Pages: 315-326

Copper coins with the legend KAICAPOC CEBACTOY and Emperor's head on obverse have been known since the 19th century. Earlier it was assumed that the coins of Tyras were minted in one denomination. New finds have made it possible to talk about three denominations at least. Scholars unanimously believe that the aes in question were the first provincial type of coins of Tyras, minted in the early principate epoch. However, the precise attribution of the coins remains unsolved (Augustus, Claudius, Vespasianus). The author dates the anonymous copper to Nero’s times. The presence of Roman soldiers in Tyras conditioned circulation of Roman large aes in the local market. The first appearance of the Romans was a consequence of the Bosporan war in the 40s and/or of the annexation of Thrace. Some military contingent deployed in Tyras during Nero’s period. Under Nero — about 57 AD — an important event happened which signalized a new stage in relations between Rome and Tyras. This event became the beginning of a new chronology and it was commemorated in the “senatorial” emission (the legend IERAC CYNKΛHTOY). Simultaneously, or a little later, Tyras issued copper coins for Nero (KAICAPOC CEBACTOY). They were probably struck according to a monetary system into which Roman and Greek denominations were integrated (1 dupondius = 8 chalkoi, 1 as = 4 chalkoi, etc.).

Keywords: Lower Dniester region, Tyras, Roman Empire, Roman provincial coins

Information about author:

Liudmila Nosova (Odessa, Ukraine). Odessa Archaeological Museum of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Lanzheronovskaya St., 4, Odessa, 65026, Ukraine
E-mail: [email protected]