ANCIENT AND MODERN ICONOGRAPHY IN THE CONTEXT OF MONETARY ALLIANCES

Abstract

In ancient times, the presence of identical marking on various poleis coins minted during the same timeframe was often indicative of a political, military or economic link. In some cases the numismatic datum merely confirms information found in literary sources, as in the case of the Achaian League, while in others, coin iconography becomes an important source for historical reconstruction. In this perspective we will analyse cases of Agathoklean coinage and its influence – obvious to us – on Magna Graecia currency of the same time, with particular reference to Locri and stephanephoroi of the second century BC, where – conversely – the laurel wreath does not appear to express alliances of any sort. In recent times, monetary alliances reveal less attention for iconographic aspects, as in the nineteenth-century Latin Monetary Union.