Like other volumes in this series, Ancient History from Coins
demystifies a specialism, introducing students (from first year upwards)
to the techniques, methods, problems and advantages of using coins to do
ancient history.
Coins are a fertile source of information for the ancient historian; yet
too often historians are uneasy about using them as evidence because of
the special problems attaching to their interpretation. The world of
numismatics is not always easy for the non-specialist to penetrate or
understand with confidence. Dr Howgego describes and anlyses the main
contributions the study of coins can make to ancient history, showing
shows through numerous examples how the character, patterns and
behaviour of coinage bear on major historical themes. Topics range from
state finance and economic policy to imperial domination and political
propaganda through coins types.
The period covered by the book is from the invention of coinage (ca
600BC) to AD 400.