A report on seven hoards of Greek and Greek Imperial coins, four hoards of Roman Imperial coins and catalogues of six other collections of mostly provenanced coins. There is also a die-study of the extensive bronze coinage of Gordian III minted at 6 Caesarea in Cappadocia. This volume provides a companion to `Recent Turkish Hoards and Numismatic Studies'.
"Money may seem hopelessly mundane and culturally meaningless, but it has dominated--and documented--world history since the time of the ancient Greeks. This heavily illustrated book provides a spirited account of the first coinages and their living descendants in our pockets and purses. It explains how people from Jesus to The Beatles have used numismatics to explore the social, political, economic, and religious history of the world"--
Under the banner of the BIAA every corner of Turkey has been investigated, uncovered and published by British archaeologists; this book is a wonderful reflection of its work. From the Neolithic site at Catalhoyuk to the tell at Beycesultan, all of the BIAA's excavations are discussed by their original excavators. From the Pisidian survey to Clive Foss' epic trek through the medieval castles of Anatolia, generations of scholarly wanderings are accounted for. Object and archival research are not neglected: J D Hawkins describes his research into Hieroglyphic Luwian Inscriptions while J D Winfield presents Byzantine wall paintings illustrated in this book with colour plates.
The rich numismatic collections of Turkish provincial museums are still relatively unknown and this volume presents for the first time the coinage in the museum of Amasya, which, under its ancient name of Amaseia, was one of the major centres of north-east Anatolia. In the Hellenistic period it was capital of the powerful kingdom of Pontus, while under the Roman empire it boasted the title of `Metropolis and First City' of its province. Over 4,500 coins held in the museum are catalogued, ranging in date from the 5th century BC until the 11th century AD. Most are finds from the surrounding region, so that there are rich holdings from the mints of Amaseia, Amisus, Sinope and Cappadcian Caesarea; but over 50 other mints in Asia Minor are represented and some coins come from as far afield as Alexandria in Egypt and Arles in Gaul.
This book accounts for the tumultuous period of the fifth to eleventh centuries from the Fall of Rome and the collapse of the Western Roman Empire through the breakup of the Eastern Roman Empire and loss of pan-Mediterranean rule, until the Turks arrived and seized Anatolia. The volume is divided into a dozen syntheses that each addresses an issue of intrigue for the archaeology of Anatolia, and two dozen case studies on single sites that exemplify its richness. Anatolia was the only major part of the Roman Empire that did not fall in late antiquity; it remained steadfast under Roman rule through the eleventh century. Its personal history stands to elucidate both the emphatic impact of Roman administration in the wake of pan-Mediterranean collapse. Thanks to Byzantine archaeology, we now know that urban decline did not set in before the fifth century, after Anatolia had already be thoroughly Christianized in the course of the fourth century; we know now that urban decline, as it occurred from the fifth century onwards, was paired with rural prosperity, and an increase in the number, size, and quality of rural settlements and in rural population; that this ruralization was halted during the seventh to ninth centuries, when Anatolia was invaded first by the Persians, and then by the Arabs---and the population appears to have sought shelter behind new urban fortifications and in large cathedrals. Further, it elucidates that once the Arab threat had ended in the ninth century, this ruralization set in once more, and most cities seem to have been abandoned or reduced to villages during the ensuing time of seeming tranquility, whilst the countryside experienced renewed prosperity; that this trend was reversed yet again, when the Seljuk Turks appeared on the scene in the eleventh century, devastated the countryside and led to a revival and refortification of the former cities. This dynamic historical thread, traced across its extremes through the lens of Byzantine archaeology, speaks not only to the torrid narrative of Byzantine Anatolia, but to the enigmatic medievalization.
This book collects and analyzes the evidence for eastern, Hellenized cities of the first through third centuries C.E. that became the sites of their provinces' temples to the cult of Roman emperors, and thus received the title 'neokoroi' (temple-wardens).
The standard reference work for Roman Imperial coinage of Hadrian now occupies a fully revised and greatly expanded standalone volume to cover the last epoch of what many consider the apogee of Roman coinage – begun with Nero’s reform of AD 64 when great effort was taken over their iconographic designs. It is also a long overdue attempt to reconcile our increased 21st century understanding of this otherwise lightly documented reign of one of the key figures in Roman history. The rich symbolism of the reign is also expressed in prodigious issues of Hadrian’s medallic pieces, many covered in RIC for the first time.
This book accounts for the tumultuous period of the fifth to eleventh centuries from the Fall of Rome and the collapse of the Western Roman Empire through the breakup of the Eastern Roman Empire and loss of pan-Mediterranean rule, until the Turks arrived and seized Anatolia. The volume is divided into a dozen syntheses that each addresses an issue of intrigue for the archaeology of Anatolia, and two dozen case studies on single sites that exemplify its richness. Anatolia was the only major part of the Roman Empire that did not fall in late antiquity; it remained steadfast under Roman rule through the eleventh century. Its personal history stands to elucidate both the emphatic impact of Roman administration in the wake of pan-Mediterranean collapse. Thanks to Byzantine archaeology, we now know that urban decline did not set in before the fifth century, after Anatolia had already be thoroughly Christianized in the course of the fourth century; we know now that urban decline, as it occurred from the fifth century onwards, was paired with rural prosperity, and an increase in the number, size, and quality of rural settlements and in rural population; that this ruralization was halted during the seventh to ninth centuries, when Anatolia was invaded first by the Persians, and then by the Arabs---and the population appears to have sought shelter behind new urban fortifications and in large cathedrals. Further, it elucidates that once the Arab threat had ended in the ninth century, this ruralization set in once more, and most cities seem to have been abandoned or reduced to villages during the ensuing time of seeming tranquility, whilst the countryside experienced renewed prosperity; that this trend was reversed yet again, when the Seljuk Turks appeared on the scene in the eleventh century, devastated the countryside and led to a revival and refortification of the former cities. This dynamic historical thread, traced across its extremes through the lens of Byzantine archaeology, speaks not only to the torrid narrative of Byzantine Anatolia, but to the enigmatic medievalization.
The fineness of Roman imperial and provincial coinage has been regarded as an indicator of the broader fiscal health of the Roman Empire, with the apparent gradual decline of the silver content being treated as evidence for worsening deficits and the contraction of the supply of natural resources from which the coins were made. This book explores the composition of Roman silver coinage of the first century AD, re-examining traditional interpretations in the light of an entirely new programme of analyses of the coins, which illustrates the inadequacy of many earlier analytical projects. It provides new evidence for the supply of materials and refining and minting technology. It can even pinpoint likely episodes of recycling old coins and, when combined with the study of hoards, hints at possible strategies of stockpiling of metal. The creation of reserves bears directly on the question of the adequacy of revenues and fiscal health.
