DOI issue:
Artikuły / Articles
DOI article:Pelsdonk, Jan: The frontiers in Dutch coin research: Iron Age and Roman Republican coin finds in the Limes-area
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.41338#0119
THE FRONTIERS IN DUTCH COIN RESEARCH...
had limited contact with other tribes.17 The Romans introduced a market economy
on a smali scalę.18 Outside the Roman sphere of influence, native civilians and
tribes (though perhaps excluding the Batavians) would at first hardly have used
them as money. Figs. 3 and 4 show a concentration of finds of Iron Age coins
in the Batavians’ tribal area.
Under the influence of the Romans, the use of coins in the Iron Age appears
to have increased but apparently only for a short while, until sometime during
the reign of Augustus.19 A comparison of Figs. 3 and 4 indicates that the - possibly
social/religious - use of Iron Age coins did not change much in the Roman period.
REPUBLICAN COINS
In Figs. 5 and 6, Roman Republican coins are divided into the periods before
and after Caesaffs conąuest of the area in 57 BC, the year he subdued the Belgae.
Roman influence in the Netherlands only developed gradually. After several
attempts to expand the empire further northwards, in AD 47 the limes (Fig. 1) was
fixed.
Republican denarii are not only found in Roman territory south of the limes.
Figs. 5 and 6 show that finds also occur in the Barbarian North. It is noticeable
that the coins on these maps were found mostly along large and smaller rivers.
Most of them were found in the central river area, the same region where most
of the Iron Age coins are found. There is no real difference between Figs. 5 and
6. This suggests that it is likely that most of the coins struck before 57 BC arrived
only after this datę in the Dutch area. Most probably Roman influence intensified
in the last two decades of the lsl century BC. Coins deposited in the pre-Roman
period are no longer recognizable as such. They are most likely rare and match
the find spots in Fig. 3.
A comparison of Iron Age coin finds (Figs. 3 and 4) with Roman Republican
coins (Figs. 5 and 6) is interesting. Although the coins from Figs. 4, 5 and 6 were
in use simultaneously, Fig. 4 matches Fig. 3 in a much morę closely. The absolute
number of finds is sufficient for all of the maps to present a representative image:
apparently there was a difference. It would seem that Iron Age coins and those
from the Roman Republic were used differently. The hoards indicate that both
groups were hardly in use before the intensification of Roman influence in the last
decades of the lst century BC.
17 BAZELMANS and DE JONGE 2006: 48.
18 BURINGH, VAN ZANDEN and BOSKER 2012: 15, 17.
19 VAN HEESCH 1998: 53.
had limited contact with other tribes.17 The Romans introduced a market economy
on a smali scalę.18 Outside the Roman sphere of influence, native civilians and
tribes (though perhaps excluding the Batavians) would at first hardly have used
them as money. Figs. 3 and 4 show a concentration of finds of Iron Age coins
in the Batavians’ tribal area.
Under the influence of the Romans, the use of coins in the Iron Age appears
to have increased but apparently only for a short while, until sometime during
the reign of Augustus.19 A comparison of Figs. 3 and 4 indicates that the - possibly
social/religious - use of Iron Age coins did not change much in the Roman period.
REPUBLICAN COINS
In Figs. 5 and 6, Roman Republican coins are divided into the periods before
and after Caesaffs conąuest of the area in 57 BC, the year he subdued the Belgae.
Roman influence in the Netherlands only developed gradually. After several
attempts to expand the empire further northwards, in AD 47 the limes (Fig. 1) was
fixed.
Republican denarii are not only found in Roman territory south of the limes.
Figs. 5 and 6 show that finds also occur in the Barbarian North. It is noticeable
that the coins on these maps were found mostly along large and smaller rivers.
Most of them were found in the central river area, the same region where most
of the Iron Age coins are found. There is no real difference between Figs. 5 and
6. This suggests that it is likely that most of the coins struck before 57 BC arrived
only after this datę in the Dutch area. Most probably Roman influence intensified
in the last two decades of the lsl century BC. Coins deposited in the pre-Roman
period are no longer recognizable as such. They are most likely rare and match
the find spots in Fig. 3.
A comparison of Iron Age coin finds (Figs. 3 and 4) with Roman Republican
coins (Figs. 5 and 6) is interesting. Although the coins from Figs. 4, 5 and 6 were
in use simultaneously, Fig. 4 matches Fig. 3 in a much morę closely. The absolute
number of finds is sufficient for all of the maps to present a representative image:
apparently there was a difference. It would seem that Iron Age coins and those
from the Roman Republic were used differently. The hoards indicate that both
groups were hardly in use before the intensification of Roman influence in the last
decades of the lst century BC.
17 BAZELMANS and DE JONGE 2006: 48.
18 BURINGH, VAN ZANDEN and BOSKER 2012: 15, 17.
19 VAN HEESCH 1998: 53.