Hoard of Roman coins from the vicinity of Smederevo Mezul I (Dobri Do I)

Abstract

The Mezul I hoard was discovered in 1966 in the area of Bobovik, a site on Mezul, in the vicinity of Smederevo. It consists of 272 denarii and antoniniani, spanning the period from Caracalla to Trajan Decius. Another hoard of Roman coins was discovered in the immediate vicinity in that same year, on the same site in the Mazgaj area (Mezul II; Trajan – Philip I). The character of architectural remains at Mezul cannot be clarified without the appropriate archaeological explorations, so the question remains open about whether they were just from a villa rustica or a civilian settlement. Both hoards were found in immediate proximity to the vicinal road (Vinceia i.e. Smederevo – present-day Smederevska Palanka and further on to the south), not far from the main via publica. The listing of numerous, so far unpublished finds from the Roman period, can confirm this route of the vicinal road, which was already proposed earlier. At the same time, they indicate that two other vicinal roads (viae vicinales) led from Smederevska Palanka, towards Kosmaj and Rudnik, strategically important mining zones in the interior of the province of Moesia Superior.