OMNI N°8 – 10/2014 Book cover: volto della statua di Augusto Togato, su consessione del Ministero dei beni e delle attivitá culturali e del turismo – Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Roma 1 www.omni.wikimoneda.com OMNI N°8 – 11/2014 OMNI n°8 Director: Cédric LOPEZ, OMNI Numismatic (France) Deputy Director: Carlos ALAJARÍN CASCALES, OMNI Numismatic (Spain) Editorial board: Jean-Albert CHEVILLON, Independent Scientist (France) Eduardo DARGENT CHAMOT, Universidad de San Martín de Porres (Peru) Georges DEPEYROT, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (France) Jean-Marc DOYEN, Laboratoire Halma-Ipel, UMR 8164, Université de Lille 3 (France) Alejandro LASCANO, Independent Scientist (Spain) Serge LE GALL, Independent Scientist (France) Claudio LOVALLO, Tuttonumismatica.com (Italy) David FRANCES VAÑÓ, Independent Scientist (Spain) Ginés GOMARIZ CEREZO, OMNI Numismatic (Spain) Michel LHERMET, Independent Scientist (France) Jean-Louis MIRMAND, Independent Scientist (France) Pere Pau RIPOLLÈS, Universidad de Valencia (Spain) Ramón RODRÍGUEZ PEREZ, Independent Scientist (Spain) Pablo Rueda RODRÍGUEZ-VILa, Independent Scientist (Spain) Scientific Committee: Luis AMELA VALVERDE, Universidad de Barcelona (Spain) Almudena ARIZA ARMADA, New York University (USA/Madrid Center) Ermanno A. ARSLAN, Università Popolare di Milano (Italy) Gilles BRANSBOURG, Universidad de New-York (USA) Pedro CANO, Universidad de Sevilla (Spain) Alberto CANTO GARCÍA, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Spain) Francisco CEBREIRO ARES, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela (Spain) Maria CLUA I MERCADAL, Gabinet Numismàtic de Catalunya (Spain) María CRUCES BLÁZQUEZ CERRATO, Universidad de Salamanca (Spain) Eduardo DARGENT CHAMOT, Universidad de San Martín de Porres (Peru) Georges DEPEYROT, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (France) Jean-Marc DOYEN, Université Libre de Bruxelles (Belgium) 2 OMNI N°8 – 11/2014 Almudena DOMÍNGUEZ ARRANZ, Universidad de Zaragoza (Spain) Albert ESTRADA-RIUS, Conservador Gabinet Numismàtic de Catalunya (Spain) Enrique GOZALBES CRAVIOTO, Universidad de Castilla La Mancha (Spain) Jacques LABROT, Centre National de Recherche sur les Jetons et les Méreaux du Moyen Age (France) Bartolomé MORA, Universidad de Malaga (Spain) Elena MORENO PULIDO, Universidad de Cádiz (Spain) Eugen NICOLAE, directeur du Cabinet des médailles de Bucarest (Romania) Sylvia NIETO-PELLETIER, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (France) María PAZ GARCÍA-BELLIDO GARCÍA DE DIEGO, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (Spain) Sandra PERE-NOGUES, Université de Toulouse II (France) Ruth PLIEGO, Universidad de Sevilla (Spain) Felix RETAMERO, Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona (Spain) Manuel RETUERCE VELASCO, Universidad Complutense de Madrid (Spain) Pere Pau RIPOLLÈS, Universidad de Valencia (Spain) Ildefonso RUIZ LÓPEZ, Universidad de Granada (Spain) Damián SALGADO, Independent Scientist (Argentina) Luc SEVERS, Independent Scientist (Belgium) Darío SÁNCHEZ VENDRAMINI, Universidad Nacional de la Rioja (Argentina) Fanny STEYAERT, Independent Scientist (Belgium) Javier de SANTIAGO FERNÁNDEZ, Universidad Complutense de Madrid (Spain) Ludovic TROMMENSCHLAGER, École Pratique des Hautes Etudes (France) David G. WIGG-WOLF, German Archaeological Institute, Römisch-Germanische Kommission, Frankfurt (Germany) Scientific Committee of the special issue: Bimillennium of Augustus' death Ermanno A. ARSLAN, Università Popolare di Milano (Italy) Gilles BRANSBOURG, New-York University (USA) Almudena DOMÍNGUEZ ARRANZ, Universidad de Zaragoza (Spain) Miguel Ángel CEBRIÁN SÁNCHEZ, Independent Researcher (Spain) Pere Pau RIPOLLÈS, Universidad de Valencia (Spain) Damián SALGADO, Independent Scientist (Argentina) Victoria GYŐRI, King’s College London (United Kingdom) Luis Amela VALVERDE, Universidad de Barcelona (Spain) Tomás HURTADO MULLOR, Universitat de València (Spain) Jaume BENAGES i OLIVE, Independent Researcher (Spain) Javier SANTIAGO FERNANDEZ, Universidad Complutense de Madrid (Spain) Darío SÁNCHEZ VENDRAMINI, Centro de Estudios Históricos "Prof. Carlos S. A. Segreti (Argentina) María de las CRUCES BLÁZQUEZ CERRATO, Universidad de Salamanca (Spain) www.omni.wikimoneda.com 3 OMNI N°8 – 11/2014 Money and Power: The Disappearance of Autonomous Silver Issues in the Roman Province of Asia Lucia Francesca Carbone Columbia University, New-York (USA) Abstract: The standardization process of Asian civic silver coinage that took place during the Augustan Age finds its origins in the attitude that the Roman administration adopted towards civic issues right from the institution of the Provincia Asia in the 120s BC. Through our study of Asian autonomous silver issues, we will demonstrate that Romans were much more involved in the silver coinages of the Asian cities than any previous power dominating the area, as is suggested by the Roman names present on these issues and the evident decrease in the number of cities issuing them after the Roman province of Asia was instituted. Another element hinting at Roman intervention is the fact that the circulation of autonomous silver issues was limited to Caria and Rhodes, regions which were bestowed freedom and special privileges after the First Mithridatic War and maintained these privileges even afterwards. Asian autonomous issues only became fully integrated into the local monetary system during Augustan times through their linkage to the denarius and the cistophorus standards, but this process had already started during the course of the 2nd century BC. After a brief introduction of Augustan policy towards Asian non-autonomous silver coinage, this paper will provide a survey of the changes in the production and circulation of Asian autonomous silver issues under Roman dominion up to the Augustan Age, and will show how these changes were deeply intertwined with a gradual increase in Roman political control over the province of Asia from the beginning of the Roman period. 1. Introduction We will show that Roman control over the Asian issues began with the annexation of these issuing cities into the Roman province, increased further during the Mithridatic and Civil Wars, and culminated in the Augustan Age. Moreover, the increasing control exerted by Roman authorities led first to the standardization and then to the end of silver autonomous coinages in Asia by the end of 1st century AD. The numismatic record shows that Romans were closely involved in the civic silver coinage of Asia right from the beginning of the Roman province. After highlighting the significance of the Augustan period for the Asian monetary system, we will discuss the connection between juridical status and autonomous silver issues before Roman control of the province, and then analyze the production of autonomous silver coinages based on an original database of coins issued by the cities of Asia between 133 BC and 96 AD. The cities included in our analysis are those considered part of the province under Augustus1. The database comprises 11,898 types catalogued in SNG Van Aulock Deutschland, SNG Copenhagen and BMC (for 2nd and 1st cent. BC), and RPC I (for the Augustan period). The 1 These are the cities are included in RPC I, which in turn follows the order suggested in HABICHT 1975 and ENGELMANN – KNIBBE 1989, and now confirmed in MITCHELL 2008. 10 www.omni.wikimoneda.com Money and Power OMNI N°8 – 11/2014 bibliography on specific civic mints has been integrated where possible into the analysis and may be found in the footnotes pertaining to each particular city. Finally we will analyze the evidence derived from a survey of the hoards reported in IGCH and CH, in order to show how the circulation patterns of these autonomous issues were influenced by the Roman occupation. 2. The Augustan monetary reform of Asia During the Attalid kingdom the monetary system of Anatolia was characterized by the consistent and widespread practice of cities minting silver coinage, and this was even more so under the former rulers of the area.2 Up until the Attalids, silver currency production and circulation consisted of both autonomous and civic coinages3 coexisting with types common to other cities (i.e. Alexander tetradrachms,4 wreathed coinages5 and cistophori).6 These latter coinages were probably used for international or at least state-wide transactions, and were therefore evidenced by hoard distributions indicating a relatively wide circulation.7 After the Roman province of Asia was established, city-issued cistophori, which had represented the bulk of the silver coinage produced in the Attalid kingdom, initially continued to be struck in quantities,8 at least until the proconsular cistophori ended in 49 BC.9 Up to this year, cistophoric mints had even increased in number if compared to the Attalid period10, and their locations seem to suggest a direct correlation between cistophoric mints and the main administrative centers of the Asian province.11 Quantitative and iconographical continuity between Attalid, late and proconsular cistophori could suggest that the Romans pursued a conservative monetary policy, but this hypothesis is belied by a constant decrease in autonomous silver issues after they established the province of Asia, as we will show in the following pages12. By Augustus’ time, there were only five cities still issuing autonomous silver coinage: Chios13 and Rhodes14 on a cistophoric standard,15 and Tabae,16 Stratonicea,17 and Mylasa18 on the denarius 2Very select bibliography: CARRADICE 1987; MEADOWS 2005; LE RIDER - CALLATAY 2006; LE