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.

An inventory of 2387 hoards of Greek hoards with a cut-off point of 30 BC. The hoards are presented geographically, beginning with Greece itself and encompassing the Near East, Egypt, Italy, North Africa, Spain and Gaul.

Explores the impact of the gradual adoption of coinage into Egypt by the early Ptolemies.

First comparative analysis of the role of local elites and populations in the formation of the two main Hellenistic empires.