Artifacts of Empire Part I

Words from the brilliant author.

Artifacts of Empire seeks to take readers on a tour through history as we discover the beautiful artwork of Roman Imperial Coinage and learn about the rulers who issued these exquisite pieces of history. Some of the things you will learn about in this book will be jaw-dropping and unforgettable. Some of it may even be triggering to readers, as the book contains details of many of the violent deeds committed by Roman emperors throughout the history of the West. For example, it was not uncommon for an emperor to have a family member murdered and in rather awful form.

In those days, life was cheap. Each person surely valued their own life, but there was complete and utter disregard for the lives of others. Crime and plagues were rampant as there was no law enforcement, and sanitation along the banks of the River Tiber was quite poor. The average lifespan was twenty-five years old. Young men often died at war, while young women passed away at childbirth.

Amidst this regular occurrence of death, anyone who possessed more than a day’s pay would store their money in a container and bury it somewhere on their property. After all, there were no banks, so choices were limited. Somewhere along the line, the person that buried a container of coins met an untimely end, and we have been fortunate enough to unearth these coins thousands of years later. And, oftentimes, they are in rather splendid condition.

As we explore the examples in this book, you will notice that we have employed a useful color overlay system to help readers distinguish between the Latin abbreviations in the legends. We have also included high resolution photographs that enable readers to really get a close-up look at the fine details these coins possess. There are also roughly forty other examples in this book that readers may use for independent study, if they wish to broaden their knowledge and understanding of Roman Imperial Coinage.

Conducting this research and putting together this work has truly been a joy. My approach was to go into it with the attitude of knowing nothing, with the goal of coming out with the finest compilation of historical facts that one could muster. It combines my love of writing, history, and ancient numismatics. It is my sincere hope that readers come away with a firm knowledge of ancient Roman coinage and aspire to become the custodians of these precious artifacts.

What is even more interesting and to follow in future work is that Roman Imperial Coinage has been found in hoards along the Silk Road, comingled with coinage going all the way up to the fifteenth century. One of the purposes of this work was to contribute to the Silk Road project by shedding light on understanding these coins, which is what you are about to learn how to do.

Matthew Clark Materio

The book is also available in hard back with dust jacket printed in full colour on 170gsm gloss paper. Printed by The Explorist in the UK.