Roman Provincial Coinage VII.2. From Gordian I to Gordian III (AD 238–244): all provinces except Asia (London – Paris, 2022),
by Jerome Mairat and Marguerite Spoerri Butcher, with contributions by Michel Amandry, Roger Bland, Kevin Butcher, Jack Nurpetlian, and Ulrike Peter
Hardcover 2 volumes, 747 pp and 252 plates.
ISBN 978 0 7141 1830 7.
The period covered by this new volume of the RPC series represents a pivotal period in Roman history. It opens with the political crisis of AD 238, the year of the six emperors (Maximinus, Gordian I, Gordian II, Pupienus, Balbinus, and Gordian III). Gordian III, barely 13 years old when he became emperor, married Tranquillina in AD 241. His reign saw hostilities increase in the Balkans, but also in the east where the Sasanians capture Hatra in eastern Mesopotamia. This is seen as the casus belli of Gordian’s expeditio Orientalis (AD 242-4) during which he died in early 244.
Though the period studied is short, coin production was at its peak, especially in Thrace, Moesia Inferior, but also Lycia, where 20 cities minted coins for the first and only time since the early 1st century AD. These coinages provide a unique insight into local politics, culture and religion at a time when written historical sources are scarce.
The present catalogue includes 3,895 types and 27,994 coins, minted by 128 cities in a geographical area extending from the Balkans to Egypt. It provides detailed introductions to each coinage, as well as five general chapters (Historical Background; The Emperor and the Imperial Family; Designs and Inscriptions; Production and Circulation; Denominations).
The online version of the catalogue can be consulted here on https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk.
https://www.ashmolean.org/people/jerome-mairat
https://www.ashmolean.org/people/marguerite-spoerri
