Betrachtungen zur provinzialrömischen Münzprägung Serdicas: Die Heilgottheiten des Asklepioskreises

The contribution has been presented during the international conference "First Bulgarian Numismatic Readings (BulgNR)", 10-12 November 2020

Abstract

Following the annexation of the Thracian Kingdom in ca. AD 46, Emperor Claudius founded the new province of Thrace and entrusted its administration to a procurator ducenarius. The region thus became part of the political imperial system and was integrated into its economic and monetary dynamics.

The issue of provincial coins in Thrace is a phenomenon that has been extensively studied. This article aims to approach it in an interdisciplinary way, with a cultural ‒ and not only economic ‒ approach to the object of the “coin”. Specifically, we attempt to provide an overview of the local coin types that can be traced back to the cult of the gods of health ‒  Asklepios, Hygieia, Telesphoros ‒ or, indirectly, to their attributes. The Serdica mint, which was recently identified in the city centre between the Sofia Hotel Balkan and the Sveta Nedelya Cathedral, deserves special attention. The iconographic study of these typologies is complemented by a schematic but conscientious discussion of the dynamics of the distribution, use and hoarding of coins in Thrace.

These technical aspects are taken into account in order to include sociological and anthropological considerations. From this point of view, we examine the correspondence between the choice of a coin type depicting a salvific deity and the archaeological legacy of the corresponding cult in the area of distribution. It should not be forgotten that in Antiquity the region suffered greatly from endemic malaria, which people tried to counter as best they could, mostly by relying on the mercy of the gods.