New Andrew Burnett book: "The Roman Provinces, 300 BCE–300 CE, Using Coins as Sources"

[DonnaML]

Published a few weeks ago by Cambridge University Press as the next book in the "Guides to the Coinage of the Ancient World" series, following the ones by Clare Rowan and Liz Mariah Yarrow.

See https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009420099 for information about the book, and to order a copy. $39.95 USD for the paperback or the e-book, $130 for the hardcover in the unlikely event someone needs that. You can even request an "instructor examination copy," which I presume has all the answers!

Here's the rather brief and not very detailed description:

Andrew Burnett, British Museum, London

Published 2024

Description

Provincial coinage gives us a unique insight into the Roman world, reflecting the values and concerns of the elites of the many hundreds of cities in the Roman empire. Coins offer a very different perspective from written history, which usually represents the views of the senatorial class, and which was usually composed long after the events that are described. The coins, in contrast, provide evidence without hindsight, and uniquely allow a systematic examination across the whole Roman world. This volume makes it possible for instructors and students and scholars to deploy a complex set of material evidence on many historical topics. It includes over two hundred illustrations of coins with detailed captions, so providing a convenient sourcebook of the most important items, and covers topics such as the motivation for Roman conquest, the revolution of Augustus, the world of the Second Sophistic and the crisis of the third century. 

Publication date: 13 November 2024
ISBN: 9781009420105
Dimensions (mm): 216 x 140 mm (Paperback)
Weight: 0.561kg
Contains: 226 colour illus. 16 maps
Page extent: 406 pages

The e-book is described as follows:

A digital copy accessible in our Cambridge Spiral Web and Application eReaders that is delivered to your personal account giving you access to the text of the book and additional ereader features such as annotations, bookmarks, offline reading and print/copy functionality for up to 15% of the text of the book.

That sounds a bit too complicated for me. Since it seems I can't buy a simple pdf, I just ordered the paperback instead. $6.95 for shipping to the USA. I don't like looking at charts and maps on my phone or Kindle anyway.

 

Edited December 5, 2024 by DonnaML

[JAZ Numismatics]

Great, thanks Donna! Looking forward to reading it.

[kirispupis]

I've been looking forward to this for some time.

I currently have it on back-order on Amazon.

[rNumis]

$27.99 for ANS members, $39.99 regular price

[DonnaML]

2 hours ago, rNumis said:

$27.99 for ANS members, $39.99 regular price

I wish I had known that - I'm a member, and could have saved $12!

[panzerman]

Thanks Donna! Good to know!

John

[Sulla80]

17 hours ago, DonnaML said:

Published a few weeks ago by Cambridge University Press as the next book in the "Guides to the Coinage of the Ancient World" series, following the ones by Clare Rowan and Liz Mariah Yarrow.

See https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009420099 for information about the book, and to order a copy. $39.95 USD for the paperback or the e-book, $130 for the hardcover in the unlikely event someone needs that. You can even request an "instructor examination copy," which I presume has all the answers!

Here's the rather brief and not very detailed description:

Andrew Burnett, British Museum, London

Published 2024

Description

Provincial coinage gives us a unique insight into the Roman world, reflecting the values and concerns of the elites of the many hundreds of cities in the Roman empire. Coins offer a very different perspective from written history, which usually represents the views of the senatorial class, and which was usually composed long after the events that are described. The coins, in contrast, provide evidence without hindsight, and uniquely allow a systematic examination across the whole Roman world. This volume makes it possible for instructors and students and scholars to deploy a complex set of material evidence on many historical topics. It includes over two hundred illustrations of coins with detailed captions, so providing a convenient sourcebook of the most important items, and covers topics such as the motivation for Roman conquest, the revolution of Augustus, the world of the Second Sophistic and the crisis of the third century. 

Publication date: 13 November 2024
ISBN: 9781009420105
Dimensions (mm): 216 x 140 mm (Paperback)
Weight: 0.561kg
Contains: 226 colour illus. 16 maps
Page extent: 406 pages

The e-book is described as follows:

A digital copy accessible in our Cambridge Spiral Web and Application eReaders that is delivered to your personal account giving you access to the text of the book and additional ereader features such as annotations, bookmarks, offline reading and print/copy functionality for up to 15% of the text of the book.

That sounds a bit too complicated for me. Since it seems I can't buy a simple pdf, I just ordered the paperback instead. $6.95 for shipping to the USA. I don't like looking at charts and maps on my phone or Kindle anyway.

 

Great to have on Kindle from Amazon.  The price and the searchability help me overcome my preference for a hardcover copy.

Edited December 6, 2024 by Sulla80

[DonnaML]

2 hours ago, Sulla80 said:

Great to have on Kindle from Amazon.  The price and the searchability help me overcome my preference for a hardcover copy.

If you have it already, what do you think so far?

[TIF]

Thanks for the heads-up, Donna!  I just ordered a copy, Saturnalia present to myself :).  Really excited to see it!!

Since I've bought only two coins this year, I felt a splurge was deserved so I bought a hardcover copy (also I'm optimistic that it will be read, re-read, and referenced often).  @Sulla80's point about searchability is well-taken though.  If it ends up being a great resource, I would consider also buying the Kindle edition.

 

Edited December 6, 2024 by TIF

[DonnaML]

4 hours ago, TIF said:

Thanks for the heads-up, Donna!  I just ordered a copy, Saturnalia present to myself :).  Really excited to see it!!

Since I've bought only two coins this year, I felt a splurge was deserved so I bought a hardcover copy (also I'm optimistic that it will be read, re-read, and referenced often).  @Sulla80's point about searchability is well-taken though.  If it ends up being a great resource, I would consider also buying the Kindle edition.

 

I'm looking forward to seeing it as well. I'm not expecting it to be another catalog and don't need one, what with all the available resources online like RPC, a dozen books on Roman Alexandrian coins on my shelf, and a copy of McAlee for Antioch. But I'm hoping for a good overview -- including "Republican Imperial" coins, which RPC omits. The only general book on Roman Provincials I have is Kevin Butcher's Roman Provincial Coins : An Introduction to the Greek Imperials (Seaby 1988), which was fine to read when I was just starting to collect Provincials, but barely exceeds 100 pages and doesn't go into anything in depth.

Edited December 6, 2024 by DonnaML

[Broucheion]

5 hours ago, DonnaML said:

But I'm hoping for a good overview -- including "Republican Imperial" coins, which RPC omits.

Hi @DonnaML,

@Roman Collector provided a description of the ANS’s “RPC Zero”.. see below. 

The Richard B. Witschonke Collection of more than 3,700 coins, now in the collection of the American Numismatic Society.

- Broucheion 

 

Edited December 6, 2024 by Broucheion

[DonnaML]

5 hours ago, Broucheion said:

Hi @DonnaML,

@Roman Collector provided a description of the ANS’s “RPC Zero”.. see below. 

The Richard B. Witschonke Collection of more than 3,700 coins, now in the collection of the American Numismatic Society.

- Broucheion 

 

Yes, I remember. That one was a bit too high-priced for me. 

[Sulla80]

5 hours ago, DonnaML said:

Yes, I remember. That one was a bit too high-priced for me. 

Lightly used you might find one for half price  .... biblio.com alibris.com abebooks.com all my favorite used book brokers.

[DonnaML]

My copy arrived in the mail today, sent from the Cambridge University Press in Chambersburg, PA, of all places! Just leafing through it, it looks wonderful. Here are a few excerpts, one from the preface and two from the body of the book.

I can't say I'd ever heard of an Egyptian god named Tutu. I guess this falls in the category of learning something new every day!

[akeady]

Thanks for the pics - I will order a copy.

ATB,
Aidan.

[Sulla80]

14 hours ago, DonnaML said:

My copy arrived in the mail today, sent from the Cambridge University Press in Chambersburg, PA, of all places! Just leafing through it, it looks wonderful.

Agree (it is wonderful) - have been enjoying the Kindle version!