“Inscribed Roman Lead Weights from the Territorium of Tios", III. Greek-Turkish Epigraphy Symposium, 29 June-2 July 2017, Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki, Greece. (original) (raw)

A few notes on seven Greek lead weights in the Archaeological Museum in Split

Studia honoraria archaeologica. Zbornik radova u prigodi 65. rođendana prof. dr. sc. Mirjane Sanader, 2020

The Archaeological Museum in Split holds seven square-shaped Greek lead weights which, based on the uniformity of their style, their symbols, legends and weights, undoubtedly belong to the Attic metrological system. These weights bear relief images of a shield, an amphora, a tortoise, and a crescent and half-crescent moon – the standard array of symbols in the Athenian usual weight system from the Late Archaic to the Late Hellenistic periods. Besides these symbols, three weights have legends designating a third and quarter stater (tritemorion and tetartemorion), and two examples are particularly notable: one bearing the symbol of a shield, and the other with a legend referring to a state guarantee (demosion) – both published here for the first time.

“A Greek Metrological Koine: A Lead Weight from the Western Black Sea Region in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford”, Oxford Journal of Archaeology 23 (2004) 209–16.

A unique commercial lead weight from the western Black Sea region is examined in its metrological and historical context. The style and combination of relief symbols on the object (Athenian owl and Kyzikene tunny) suggest a quarter mina in a market weight system used equivalently at Athens and Kyzikos by the last quarter of the fifth century BC, and developed within a long-term process of broad commercial integration of the Aegean and Black Seas in Classical times. The authors consider such a process to have been caused by the economic motivations of individual city-states, not the direct Athenian imperialism expressed in the so-called Standards Decree.

Two new Milestones from Tios -Tieion in the Karadeniz Ereğli Museum, Philia. International Journal of Ancient Mediterranean Studies 2 (2016), 83-91

Philia. International Journal of Ancient Mediterranean Studies, 2016

Karadeniz Ereğli Müzesi’nden Doğu Bithynia’daki Tios Kentine Ait İki Yeni Miltaşı Doğu Bithynia ile Batı Paphlagonia coğrafi bölgelerinin arasındaki geçiş güzergâhının kıyı kentlerinden olan Tios antik kenti, bugün Türkiye’nin Batı Karadeniz Bölgesi’ndeki Zonguldak İli’ne bağlı Çaycuma İlçesi’nin sınırlarındaki Filyos Beldesi’nde konumlanır. Kent, Roma İmparatorluk Dönemi’ndeki Pontus et Bithynia Eyaleti’nin yol ağı üzerindedir. Kuzeydoğuda Amastris’e, iç bölgede ise güneyde Krateia-Flaviopolis ve güneybatıda Klaudiopolis kentlerine uzanan Roma yollarının kalıntıları bugün bazı noktalarda kısmen görülebilmektedir. Kente ait olup bu yol güzergâhlarının belli noktalarına yerleştirilmiş Roma miltaşlarından bazıları ise günümüze kadar ulaşmayı başarmış ve kayda geçmiştir. Makalede 2009–2010 yıllarında Tios kent merkezinin güneyindeki, Gökçebey İlçesi’nin, Bakacakkadı ve Üçburgu mevkilerinde, Filyos Nehri’nin kıyısında bulunmuş ve Karadeniz Ereğli Müzesi’ne taşınmış ve Tios kentinin güneyine uzanan yola ait olan iki yeni miltaşı tanıtılmaktadır. Miltaşlarından ilki Septimius Severus (Caracalla ve Geta) Dönemi’nde eyalet valiliği yapan Quintus Tineius Sacerdos tarafından diktirilmiştir ve Latince-Hellence olmak üzere çiftdillidir. Miltaşı ve yazıtı kepçe darbelerinden kısmen zarar görmüştür ve şu anda üç büyük ve birkaç küçük parçaya dağılmış halde Müze deposunda korunmaktadır. Latince yazılmış ikinci miltaşı ise Caracalla Dönemi’ne aittir. Krateia-Flaviopolis veya Klaudiopolis’e uzanan yola ait olan her iki miltaşının yazıtlarının çevirileri sırasıyla şöyledir: 1. «Arap Fatihi, Adiabene Fatihi, Büyük Parth Fatihi, en yüce rahip, altıncı kez tribunus yetkisine haiz, onbirinci kez imparator, ikinci kez consul, vatanın babası, proconsul olan İmparator Caesar Lucius Septimius Severus Pius Pertinax Augustus; ikinci kez tribunus yetkisine haiz İmparator Caesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus ve Publius Septimius Geta Caesar, Augustus’ların eyaletteki praetor mertebesinde temsilcisi Quintus Tineius Sacerdos aracılığıyla (yolu) onarttılar. (22. ? Mil).» 2. «İmparator Caesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, dindar, Augustus, Büyük Parth Fatihi, Büyük Britannia Fatihi, Büyük Germania Fatihi. Tios’tan (kent) sınırlarına doğru 22. mil.»

M. Tasaklaki , The Coinage of Plotinopolis and Topeiros. A Contribution to the History of the Roman Province of Thrace. PhD Thesis, Department of History, Ionian Univercity. Corfu 2020 (English Abstract)

2020

The numismatic production of two Trajanic foundations of Aegean Thrace, Plotinopolis on the west bank of the River Hebros, and Topeiros on the west bank of the River Nestos, and the circulation of imperial and provincial coins found in this area, constitute the core of this dissertation. In terms of structure, it is organized in two major parts, with the first one (A) being a synthesis of the numismatic data and the second (B) comprising the catalogues of issues, illustrations and tables, and museums and private collections. Τhe first part opens with a description of the methodological approach taken and a brief history of ancient Thrace that focuses mainly on the Roman period. Subsequently, the numismatic data of both mints are presented and analyzed in symmetrical chapters, with the exception of the one concerning pseudo-autonomous issues, as the city of Topeiros never struck any. Thus, through the study of the iconography of the obverse and the reverse, the metrology – with comparative data from the other cities of the province – and the geographical dispersal, my main goal was to draw conclusions on matters of worship, to form the metrological map of Plotinopolis and Topeiros as well as that of the other cities of the province, to detect and understand the organization and operation of the mints, and, finally, to detect and understand networks (iconographic, religious etc.) that evolved within this timeframe. Plotinopolis, the city that Trajan named after his wife, Pompeia Plotina, from the mid-2nd century A.D. until the time of Elagabalus stuck bronze coins with or without the imperial portrait in four and five denominations. The legatus’ name on the reverse of the coins allows us to date them in the incumbency of each legatus – i.e. three years – with the exception of Caracalla’s and Elagabalus’ issues, for the dating of which stylistic criteria were employed. The Thracian name of Topeiros is a geographical designation that refers to a passage, just like the area where the city is located today, at the meeting point of the Via Egnatia with the River Nestos. Topeiros issued coins from the time of Antoninus Pius until the co-reign of Caracalla and Geta. The peculiarity of its issues lies on the one hand in the iconography with the depiction of Hercules sitting on a rock alone or with the local Nymph Thronia and on the other hand in the presence of countermarks and pseudo-countermarks in the majority of its coins. Finally, for the holistic and at the same time diachronic monitoring of the changes that the region of Aegean Thrace underwent, all the imperial and provincial coins dating between the 1st and 3rd c. A.D. found in the area, were comparatively studied. This is a relatively short chapter, with mainly statistical data concerning the coins’ geographical distribution and conclusions regarding their presence in space/time. In the last chapter, in addition to the synthesis of various aspects of Plotinopolis’ and Topeiros’ history based on numismatic and archaeological data, an attempt is made to synthesize the history of the Roman province of Thrace.