Book Description

In this volume, Erik Christiansen uses Alexandrian coin hoards to explore the use of money in Egypt from its conquest by Augustus in 30 BC to Diocletian's currency reform in AD 296. Although these finds, with their wide array of Graeco-Roman and Alexandrian reverses, have traditionally been classified as a part of Greek coinage, he demonstrates clearly that they belong to the Roman imperial coinage. The hoards also show that Roman Egypt enjoyed a widespread monetized economy, in addition to the credit system described in extant papyri. The relative abundance of such documents provides Christiansen with a good supplemental source of information for his conclusions. And since financial administration is known to have been quite uniform throughout the empire, this book provides a useful window on not only Rome's shifting economic fortunes but also monetary policy in other provinces, which did not leave behind the rich heritage of coins and documents that Egypt did.