Historical Sources

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Sofa King

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  • Damnatio memoriae - purposely damage to the face of King in reliefs
    • E.g. Sennacherib in Lachish reliefs
  • Roman coin: front side is the head of the emperor and the back side narrates a story, which is important because the audience used it on a daily basis and it was the best medium for the ruler to spread his message to society.
  • Greek coin: the front side features deities and the back side is blank.
  • Coins were authoritative and less biased compared to written documents, but they were also used as propaganda and had a political use.
  • To date a coin, one needs to know the time period of the emperor, for example, Vespasian, who was a councillor for the third time.
  • The history of coins began in Lydia (Asia Minor) in the 7th century BCE, made from elektron, a naturally occurring alloy of gold and silver.
  • Soon after the invention of coins in Lydia, they became artificially produced.
  • The first 'Greek' coins, made from the same alloy as the Lydian coins, were those of Ephesos.
  • The first mass-produced coin was the golden stater from the time of Kroisos, made in Lydia Asia Minor, 6th century BCE.
  • A plachet is a blank coin placed between a die, with the upper die being concave and the lower die being convex.
  • Coinage carries a message besides its economic function.
  • Coinage is important as a historical source, particularly during the third century when little is known about women at the court of Elagabalus.
  • Julia Maesa, the grandmother of Elagabalus and Severus Alexander, was a rich and politically involved woman, and her deification is mentioned in Herodian.
  • Her coin, a denarius (silver) coin, features Julia Maesa on the obverse and apotheosis on a peacock on the reverse.
  • Papyrology was written in
    1. Demotic
    2. Greek
    3. Latin
    4. Coptic
    5. Arabic
  • Other materials used in papyrology:
    1. Lead
    2. Linen cloths
    3. Wax tablets
    • Aes signatum = cast ingots of bronze with stamps
    • Aes grave = bronze cast coins in several units
    • Aes rude = weighted divisions of raw metal