Faces of the Ancient World

Twelve faces. Eleven centuries. One quiet conversation in metal.

Long before Rome filled the auction catalogues, the ancient world was already speaking in coins. A Macedonian king put Apollo on gold and made himself Greek. A Bactrian king fought the steppe in a helmet crowned with bull's horns. A Parthian called himself friend of the Greeks, in Greek, on silver, while dismantling their last empire. A queen in Alexandria refused beauty and kept her sharp profile, her sharp claim to the throne. A Byzantine emperor moved Christ to the front of the coin and himself to the back.

FACES OF THE ANCIENT WORLD follows twelve rulers from Philip II of Macedonia to Basil II of Byzantium, reading their power as it survived: pressed into small discs of metal that still circulate, still legible, still arguing. Greek, Hellenistic, Parthian, Sasanian, Byzantine. Apollo, Heracles, the fire altar, Christ Pantocrator. Each chapter unfolds the same questions: what did the ruler choose to say on metal, why, and what does the silence around the choice reveal?

The Special Volume opens the Coins of the Ancient World series: the first systematic illustrated companion, written for the general reader, to ancient numismatics beyond Roman coinage.

Twelve illustrated chapters on Philip II, Alexander the Great, Lysimachus, Ptolemy I, Antiochus III, Mithridates VI, Eucratides of Bactria, Mithradates I of Parthia, Shapur I of Sasanian Persia, Cleopatra VII, Justinian I, and Basil II.

A Reader's Cabinet at the back of the book: twelve coins you can still find on today's market, each with realistic prices in USD and EUR, authenticity red flags, guidance on where to look, and a difficulty level from beginner to advanced.

An Analytical Register with rulers, key terms, coin types, monetary timeline, mints, and dynastic trees.

Nearly ninety high-resolution images from public collections, careful iconographic readings, and a Reader's Cabinet that turns the book into a practical companion for the entry-level collector and the curious reader alike.

The ancient world is not finished.
It still fits in the palm of the hand.