Cistophori

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Cistophorus from Apollinis in Lydia , minted under the rule of Aristonikos of Pergamon, 133-130 BC. Chr., Reverse
Cistophorus of Augustus, 28 BC BC, minted at Ephesus

The Cistophori ( Gr. ) (Also Cistophoren ; Singular Cistophorus ) were coins in the Hellenistic - Roman Asia Minor with a value of about three drachms or three denarii . They were from the 2nd century BC. In use until the 2nd century AD. At different times the coins were minted in 15 different cities in Asia Minor, for example in Pergamon , Sardis , Smyrna and in Bithynian Nicomedia .

Come up

The first coins of the Cistophori originated around the time between 175 and 160 BC. Under the Attalid king Eumenes II and replaced the Attalid minting of tetradrachms that had been practiced until then . The nominal value of the coins was retained, but the coin weight standard was reduced from around 16.8 grams to the Chi-Rhodian or Ptolemaic standard of around 12.75 grams.

The cistophori subsequently became the only valid currency in the Attalid Empire, which meant that silver coins from other regions had to be exchanged. Due to the lower weight but the same face value of the Cistophori, this meant that the Attalid king made a profit of about a quarter of the weight of a coin.

layout

In the original Cistophoren embossing the front (shown obverse ) a ivy wreath within which a queue in a half-open box braided comes out crawling or out. This box (Latin / Greek cista ) was called cista mystica and was a symbol of the mysteries of the god Dionysus . The name Cistophori is derived from this representation (literally: "the box-carrying", ie the coins showing a box). A goryt (quiver of arrows) was depicted on the reverse ( reverse ) of the coins, with a snake erect on either side. To the left of this, the name of the city from which the coin originated was usually reproduced as a mint mark in the form of a monogram .

A small group of Cistophori - namely those from the cities of Thyateira , Stratonikeia am Kaïkos and Apollonis - also bear the inscription ΒΑ ΕΥ as an abbreviation for Βασιλεύς Εὐμένης, "King Eumenes", as well as numbers between 1 and 4, which indicate the years of government become. Originally it was assumed that it was the reign of the Attalid Eumenes II. (Reigned 197-158 BC). That would have meant that the creation of this type of coin should have been set much earlier than actually assumed. However, ESG Robinson showed in 1954 that these special cistophores were first coined under Aristonikos von Pergamon († 129 BC), who resisted the Roman takeover of the Attalid Empire for several years and apparently had given himself the ruler name Eumenes .

In Roman times the cista mystica on the obverse was replaced by a portrait of the reigning emperor; the reverse often showed personifications such as the Roman goddess Pax .

Position in the monetary system

The standard currency were drachmas and denarii. But the name Ciceros as proconsul of Cilicia (51/50 BC) on these coins already showed the acceptance of this means of payment. The Cistophori of Marcus Antonius from 39 BC. Were valued for their quality.

As real "colonial coins", cistophori were accepted by the Romans for payment transactions under Augustus . Its first edition 28 BC. Chr. Suffered from a metal shortage, so that a significant amount of republican cistophori and drachmas were melted down. The coins of Ephesus and Pergamum worked together to eradicate the vast amount of 15 to 20 million cistophori between 28 and 18 BC. To be able to coin at all.

Over time, the Cistophori lost value. Under Augustus they still weighed 11.71 grams, but during the reigns of Claudius , Vespasian and Hadrian , who once again pushed production , it decreased to 10.8 and finally to 9.95 grams. Under Septimius Severus and Caracalla , the cistophori became the equivalent of three denarii.

The Cistophori of Augustus are considered evidence of the return of prosperity , which was due to the discovery of new silver mines in Thrace and Anatolia . The Cistophori met the provinces' need for a fixed currency for the next 150 years, so that the silver from the newly discovered mines was soon used more for minting the Cistophori than for minting denarii. Denari did not gain acceptance in Asia Minor until the 2nd century AD.

literature

Overviews

Special studies

  • Fred S. Kleiner, Sydney P. Noe: The early Cistophoric Coinage . The American Numismatic Society, New York NY 1977 ( Numismatic studies 14, ISSN  0517-404X ).
  • William E. Metcalf: The Cistophori of Hadrian . The American Numismatic Society, New York NY 1980, ISBN 0-89722-181-8 ( Numismatic studies 15; also: Ann Arbor, Univ. Of Michigan, Diss., 1973).
  • William E. Metcalf: The Later Republican Cistophori . The American Numismatic Society, New York NY 2017, ISBN 0-89722-347-0 ( American Numismatic Society. Numismatic Notes and Monographs 170).
  • CH V Sutherland: The Cistophori of Augustus . Royal Numismatic Society, London 1970 ( Royal Numismatic Society Special publication 5, ISSN  0080-4487 ).
  • Peter Thonemann (Ed.): Attalid Asia Minor. Money, International Relations, and the State. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2013, ISBN 978-0-19-965611-0 (in particular: Andrew Meadows: The Closed Currency System of the Attalid Kingdom. Pp. 149-205).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ But this is in contrast to the actual Rhodian system, 1 tetradrachm = 12.36 g; average weight between 11.90 to 12.55 g. Cf. Arthur Suhle: Cultural history of the coins. Battenberg, Munich 1969, p. 30.
  2. ^ Peter Franz Mittag: Greek Numismatics. An introduction. Verlag Antike, Heidelberg 2016, ISBN 978-3-938032-85-5 , p. 188.
  3. ↑ Alexander Mlasowsky: Cistophores. In: The New Pauly (DNP). Volume 2, Metzler, Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-476-01472-X , Sp. 1222 f .; Peter Franz Mittag: Greek Numismatics. An introduction. Verlag Antike, Heidelberg 2016, ISBN 978-3-938032-85-5 , p. 188.
  4. ↑ Arthur Suhle: Cultural history of the coins. Battenberg, Munich 1969, p. 30 f.
  5. ^ ESG Robinson: Cistophori in the Name of King Eumenes. In: Numismatic Chronicle. Volume 14, 1954, pp. 1-8.
  6. ↑ Kenneth W. Harl: Coinage in the Roman Economy, 300 BC to AD 700. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore 1996, ISBN 0-8018-5291-9 , p. 99.
  7. ↑ Kenneth W. Harl: Coinage in the Roman Economy, 300 BC to AD 700. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore 1996, ISBN 0-8018-5291-9 , p. 100.