Denarius: Did you mean...?

Ptolemaic Egypt rapidly established itself as an economic powerhouse of the ancient world at the end of the 4th century BCE. The wealth of Egypt was owed in large part to the unrivalled fertility of the Nile, which served as the breadbasket...

Colonial American currency was a work in progress from the time of the earliest English settlements of the 1600s until the United States of America minted its own money in 1783. The monetary system was far from standardized, and trade within...

Elephants were thought of as fierce and frightful monsters in antiquity, very real though rarely seen until the Hellenistic period. They were deployed on the battlefield to strike terror into the enemy, however, since fear was considered...

A Roman coin depicting a citizen voting, silver denarius of L. Cassius Longinus, 63 BCE. Archaeological Museum, Tarragona, Spain.

A Roman coin depicting two standing soldiers. Denarius of Caius Servilius, 1st century BCE. (Archaeological Museum, Tarragona, Spain)

A silver denarius of Julius Caesar depicting an elephant commemorating his victory over the Gauls and Germanic tribes in 58 BCE. (Archaeological Museum, Tarragona, Spain)

A rare silver denarius with a delicate portrait of Cleopatra Selene II (c. 40 BCE - 5 BCE). Minted in Caesarea, Mauretania (near modern day Cherchell, Algeria), c. 20 BCE - 24 CE. Courtesy of Roma Numismatics Ltd., Auction XVIII, 29-09-2019...

Silver denarius minted by M Servilius depicting the goddess Roma or Bellona on the obverse. On the reverse are two soldiers, with their horses in the background. c. 100 BCE. Rome. (British Museum)

Coin portraits in particular show how Cleopatra wanted to be presented. Though varied in their facial features, her portraits emphasize her position of power as Ptolemaic queen. Sculptural portrait attributed to Cleopatra (Gregorian Profane...

A Roman coin depicting a praetorian galley. Silver denarius of Mark Antony, 32-31 BCE. (Archaeological Museum, Tarragona, Spain)