Ancient Numismatics | Università degli Studi di Milano Statale

A.Y. 2023/2024

Max ECTS

Overall hours

SSD

L-ANT/04

Language

Italian

Included in the following degree programmes

Studies in Cultural Heritage (Classe L-1)-Enrolled from 2021/2022 Academic Year

Humanities (Classe L-10)-Enrolled from 2021/2022 to 2021/2022

Humanities (Classe L-10)-Enrolled from 2022/2023

Learning objectives

The course aims to provide students with a basic grounding in the history of ancient coins, with a focus on the Greek and Roman worlds.

Expected learning outcomes

Knowledge: Students will made aware of the main problems related to coins and coinages in the ancient world, the differences with the contemporary world, some elementary notions of economics and the connection between archeology, history and numismatics.

Skills: Students will learn to manage the coin object within the archaeological excavation and how to catalogue coins; they will learn the basic and current Italian laws about the management of the coins as an archaeological item.

Lesson period: First semester

Lessons timetable

Assessment methods: Esame
Assessment result: voto verbalizzato in trentesimi

Exams calendar

Single course

This course cannot be attended as a single course. Please check our list of single courses to find the ones available for enrolment.

Search a single course

Course syllabus and organization

Single session

Responsible

Cavagna Alessandro

Lesson period

First semester

Syllabus
(active tab)
Course structure

Course syllabus

The course includes the presentation and discussion of the following topics:

A (20 h): Introduction to Ancient Numismatics
B (20 h): Fundamentals of Greek and Roman Numismatics
C (20 h): The great transformation: Augustus and his coins

The first part of the course (A) provides basic vocabulary and fundaments of Numismatics, in connection with economic, political and social history and with the world of archaeology.
The second part (B) will focus on the presentation of the most significant phases of the monetary history of the Greek and Roman world.
The third part (C) will be devoted to an in-depth examination of the great monetary transformation of the augustan age.

The student can attend 40 hours (A+B) to obtain 6 ECTS, 60 hours (A+B+C) to earn 9 ECTS. It is not possible to obtain only 3 ECTS.
Attendance to the course, though optional, is strongly recommended.

Prerequisites for admission

Basic knowledge of Greek and Roman History.

Teaching methods

Lectures of Ancient Numismatics for undergraduate students are given according to the traditional method of frontal teaching, especially during the first lessons. Gradually students will be invited to participate actively in the analysis and discussion of specific topics. This teaching method will provide the expected skills in order to transform the student from passive user and "buyer" of information to active and critical interpreter of numismatics. Also, this method will provide students with the basic knowledge to recognise and read ancient coins as real objects set in a coherent historical, archaeological and economic context.

Teaching Resources

A. Attending students
Students who intend to take the 6 ECTS exam (A+B) must study the lecture notes, the materials discussed during the course and texts 1 and 2; students who intend to take the 9 ECTS exam (A+B+C) must study the lecture notes, the related materials and texts 1, 2, 3

1) R. Cantilena, La moneta in Grecia e a Roma. Appunti di numismatica antica, Monduzzi editore, Milano 2011 [or other editions]
2) A. Savio, Monete romane, Jouvence, Milano 2014 [or other editions]
3) R. Wolters, The Julio-Claudians , in W.E. Metcalf (ed. by), The Oxford Handbook of Greek and Roman Coinage, Oxford University Press, Oxford 2012, pp. 335-355

B. Non-attending students
Non-attending students who intend to take the 6 ECTS exam must study texts 4, 5, 6; non-attending students who intend to take the 9 ECTS exam must study texts 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.

4) R. Cantilena, La moneta in Grecia e a Roma. Appunti di numismatica antica, Monduzzi editore, Milano 2011 [or other editions]
5) A. Savio, Monete romane, Jouvence, Roma 2002 [or other editions]
6) W.H. Harris, Una prospettiva revisionistica della moneta romana, "Rivista di Storia Economica" 22/3 (2006), pp. 287-306
7) Ch. Howgego, The Monetization of Temperate Europe, in "The Journal of Roman Studies" 103 (2013), pp. 16-45 [available in the athenaeum library system: MINERVA@unimi]
8) R. Wolters, The Julio-Claudians , in W.E. Metcalf (ed. by), The Oxford Handbook of Greek and Roman Coinage, Oxford University Press, Oxford 2012, pp. 335-355

Warning
International or Erasmus incoming students are invited to contact the course lecturer in good time. Examination procedures for students with disabilities and/or DSA must be agreed with the teacher, in accordance with the relevant Office.

Assessment methods and Criteria

Ancient Numismatics encompasses an oral exam that will focus on the topics dealt with during the course and/or texts provided in the bibliography. During the exam, students must prove that they have learned the fundamentals of the discipline and must demonstrate that they have reached a global and specific knowledge of the monetary dynamics in antiquity. Students must also be able to contextualise the ancient coinages within their specific socio-economic and historical framework. During the interview students must also recognise and describe an ancient coin: this will be done using the materials presented during the course or on the basis of the photographic materials included in the texts recommended for preparation. Assessment will be based on the following criteria: ability to present the acquired knowledge in a critical and not passive view; capacity for critical reasoning on the study carried out; quality of presentation; competence in the use of specialised vocabulary.
The evaluation of the oral interview is expressed in 30/30.

Unita' didattica A

L-ANT/04 - NUMISMATICS - University credits: 3

Lessons: 20 hours

Unita' didattica B

L-ANT/04 - NUMISMATICS - University credits: 3

Lessons: 20 hours

Unita' didattica C

L-ANT/04 - NUMISMATICS - University credits: 3

Lessons: 20 hours

Educational website(s)

Numismatica antica LT e LM

Professor(s)

Cavagna Alessandro

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