LOCAL SPIRIT AND THE EXPRESSION OF EMPERIAL POLICY

Harikleia Papageorgiaou's book, "The numismatic iconography of the roman colonies in Greece: Local spirit and the expression of emperial policy", succefully and penetratingly fills a gap that existed in both the Greek and the inetrnational bibliography. During recent decades a number of important studies have been devoted to the coinage of the Greek cities after conquest. What was lacking was an investigation specifically of the numismatic iconography of the Roman colonies that were founded in Greece, comparable to that devoted to the cities of Asia Minor by professor Peter Franke, "Kleinasien zur Rομερζειτ. Griechisches Leben im Spiegel der Munzen. The author has produced a well-rounded tretment of her subject, and a lucid presentation of the political, economic, social nad in general the historical characteristics of the period. She knows well the epoch she has chosen, and she provides us also with a rich bibliography. She offers o convincing interpretaton of the colonial coinages in the light both of the events of the period and of iconographical considerations. She also analyses the legends that accompany each image, in order to offer as complete an interpretation of it as possible.