

w- 



J 



ffr 



V 



Fig. 40. — Theodor C. MoMMSEN (1817-1903), 

 noted German historian (Div. ol Numis- 

 matics photi)). 



mint. ScckiiiL; the hnsic printi|ilc-s which mjvcnird 

 the mint and ,il the same linn- cuiisiilcrin!;' the pro- 

 gressive develupnieiit in the organization ol [jrevioiis 

 Asiatic and Greek mint svstenis, Mommsen tried to 

 explain the legal aspects of Roman eoina'_;e as pai t cjI 

 the fundamental state laws and to sol\<- the difiicnll 

 problem of chronology within the Repiil)lican coina'-;e. 

 After Joseph Eekhel's earlier eiili'^hlcnini; work, 

 Momnisen's apjjroach seemed to he the logical direc- 

 tion of development for Roman numismatics. Ne\-cr- 

 iheless, for decades to come, the erudilion ol liolh men 

 had to yield in popularit\' to Iliini Cohen's un- 

 scholarly hm extremely practii al manuals on Roman 

 coins. The hitter's methods in his l)i\n ijilmii onii'itilc 

 i/ii nuintiaiis dc la n'/nih/iq/ii' luiiuinii (IWS^i stood lor 



almost tliree decades nnlii llie\- were ri-vised |)artly 

 l)y Ernest Babelon, who hied lo use Mommsen's 

 ehronolonie.il syst<an l)nl eiulrd up maini, lining 

 Clohen's miseientiiic alph.ilietical arranLicment (jf the 

 so-called "lamiK- coins." I-ialielon's Drsri i/i/idii lii^- 

 hniijiic ,1 tlniviiiliiiiujii,' ,/,'\ niiiiinans ih- In i,'lni\iliquf 

 KiiiKiiiii' (1(SS,S -l.SSd) was challem;ed Liter 1 1\- Herlierl 

 (imelier's chron(>lot;ie,il arranijeminl li.isrd on 

 t'.ount de Salis" work which (irnelKi ioilowed in his 

 e\e<'llent cataloi; .md sttid\- Cuius nf llii' Rntmin Hipithlic 

 III llir Ihi/iJi MiiM'iiiii (I'MO). .Mso indispcnsalile were 

 Max von Bahrfeldt's corrections and additions lo these 

 listiims, pul)lished over a |)eriod of Iwentv-lwo vears 

 in his three-volume .\uililiagi' iiinl lin uhhginigrn 

 (IS'i7 -I'MO). 



1 )urini; the first lliiee decades of tin- present centtirv, 

 inteiest in Roman nunnsmatics lias (iiUen-d mainly 

 aroniid the imperial eoina<;e.'" .Special allention 

 must he t;i\-en in ilalv to l''ranceseo (Jnecchi with his 

 excellent puhlications of Rom, in med.illions and 

 coins, / niidiigliiiiii iiiiiiiiiii (l'n2) as well as Man, If 

 iiiiiiaiii- (l.S'f(>), and l^odovico Laliranchi, who, in a 

 \2,vr.\i mniiher ol studies, covered main histoiical 

 aspects ol the Roman lanpire. Remark, ihle ,ire liis 

 monogra|)hs on the 01 i;,inization ol the Rom, in mint 

 and on the coinages of .\umistus and M.^iientius.''''' 



Representati\'e ol (iemi.m rese.irch in the s.ime field 

 ,ire Max Bernluii t ,ind F.iul .Sir,iek. The former 

 produced a xcry s\stenuitic and uselnl h.nidhook on 

 the im|)erial coin,iL;e, I Iniulhin h -in Miiti-kinidt ihr 

 iniiiisiluii haisiirjil (l')2(i), while llu' hitter attempted 

 to ,ipph' the corpus iile,i to the coinages of tli<' second 

 century ,^.1)., with strong emphasis on the historical 

 iiiter|)retation ol numismatic materi,il, in his I'titii- 

 siirliiiiigni .;/// khhimIiiii /uii li\/nugNiig i/ts .;;e(7/(77 J'l/ir- 

 liumlnh (l').il l''i7). 



The de.in ol Rom.ni miinism,ili( s, liow(\cr, is 

 ILirold B. M.itlins^ly (1SH4 l')fi4), who li.is heen as- 

 sociiited for iiumy years with the Britisli Museum. ,'\ 

 score of important puhlications seal lered o\ er ,1 period 

 of liltv N'cars suggest his exleiisixc knowledge, his 

 deep understanding ol ,1 ei\ ili/,ilioii Ioiil; past, and 

 his ,ihilit\' \o hriiig that era to \i\ id life for the reader. 



I" I'm liibliographies of this ])criod, sc-c Ri-.knii..srt, fiililidsni- 

 /i/ii\<lifi \\'igiri'i\i-i (l')22); Cakson, '".X Ri'|K)rt on Rcscarcli in 

 Kimian Niimisnialirs" (PJii^). l^'or the latest drvclopminls, sec 

 I1m<(ii.i> and Il.i.Roi.i) H. ^I,^^llNla^■, '■'I'lii- Rcpiiblir and ihc 

 I'.iiK I'.iiipiic" (I'ldli; Kim. ■llu- I. air Knin.ui l'.m|)irc" 



(rx.i). 



1!'' I'nr a lisl ui his uoiks, sc-c 1'.m;a\i in liiri^lu ilahana <li 



niirniMii'ilii 'I ( r'S.S). 



PAPER 32: NUMISM.XTICS .AN ANCIMN 1' SCIKNCK 



47 



