Roman Imperialism on Coins

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

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[@carnacthemagnificent2498]

I've been binging your content recently. Around 1980 or so my grandmother gave me a small collection of ancient coins my grandfather had accumulated in the '60s. Like maybe 25 to 30 coins total. From the price written on the sleeve, most cost him a buk or two. One cost $25, that was a lot of dough at the time, and that was a really good quality shekel of tyre. I had no way to look anything up, most had some description but even that left them mostly mysterious. 40+ years later I've dug them out of the closet and began trying to figure out what I had (some really nice stuff, some not so much). thanks for being my guide for a lot of this!

[@caracallaavg]

Thanks for the video! Great as always

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

Thanks! Theres more to come :)

[@markp44288]

My Bolskan denarius was the first coin I ever bought because I saw it on your channel first, ages ago.

[@markp44288]

Just kidding, mine is from Turiaso, but it is basically the same design.

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

I love seeing iberian denarii of other mints :)

[@Jesse_Dawg]

I love your videos. Please never stop creating

[@anthonyseta4566]

That was a great presentation. I have now watched so many of your videos, but this presentation along with another recent video on how to ascertain the prices of ancient coins for today's market values are perhaps my favorites. Really outstanding work. For this video I've been juggling and bouncing back in forth from my own personal library and Wikipedia to look at all of the names mentioned with today's examples. Thank you!

[@Numischannel]

Hi Leo! I think that Portuguese, Spanish and French imperialism (being all these Latin countries) were more similar to Roman imperialism, as people would more freely interact with the natives, they were decidedly more interested in culturally transform the colonized countries and they would eventually consider as "Portuguese", "Spanish" or "French" not only the offspring of both mixed marriages but even some natives (those whom later the Belgian, for instance, would call "evolués"). Until 1974, Portugal even refused to decolonise her posessions in Africa, Timor and Macau as these colonies were given the rank of Portuguese States, and they dreamed to include all those peoples into a worldwide Portuguese "Nation". Now the Romans did not treat with the same respect advanced cultures (especially and foremostly Greek culture) than other cultures. But Roman, and later Byzantine empires, had an amazing social mobility as you could be the son of a slave, and rise to the rank of Senator, Urban Praefect (Major of the City of Rome) and eventually, Emperor (that was exactly the case of Pertinax), and the Roman army played a major role in this social mobility.

[@antonio4782]

Excelente video Leo,muy bellas e interesantes piezas,un fuerte abrazo.

[@markt8597]

Great video!

[@johnlee4897]

Full credit to Leo's extensive research of the subject matter and then presented so brilliantly. Thank you.

[@nazarnovitsky9868]

Thanks for the new video ! 😊

[@Cos17Min]

Your videos are so good, I've learned so much from you. Great coins, great voice for presenting. 😄

[@JoaoMDeus]

Very interesting and well made. TY! Muitos parabéns!

[@ivdeadelendaest]

As a sucker for any ancient coin with an eagle on it the Roman Tetradrachms from Alexandria are my absolute favorite.

[@BopWalk]

Don't forget the Marcus Antonius legionary issue denarii and the C. Valerius Flaccus denarii traveling military mint with the Aquila (vertical wings)

[@danielkahlhofer8074]

I have a lot to do with old coins (selling them on ebay with 350 auctions a month) and thought about to do like things you are doing here, ...and must say "Ups, he is good." I like your explanations. Sorry for my poor english. I'm from Berlin/Germany. ...and selling no bulk stuff! Only originals with collectors history. It is absolutely the best job I could find over the last 45 years (now 60) to have contact to a massiv group of ancient coins - every day! I need not to hold, to collect them; I saw tenthousands of coins my live long, had them and gave them away. --- History is what is in that stuff and I can be part of it by going through all that types existing...! And, to get money for that having fun? ..ok, all that trouble with shipping, custom, lost letters, fun bidders, etc. The money I have is less to that, what it better would... (sorry again for my english) ... but perhaps it will run month to month better. Doesn't matter. I am still alive with more than thousand new coins a month and the work with them. I am happy... Enjoy your business! But I guess, you do?

[@theeccentrictripper3863]

How do you get into a gig like that, do you just invest and flip until enough people know you as a trusted dealer, or is Germany its own numismatic beast?

[@manuelibarra7533]

Awesome video love those Iberian coins.

[@numismaticmaster8612]

So far, I've only got one Roman provincial coin, a Cistophoric Tetradrachm of Hadrian minted in Smyrna. What's interesting though is that the legends are in Latin, so I think it's maybe part of those legionary settlements brought up in this video. I don't exactly know the history of the coin though, so I can't say for certain. What's also interesting about that type though is that it's struck on another type. I can't get an exact ID because the under type is mostly gone, but there are still some traces of it, mostly being the snakes.

[@Secondhandhistory]

Ah. I always wondered why Rome left greek coinage systems in place. Looking at the Boudican and Great Jewish revolts, it is easy to forget that the Romans did not always pursue such clumsy, heavy handed methods of asserting control.

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

Thats an interesting perspective on things. Rome could be at the same time incredibly heavy-handed, submitting certain regions with extreme military force, but being pragmatic and "tolerant" in others, such as the monetary system. It all boiled down to "We do whats necessary to keep the Empire running".

[@ivdeadelendaest]

You should do a video on Aksumite coins

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

I definitely do! I just need to get my hands on some footage of these lovely coins

[@ikenni2533]

Excelente vídeo Leo!

[@Eustibaikula709]

Fantástico video ,un gran trabajo de la romanizacion de la antigua Península Ibèrica ,sin duda los denarios iberos son preciosos ,Bolskan ,Ausesken ,Sesars,Kese ,Iltirta y demás pueblos iberos que también acuñaron está magnífica moneda.🐎

[@GordonGrant-o1h]

Brilliant thanks Leo 👍

[@Coin_Tales]

🌹 Exciting news! Rose number [252] symbolizes the beautiful collaboration between us in this creative garden. 🌷 Your contribution adds a unique touch, and I can't wait to see the vibrant blooms of creativity in our shared space! 🌼 Let's continue cultivating this garden together, and thank you for being a part of it! 😊💖

[@theeccentrictripper3863]

Great video as always, always excited to click on whatever you upload! At 13:29 is this an editing error? You say the reverse's legend Is "Of King Ptolemy" and read out Basileos but the reverse you have shown and the drawing accompanying it has Sigma-Omega-Tau-Eta-Rho-Omicron-Sigma which is SOTEROS, savior, which does make sense if the obverse is ol' Ptolemy I

[@nathanmagnuson2589]

Yep must have been an editing error

[@Diogenes_43]

Idk if that Claudius engraver was any less talented than the imperial engravers that made Claudius’ coins. They’re similarly terrible with the exception of the gold coins.

[@markp44288]

Some of the bronzes for Claudius Gothicus have stunning portraits! Have another look.

[@Diogenes_43]

@@markp44288 I looked again, they’re still some of the saddest coins in the history of the empire 😂 He wasn’t a bad emperor though, just reigned during dark times.

[@markp44288]

If by sad you mean lightweight, and struck on weird flans, sure. But it's FAR from being the worst portraiture.@@Diogenes_43

[@muenzquiz]

interesting!

[@vm.999]

[@QuantumHistorian]

The Roman empire was *not* won by professional soldiers. The legions only became professional under Augustus, at which point the empire had almost reached its maximum extent. The overwhelming majority of Roman conquests: mainland Italy, Sicily, Cisalpine Gaul, Transalpine Gaul, Hispania, Greece, Macedon, North Africa, Asia Minor, Cilicia, Syria, etc... took place before then under the republic. When soldiers were not full time, career professionals. Exactly when the transition took place is hard to pin down because it was so progressive, but very roughly between 150 BC to 50 BC. Until this transition was complete, the soldiers were something more like conscripts (with a hefty dose of volunteers) that would serve for anything from a single campaign to a few years - it's only right at the end of the republic that we see 5+ years being common. And they were not well paid (only about 1/4 of what Ptolemaic or Seleucid soldiers were paid): they served out of a sense civic duty, state compulsion, or an escape out of poverty by via getting some lucrative booty. I know that this is only tangentially related to the video, but the profession lorica-segmentata-wearing legionaries that dominate public perception were simply not the soldiers who conquered the Roman empire.

[@neptunesmarsh]

That statement of "feeling Roman" is a great part of the reason the Empire fell, the Western half anyway. While the elites of the third, fourth, and fifth century still enjoyed the benefits of "being Roman," that sentiment faded from the local peoples, rather viewing their Roman identity as meaningless, and eventually burdensome. Ironically the more Hellenized half of the Empire persevered for another thousand years, w/ the people calling themselves "Romans" (Romaioi) into the 15th century.

[@thesecondsilvereich7828]

Diversity kills empires and nation states

[@theeccentrictripper3863]

@@thesecondsilvereich7828 Just German and Kraut-adjacent ones, Rome had it pretty well figured out for a few hundred years and when they did go down it was because they entirely neglected to Romanize the Germanic Foederati, among a variety of other reasons

[@pielagow]

Why do you touch your coins without nitrile gloves?

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

Because it does not damage the coins.

[@HighPlainsDrifter_2024]

Brutus coin real or counterfeit? Its not against the law to counterfeit Coins of empires that no longer exist. Buyer beware. 😂

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

What??

[@HighPlainsDrifter_2024]

@@ClassicalNumismatics I was looking on ebay for a Brutus Ides of March coin because i wanted an ancient coin from B.C. era. After some investigating i found out most if not all Brutus coins on ebay weren't genuine Roman Brutus coins but counterfeits. Something like 100 of them are only known to exist. Then i found out that people can counterfit coins from goverments that no longer exist. Im still wanting an ancient coin but the cost is to high for me at this time.