Pre-Roman Coins

The AR Siglos of Darius comes from the time of the Achaemenid Empire, better known as the Persians, and Darius was the great king who ruled at the time. The coin itself shows an image of Darius from the side, holding a lance and running to the right. This is intended to show Darius as a mighty warrior and conqueror, reminding his people of his recent conquests, and as this comes from Lydia which had recently been conquered by the Persians it was probably intended to represent that conquest. The image of Darius can also be seen to reinforce the knowledge that Darius is king and that he should be respected as it was his likeness that was used for the coins, evoking power and wealth, a constant reminder to all those who held his coins.

The obverse side of the AR Tetradrachm of Sicily shows the likeness of Herakles, the great hero of Greek mythology and the god of strength. This would show how powerful the area was under its current leaders and how they would be as strong as Herakles. The reverse side shows a horse head and date palm, two important commodities in Sicily at the time. This would show the economic power of Sicily, combined with the image of Herakles, shows how incredibly powerful the area was. These images of strength are similar to the Achaemenid coin in that they speak to the strength of those in power, however the shift to depictions of deities shows how important the deities than the rulers.

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The Drachm of Ptolemy IV comes from a time when Greek influence was strong in Egypt, as it was ruled by a Greek dynasty. The coin has, on the obverse side, an image of Zeus-Amon showing the confluence of Greek and Egyptian beliefs. The rams head helm that he wears is the symbol that identifies him as Zeus-Amon, while also heralding back to the time of Alexander, as this was what the Egyptian priests crowned him with while he was in Egypt. The reverse shows the image of an eagle, reinforcing the importance of Zeus and the deity depicted as the eagle is an animal used to symbolize Zeus his placement as a sky god.

These early coins all represent a time before the Roman Empire spread its power and influence throughout the Mediterranean. The Siglos of Darius the Great comes from a time when Persia was one of the greatest powers in the world, stretching from the Mediterranean deep into the Asian continent. The Tetradrachm of Sicily represents a place that blended power from many different areas, Greece and Carthage and the Rome Rebulic, major areas that would later represent the extent of the later empire. The Drachm of Ptolemy IV shows the confluence of Greece and Rome and comes from a leader, Ptolemy, whose descendant, Cleopatra VII, would lose her empire to Rome and whose story is famed for blending so many different cultures. These coins represent the first evolutions of coinage. The Darius coin is very simple, a small coin with just an image of the great king. The Sicilian coin is much more complex, with representations of deities and symbols that are important to the people in that culture. The Ptolemaic coin represents the blending of cultures and alludes to a long history that would later come to an end. These coins would all later be replaced by the coins of others whose culture had shifted and whose representation of power manifested in much different ways.