The Athenian Empire

by Lisa Kallet, John H. Kroll

Coinage played a central role in the history of the Athenian naval empire of the fifth century BC. It made possible the rise of the empire itself, which was financed through tribute in coinage collected annually from the empire's approximately 200 cities. The empire's downfall was brought about by the wealth in Persian coinage that financed its enemies. This book surveys and illustrates, with nearly 200 examples, the extraordinary variety of silver and gold coinages that were employed in the history of the period, minted by cities within the empire and by those cities and rulers that came into contact with it. It also examines how coins supplement the literary sources and even attest to developments in the monetary history of the period that would otherwise be unknown. This is an accessible introduction to both the history of the Athenian empire and to the use of coins as evidence.

202 pages, Paperback

Published November 5, 2020

Reviews

[Oliver Shields · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bought it as a device to strengthen my grasp on the reality of coined money in the ancient world, reading it as an addition to chapter X, Money and Credit, in Alain Bresson, The Making of the Ancient Greek Economy (2016), and was surprised at the political relevance of its discussions that complement Thucydides' account of the 5th century Athenian empire and the war effort against Sparta (see a book review on Thucydides by a friend: https://youtu.be/fbf8QN2U8NI ). The arguments can be followed easily because individual paragraphs don't contain too much information. It does well in clarifying the relationships within the Synmachia and the turbulence of changing factional ties during the Peloponnesian War. What attracted my attention most, however, were the life-size depictions of the coins from all over the Greek world, with their obverse and reverse motifs. This facilitated a vivid understanding of economic life, as described in Bresson 2016. Would recommend to students of economics and politics more so than to archeologists.

[Joseph Calev · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good overview of the coins around the Athenian empire, though I prefer the Hellenistic book in the series much more. This one gets a bit bogged down at times.