Pseudo-imperial tremisses with •T• markings (poster) (original) (raw)
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There is no numismatic evidence of an imperial recognition of the Visigothic monarchy on the part of the emperors Theodosius I or Honorius between 381 and 423. The first part of this article looks at this lack of a privileged relationship of the Imperial house with the Visigoths through coinage and monetary evidences. Neither does the numismatic or monetary materials available to us support that the Visigoths were recognized by the central imperial power during the following years (423-439). Nevertheless, the marriage in Constantinople in 437 of the son of Galla Placidia, Valentinian III (425-455) with Licinia Eudoxia, the daughter of Theodosius II, and his subsequent return to Italy as an emperor ready to govern, does seem to have prompted the most important Roman-Visigoth treaty that had been signed up to that point (439). This treaty had a numismatic reflection on the Visigothic monarchy of Tolosa of a similar importance to that which the treaty between Theodoric the Amal and Anastasius in the year 497 held for the Ostrogothic coin issues of the first half of the sixth century. Thus, the second section of this paper, ‘Theodosius II and the creation of a privileged relationship with the Visigoths’, is partly based on the historical context of these years, partly sustained on the study of the imitation coins minted in Tolosa during the reign of Valentinian III. These Visigothic coin series are compared with the Amalic issues of the reigns of Anastasius, Baduila/Totila and Teia. The monetary functioning of the Hunnic monarchy of Ruga, Bleda and Attila is also compared to that of the Visigothic monarchy of Tolosa as both of these barbarian monarchies seem to have redistributed part of the imperial subsidies that they received among their own client kingdoms. Our study concludes with the claim that the Visigothic monarchy in the mid-V century was a multi-ethnic commonwealth of its own and that it was Theodosius II and Constantinople who supervised events in the West at this time.
Imprints of Roman Imperium: Bronze Coinages in the Republican Eastern Provinces
Galani, G. Imprints of Roman Imperium: Bronze Coinages in the Republican Eastern Provinces, Stockholm, 2022
The last century of the Republic bears the signs of a rapidly transforming reality, and acts as a prelude to the Imperial era. There might not yet be an emperor appearing as a dominant individual, but the supreme authority of Rome as imperium populi Romani is present in the provinces, via her agents. In this respect, bronze coinages of the Roman Republican provinces in the Eastern Mediterranean during the 1st century BC form an integral part of the currency that was in use in the Roman Mediterranean. The numismatic material of the six Republican provinces (Macedonia, Asia, Cyrenaica-Crete, Bithynia-Pontus, Syria and Cilicia-Cyprus) reveals that bronze minting underwent some major transformations in both iconographic and metrological terms. These new features, their interaction with older, continuing traditions and the way in which they spread across the different provinces reveal some broader tendencies of the Roman provincial administration and of a variety of local responses to the transforming Roman hegemony. Finally, the emerging minting landscape, shaped during this early period of Roman control, foreshadows the Imperial period in matters of coin production and the organisation of bronze minting in the provinces. ISBN: 978-91-7911-722-1 (print) ISBN: 978-91-7911-723-8 (electronic) Open access in DiVA: diva2:1615400
2021
El propósito de esta conferencia es profundizar en el estudio de las conexiones militares en torno al mar Mediterráneo y el centro y norte de Europa, desde los tiempos del clasicismo griego hasta la temprana edad bizantina y musulmana. Interesa también examinar aspectos teóricos y regionales en torno a la transferencia de riquezas (monedas, joyas) y de tierras, así como a la conformación de cuerpos políticos específicos y narraciones épica. The aim of this conference is to advance the study on the topic of military connectivity around the Ancient Mediterranean and Central and Northern Europe, from Classic Greece to early Byzantine and Muslim times. We are also concerned to examine both theoretical and regional approaches to the transfer of riches (coins, jewelry) and lands and the building of specific political bodies and epic tales.
1. About the legionary fort at Sarmizegetusa in AD 102-105 (Cassius Dio 68.9.7). Cassius Dio (68.9.7) writes that after the end of the first Dacian war of Trajan, in 102 AD, the emperor left a legion in Dacia at Sarmizegetusa and auxiliary troops in other locations. Over time, the fragmentary accounts of Cassius Dio have been interpreted in two main ways. On one hand, the presence of a legionary fort was presumed in Hațeg Country, on the territory of future Colonia Ulpia Traiana Dacica Sarmizegetusa. On the other hand, this fort (stratopedon) was presumed to have functioned in the Orăștie Mountains, in or next to the Dacian fortress at Grădiștea de Munte, the residence of King Decebalus. The debate has recently been reopened by F. Matei-Popescu and O. Țentea. They place this Roman fort in the Orăștie Mountains, in the close vicinity of the former residence of King Decebalus. Their arguments are based mostly on the recently acquired LiDAR images of the area in question. On these images appears an almost rectangular earthen structure which preceded the stone enclosure and was also ascribed to a Roman fort built after the conquest of Dacia. F. Matei-Popescu and O. Țentea consider that, if the stone enclosure belongs to the period after the second Dacian war of Trajan, the enclosure having an earthen wall must be older, belonging to the period between the two Dacian wars, that is, between AD 102 and 105, this being the fort mentioned in the fragmentary accounts of Cassius Dio. Analysing the available information, the author concluding that the earthen fort from Grădiștea de Munte was more likely built in the context of the second Dacian war, in 105/106 AD. The stratopedon mentioned by Cassius Dio was more likely located on the future place of Colonia Ulpia Traiana Dacica Sarmizegetusa. Finally, the name of the royal residence of Decebalus, it is less likely to be Sarmizegetusa. This was more likely the indigenous toponym of the place where Colonia Ulpia Traiana Dacica was later established. The possible identification with Ranisstorum, the place where Tiberius Claudius Maximus brought the severed head and right hand of King Decebalus to Trajan to be shown to the army, can be perhaps taken into the consideration as a working hypothesis. 2. The destiny of the “Dacian gold”. About a Koson-type coin reused in the 16th century in a Christian (Renaissance) context. The “Dacian gold” fired the imagination of many people each time a hoard emerged in the mountains hosting the ruins of the royal residence of King Decebalus. One of the largest hoards was discovered in 1543 (containing coins of Lysimachus and perhaps Koson-types). Before this great hoard, a document from 1494 mentions the discovery in 1491 of a hoard consisting of “small and big” gold coins by some gold panners in the vicinity of Sebeș. There was already a number of Koson-type coins “in circulation” among the Renaissance collectors of antiquities at the end of the 15th century or the beginning of the 16th century. In 1520 Erasmus of Rotterdam describes and tries to identify a Koson-type coin, an issue which have also caused difficulties to other scholars. In this context, the author is analysing a liturgical chalice of the first half of the 16th century, which was once in Alba Iulia and is now preserved in the collections of the Catholic Cathedral of Nitra, Slovakia. The chalice is decorated with ancient gold coins. Among them is a Koson-type coin. Both the manufacturing and the biography of the chalice are relevant from the perspective of the destiny of “Dacian gold” during the late Renaissance. The vessel was first mentioned in an inventory from 1531 of the treasury of the Catholic Cathedral at Alba Iulia. The chalice was donated by a certain Udalricus of Buda, who was the prebendary of a cathedral chapel between 1504 and 1523. At a later date, the chalice was owned by Paul Bornemisza, who was Bishop of Alba Iulia in 1553-1556. He had to leave Transylvania, becoming Bishop of Nitra in 1557. On this occasion he brought over the chalice decorated with ancient gold coins. Udalricus of Buda was a member of the Renaissance humanist circle from Alba Iulia, which included a number of scholars, publishers of ancient texts, epigraphists and antiquities collectors. It might be presumed that the Koson-type coin which Erasmus of Rotterdam attempted to analyse was received through the connections with the humanist scholars from Alba Iulia. This coin, as well as the one inserted into the chalice of Udalricus, could have belonged to a hoard which was perhaps discovered a few decades before the one from 1543. Perhaps the coins in question were found in 1491 by the gold panners from Sebeș. It is however certain that the interest of the Transylvanian and European humanist scholars in this kind of “exotic” discoveries arose during this period, alongside the interest in other types of antiquities of the pre-Roman and Roman Dacia. The chalice from Nitra includes probably the oldest discovery of a Koson-type coin for which we have so far the physical evidence.
A Mid-Byzantine Metal Stamp from Bursa Archaeological Museum
GEPHYRA 19, 2020
This article tries to determine the place and identity of the owner of a metal stamp located in the Bursa Archaeological Museum collection in the Byzantine stamping objects typology. The stamp that we consider in this article is one of the rare examples, in which the inscription specifies the name of the owner as well as the offices and titles he held. The owner of the stamp, dated to approximately 9th-10th centuries, is Iohannes, the imperial protospatharios and epi ton oikeiakon. It is understood from the title protospatharios that Iohannes was a member of the central government and a wealthy aristocrat. The title epi ton oikeiakon, appearing together with Iohannes, may be a title that shows that he is a more privileged individual than other officials and that he may be from the imperial court. On the other hand, we also know of an administrative task under the sekreton of oikeiakon since the last quarter of the 10th century. In light of this, we have the following question: did Iohannes use his stamp for his personal affairs or did he use it in accordance with his responsibilities, which were part of his administrative position of management of imperial properties? In either case, we think that his stamp was stamped on a soft object such as clay and that it may be a brick stamp.
Figura et potentia. Coin and Power in the Visigothic Kingdom
S. Panzram & P. Pachá (eds.) The Visigothic Kingdom: The Negotiation of Power in Post-Roman Iberia, Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press., 2020
The coins issued by the Germanic peoples during late antiquity and the early Middle Ages initially shared an iconographic repertoire, borrowed from imperial Rome. The evolution these coins underwent, however, reveals characteristic features that served as the basis of the coinage of the later Germanic kingdoms, and then of the medieval states that followed. This work analyses their prominent aspects as symbols of authority and power, such as typology-including references to historical events-the degree of romanitas claimed by each of these peoples, and religious distinctions, as well as the extent to which these features responded to matters of political expediency.
in: Matthias Grawehr / Markus Kersten (eds.), A Second Gaze. Intertextuality and Transient Meaning in Roman Texts and Objects, Heidelberg 2024, 287-316., 2024
Two rare silver drachms-one of them not yet included in the standard catalogue Roman Provincial Coinage (RPC)-which were presumably minted in the so-called client kingdom of Osrhoene around the year AD 165, are in the focus of this paper. At first sight, they closely resemble the iconography of Roman imperial coins with portraits of the imperial family and personifications, while the Greek legend-which names a king calling himself Mannos Philorhomaios as the minting authority-hints at a local setting. A number of silver coin types belong to the same series, for which we provide an up-to-date list. An in-depth analysis of the iconography of these types reveals further deviations from the Roman imperial coinage, especially when compared with the so-called hyper nikēstypes, presumably from same period and area, nevertheless suggesting links between both outputs. We will discuss the extent to which these exceptional pieces provide us with information regarding the production and reception of Roman-style coinage in Mesopotamian Osrhoene, their possible historical context (being produced during the military campaign led by the Roman emperor Lucius Verus against the Parthian Empire) and their semantic frameworks at both first glance and second gaze.