HOARD OF GOLD BOSPORAN STATERS OF THE II century AD FROM KRASNOBATAREYNY ANCIENT SETTLEMENT ^*

In 1960, near Krasnobatareyny settlement, 3-4 km from the farm Pavlovsky (Krasnodar Territory. Krymsky district), a hoard of gold Bosporan staters of the II century AD was found. The complex, consisting of 89 coins, was transferred to the Krasnodar Museum, where it is kept to this day (KM-925-1013) ¹ . This hoard has already been mentioned in the literature ². However, the definition of coins, a detailed description of staters by type, and metrological data have not yet been published. The treasure includes coins of four kings of the Bosporus: Sauromat I (93-123) - 3 copies. (N 1 - 3); Kotis II (123-132) - 6 copies. (N 4-9); Remetalka (131-154) - 11 copies. (N 10-20); Evpator (154-174) - 69 copies. (N 21-89).

By its composition, the treasure is adjacent to a compact group of hoards, including gold coins of the listed Bosporan kings: 1) the treasure of 1849, found on the bank of the Laba River in the village of Ust-Labinskaya, which includes staters of Sauromat I, Kotis II, Remetalka and Evpator ³ among 600 coins of the Bosporan kings of the I-III centuries AD; 2) a treasure of 800 staters, found in 1852-1853 in the vicinity of Anapa, including along with with other coins staters of the Bosporan kings of the second century AD ⁴; 3) a treasure from Mount Mithridates in 1867, including, in addition to coins of other Bosporan kings, staters of Kotis II, Remetalus and Eupator ⁵; 4) a treasure found in 1868 on the bank of the Dead Sea

^* The article was written in the framework of the project "Hoards of ancient coins in the South of Russia", supported by the Russian State Scientific Foundation. The project code is 98-01-00113.

Krasnobatareynoe hillfort is located on the coastal terrace of the Varnavinsky discharge canal. Its dimensions are about 165 X 150 m, on three sides it is surrounded by ramparts and moats, on the north side it is bounded by the canal bank. N. V. Anfimov dated the monument to the V century BC-IV century AD (Anfimov N. V. Ancient settlement on the eastern outskirts of the Bosporan state // Istoriko-arkheologicheskiy sbornik [Historical and Archaeological collection], Moscow, 1948, p. 42; Shilov V. P. O rasselenii meotiskikh plemen [On the settlement of the Maeotian tribes]. 300 m east of the settlement, between the Kuban Plavni and the spurs of the North-Western Caucasus, a moat and rampart with towers more than 1 km long were recorded. In the northern part of them there is a small fortification, during the excavations of which a plate with the tamga of the Bosporan king Tiberius Julius Eupator and Bosporan copper coins of the I-first half of the III century AD were discovered (N. Zakharov). Border fortifications of the Bosporan state in the North Caucasus and the Red-battery settlement / / SA. 1937. II. pp. 229-230). To the south, there was another rampart and a moat about 4 km long, which closed the space between the small rivers Chebak and Psif, creating another defensive line. Undoubtedly, it was one of the strategic points of defense of the eastern borders of the Bosporan kingdom.

¹ The authors thank the director of KGIAMZ I. I. Borzilo and the curator of the funds T. V. Yurchenko for the kind opportunity to publish the treasure.

^{Frolova N. A.} 2 Monetary circulation of the Bosporus in 45-234 AD / / NSf. 1974. 5. p. 27.

^{Pakhomov E. A.} 3 Coin hoards of Azerbaijan and other republics, territories and regions of the Caucasus. Issue V. Baku, 1949. p. 19. N 1336.

^{Lyutsenko E. E.} 4 Description of hoards with ancient coins found on the Kerch and Taman Peninsulas and part of the Novorossiysk Region in the south of Russia. The manuscript. Archive of the IIMC RAS. 1880. F. 28. D. 22. L. 29; Pakhomov. Uk. soch. p. 37.

⁵ Lyutsenko. Uk. op. l. 12-13.

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Donets River, near the Gnilovsky settlement, consisting of 200 staters of Sauromat I and Evpator ⁶; 5) a treasure from Nymphaeum, found in 1949: 1 stater of Evpator and 9 - Sauromat II ⁷; 6) a treasure from the Gnilovsky settlement of 1958: staters of Evpator-7 specimens, Sauromat II-20 specimens, Reskuporid III - 4 copies ⁸

The earliest coin of the published hoard is the Sauromat I stater with the date EIY (415 BC = 118 AD). The Sauromat staters in this hoard are also represented by two copies of 416 BC (119 AD) - N 2-3. The average weight of staters from the reign of Sauromat I from 113 to 121 is 7.79 g. The percentage of gold in most staters of Sauromat I is 60 %, but occasionally there are coins with a gold content of 58.3 % and 75 % ⁹ .

Staters of Kotis II are represented in the treasure by issues of 125 and 129-131 (N 4-9). Staters issued before 129 g inclusive are characterized by a high weight of 7.80 g, but starting from 130 g their weight decreases to 7.70 g; the gold content in most staters is 58.3 % or 60 % ¹⁰ .

As part of this treasure there are staters Remetalka 132, 133, 136, 142, 143, 145, 149 years (N 10-20). The lack of information about the rulers of the second half of the second century A.D. gave rise to the idea of King Tiberius Julius Remetalus as a usurper. Among the researchers of the Bosporus history, there were many supporters of the theory of the struggle for the Bosporan throne between Remetalkos and Eupator in the early 30s of the second century AD11. However, Remetalkos ' gold coinage was carried out by him in the last two years of the reign of Kotis ^II: coins of both rulers with dates HKY (428 BC = 131 AD) are known.AD) and QKY (429 BC = 132 AD). Consequently, Remetalcus received confirmation of his rights to the Bosporan throne from Hadrian in 131 and became co-ruler of Cotys P. This simultaneous minting of Kotis II and his successor, Remetalkus, makes it impossible to conclude that Kotis died without direct heirs, since, judging by the gold coins, Remetalkus was such even during the life of his predecessor ^.12

As is known, the minting of Remetalka staters lasted until 136, and then stopped for 5 years (at least staters of 137-141 have not yet been found). The cessation of gold coinage is associated with the deprivation of the Bosporus right to mint gold under Antoninus Pius. This break in the coinage of staters is compared with the evidence of Scriptores Historiae Augustae (Ant. Pius IX. 8) on the conflict between Remetalk and Roman curator ¹³ on the Bosporus. Antoninus Pius summoned Remetalus to Rome and, after investigating the case, returned him to the Bosporan kingdom ^.14

Of the Remetalkian coins present in the published hoard, the most interesting is the unique stater No. 15 with the date QLY (439 BC = 142 AD): so far only one copy of this year ¹⁵ has been mentioned , the location of which is now unknown. Coins of 145 are also quite rare: until now, only 2 copies of staters of this year were known. Stater No. 19 from the published hoard is thus the third known instance of 145.

⁶ Ibid., l. 53.

^{Golenko K. V.} 7 Coins from the excavations of the Nymphaeum in 1939-1970 / / NE. 1974. XI. p. 61.

^Golenko. 8 U K. soch. P. 74; Frolova N. A. Invasion of barbarian tribes in the cities of the Northern Black Sea region according to numismatic data / / SA. 1989. N 4. p. 176; Yatsenko V. V. Treasure of electric Bosporan staters from the Gnilovsky settlement / / VDI. 1993. N 3. p. 43-54.

^{Frolova N. A.} 9 Monetnoe delo Bospora (seredina I vv. B.C. - seredina IV vv. N.E.) [Monetary business of the Bosporus (mid-1st century BC-mid-4th century AD)]. Ch. I. M., 1997. pp. 118, 161.

¹⁰ Ibid., pp. 136, 162.

¹¹ See Dovatur A. I. Remetalk i Evpator [Remetalk and Evpator] / / VDI. 1959. N 4. p. 33; Golubtsova E. S. Some questions of the political history of the Bosporus in the 1st-11th centuries AD / / VDI. 1960. N 1. p. 116.

^Frolov. 12 Coin business of the Bosporus... p. 142.

¹³ According to the conjecture of M. Kari (Saga M. Histoire des rois de Thrace et de ceux du Bosphore Cimmerien. P., 1752. P. 64) - between Remetalk and Eupatorem( Eupatorem), in handwritten reading-curatorem.

^{Frolova N. A.} 14 From the history of the Bosporus in the middle of the second century AD / / VDI. 1972. N 1. pp. 189-192; ona. Coin business of the Bosporus... pp. 142-143.

^{Berthier-Delagard A. L.} 15 Materialy dlya vesovykh issledovaniy monetnykh sistem drevnegrecheskikh gorod i tsarei Sarmatii i Taurida [Materials for weight studies of coin systems of ancient Greek cities and kings of Sarmatia and Taurida].

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The average weight of Remetalka staters is 7.76 g, the gold content in most staters is 60-58. 3 % ¹⁶ .

The vast majority of coins of the treasure are staters of Evpator. The treasure contains staters from the following years: 155, 157-167, and 170. The composition of the hoard confirms the observation that until 161, the minting of gold was carried out by Eupator evenly, but in small quantities; from 161 to 165, the minting of staters revived, increasing approximately three times, which is usually associated with the coming to power of the emperor Marcus Aurelius in March 161.Starting from 165, the issue of staters again decreases. So, for example, so far only 2 copies of staters from 165,17 were known. There are three more copies of staters from this year in the treasure trove (N 75-78). The average weight of Eupator staters is 7.75 g, and the gold content in them is most often 50 % ¹⁸ . This is 8-10 % lower than in Kotis II and Remetalka coins. In the second half of his reign, Eupator minted coins with a reduced content of gold and silver.

The latest coins of the complex are staters of Evpator of the last year of gold minting - 170 (N 88-89). Chemical analysis shows that the latest issues of Eupator staters contained 48-49 % gold. The decline in the quality of the gold stater and the halving of the weight of the sestertium may indicate an attempt by Eupator to reform the coinage, ¹⁹ the reasons for which were seen in the termination of the annual monetary subsidies received by the Bosporus from Rome. As you know, Lukian's message (Alex. 57) that on his way to Bithynia he met Bosporan envoys sailing from King Eupator with an annual tribute was interpreted, on the contrary, as evidence of some payments coming to Eupator from Rome through the intermediary of the governor of the province of Bithynia-Pontus ^.20 This indication of Lucian is also supported by the later testimony of Zosima (Hist. Nov. I. 31.2) about the annual "gifts" of the Roman emperors to the Bosporan kings.

Concerning the question of Rome's subsidies to the Bosporus, it cannot be said in the first place that they actually came annually ^.21 It is also not known whether the trip of Eupator's envoys to Bithynia-Pontus meant that subsidies were always and in all cases received through the intermediary of the governor of that province ^.22

In any case, it is possible that the concealment of the treasure could have been connected with the monetary reform of Yevpatoria due to the termination of monetary subsidies to the Bosporus. The treasure could have been buried in 170 or in the next few years, but not later than 174, when the Bosporan throne was occupied by King Sauromates II. Thus, the published treasure is a valuable source of information about the monetary circulation of the Bosporus in the II century AD.

^Frolov. 16 Coin business of the Bosporus... p. 143, 162.

¹⁷ Ibid., p. 145.

¹⁸ Ibid., pp. 145, 162-163.

¹⁹ See Frolova N. A. Monetnoe delo bosporskogo tsar Evpator 154-170 gg. a. d. / / NE. 1971. IX. pp. 65-66; ona. Coin business of the Bosporus... p. 145.

²⁰ See Frolova N. A. On Roman-Bosporan relations in the first - middle of the third century AD according to numismatic data//Numismatics of the ancient Black Sea region. Kiev, 1982. p. 573.

^{Premerstein A. van.} 21 Untersuchungen der Geschichte des Kaisers Markus // Klio. 1913. XIII. S. 81. Anm. 6.

^Frolov. 22 On Roman-Bosporan relations ... p. 58.

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application

COMPOSITION OF THE TREASURE ^*

^* The ordinal numbers of the coins in the list correspond to the numbers in the photos (see tables I-IV on the inserts). The following abbreviation is used in references to literature: Frolova. I-Frolova N. A. Monetary business of the Bosporus ... Part I

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Table I

Hoard of gold coins from Krasnobatareynoye hillfort

Vestnik drevnoi istorii, No. 4 (insert to the article by M. G. Abramzon, N. A. Frolova, Yu. V. Gorlov, to p. 63)

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Table II

Hoard of " gold coins from Krasnobatareyny gorodishche

Bulletin of Ancient History, No. 4 (incl. to the article by M. G. Abramzon. II. A. Frolova, Yu. V. Gorlova)

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Table III

Hoard of gold coins from Krasnobatareynoye hillfort

Vestnik drevnoi istorii, No. 4 (including articles by M. G. Abramzon, N. A. Frolova, and Yu. V. Gorlov)

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Table IV

Hoard of gold coins from Krasnobatareynoye hillfort

Bulletin of Ancient History. No. 4 (incl. to articles by M. G. Abramzon, N. A. Frolova, Yu. V. Gorlov)

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A HOARD OF GOLDEN BOSPORAN STATERS OF THE 2nd c. AD FROM KRASNOBATAREINOYE SETTLEMENT

M.G. Ahramzon, N.A. Frolova, Yu.V. Gorlov

The article presents a publication of golden coins found in 1960 on the territory of Krasnobatareinoye settlement in Krasnodar Region. The hoard contains coins of four Bosporan kings: Sauromates I (AD 93-123) - 3, Cotys II (AD 123-132) - 6, Rhoemetalkes (AD 131-154) - 11, Eupator (AD 154-170) - 69. The hoard is dated AD 118-170. The complex includes the unique stater of AD 142 and an extremely rare coin of AD 145. Till recently there were known only two staters of AD 165, however the hoard includes three more coins of that year.

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