Buying and selling in late Roman Pisidia. A hypothetical framework of coin use in Sagalassos and its countryside (original) (raw)
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Group and individual tragedies in Roman Europe. The evidence of hoards, epigraphic and literary sources, 2020
F. Stroobants, The use of coinage for large payments at Roman Sagalassos (SW Anatolia). Combining evidence from historical sources, coin finds and regional hoards, in: C. Găzdac (ed.), Group and individual tragedies in Roman Europe. The evidence of hoards, epigraphic and literary sources, Journal of Ancient History and Archaeology Monographic Series 1, 2020, p. 461-488. This paper wishes to analyse the use of high-value coinage for large payments at Sagalassos during the Roman imperial and late Roman period. To start, two case-studies on possible contexts in which large payments could have taken place, i.e. taxation and public expenses, will be presented for Roman Asia Minor and the region of Sagalassos in particular. Afterwards, the article will focus on the concrete evidence that exists for large transactions and/or the use of high-value coinage, from both historical sources, coin finds from the excavations, and regional hoard evidence. These different material categories will afterwards be combined to analyse the role coinage might have played when large sums had to be paid by the citizens, elite or civic government at Sagalassos.
JOURNAL OF ANCIENT HISTORY AND ARCHAEOLOGY, 2018
The present paper is presenting the reader the basic information on the Roman imperial monetary system of the 1st-3rd centuries AD in order to allow him to compare the theory with the field reality. The state of research and the publication of material of the auxiliary forts on the Roman frontier in Dacia are, in fact, key elements when we have to discuss the coin circulation at certain moment and place(s). At the same time, the analysis of numismatic evidence, both hoards and single finds, may offer some hints on the daily life episodes of the Roman soldiers when it was about transactions, coin supply, and moments of turmoil.
"During the third century A.D. the Roman Empire faced for the first time in its history a continuous pressure on both the eastern and western borders, causing widespread political, economic, social and moral alterations. Likewise, this was the case for the region of Pisidia and Pamphylia, located in south-central Asia Minor. Because of its favorable geographical location, the region played a key role in the logistical and strategic political realm during the various Persian, Parthian and Gothic campaigns. Concerning the monetary policy in this region, it is striking that some Pisidian and Pamphylian centers still minted considerable amounts of bronze coins during the reign of Emperor Claudius II Gothicus (A.D. 268-270), Aurelian (A.D. 270-275) and Tacitus (A.D. 275-276), while most cities in the Roman East had ceased their coinage during the government of emperor Gallienus (A.D. 260-268). This study wishes to explain this remarkable regional development in the Pisidian and Pamphylian coinage of the third century. The quantitative analysis, using civic coins from public and private collections, indicates an absence of an explicit regional pattern in both the number of active mints and the production volume and shows that a substantial amount of the production during the length of one reign was concentrated in a specific city. Considering a series of case studies concerning these urban contexts, it becomes clear that the cause for an increase in coin production was in many cases related to either of two phenomena that sometimes occurred within the same period of reign: 1) the increased military presence in the area, or 2) the organization of large-scale agones hieroi. However, some cities show a lack of active minting when one of these phenomena occurred. This indicates that when other stocks, be it from a previous reign or an approximate city, could provide enough small change to sustain the local economy, there was no necessity of local coinage, even during periods of increased purchasing power. Moreover, analyses of urban contexts enable some general statements about the military, monetary and socio-economic history of third-century Pisidia and Pamphylia. Firstly, the continued coinage and its causes confirm the exceptionally strategic importance of the region, particularly in the second half of the third century A.D. Furthermore, the attested circulation of coins confirms the idea that exchanges and trade contacts developed predominantly at the regional level. Finally, the numismatic data from Pisidia and Pamphylia support the model of the second wave of Romanization as proposed by Mitchell (1999), which at first caused a manifestation of Roman themes in the coin iconography, but in time led to the elite's disinterest in sponsoring civic coin production. The fact that the decision to maintain the local coinage as the cessation of this practice, a choice of local leaders and not imposed by the Roman government, finally indicates the strong social embedding of technology."
The City and the Coin in the Ancient and Early Medieval Worlds Edited by
Behind the complex systematisation of the coinage from Ulterior lie relevant contributions to the ethnocultural mapping of the region. This paper explores the possibility, as in the case of Phoenician-Punic coinage, of using numismatic evidence from Turdetani, Turduli, Oretanos, and Bastetano cities to identify distinct cultural realities – enhanced or not by Roman presence in the region. It further questions whether these realities correspond with maps based on previous studies on place names, archaeological remains and ancient geographical references.
THE LATE ROMAN ECONOMY – AND COINS
Coins provide a source of information on the Roman economy which is not available in the written sources. They can be studied either as the products of the imperial administration—coins as struck, or as a reflection of coin use—coins as found. Coins as struck are well described in standard works of reference and only a few points of caution need to be added. Coins as found form an area of study that is in its early stages, and a rather basic general survey of the available information and methodology is needed. From these subjects a number of questions for further consideration can be framed.