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Mike Markowitz

Mike Markowitz is a member of the Ancient Numismatic Society of Washington. He has been a serious collector of ancient coins since 1993. He is a wargame designer, historian, and defense analyst. He has degrees in History from the University of Rochester, New York, and Social Ecology from the University of California, Irvine. Born in New York City, he lives in Fairfax, Virginia.

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Recent Articles by this Author

Food on Ancient Coins: Grain, Grapes, Fish, and Meat in the Ancient World

Ancient Coins Mike Markowitz - May 8, 2026

By Mike Markowitz Most ancient people lived close to hunger. One bad harvest could bring starvation. Therefore, food supply mattered to every ruler, city, and...

c. 510 -500 BCE, base of a funerary kouros in Athens decorated with wrestlers fighting. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Wrestlers on Ancient Coins

Ancient Coins Mike Markowitz - April 17, 2026

Is Thisby Mike Markowitz Ancient Greeks loved wrestling . Cities celebrated champion wrestlers as hometown heroes. They raised statues in their honor. Even today, modern...

The Coinage of Probus (276–282 CE)

Ancient Coins Mike Markowitz - April 9, 2026

By Mike Markowitz “Such was the unhappy condition of the Roman emperors, that, whatever might be their conduct, their fate was commonly the same…” —...

Chickens on Ancient Coins: From Sacred Omens to Civic Symbols

Ancient Coins Mike Markowitz - March 30, 2026

By Mike Markowitz Chickens on Coins, the Bird That Changed the Ancient World Chickens may seem ordinary today. However, in antiquity, they carried deep meaning. Modern chickens...

Medieval Coinage of Georgia: Power, Faith, and Empire in the Caucasus

Ancient Coins Mike Markowitz - March 17, 2026

By Mike Markowitz The medieval coinage of Georgia reflects a remarkable intersection of cultures, empires, and religious traditions. Located in the Caucasus region between Europe...

The “New Style” Owls of Athens

Ancient Coins Mike Markowitz - February 12, 2026

By Mike Markowitz Athens controlled one of the richest silver mines in the ancient world. Wealth extracted by slave labor elevated the city into a...

Empire of Thessalonica, Theodore Comnenus-Ducas AR Aspron Trachy. Thessalonica mint, AD 1224-1230. Image: Roma Numismatics, Ltd. / CoinWeek.

Empires in Exile: Coins of the Byzantine Successor States

Ancient Coins Mike Markowitz - January 22, 2026

By Mike Markowitz for CoinWeek ..... ON APRIL 12, 1204, the army of the Fourth Crusade sacked and looted the great city of Constantinople. The...

Reading Medieval Coins

World Coins Mike Markowitz - January 14, 2026

Why Medieval Coins Finally Get the Attention They Deserve The field of medieval numismatics has reached a turning point. Collectors now look at medieval coins...

View of the central nave of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, from the north nave. - by Gaspare Fossati 1852 - with Byzantine coins.

Byzantine Coins of the Twenty Years’ Anarchy: Empire in Chaos

Ancient Coins Mike Markowitz - January 8, 2026

By Mike Markowitz A Remote Outpost at the Edge of Empire At the far margins of the Byzantine world, the town of Cherson (near modern...

Reconquista: Coins of Medieval Spain

World Coins Mike Markowitz - December 18, 2025

By Mike Markowitz for CoinWeek “Despite an endless series of forays and several invasions intended to be permanent, the Muslims never succeeded in establishing a...

The image of Jesus as it appeared on a gold coin from the Byzantine empire.

Jesus Christ on Ancient Coins

Ancient Coins Mike Markowitz - December 14, 2025

CoinWeek Ancient Coin Series by Mike Markowitz ..... As with politicians, nothing is more important to gods than image ... Perhaps this is the secret...

When Horses Flew: Pegasus on Ancient Coins

Ancient Coins Mike Markowitz - December 1, 2025

By Mike Markowitz for CoinWeek ..... THE DREAM OF flight has always held a powerful grip on the human imagination. Pegasus, the flying horse of...

The Conquest of Constantinople by David Aubert.

Coins of the Fourth Crusade

Ancient Coins Mike Markowitz - November 26, 2025

By Mike Markowitz for CoinWeek ..... Thanks to generations of intermarriage within a relatively narrow elite, almost everyone in the Byzantine ruling class of the...

Top Ten Ancient Greek Coins

Ancient Coins Mike Markowitz - November 13, 2025

By Mike Markowitz for CoinWeek In 2008, Whitman Publishing released 100 Greatest Ancient Coins by long-time Chicago coin dealer Harlan J. Berk. Now in its...

Not Forgotten: The Restoration Coinage of Trajan Decius

Ancient Coins Mike Markowitz - October 28, 2025

by Mike Markowitz for CoinWeek With this series of coins, Decius may have sought to invoke the support of his deified predecessors during a period...

This is an image of a bronze of Seuthes III.

From Teres to Seuthes III: Unearthing the Coins of Thrace’s Warrior Kings

Ancient Coins Mike Markowitz - September 22, 2025

By Mike Markowitz for CoinWeek... "The Thracians are the biggest nation in the world, next to the Indians; were they under one ruler, or united,...

This is an image o the book Moneta by Gareth Harney.

First Read: Moneta: A History of Ancient Rome in Twelve Coins

Ancient Coins Mike Markowitz - August 18, 2025

First Read, a continuing series of essays about classic and contemporary works of numismatic literature ... Moneta: A History of Ancient Rome in Twelve Coins...

Coins of Ancient Gela. Synthentic Image / CoinWeek.

Ancient Coinage of Gela : Mike Markowitz

Ancient Coins Mike Markowitz - July 25, 2025

By Mike Markowitz for CoinWeek ….. Founded by colonists from Rhodes and Crete in 698 BCE, Gela, a city on Sicily's southern coast, took its name from a nearby...

Mountains on Ancient Coins : Markowitz

Ancient Coins Mike Markowitz - July 11, 2025

By Mike Markowitz for CoinWeek ….. The ancient Greeks and Romans lived in a rugged, mountainous world. Mountains were not only the homes of their gods and nature spirits...

Charlemagne. Image: Adobe Stock / CoinWeek.

Exploring the Coins of Charlemagne – Mike Markowitz

World Coins Mike Markowitz - June 26, 2025

By Mike Markowitz for CoinWeek ….. The Roman system of coinage outlived the Roman Empire itself. Prices were still being quoted in silver denarii in the time of Charlemagne,...