Tag: first punic war

11 out of 234 days: Aes Grave outside Peninsular Italy

Liv YarrowLeave a comment
Ugly screen shot of the interactive Google Earth project you are welcome to view

I was collecting bibliography yesterday and was impressed with the running theme of specimens found outside Italy. The Croatian finds don’t surprise me too much because of the Mazin hoard with its roman currency bar fragments (so called aes signatum, see #NotAllElephants). I’d tentatively relate the fragmentary nature of the find in Switzerland to a similar phenomenon. Martínez Chico is right to emphasize the military camp finds at La Palma from the Prow series and events of 2nd Punic War to explain eastern Iberian find patterns and I’d transfer that logic to all the yellow dots in Sicily. The green dots (series 14 and 18) on the Sicilian eastern coast remind me of the patterns noted by Jaia and Molinari 2011, i.e. the association of these early series with the fortification of the Tyrrhenian seacoast line.

The nice thing with building this sort of representation in Google Earth is I can keep adding to it as I come across more references.

ILL still hasn’t given up any treasures as of yet.

The other thing from this morning of note is that the Portuguese variant of RRC 18/1 has Apollo facing left on both sides. I’m concerned however that I don’t understand Martínez Chico assertion that there are two already known variants, A and B. As far as I can tell this is just about the photographer’s choice, but maybe I’m being dense….

link to publication

It is demoralizing to see the same things on my to do list as yesterday. It isn’t that I didn’t do any of the things, I touched them all. It’s just they all need to be touched again. As is the nature of the work. Progress is the key.

Today

  • First steps on Aes Grave project – collect more bibliography
  • More Italy visit logistics
  • More AAH logistics
  • Book flights
  • More BM communications
  • Schaefer follow up
  • follow up with Lafayette

Not Today (but maybe tomorrow, or the day after)

  • Teaching requests for Fall 2023
  • Circle back to department about any Jan planning meetings
  • Set time table for any collaborative RRDP work/publication prep that needs to happen this semester: Chicago pub, INC pub, collaboration with RACOM, etc…
  • Circle back to Capito project
  • Consider ask for funding from Dean’s office
  • Begin Med school rec letter
  • record mini myth
  • find out what is on that v old harddrive and back up to cloud
  • Write up Teaching Eval
  • Rosen Fellowship refs – Jan 16
  • Cancel at least one more digital membership
  • renew Coinarchives
  • Review grad student apps by Jan 19

Two Hints about Mint Output at Roman Allied Communities during the First Punic War

Liv YarrowLeave a comment

Looking again at the coins of Suessa, Cales, and Teanum, especially specimens which have been on the market, it occurred to me how heavily used the obverse dies seem to be, especially at Teanum:

Even after the obverse die break in ways to mar the face of the god portrayed they keep on being used.  Such intensity is not consistent with a ‘vanity project’ but instead with a more rushed economically driven agenda.  Not a bad die study opportunity here.  [The last two are the same obverse die as this Fitzwilliam Specimen; interesting specimen with a prow mint symbol at CNG site].

The other curiosity that might hint at wide circulation (and by extension striking in some significant volume) is the fact that the Boii of the Po river valley (aka Cisalpine/Transpadine Gaul)  borrowed the type of Cales’ bronzes for an obol silver issue:

The specimen above is called a ‘drachm’ and the catalogue notes the assignment to the Boii is provisional.  (We need a few good hoards or excavation finds…)

This last one is listed as possibly from the Danube region.

 

Who Issued Aes Grave?

Liv YarrowLeave a comment

Image
Communities issuing aes grave with Latin Colonies highlighted (missing Volceii, sorry). Map cannot capture the numerous types not attributed to any specific location or group. Map created using AWMC: à-la-carte Map to which it links. [FYI – runs best for me in firefox rather than other browsers.]
Crawford CMRR discusses the cast currencies of Italy in five groups (p. 43-46):

  • an as of about 300g maybe from 1st Punic War:  Tarquinii, Tuder, Reate, Praeneste, Carseoli, and Firmum
  • a heavier as (350-450g): Ariminum, Hadria, Vestini, another unidentified mint maybe Asculum Picenum
  • an as of about 300g followed by reductions probably from 2nd Punic War: Luceria and Venusia
  • reduced as from rebel communities during 2nd Punic War: Volceii and Meles
  • issues of Etruria and Umbria (including Iguvium on map above) on 200g standard from time of 1st Punic War

He summarizes circulation and weight standard thus:

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From CMRR p. 46 (links to page).