DOI Heft:
Recenzje / Reviews
DOI Artikel:Jellonek, Szymon: [Rezension von: Antony Hostein, Roman Provincial coinage, Vol. IX, From Trajan Decius to Uranius Antoninus (AD 249 – 254). Part I and II]
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.43282#0263
RECENZJE / REVIEWS
ANTONY HOSTEIN, JEROME MAIRAT
Roman Provincial Coinage, Vol. lX,From TrajanDecius to IJranius Antoninus
(AD 249-254). Part I, Introduction and Catalogue; Part II, Indexes, Maps,
and Plates, The British Museum / Bibliotheque nationale de France 2016,
456 pages, 8 maps, 155 plates; BMP ISBN: 978 0 7141 1829 1 / BnF ISBN:
978 2 7177 2710 4
Roman Provincial Coinage is an international project with the aim of recording
and cataloguing the Roman coinage minted in the provinces as well as in the client
States (e.g. the Bosporan Kingdom). The provincial coinage developed from
the Late Republican period up to the late 3rd Century AD, when it was ultimately
liquidated by Diocletian. Twenty-five years have passed since the publication of
Volume I of Roman Provincial Coinage (44 BC - AD 69) (abbreviated PPC I).
Successive volumes were published in the years 1999 (the Flavian dynasty) and
2008 (the first part of Gordians’ coins catalogue: AD 238-244) (RPC VII. 1). Düring
the International Numismatic Congress at Taormina in 2015, Volume III (Nerva
- Trajan) was presented to the public. Furthermore, the coins (along with their
temporary item numbers) that form part of the forthcoming Volume IV (Antoninus
Pius - Commodus) can be viewed onthe project’s website: http://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.
uk/. The latest volume deals with the period between the reign of Trajan Decius
and the Usurpation by Uranius Antoninus. This five-year period would seem to be
very brief in comparison with the first volume, which catalogues the coins struck
in the space of morę than a hundred years. Nonetheless, over 2,000 coin types in
over 100 cities were minted in this particular period.
Volume IX of Roman Provincial Coinage is focused on a very short period,
which coincides with the apogee of the empire’s crisis. Over this five-year period, as
many as nine pretenders to the throne assumed the title of Augustus. Trajan Decius
and his son Herennius Etruscus were killed by the Goths in the Battle of Abrittus in
251. Decius’ other son, Hostilian, died of smallpox in the same year. The succeeding
emperor, Trebonianus Gallus, was killed, alongside Volusianus, by his own soldiers
two years later. The same tragic fate befell Aemilianus, who died atthe hands of his
own men after ruling for three months. The catalogue concludes with the death of
the usurper Uranius Antoninus in 254. Considering the dynamie course of events
that mark this brief period, one should not be surprised at the great variety of issues
by the mints, especially as they would endeavour to adapt to the current Situation
with each new Usurpation. The authors have succeeded in their effort to portray
the dynamics of the period in question.
Volume IX is divided into two parts. The first part consists of an introduction
and a catalogue, while the second contains indexes, maps, and plates. The general
263
ANTONY HOSTEIN, JEROME MAIRAT
Roman Provincial Coinage, Vol. lX,From TrajanDecius to IJranius Antoninus
(AD 249-254). Part I, Introduction and Catalogue; Part II, Indexes, Maps,
and Plates, The British Museum / Bibliotheque nationale de France 2016,
456 pages, 8 maps, 155 plates; BMP ISBN: 978 0 7141 1829 1 / BnF ISBN:
978 2 7177 2710 4
Roman Provincial Coinage is an international project with the aim of recording
and cataloguing the Roman coinage minted in the provinces as well as in the client
States (e.g. the Bosporan Kingdom). The provincial coinage developed from
the Late Republican period up to the late 3rd Century AD, when it was ultimately
liquidated by Diocletian. Twenty-five years have passed since the publication of
Volume I of Roman Provincial Coinage (44 BC - AD 69) (abbreviated PPC I).
Successive volumes were published in the years 1999 (the Flavian dynasty) and
2008 (the first part of Gordians’ coins catalogue: AD 238-244) (RPC VII. 1). Düring
the International Numismatic Congress at Taormina in 2015, Volume III (Nerva
- Trajan) was presented to the public. Furthermore, the coins (along with their
temporary item numbers) that form part of the forthcoming Volume IV (Antoninus
Pius - Commodus) can be viewed onthe project’s website: http://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.
uk/. The latest volume deals with the period between the reign of Trajan Decius
and the Usurpation by Uranius Antoninus. This five-year period would seem to be
very brief in comparison with the first volume, which catalogues the coins struck
in the space of morę than a hundred years. Nonetheless, over 2,000 coin types in
over 100 cities were minted in this particular period.
Volume IX of Roman Provincial Coinage is focused on a very short period,
which coincides with the apogee of the empire’s crisis. Over this five-year period, as
many as nine pretenders to the throne assumed the title of Augustus. Trajan Decius
and his son Herennius Etruscus were killed by the Goths in the Battle of Abrittus in
251. Decius’ other son, Hostilian, died of smallpox in the same year. The succeeding
emperor, Trebonianus Gallus, was killed, alongside Volusianus, by his own soldiers
two years later. The same tragic fate befell Aemilianus, who died atthe hands of his
own men after ruling for three months. The catalogue concludes with the death of
the usurper Uranius Antoninus in 254. Considering the dynamie course of events
that mark this brief period, one should not be surprised at the great variety of issues
by the mints, especially as they would endeavour to adapt to the current Situation
with each new Usurpation. The authors have succeeded in their effort to portray
the dynamics of the period in question.
Volume IX is divided into two parts. The first part consists of an introduction
and a catalogue, while the second contains indexes, maps, and plates. The general
263