Author Description

After the Greeks defeated the Persians at the battles of Marathon and Plataea in the early fifth century BC, the various Greek states decided to form an alliance to defend themselves against any future attacks. Under the leadership of Athens, the members of the so-called Delian League were soon reduced to the status of satellites in what had become an Athenian empire in all but name. The wealth Athens acquired from tribute enabled her to embark on the ambitious building programme that included the Parthenon, which remains a symbol of the city to the present day. By the end of the century, the Athenians were once again embroiled in conflict, this time defeated by Sparta in the Peloponnesian War. Combining numismatic evidence with information from written sources such as the works of Herodotus and Thucydides, building accounts and records of tribute, the first part of this book looks at the relationship between the political and economic situation in fifth-century Greece and the design and use of coinage, whether in everyday transactions at home, in trade with other powers, or to pay for soldiers and ships in time of war. Greek coins are renowned for the beauty of their designs, and in the second part of the book 121 examples from the period in the British Museum's vast collection are fully described and illustrated.