BÍRÓ-SEY KATALIN: COINS FROM IDENTIFIED SITES OF BRIGETIO AND THE QUESTION OF LOCAL CURRENCY / Régészeti Füzetek II/18. (Magyar Nemzeti Múzeum Budapest, 1977)
I. INTRODUCTION
Pertinax (5o/4l3-4l4) and Pescennius Niger (51/415) are only represented by denarii in the scattered material. A serious inflation begins as result of the Markoman wars at the end of the 2d century A.D."^ The silver content of the denarii decreased, there are many subaeratus and some denarii seemingly of bronze. These contemporary fakes can easily be measured in our material also, on the increasing number of imitations of Septimius Severus (99/69-lo4) and Julia Domna (loo/io5-l28). 3 5 As a reflection of the inflation, the legionaries» pay was raised too, to 375 denarii a year. ^ As the denarii contain more and more bronze, bronze coins devaluate, and only a few are struck. This is shown in the composition of the scattered coins of Septimius Severus (5i/4l6-46l) where the ratio is 33 to 9. A greater difference is shown in the coins of Julia Domna (52/462-476) where the ratio is 12 to 2. During the reigns of Septimius Severus and Julia Domna an aureus find got underground in Brigetio (Find. No. I, Fig. 1-114). The closing series is Julia Domna, RIC 536 and 532 types, which were struck in Rome between 193 and 196 A.D. and 196 and 211 A.D. • 3 7 respectively. The Carpians and the German tribes moving to the Carpathian basin, caused by the pressure of the Goths, mean unrest and fighting during the end of the 2d and beginning of 3rd century A.D. The hoard getting underground must have been a result os this. 3^ The earliest aurei of this find are of Nero. The 118 aurei impressions represent a value of 2, 95o denarii, which equals to about eight years of a legionary' s pay during the rule of Septimius Severus. Among the impressions of Septimius Severus there is a great number of colonial coins as well, like those of Thracia Anhialus (51/457), Macedonia Stobi (5l/458), and Mysia Adramyteum (52/459). There are some colonial coins in the material during Marcus Aurelius already, like those of Achaia Korinthos (49/356), Thracia Philippopolis (49/36o), Thracia Hadrianapolis (5o 384) furthermore Commodus Moesia Dionysopolis (5o 4o9) To support the legio I. adiutrix, the cohors I. Thracum was stationed in Brigetio during the first decades of the 3rd century A. D. A detachment of the legion was sent ea-st, thus we can consider Eastern settlers in Brigetio at the beginning of the 3rd century A. D. The eastern impressions must come from this source. The same phenomenon is noticed in Intercisa and Carnuntum. ^ The eastern impressions can be found in Car4 ? nuntum from the 1st to the 3rd centuries A. D. ^ The number of coins increases after l9o A. D. This increase reaches a high yearly average of lO during the midl9C> s, then a decreasing tendency sets in. A varying, but p lower average is characteristic to the first decades of the 3rd century A. D. The denarii and the bronze impressions show a similar ratio during Caracalla (^2 /477-5o7) and when the new coin, the antoninianu s , appears among the scattered material. Most of the colonial coins and medailons are from Caracalla (5 3 ^qq 7 _ qq^ ) and (126/2-6). All the medailons were struck in Tharacia in Perinthos, but one, which came from Philippopoli s . The militia returning from the eastern front must have brought these along. 43 Their dating is not possible. The legio I. adiutrix took part in Caracalla' s Parthian offensive in 214 A.D.Í4 an c} this must have been the time when the legionaries were in Perinthos, which was a gathering place for the militia marching east from the Danubian provinces ^^ lO
