ELYMAIS Orodes II 130-147 AD drachm

Description

The ancient Kingdom of Elam, mentioned in the Bible, was usually under the thumb of one larger empire or another. In the 2nd century BC it emerged as a semi-autonomous part-time vassal of Parthia, and continued as a part-time vassal of the Sasanids into the 3rd century AD, when it was annexed. There is no real history in the sense of this happened and then that happened. We know the names of the Kings from their coins.

The big change that Alexander the Great brought about was the union of the Greek spirit of inquiry with the methods of imperial bureaucracy.

Ancient Coins includes Greek and Roman coins and those of neighbors and successors, geographically from Morocco and Spain all the way to Afghanistan. Date ranges for these begin with the world’s earliest coins of the 8th century BC to, in an extreme case, the end of Byzantine Empire, 1453 AD.