Novac bitinijske kovnice Nikeje iz Banovog polja u Mačvi

Abstract

Narodni muzej u Šapcu dobio je u posed 44 primerka bronzanih izdanja bitinijske kovnice Nikeje. Svi primerci potiču iz sela Banovo Polje sa lokaliteta Duge njive i nađeni su slučajno prilikom poljoprivrednih radova. Među njima su primerci Aleksandra Severa, Julije Mamee i Gordijana III. Značajan broj pronađenih primeraka u Banovom Polju, upotpunjuje sliku o topografiji novca Nikeje u Srbiji, i u ovom delu zapadne Mačve i Podrinja.

Thanks to a kind donor, in 2011, the National Museum in Šabac came into possession of 44 bronze coins from the Bithynian mint of Nicaea. They do not represent part of a collective find, but were unearthed one by one during agricultural works over a longer period of time, and originate from the locality of Duge Njive in the village of Banovo Polje (Municipality of Bogatić). The village is located in western Mačva, on the lower course of the River Zasavica, at a distance of approximately 3.5 kilometres from the River Sava, and eight kilometres northeast of the confluence of the Drina and the Sava rivers. The area of Duge Njive is located on the left bank of the Batar, just ahead of where its waters flow into those of the Zasavica (Map 1). This is a well known locality, registered for the first time in 1881 (ref.2). The reconnoitering of Mačva and Podrinje took place during the 1950s, but the biggest contribution was the exploration during the 1960s and 1970s by Milivoje Vasiljević and Vojislav Trbuhović, who also registered this locality (ref. 3). During the 1980s, Miloje Vasić dealt with the issues and systematisation of the Roman localities in Mačva and Podrinje and, in recent times, Slavoljub Petrović presented the money finds from these localities (ref. 4). By all accounts, on the basis of the results of field explorations that have been published so far, the remains found in the area of Duge Njive are that of a vicus or a small settlement. Besides the visible remnants of buildings, ancient money has been unearthed there over the years, of which some pieces are kept in the National Museum in Šabac (ref.5). Moreover, workers dug up an unknown large quantity of Roman coins in 1992 - a hoard by all indications. Unfortunately, the find has been largely dispersed and the Museum obtained eight specimens of the Antoninians of Probus. Three other Roman localities were registered in the immediate neighbourhood of this locality, in the territory of the same village - Crkvine I and II, and Ključevi, recorded as villae rusticae (ref. 7-9). A little to the west, on the border of the territories of Banovo Polje and Crne Bare, the remains of a villa rustica were also discovered, and a hoard of coins (ref. 10). According to known money finds, the possible date of the formation of the vicus in the area of Duge Njive was the middle of the 2nd century, but activity there was the most intense during the 3rd century. This is indicated by the finds of imperial coinage of Marcus Aurelius, Elagabalus and Probus, and the provincial coinage of Nicaea of Alexander Severus and Gordianus III. Besides the mentioned dispersed money hoard, finds of Nicaean coinage which have reached the Museum represent the largest known sample of money from this locality. Although we do not possess information about the archaeological context of these finds, their publication will contribute to a better understanding of the circulation of provincial coinage in Lower Pannonia and the neighbouring provinces during the 3rd century. As mentioned above, the 44 bronze pieces from the mint of Nicaea, in Bythinia, were obtained by the National Museum in Šabac. Of them, 14 belong to Alexander Severus (Cat. 1-14), two to Julia Mamea (coinage under Alexander Severus, Cat. 15-16) and 28 to Gordianus III (Cat. 17-44). Apart from the known obverse legends, one (Cat. 4) is singled out among the pieces of Alexander Severus with M AYPH CEV… in the obverse legend, instead of M AYP CEVH… as is usual. The situation is similar with one specimen of Gordianus III (Cat. 20) which, instead of M ANT ΓOPΔIA[NOC] ... reads M ANT ΓOPΔVA[NOC]. Besides these, there are no other particularities among the obverse legends and presentations. However, the situation is different with the reverse presentations, where we observed several new variants. Among the pieces of Alexander Severus there are four reverse types with three ensigns (types 1, 2, 13 (?) and 8), one type with an aquila between two ensigns (type 18) and two pieces for which it was impossible to determine the type (ref. 13). All defined types are known and represented in the collection of the Museum of the City of Belgrade and in the Viminatium necropolis called Više grobalja. Specimens of Julia Mamea are represented with two known motifs (type 2 and a variant of the type 9c). The first is known both from the collection of the Museum of the City of Belgrade and from the Više grobalja necropolis, while the 9c variant has so far only been found in the coinage of Alexander Severus on one specimen from the Više grobalja necropolis (ref. 14). The following motifs are represented on the coins of Gordianus III: three ensigns (type 5 (?), 9b (?), 11 (?), 12a and 12b), an aquila between two ensigns (types 14, 18, 18a and 18b), an aquila between two legionnaire capricorns (type 24), two legionnaire capricorns between two ensigns (type 27a, 28, 28 a and 28b), a capricorn between two ensigns (type 30 ?), and in three cases it was not possible to determine the type. This, relatively small number of coins of Gordianus III, made it possible to discern as many as four new variants within the types 18, 27 and 28. Two new variants, 18a (Cat. 30, fig. 1) and 18b (Cat. 31, fig. 2) were observed within type 18, variant 27a (Cat. 34-35, fig. 3) within type 27, and variant 28b (Cat. 40, fig. 4) within type 28. It emerges from this that the researcher's attention should be orientated towards the further completion of diverse iconographic motifs with military markings on Nicaean issues. The first to observe this was Nikola Crnobrnja who, while publishing the finds of Nicaean coins from the collection of the National Museum in Belgrade, recognised as many as 28 types in a sample of 155 pieces (ref. 15). Recently, the co-author of this paper, Mirjana Vojvoda, recognised four more new types and 25 variants of types, which were defined earlier by N. Crnobrnja, in a sample of 290 pieces of Nicaean coinage from the Viminatium necropolis of Više grobalja (ref. 16). A paper appeared at the same time, by Ilija Ivanović, who published 15 pieces of Nicaean coinage of Alexander Severus from the collection of the 'Vuk Karadžić' National Library in Veliko Gradište (ref. 17). In addition to these three collections, money from Nicaea has so far not been published separately in our country, except in several cases where it appeared as accompanying material in archaeological excavations, reconnoitering or as parts of private collections, represented by one or two pieces (ref. 19). Multiple conditions arose in the Danube and Balkan provinces in the 3rd century, which led to the mass appearance of Nicaean bronze money in circulation. This was especially true in the third and fourth decade, i.e. during the rule of Alexander Severus and Gordianus III. On the one hand, the appearance of a large quantity of coins from Nicaea in circulation in the Danube and Balkan provinces, was precipitated by the lack of small bronze coins of the Senate issues, which was probably the chief reason for the opening of mints for provincial coins in Viminatium, and then in Sarmizegetusa (Dacia) (ref. 25). It has been observed that after the year 239 and the start of operation of the mint in Viminatium, the Nicaean issues all but disappeared from circulation in the territories of Upper Moesia and Lower Pannonia where, obviously, the problem of the shortage of money was the most evident. The opening of the mint in Viminatium and the entry into circulation of its coins was immediately reflected in the reduced inflow of money of Gordianus III from the Nicaean mint. On the other hand, the highest concentration of money from Nicaea around Viminatium and, generally, along the Danube limes, is connected with the movement of military troops. More frequent movements of troops during the first half of the 3rd century, along the Danube limes and the road that led from Viminatium to Naissus and onwards through Thrace, to the Bosphorus, had influenced the significant frequency of coins from Bythinia. The highest concentration of finds of money from Nicaea is bound to the course of the Danube (Veliko Gradište, Viminatium, Belgrade, Zemun, Batajnica, Novi Banovci, Surduk, Beška, Vukovar, Osijek) (ref. 33). The lower course of the Sava navigable route also had great economic significance, primarily because of the position of Sirmium, which is proven by the numerous finds of coins - among others, Nicaean, which have been found along this route (Ušće, Hrtkovci, Sremska Mitrovica, Banovo Polje) (ref. 35, 36). Besides the natural conditions, the proximity of Sirmium, the most important centre in this part of Lower Pannonia, certainly had an impact on the development of agriculture in this region. The settlement on the locality of Duge Njive in Banovo Polje certainly had a close connection with the mentioned villas in the immediate vicinity (Crkvine I and II, Ključevi), and it is possible that workers employed on the neighbouring holdings lived there (ref. 40). In a wider context, it was definitely also linked with other holdings in the neighbourhood and, naturally, with Sirmium as the centre into which the goods poured and where trading took place. The find of the Nicaean mint's coins in Banovo Polje, although incomplete in the contextual sense, represents a significant contribution to the completion of the topography of such finds in the territory of Serbia.