Monetization of Roman Egypt during the Flavian Dynasty (AD 69–96): the case of Alexandria and Berenike

2015, 24, No. 1

Katarzyna Lach

brak afiliacji

DOI

10.5604/01.3001.0010.0125

Publication date

28.02.2016

Publishing model

open access

License type

CC BY 4.0 Int.

Field

Humanities

Discipline

archeology

Language of publication

English

Downloads

PDF 183 KB

Article

Number of views:339

Number of downloads:60

Crossref citations:0

Altmetric score:0

Abstract

A study of coin output in Egypt during the Flavian dynasty (AD 69–96) brings to light a dichotomy in circulation between billon tetradrachms and low denomination bronze coins. The composition of hoards with Flavian silver issues suggests minimal coin production due to a sufficient quantity of Nero’s tertadrachms on the market. However, stray finds of coins from the Flavian dynasty consist mainly of bronze issues, apparently outnumbering Nero’s low-denomination coin output. A tempting idea to consider is that the low number of Flavian silver coins in circulation resulted in an extended production of bronze issues.

Keywords:

Roman provincial Egypt,Alexandrian coinage,Flavian dynasty For almost three centuries the economy of Roman Egypt was based on a relatively stable currency administered by the government. The boost in the provincial economy came with the widespread use of coins in commercial transactions (Harl 1996: 117). Nonetheless,it is essential to distinguish the concept of economic prosperity of the province from the assets of local inhabitants,half of whose income was collected in the form of taxes. Yet the process of monetization of Egypt did not proceed evenly. In Ptolemaic times some taxes were paid in coins,while the

Bibliography

Bagnall, R. S. (1976). The Florida Ostraka (O. Florida): Documents from the Roman army in Upper Egypt [=Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Monographs 7]. Durham, NC: Duke University.

Bagnall, R. S., Helms, C., and Verhoogt, A. M. F.W. (2005). Documents from Berenike II. Texts from the 1999–2001 seasons [=Papyrologica Bruxellensia 33]. Brussels: Fondation égyptologique Reine Elisabeth

Bowman, A. K., and Wilson, A. (2009). Quantifying the Roman economy: Integration, growth, decline? In A. K. Bowman and A. Wilson (Eds.), Quantifying the Roman economy: Methods and problems (pp. 3–84). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Castrizio, D. (2010). Le monete della necropoli nord di Antinoupolis (1937–2007) [=Scavi e materiali 2]. Florence: Istituto papirologico G. Vitelli.

Christiansen, E. (1985). The Roman coins of Alexandria (30 B.C. to A.D. 296): An inventory of hoards. Coin Hoards, 7, 77–140.

Christiansen, E. (2004). Coinage in Roman Egypt: The hoard evidence. Aarhus: Aarhus University Press.

Christiansen, E. (2005). Coin circulation in Roman Egypt before Diocletian’s currency reform. In F. Duyrat and O. Picard (Eds.), L’exception égyptienne ? Production et échanges monétaires en Égypte hellénistique et romaine. Actes du colloque d’Alexandrie, 13–15 avril 2002 [=Études Alexandrines 10] (pp. 279–283). Cairo: Institut français d’archéologie orientale.

Christiansen, E. (2006). Single finds. The case of Roman Egypt. Nordisk Numismatisk Årsskrift, 2000–2002, 9–24.

Crawford, M. (1970). Money and exchange in the Roman world. JRS, 60, 40–48.

Cuvigny, H. (2013). Conductor praesidii. In R. Ast, H. Cuvigny, T.M. Hickey and J. Lougovaya(Eds.), Papyrological texts in honor of Roger S. Bagnall [=American Studies in Papyrology 53] (pp. 67–74). Durham, NC: The American Society of Papyrologists.

Duncan-Jones, R. (1990). Structure and scale in the Roman economy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Duncan-Jones, R. (2002). Structure and scale in the Roman economy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Harl, K. W. (1996). Coinage in the Roman economy, 300 B.C. to A.D. 700. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.

Katsari, C. (2011). The Roman monetary system: The Eastern provinces from the first to the third century AD. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Lichocka, B. (1995). Une trouvaille des monnaies alexandrines du Haut Empire dans la maison H à Kôm el-Dikka (Alexandrie). EtTrav, 17, 111–115.

Majcherek, G. (1990). Excavations at Kom el-Dikka in Alexandria in the 1989 season. PAM, 1, 75–83.

Majcherek, G. (1991). Excavations in Alexandria in 1989–90. PAM, 2, 19–24.

Nappo, D., and Zerbini, A. (2011). On the fringe: Trade and taxation in the Egyptian Eastern Desert. In O. Hekster and T. Kaizer (Eds.), Frontiers in the Roman world. Proceedings of the ninth Workshop of the International Network Impact of Empire (Durham, 16–19 April 2009) (pp. 61–78). Leiden: Brill.

Picard, O., Bresc, C., Faucher, T., Gorre, G., Marcellesi, M.-C., and Morrisson, C. (2012). Les monnaies des fouilles du Centre d’études alexandrines les monnayages de bronze à Alexandrie de la conquête d’Alexandre à l’Égypte moderne [=Études Alexandrines 25]. Alexandria: Centre d’études alexandrines.

Rathbone, D. (2002). The ancient economy and Graeco-Roman Egypt. In W. Scheidel and S. von Reden (Eds.), The ancient economy (pp. 155–169). New York: Routledge.

Sartre, M. (1997). Wschód rzymski: prowincje i społeczeństwa prowincjonalne we wschodniej części basenu Morza Śródziemnego w okresie od Augusta do Sewerów (31 r. p.n.e.–235 r. n.e.) [The Roman East: Provinces and provincial societies in the eastern Mediterranean from Augustus to the Severan dynasty]. (S. Rościcki, Trans.). Wrocław: Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich [in Polish].

Sidebotham, S. E. (2011). Berenike and the ancient maritime Spice Route. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Sidebotham, S. E., Hense, M., and Nouwens, H. M. (2008). The Red Land: The illustrated archaeology of Egypt’s Eastern Desert. Cairo: American University in Cairo Press.

Sutherland, C. H. V. (1955). Diocletian's reform of the coinage: A chronological note. JRS, 45, 116–118.

van Minnen, P. (2008). Money and credit in Roman Egypt. In W. Harris (Ed.), The monetary systems of the Greeks and Romans (pp. 226–241). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

von Reden, S. (2010). Money in classical antiquity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Wendrich, W. Z., Tomber, R.S., Sidebotham, S. E., Harrell, J.A., Cappers, R. T. J., and Bagnall, R.S. (2003). Berenike crossroads: The integration of information. Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, 46(1), 46–87.