I think of
Roman as being more on the beaten path, whereas I think Greek is more adventuresome, more unknown, and therefore, as researching
history, potentially more fruitful. One can read sources, ancient and modern on a
denarius of
Nero, and of course, enjoy the colorful stories. A Theban
stater with the abbreviation of the magistrate, or a Syracusan
diobol is more of a cypher. In one way, one is very limited in what one can read into it, in another way it can quite open. What does the Beoetian
shield mean? Read the Iliad, and everything since then. How can one not love Arethusa, the nymph with the dolphins circling around? Probably the only nymph on coins that we have an
attribution for, other than "the eponymous" nymph of Segesta...(etc.) I wonder about the true names of
nymphs of Segesta, Velia, etc. But I like the fact that we don't know everything about
antiquity, both because that means there is something to explore, but also because it means that it is not under control, we can't define it, and because we can't ever define it, we can't dismiss it either, we can ignore it, but that is something altogether different.
If you look at comedy, tragedy, philosophy, one finds that they all have a Greek origin. And as far as philosophy is concerned, it is said, "Philosophy is
Plato and
Plato is philosophy." and "All of philosophy is a footnote to
Plato." Well, the same thing is true of
numismatics, most of
numismatics is ancient
numismatics (because we don't have
mint records or a tradition behind the coins and so we have to investigate), and I would venture to guess that most of ancient
numismatics is ancient Greek
numismatics, not in quantity, but in terms of variety. The medium is new, and the attitude towards it in ancient
Greece seems to be rather experimental. For example,
facing heads tend to be hard on dies, but they make great art.
Don't get me wrong, I like a nice
Roman Sesterii, and
Celtic coins are psychedelic. But usually when I look at coins, I think to myself that, "it is Greek to me."
