Roman Provincial coins tend to be one of the more overlooked areas of ancient numismatics. Many do not immediately strike the eye as beautiful or worthy of note. However, such pieces are rich in historical meaning and give us a window into how Romans, from all across the empire, thought about the vast political project they were a part of. The Roman state is unique among large, multiethnic empires in history in that it did not see significant ethnic repression or strife. Indeed, one could call it the ideal of a polyglot, multi-ethnic state – perhaps the term ‘commonwealth’ is more apt than ‘empire.’ The Italian primacy faded, as most emperors after Nerva (98 AD) came from the provinces and were ethnically distinct from the founders of the state. Non-Italian citizens believed wholeheartedly in the Roman vision and mystique, balancing their pride in their regional identities with their larger Roman one.

A great example of this dual identity felt across Rome’s vast empire can be seen in the series of Roman Provincial coinage. Most Provincial coins were minted in the East, where the historical and cultural tradition was more developed and older. These coins, for the most part, feature three key aspects: legends in Greek, the emperor/empress’s portrait, and a localized figure or scene on the reverse. Certain reverse motifs celebrate local history; for example, certain provincial coins from the area near Troy depict scenes from the Trojan War, lionizing the local Trojan heroes. For example, the coin at the top of this article, struck at Tarsus during the reign of Maximinus I (235-238 AD), features a reverse showing the Judgement of Paris, a famous scene from the Trojan War story. Paris, seated at right, holds the apple which he must give to the most beautiful goddess – Aphrodite, Juno, or Athena. He chooses Aphrodite, who in turn promises him the hand of the beautiful queen Helen of Troy. This love affair between Trojan prince and Greek queen ignited the great Trojan War.

Above: Provincial bronze of Philip the Arab (r. 244-249), struck at Tyre, Phoenicia

The coin above is perhaps the perfect example of how the dual identities of Romans living in the provinces looked in practice on coins. On the obverse of this large issue of Philip I, we see the emperor’s bold and proud portrait, surrounded, interestingly and unusually, by a Latin legend. Certain coins in the third century struck in the Greek-speaking east adopted Latin legends as part of a “colonial” series of large provincial bronzes, including cities like Antioch in Pisidia. The reverse of this coin features a famous scene from Tyre’s past: king Cadmus, seen prominently at right, presents the alphabet to a group of Greek envoys. This likely apocryphal scene is a representation of a true fact of historical linguistics – that the Greek alphabet derives from the Phoenician alphabet, and therefore from the city of Tyre. It is more likely that the alphabet came to Greece from Phoenicia through the enterprising Phoenician merchants that were renowned for their commercial prowess. But the story of Cadmus bequeathing the sacred language tablets to the Hellenes lived on in popular memory.

Above: Very rare bronze of Macrinus, minted at Deultum, Thrace – Buy now

This particular coin above is valuable in that it shows us that some conquered regions came to see Roman history as more central to their identity than the local lore. The reverse of this coin, instead of featuring a local legend, shows the famous founding of Rome scene, where the twins Romulus and Remus are nursed by a she-wolf. The iconic image is still associated with Rome, and is the logo for its main soccer team, AS Roma. The residents of Deultum, a rural town in Thrace (now Bulgaria), were proud to be Romans, despite their distance to the city and different ethnic and cultural background.