Abstract
The article is devoted to the series of Tomi bronze coins with “laureate head of Zeus/two horse foreparts and stars” supplied with Istrus’ countermark. Studying the reasons for the appearance of Istrus’ early countermark on the coins of Tomi, the author argues a new date for the Tomi’s countermarked coins. He dates it to the second quarter of the 3rd c. BC. Also he puts forward several arguments against the minting of these coins in the second half of the 2nd c. BC and the dating of the Istrus’ countermark to the late 2nd – early 1st c. BC as a result of the Greek poleis’ policy towards Mithridates Eupator and the Scythian kings of Dobruja. The author supposes that the Istrus’ countermark on the coins of Tomi could appear in the second quarter of the 3rd c. BC as a result of Istrus’ economic and commercial activity in the West Pontic Region and its predominance in the area of Tomi at that period. Such economic expansion caused a war between Byzantium, Callatis and Istrus for the “monopoly” in Tomi, happened about the mid- 3rd c. BC.
Keywords
Тоmi, Istrus, Callatis, Byzantium, Zeus, Dioscuri, Mithridates Eupator, the Scythians, Dobruja
Andrukh, S.I 1995: Nizhnedunayskaya Skifi ya v VI – nachale I v.do n.e. [Lower Danubian Scythia in the 6th – Beginning of the 1st Century. BC]. Zaporozhye.
Anokhin, V.A. 1977: Monetnoe delo Khersonesa [The Coinage of Chersonese]. Kiev.
Anokhin, V.A. 1986: Monetnoe delo Bospora [The Coinage of the Bosporus]. Kiev.
Blavatskaya, T.V. 1952: Zapadnopontiyskie goroda v 7th – 1st vekakh do naschey ery [West- Pontian Cities in the VII–I Centuries BC]. Moscow.
BMC Aeolis, 1894: Warwick W. Catalogue of the Greek Coins in the British Museum. Vol. 17: Troas, Aeolis and Lesbos. London.
BMC Boeotia, 1884: Catalogue of the Greek Coins in the British Museum: Central Greece (Locris, Phocis, Boeotia and Euboea). London.
BMC Ionia, 1892: Head B.V. Catalogue of the Greek Coins of Ionia. London.
BMC Thrace,1877: Head B.V., Gardner P. Catalogue of Greek Coins: The Tauric Chersonese, Sarmatia, Dacia, Moesia, Thrace. London.
Callatay, F.de 2007: La revision de la chronologie des bronzes de Mithridate Eupator et ses consequences sur la datation des monnayages et des sites du Bosphore Cimmérien. Ιn: A.Bresson, A. Ivantchik, J.-L. Ferrary (eds.), Une koinè pontique. Cité grecques, sociétés indigènes et empires mondiaux sur le littoral nord de la Mer Noire (VIIe s. a.C. – IIIe s. p. C.). Bordeaux, 271–308.
Carradice, I., Price, M. 1988: Coinage in the Greek World. London.
Donoiu, I. 1980: Monede daco-getice şi efi gii romane. Bucureşti.
Ehrhardt, N. 1983: Milet und seine Kolonien. Vorgleichende Untersuchung der kultischen und politischen Einrichtungen. Frankfurt am Mein.
Gerasimov, T. 1946: Antichni moneti s kontramarki ot Dolna Mizia i Trakiya [Antique coins with a Counter from Dolna Mizia and Trakia]. Izvestiya na Bolgarski Arkheologicheski Institut 15, 51–81.
Head, B.V. 1873: The Greek Autonomous Coins. London.
Hind, J. F. 2007: City Heads/Personifi cations and Omens from Zeus: The Coins of Sinope, Istria and Olbia V-IV Centuries BC, NC 167, 9–22.
Imhoof-Blümer, F. 1897: Zur Münzkunde des Pontos von Paphlagonia, Tenedos, Aiolis und Lesbos, ZfN XX, 254–288.
Imhoof-Blümer, F. 1912: Die Kupferprägung des Mithradatischen Reichs und anderen Münzen des Pontus und Paphlagoniens. NZ 45, 2, 169–192.
Jouroukova, J. 1977: Novelles données sur la chronologie des rois scythes en Dobrudža, Thracia 4, 105–122.
Karagianni, F. (ed.). 2014: 40 Medieval City-Ports in North Aegean and the Black Sea. A Cultural Guide. Thessalonike.
Kenneth F. Kitchell Jr., 2014: Animals in the Ancient World from A to Z. New York.
Le Rider, G. 1977: Le monnayage d’argent et d’or de Philippe II frappé en Macédoine de 359 à 294. Paris.
Le Rider, G., Olcay, V. 1988: Le trèsor de Kirazli (près d’Amasya) IGCH 1369, In: Anatolia Antiqua. Eski Anadolu I. Istanbul–Paris, 22–34.
Manov, M. 2015: Skifskie tsari v Dobrudzhe [Skifsky is Reigning in Dobroudje]. In: M.D. Bukharin (ed.), Scripta antiqua IV. Мoscow, 424-436.
Milne, J.G. 1941: Kolophon and Its Coinage. A Study. New York.
Muschmov, N. 1912: Antichnite moneti na Balkansiya poluostrov b monetite na b’lgarskite tsare [The Ancient Coins of the Balkan Peninsula and the Coins of the Bulgarian kings]. Sofi a.
Nawotka, K. 1997: The Western Pontic Cities. History and Political Organization. Amsterdam.
Newskaja, W.P. 1955: Byzance in der Klassischen und Hellenistischen Epoche. Leipzig.
Numizmatik Lanz München. Auktion 144. Numismatische Raritäten. 24. 11. 2008. München.
Petac, E., Vîlcu, A. 2015/2016: About the Early Hellenistic Gold and Silver Coinage from Tomis, Pontica 48/49, 499–505.
Pick, B., Regling, K. 1899: Die Antike Münzen Nordgriechenlands. Bd. I. Berlin.
Pick, B., Regling, K. 1906: Die Antike Münzen Nordgriechenlands. Bd III: Makedonia und Paionia. Berlin.
Pippidi, D.M. 1953: Histria şi Callatis in secolele III-II i.e.n. cu prilejul unei inscriptii inedited. SCIV IV, 3-4, 487–512.
Pippidi, D.M. 1959: Zur Geschichte Histrias im III bis II Jh. v. u. Z., Klio 37, 119–134.
Pippidi, D.M. 1984: Parerga. Bucuresti–Paris.
Poenaru-Bordea, G. 1974: Le trésor de Mărăseşti. Les statères en or des cites du Pont gauche et la probleme des relations avec le monde grec et les populations locales aux IV–I siècles av. n.è., Dacia 18, 103–125.
Poenaru-Bordea, G. 1997: Emisinnile monetare ale atelierelor greceşti de pe litoralul româmanesc al Marii Negre (sec. VI î. Hr – III). Un stadeu al problemei. Bucureşti.
Poenaru-Bordea, G. 2004: La diffusion des monnaies d’Istros, Callatis et Tomi du VIe au Ier siècle av. j.-c. dans leurs territoires, zones d’infl uence et ailleurs. In: Presenza e funzioni della moneta nelle chorai delle colonie greche dall’Iberia al Mar Nero. Roma, 27–70.
Price, M. J. 1991: The Coinage in the Name of Alexander the Great and Philip Arrhidaeus. A British Museum Catalogue. Vol. I. Zurich–London.
Rovithis-Livaniou, E., Rovithis, F. 2012: Stellar Symbols on Ancient Greek Coins II, Rom. Astron. 22, 1. Bucharest, 77–92.
Rutter, N. K. 1983: Greek Coinage. Aylesbury.
Saprykin, S, Yu. 1995: Bor’ba za ekonomicheskie zony vliyaniya na Ponte v VI-II vv. do n.e. Gosudarstvennaya politika ili chastnaya initsiativa? [The Struggle for Economic Zones of Infl uence on the Ponte in the VI–II Centuries. BC. Public Policy or Private Initiative?] In: M.I. Zolotarev (ed.), Antichnye polisy i mestnoe naselenie Prichernomor’ya [Ancient Polis and the Local Population of the Black Sea Region]. Sevastopol, 129–142.
Sboronos, I. N. 1904: Ta Nomismata toυ kratos ton Ptolemaion. Athena.
Sear, D.R. 1979: Greek Coins and Their Values. Vol. I–II. London.
Severeanu, G. 1930/1931: Considerations asupra tetradrachmelor batute en Kallatis, In: Buletinul Socielăţii Numismatice Române 25/26, 7–11.
Seyrig, H. 1958: Parion au 3e siècle avant notre ère, in: Centennial Publication of the American Numismatic Society. New York, 609–624.
SNG ANS, 1969: Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum. The Collection of the American Numismatic Society. New York.
SNG Aulock, 1960/1968: Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum Deutchlands. Sammlung von Aulock. Ionien, Kilikien. Berlin.
SNG Copenhagen, 1946: Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum. The Royal Collection of Coins and Medals. The Danish National Museum. Copenhagen.
SNG IX BM, 1993: Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum. Vol. IX. The British Museum. 1. The Black Sea. London.
SNG München, 1968: Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum. Staatliche Münzsammlung München. München.
SNG XI Stancomb, 2000: Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum. Vol. XI Oxford.
Stoian, I. 1961: La città pontica di Tomis. Capitolo introduttivo allo studio Tomitane, Dacia 5, 233–274.
Topalov, S. 2009: Prinosi k’m prouchvane monetosecheneto i istoriyata v zemite na Trakiya ot II v. pr. n.e. do sredata na I v. ot n.e. [Contributions to the Study of Coinage and History in the Lands of Thrace dating Back to the 2nd c. Until the Middle of the 1st Century AD]. Sofi a.
Topalov, S. 2015: O prinadlezhnosti ispol’zuemoy v I v. do n.e. v rayone zapadnopontiyskogo poberezh’ya krugloy nadchekanki “koleso so spitsami i zubtsami” [About Belonging Used in I in. BC. in the Region of the West-Baltic Coast of the Round over-the-top „Wheel with Knitting Needles and Teeth“]. In: М.D. Bukharin (еd.), Scripta antiqua IV. Мoscow, 445–450.
Vinogradov, Ju. G. 1987: Der Pontos Euxeinos als politische, oekonomische und kulturelle Einheit und die Epigraphik, In: Acta Centri Historiae „Terra Antiqua Balcanica“ 11, Trinovi, 9–77.
WBR I: Waddington, W., Babelon, E., Reinach, T. 1908: Recueil général des monnaies grecques d’Asie Mineure. T. 1, f .2. Paris.
WBR I²: Waddington, W., Babelon, E., Reinach, T. 1925: Recueil général des monnaies grecques d’Asie Mineure. T. 1, f. 1. Ed. 2. Paris.