Ancient gold coins found in Turkey reveal Persian-Greek conflict, suggesting mercenary payments and rewriting the history of ancient warfare.
Gold coins buried in a small pot and dated to the fifth century B.C. were discovered in modern-day Turkey.Archaeologists believe that the coins—based on their location underneath a Helensitic house—were meant to pay off mercenaries. Fighting between the Persian and Athenian armies in the ancient Greek city of Notion could explain the existence of these coins and the fact that they were still buried.Mercenary armies weren’t cheap in the Greek city of Notion during the fifth century B.C.
Finding a hoard of the coins indicates the possibility that it may have been part of the payment to mercenary troops around Notion.While Ratte admitted that the evidence for the mercenary theory is “circumstantial,” he believes the timing adds up. Notion—along with other Greek cities on the west coast of present-day Turkey—became part of the Persian Empire in the mid-sixth century B.C. Then, come the early fifth century B.C., it came under Greek control.
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