Kevin Butcher

The Silver Coinage of Roman Syria Under the Julio-Claudian Emperors

Abstract Analyses of 71 Roman provincial silver coins of the Julio-Claudian emperors (27 BC–AD 68) minted at Caesarea in Cappadocia and Antioch and Tyre in Syria are discussed in this paper. The finenesses of the alloys are presented and it is proposed that there was a logical relationship between the standards used for Caesarea and Antioch. Trace element profiles and selected lead isotope analyses help to characterize the products of the different mints, and also demonstrate that one particular issue of coinage, normally attributed to a mint in Syria, was probably produced at Caesarea in Cappadocia. During this period minting of silver at Tyre was discontinued and trace elements suggest that some of the later Antiochene coinage may have been produced from recycled Tyrian silver.

Money, Currency and Crisis : In Search of Trust, 2000 BC to AD 2000

Money is a core feature in all discussions of economic crisis, as is clear from the debates about the responses of the European Central Bank and the Federal Reserve Bank of the United States to the 2008 economic crisis. This volume explores the role of money in economic performance, and focuses on how monetary systems have affected economic crises for the last 4,000 years. Recent events have confirmed that money is only a useful tool in economic exchange if it is trusted, and this is a concept that this text explores in depth. The international panel of experts assembled here offers a long-range perspective, from ancient Assyria to modern societies in Europe, China and the US. This book will be of interest to students and researchers of economic history, and to anyone who seeks to understand the economic crises of recent decades, and place them in a wider historical context.