you think about the series Domina? Is it true to history? GK $22.99 on Amazon Prime ANSWER: It is an excellent series. This deals with the fall of Rome after the Civil War between Octavian and Marc Antony, which was a proxy war funded by Cleopatra. It was so good, I […]
Believe it or not, on New Year’s Eve, we still celebrate the ancient Roman religion/myth of Janus, who presided over the beginning and end. So one face looked at the past and the other the coming new year. In fact, January is named after Janus. He also represented the beginning and end of the conflict. […]
Some claim that the stories from the Bible are just stories. Academics have been famous for saying the same thing about Historia Augusta even attributing the fraud to a monk hundreds of years before since it contained names of Roman Emperors they claim never existed. Then, two gold coins were discovered in a hoard […]
QUESTION: Mr. Armstrong, Your writings on Rome and the parallels are astounding because, as you say, human nature never changes. I took my family to Rome for a vacation thanks to you. We went into the Roman Forum, and that was impressive. Are the monuments there in the forum documented by the coinage? Thank you […]
The Balkck Sea Trade – Tauric Chersonesus, Panticapaeum. This is probably the finest known Gold Stater (circa 350-300AD) of Panticapaeum, which was the most powerful city in the Tauric Chersonesus with deep involvement in the lucrative Black Sea grain trade for even back then, Ukraine was a major bread-basket in the ancient world as well. […]
For whatever reason, people have tried to claim that Cleopatra was black. That is the most absurd proposition that distorts history beyond belief. When Alexander the Great died, his empire was split among his generals. Egypt went to General Ptolomey. There was perhaps a sense of prejudice by the Greeks against those that they conquered […]
Caesar’s Wife begged him not to go to the Senate in the morning. She had her vision of his death. Decimus dined with Caesar the night before his assassination and convinced Caesar to leave his house the next morning for staying home because his wife, Calpurnia, was worried was unmanly. That fateful day set in […]
History repeats because human nature never changes. During the Roman Republic, the name of the moneyer would appear on the coinage just as today the Secretary of the Treasury’s signature appears on our paper currency – i.e. Steven T. Munchin. To this day, our coins are denoted by which mint produced them – Philadelphia, […]
