ANCIENT COINS AND HOLLYWOOD'S HISTORIC BLUNDERS

I have endured what no one on earth has endured before. I kissed the hands of the man who killed my son. I loved my boy from the moment he opened his eyes until the moment you closed them. Let me wash his body. Let me say the prayers. Let me place two coins on his eyes for the boatman.

In the epic film Troy (2004) which cost US$175 million to make, the great Peter O’Toole in the role of King Priam, speaks these words as a supplicant to Brad Pitt (Achilles), who has killed and mutilated Priam’s son Hector, played by Eric Bana. In ancient Greek religion, this kind of supplication was a powerful ritual, under the special protection of the gods.

But Priam cannot place two coins on the eyes of his son, because coins don’t exist in his world; they will not be invented for centuries.

Ancient sources gave dates for the Trojan War, ranging from 1334 to 1135 BCE. Current scholarly consensus puts the most likely date around 1180 BCE. The poet Homer, composer of the Iliad (our main literary source for the Trojan War), lived about 850 BCE. He never saw a coin. Warriors in the time of the Trojan War might be buried or cremated with a mask of gold foil, but not with coins or coin-like amulets.

Why?
The depiction of coinage in films and TV series about the ancient world is almost always wrong. This is a source of endless irritation to classical numismatists but it is understandable.

Ancient weapons, costumes, and interiors seen in films are generally accurate (though sometimes exaggerated for effect) because production designers and prop masters care about getting these things right, and the professors of classics, art history or archaeology typically engaged as consultants know these subjects well. But coins are small, and they seldom appear on screen in close-up or for any length of time. The study of ancient coins is specialized, technical and rarely of much interest to the audience (with the possible exception of Biblical films, which is a topic for another article).

But if any future gladiator epics need a numismatic consultant, Hollywood directors should know that I’m available.

To read the complete article, see:
Why Hollywood Gets Ancient Coins Wrong (https://www.coinweek.com/ancient-coins/why-hollywood-gets-ancient-coins-wrong/)

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