This collection of new essays presents a set of debates about what money was in antiquity and how it functioned. The focus is mainly on the Greeks, who were not the original inventors of coinage but were responsible for its widespread adoption, and on the Roman Empire, which developed one of the most complex of known pre-modern economies. the book represents a well thought out and balanced piece of work. Its controversial character precisely reflects the modern state of affairs in the study of ancient monetary history, but with its appearance, we have undoubtedly moved much closer to the correct understanding of what ancient money was.