Monedele regelui Coson:
Gespeichert in:
| 1. Verfasser: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Buch |
| Sprache: | Romanian |
| Veröffentlicht: |
Bucureşti
Ed. Acad. Române
2011
|
| Schlagworte: | |
| Online-Zugang: | Inhaltsverzeichnis Abstract |
| Beschreibung: | Zsfassung in engl. Sprache u.d.T.: King Coson's coins |
| Beschreibung: | 128 S., [10] Bl. Ill., Kt. |
| ISBN: | 9789732721414 |
Internformat
MARC
| LEADER | 00000nam a2200000 c 4500 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 001 | BV040098622 | ||
| 003 | DE-604 | ||
| 005 | 20120605 | ||
| 007 | t | ||
| 008 | 120413s2011 ab|| |||| 00||| rum d | ||
| 020 | |a 9789732721414 |9 978-973-27-2141-4 | ||
| 035 | |a (OCoLC)796202163 | ||
| 035 | |a (DE-599)BVBBV040098622 | ||
| 040 | |a DE-604 |b ger |e rakwb | ||
| 041 | 0 | |a rum | |
| 049 | |a DE-12 | ||
| 084 | |a 7,41 |2 ssgn | ||
| 100 | 1 | |a Petolescu, Carmen Maria |e Verfasser |4 aut | |
| 245 | 1 | 0 | |a Monedele regelui Coson |c Carmen Maria Petolescu |
| 264 | 1 | |a Bucureşti |b Ed. Acad. Române |c 2011 | |
| 300 | |a 128 S., [10] Bl. |b Ill., Kt. | ||
| 336 | |b txt |2 rdacontent | ||
| 337 | |b n |2 rdamedia | ||
| 338 | |b nc |2 rdacarrier | ||
| 500 | |a Zsfassung in engl. Sprache u.d.T.: King Coson's coins | ||
| 648 | 7 | |a Geschichte 44-27 v. Chr. |2 gnd |9 rswk-swf | |
| 650 | 0 | 7 | |a Münze |0 (DE-588)4040629-5 |2 gnd |9 rswk-swf |
| 651 | 7 | |a Dakien |0 (DE-588)4070197-9 |2 gnd |9 rswk-swf | |
| 689 | 0 | 0 | |a Dakien |0 (DE-588)4070197-9 |D g |
| 689 | 0 | 1 | |a Münze |0 (DE-588)4040629-5 |D s |
| 689 | 0 | 2 | |a Geschichte 44-27 v. Chr. |A z |
| 689 | 0 | |5 DE-604 | |
| 856 | 4 | 2 | |m Digitalisierung BSB Muenchen 2 |q application/pdf |u http://bvbr.bib-bvb.de:8991/F?func=service&doc_library=BVB01&local_base=BVB01&doc_number=024955234&sequence=000003&line_number=0001&func_code=DB_RECORDS&service_type=MEDIA |3 Inhaltsverzeichnis |
| 856 | 4 | 2 | |m Digitalisierung BSB Muenchen 2 |q application/pdf |u http://bvbr.bib-bvb.de:8991/F?func=service&doc_library=BVB01&local_base=BVB01&doc_number=024955234&sequence=000004&line_number=0002&func_code=DB_RECORDS&service_type=MEDIA |3 Abstract |
| 940 | 1 | |n oe | |
| 999 | |a oai:aleph.bib-bvb.de:BVB01-024955234 | ||
| 942 | 1 | 1 | |c 907.2 |e 22/bsb |f 09014 |g 3 |
Datensatz im Suchindex
| _version_ | 1804149048003788800 |
|---|---|
| adam_text | KING COSON S COINS
Abstract
The Geto-Dacian coinage figures in the Barbarian or Celtic mints (as
several scholars named them) that copied Greek-Macedonian issues, especially the
ones struck by Phillippus II. The coins were made in a particular style that turned
them into some specific variants. The great amount and diversity of the imitations
struck at the Geto-Dacian mint are but the outcome of the
schématisation
and
interpretation of the original coins.
The coins with the legend
ΚΟΣΩΝ
are peculiar among the
Dacian
numismatics
-
the only gold issues
-
known as staters of
ΚΟΣΩΝ
type or simply cosons . This type
of coins is completely different from the other specific types struck by the Dacians
since the metal is gold and their iconography and purpose are quite unique.
The staters found mostly in the area of Sarmizegetusa
Regia
have stirred great
interest among scholars and have become the subject of numerous theories and fierce
controversies . The research works have tried to explain the origin of this strange coin
with an iconography of Roman inspiration, but with a Greek legend and denomination.
A Short History of the Research Works
The early contributions regarding the staters date back to the 16th century2.
Thus, the famous Erasmus of Rotterdam
(1469-1536)
wrote a letter to Joannes
Turzo, bishop of Wroclaw, to draw the latter
s
attention upon these strange coins3:
Aureum
numisma
muitos
exercuit, aliis coniectantibus
esse
tres
Noe filios ex Arca revertentes
et ex altera parte columbam oliuae ramum deferentem; aliis
duces duos, qui
medium captum ducerent,
et aquilam lauri ramum in coronam deflexum gestantem. Subscriptionem
nullus adhuc legere potuit,
neque Latinus neque Hebraeus.
1
See
M.
Bahrfeldt,
Über
die
ΚΟΣΩΝ-
Münzen, Berliner Münzblätter. Neue Folge,
XXXIII,
1912, 121,
p.
251-255;
further reading in no.124, p.
323-326
and no.
126,
p.
360-369;
a predated
excerpt of this article:
Uher
die
Goldmünzen des Dakerkönig
ΚΟΣΩΝ
f
725/29, Berlin, 1911; ludita
Winkler,
Consideraţii despre moneda
„Koson
,
SCIV,
23, 1972, 2,
p.
173-199;
Oct.
Iliescu,
Sur les
monnaies d oràla légende
ΚΟΣΩΝ,
in QTNAC,
19, 1990,
p.
185-214
2
1.
Winkler
wrote out in her study the main information from XVI-XVIl 1 century sources;
some of them have already been reproduced by luliu Martian,
Comori ardelene, BSNR,
16, 1921, 37,
Ρ-
13
Recently, all medieval and modern information regarding
ΚΟΣΩΝ
type coins and the hoard discoverd
in
Strei
river were collected in
János
Makkai s contribution, The treasures ofDecebalus, Specimina
Nova,
1994(1995),
p.
151-215.
3
Erasmus, Epistolarum opus complectens
universos
quot
ipse
autor
unquam evulgavit...,
Basileae, MDLVIII, p.
473.
See also: Opus epistolarum
Des. Erosmi
Roterodam denuo recognitum
et
auctum per P.
S. Allen et H. M.
Allen,
IV,
Oxford, 1922,
η. Π
37,
p.
56-64 -
letter sent on 31st of
August to Joannes Turso, bishop of
Wrocław.
See: I.
Winkler,
op. cit., p.
173,
note
1;
Oct.
Iliescu,
op. cit., p.
185.
101
The information about the
ΚΟΣΩΝ
coins are sometimes associated with the
account of an extraordinary discovery: a hoard that numbered more than
40,000
gold
coins of Lysimachus type found in the River
Strei3,
in
1543.
So, Wolfgang Lazius s
original manuscript Explicatio thesauri
recens apud
Transy
¡vanos
reperti, et
piscatore quondam in vado
fluvii
cuiusdam detecti (p.
11
r.)
mentions
that :
Numi aurei ex thesauro
recens apud Transylvanos
opera piscatoris cuiusdam
detecto,
quorum
mihi
copia fieri potuit,
duas
Graecas habuere inscriptiones, quarum altera litteris
his,
ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ
ΛΓΣ1
MAXOT,
hoc est,
Regis
Lysimachi, altera vero,
¿ΟΖΟΝ,
salvatorem
vel
liberatorem.
Another
piece
of information comes from a priest whose name is
Johann
Mathesius Sarepta. He mentioned the staters of
ΚΟΣΩΝ
type while preaching in
1554 :
Zu unseren Zeiten hat man in Siebenbuergen ein Gewelb gefunden, welches ein klefteriger
Baum, der drauf gewachsen ist, im Umbfallen entbloest hat / das ist steck voller geschlagner
Goldguelden gelegen / der ich etlich gesehen / auff einem stehet Greckisch / Basilh Lysimachuon /
auff eim anderen stehen drey Bilder / darunter (wie ich lese)
Koson
/ Auf der anderen Seyten ein
Phénix
inn
seinen Neste .
The Transylvanian humanist
István
Szamosközy (Stephanus
Zamosius by his
Latin name) wrote the following words in an epigraphic collection towards the end
of the same century6:
COORVM quoq. numus aureus
altera ex parte aquilam
habet, coronam
oleaginam unguibus
leuantem, cum litteris infra,
ΚΩΣΩΝ,
idest Coos insulae, quae
est in mari Icario Rhodo
proxima.
Altera
parte tres
viri
sunt
Graeco
habitu
vestibus
poplité
tenus demissis. Eorum
primus ramum laurem
gestat,
pone
qui
sequitur,
serto caput redimitus est. Tertius
manu
sublata pateram
tenet .
But Iudita
Winkler
noticed that the description of the coin was not accurate:
Zamosius wrote that the inscription is under the eagle which made us figure out
that he had not seen the coins, but reproduced their description from a previous
work. The mistake does not appear in Schidiasma...where he mentiones that the
legend is on the side with the three men. Therefore, Zamosius must have seen the
original coins in this time span 7.
The hoard uncovered at
Grădiştea
weighs more than
300
kgms. It consists of
gold coins bearing Lysimachus name
(360-281
ВС),
king of Thracia and that of
ΚΟΣΩΝ.
W. Lazius
and Mathesius Sarepta are the only historians who have
4
This information is passed on by J. Malckai,
loc.
cit., p.
206,
who quotes a manuscript of.
Lazius, located in The State Library of Bavaria,
München,
Cod.
Lat.
9216.
5
This information is quoted (within quotation marks) by Franz Xav.
Непе,
Beiträge zur
dacischen
Geschichte, Hermannstadt
(Sibiu),
1836,
p.
84
(see note: Mathesius Sarepta
im Jahr 155
in seiner 2-ten
Predigt,
pag.
22 );
the information was written out, according to
Непе,
by I- Marti
{op. cit.,
p.
16)
and by I.
Winkler,
SC1V,
23, 1972, 2,
p.
188,
note
84.
J.
Makkai, op. cit., p.
207-208,
although she gives this text upon the original edition: Sarepta
oder Bergpostill
sampi
der
Jochimßtalischen kurczen Chronicken, Nürnberg, 1563 (Die
II.
Predig, XXI
verso
-
ХХП
»to)
and
thereby there
are some diferences
towards
Hene s
transliteration in
1836.
6
St. Zamosius, Anatecta (see abbreviation list), p.
102
(caput
XL
Numi
Graeci in
Dacia).
7
1.
Winkler,
op. cit.,
p.
188.
It is a manuscript, Schidiasma
de veteribw
monetis, cap.
Aurei
nummi
veterum.
See I.
Winkler,
op. cit., p.
173,
note
1.
102
mentioned the staters of
ΚΟΣΩΝ
type as part of a great hoard. In Iudita
Winkler
s
opinion, the very fact that the other authors (even Zamosius) refer only to
Lisimachei is but a proof of the frequent use, in that time span, of this word for the
old gold coins found in
Dacia.
Johannes Troester has written about the huge amount of coins
(40,000
pieces)
found as a hoard in the River
Strei.
This author points out that
Grădiştea
is the place
where the coins have been found, taking the River
Strei
for the ancient river
Sargetia;
he also says that an important quantity of gold sheets
(«ein
grosse
Menge von
ungeprägten Gold Blechen»)
have been found there. Johannes Troester adds that the
governor of Transylvania sent King Ferdinand
2,000
Lysimachus coins. There is no
hint regarding the gold staters of
ΚΟΣΩΝ
type. Nevertheless, he describes the coin
with the legend
ΚΟΣΩΝ
as well, but in another chapter of his work8.
This hoard is mentioned by other authors in the 16th—17th centuries, but there
are no references about the coins of
ΚΟΣΩΝ
type9.
Still, at the beginning of the
1
9th century, other hoards were found containing
the same coin type as those from the astonishing discovery from Transylvania.
First of all, a important deposit of gold coins should be mentioned. It was found on
the
Grădiştea
hill by the
tresurę
hunters from
Sibişelu Vechi,
who managed to
stash it for some time (about
12
month). The governor found out some information
about this hoard (from the Saxon stools from Transylvania) when the quantity of
gold put on the market in
Orăştie
became suspiciously uncommon in
1803.
The
authorities could retrieve a part from this hoard, namely
1,000
pieces (the diggers
crossed the mountains to Wallachia with the rest of the hoard); there followed an
investigation that led to the discovery of the ruins from
Grădiştea Orăştiei,
where
the authorities initiated feverish searches in
1803
and in the years to come. More
than
2,000
soldiers and peasants gave a hand during this operation10.
The documents published by S.
Jakó
bring forth the growing interest of the
circles in Vienna in the researches from
Grădiştea ;
meanwhile, the president of
8
1. Troester,
Dos
Alt-
und Neue teutsche
Dacia,
Nürnberg, 1666,
p.
61.
See I.
Winkler,
op. cit.,
p.
191.
9
W. Lazius, Commentariorum Reipublicae Romanae in
exterris provinciis,
bello acquisitis,
constitutae,
libri
duodecim, Basileaem
1551,
p.
1093-1094;
idem, Reipublicae Romanae in exterris
provinciis,
bello
acquisitis, constitutae, commentariorum
libri
duodecim,
Francofurti ad
Moeonum
(Frankfurt-am-Main),
1598,
p.
927;
Commentarii della guerra
di Transilvania
dal segnor Ascanio
Centorio
degli
Hortensii,
Ferrari,
1566
(apud
I.
Winkler,
op. cit., p.
190,
who quotes an edition by
L. Gáldi,
photo reproduction, Budapest,
1940); Mathias
Miles, Siebenbuergischer Wuergegend,
Hermannstadt
(Sibiu),
1670,
p.
45;
Wolfgangus comes
de Bethlen,
Historiarum Pannonico-
Dacicarum
libri
X. A clade Mohazensi MDXXVl usque ad
fînem secuii.
In
arce
Kreüsch
[Criş
Castle],
1687
(the book had several editions:
1782, 1783, 1785, 1789, 1793).
10
С
Daicoviciu,
Al.
Ferenczi,
Aşezările dacice din Munţii Orăştiei,
Bucarest,
1951,
p.
68
(which also presents a list of diggings carried out by the Tax Administration and the hoard s seizure).
S. Jakó,
Cercetările arheologice la cetatea Grădiştea Muncelului, în anii
1803-1804,
in
AMN,
3, 1966,
p.
103-120;
idem, Date privitoare la cercetările arheologice de la Grădiştea Muncelului în
anul
1803,
1,
in AMN,
5, 1968,
p.
433-443
(I
part); idem, AMN,
8, 1971,
p.
448-152
(II). I
Winkler,
op. cit., p.
193,
recomposes
the list of hoards discoveries within
1802-1804,
using
S. Jakó s
publications, quoated above.
103
the
Aulic
Chamber, Count Carol
Zichy,
informed Emperor
Francise
I about the
discoveries from
Grădiştea.
The Kaiser ordered that the old coins should be kept in
Vienna either the ones that had been found or those that would be discovered.
Moreover, the abbot Neumann, the director of the imperial collections of
antiquities, considered that the coins had aroused a large interest and he declared
himself in favour of the diggings being carried on. Hence, the decree issued by the
President of the
Aulic
Chamber on December 7th,
1803
pointed out the decision to
continue the research works next year 12. Thus, the Exchequer organised some
digging campaigns to find other hoards. Another important hoard of
987
gold coins
-
staters of
ΚΟΣΩΝ
type:
987 Stücke der gleichen
durchgehends
Kozonischen
Goldmünze... 13 -
dug out at
Grădiştea
Muncelului, was mentioned in a report
from the 28th of April,
1804
(Hunedoara).
As far as the hoard found in
1803
is concerned,
Al.
Ferenczi14 emphasised
that it had been deposited in pot (with a capacity of
28-31 1, 2.65
cm thick) placed
in the southern part of the Acropolis, somewhere near to the place where the
stones with inscriptions had been discovered. According to the records
400
coins
out of the
1,000
staters found in
1803
were handed over to the mint from Alba
Iulia to be melted, whereas the rest of them were sold to different persons and they
might have become part of some collections.
Another hoard
-
which might have contained coins of
ΚΟΣΩΝ
type, besides
Lysimachus types
-
had been discovered in the
Ceata
Mountain, not far from the
villages
Ocolişul Mic
and
Vâlcelele Bune (Hunedoara
County) in
1802.
In
1811
another hoard with about
20
staters of
ΚΟΣΩΝ
type was dug out at Axente
Sever (former
Frâna, Sibiu
County). Another discovery of similar coin type was
made at Cozma (Mures County)
-
there were more pieces, but there was no further
data preserved so far about them.
Simple finds are mentioned to have been made at: Sarmizegetusa
Regia (in
September
1970,
a worker found another stater of
ΚΟΣΩΝ
type at
1
km
eastwards from the terrace of the sanctuaries, out of the fortress), at
Oraştie,
Guşteriţa
and
Haţeg (Hunedoara
County), Nochrich
(Sibiu
County),
Firtuşu
(Harghita
County),
Timişoara
(neighbouring areas),
Vizejdia (Timis
County),
Vârtoape (Hunedoara
County),
Vårset
(Serbia). The information about the
hoards found in the south of the mountains should be provided as well: at Brezoi
(Vâlcea
County), in the areas not far from Craiova, and at
Frumuşiţa
(now
Axintele,
Ialomiţa
County).
The discoveries from Eastern Anatolia and area of Olbia have not been taken
into consideration by several scholars since they were uncertain. As
С
Preda
has
* See Arch.
Ért.,
30, 1916,
p.
23;
С
Daicoviciu,
Al.
Ferenczi,
op. cit., p.
97.
The report issued by the metallurgist inspector Anton
Bögözy
on 24th of April
1804
regarding the circumstances of the hoard s discovery from
Grădiştea
Muncelului; the document is
reproduced by S.
Jakó,
op. cit.,
ρ
.448-452;
cf.
I.
Marţian,
op. cit., p.
19.
C. Daicoviciu, Al. Ferenczi, op. cit., p.
97.
104
pointed out in his book about the Geto-Dacian coins, only the coins found in
Transylvania should be regarded as genuine staters of
ΚΟΣΩΝ
type15.
Throughout the years an important number of historians and numismatists
have focused their attention not only on classifying the staters of
ΚΟΣΩΝ
type in
collections and catalogues, but also on the meaning of the inscription with Greek
letters, the monetary design, the location of the mint and the identity of the issuing
authority16.
We owe the first thorough study dedicated to the coins found in Transylvania
to the scholar and numismatist Max Ferdinand
von Bahrfeldt.
He registered
112
pieces kept in various European collections and publications
(75
bearing a
monogram and
37
without it). First of all, this author drew the scholars attention
on the similarity between the obverse design of a silver coin issued by
Q. Pomponius Rufus
(73
ВС)
and the obverse representations of the staters of
ΚΟΣΩΝ
type; but he rejected any connection between these ones and Brutus s
coin struck in the year
54
(for further details, see p.
118).
Max Ferdinand
von Bahrfeld
attributed these hybrid issues to the
Dacian
King Cotiso
-
Coson, mentioned, among others, by the Roman historian Suetonius
{Augustus,
63, 4).
His theory had been inspired, somehow, by J. Neigebaur s ideas.
In the latter s opinion the coins had been struck by a king from the south of
Transylvania, an area where similar discoveries were found grouped and in an
impressive quantity. At the same time, the numismatist drew the conclusion that
the coins with the legend
BAiaiXeùc)
ΚΟΣΩΝ
had not been issued by Brutus,
according to some manuscripts {Codex Memmianus, Gudianus and Vaticanus)
referring to Augustus s biography from The Lives of the Twelve Caesars where the
variant
dein
Cosoni Getarum
regi
is spelled. These would be dating from a later
period,
31-29
ВС,
and make reference to king
ΚΟΣΩΝ;
this would be, in fact, one
and the same dynastic ruler mentioned by
Horatius
and Floras as well: Cotiso
-
Cosonius
—
Coson.
Bahrfeldt s assertion was shared only by a few historians immediately. New
presumptions were put forward which could be summed up as follows:
a) Coson would be a Scythian king, who imitated M. Iunius Brutus s coins
for the town Olbia in the 40s
ВС.
His statement was based on the fact that the
monogram bears the letters
ОЛВ,
the first three ones of the name Olbia17.
b) Coson would be a king from Thracia; the coins bearing the legend with his
name had been struck by Brutus in
42
ВС.
Brutus had used gold from the Thracian
15
For these discoveries, as well for individual coins listed below see I.
Winkler, SCIV, 23,
1972, 2,
p.
194-195;
С
Preda, Monedele
geto-dacilor, Bucharest,
1973,
p.
355;
idem,
Istoria monedei în
Dacia preromana,
Bucharest,
¡998,
p.
230-231.
16
See in the Romanian text p. note
17
B. V. Head,
Historia
Numorum, Oxford,
1911,
p.
272, 289
(considera
pe
Coson
un
dinast
independent);
U.
Kahrsted,
în
RE,
XI
2,
Stuttgart,
1922,
col.
1499;
A.
Alföldi, ín Cambridge
Ancient
History, XI,
1936,
p.
83-84;
С.
Secăşanu, Vechile monede greceşti şi bizantine din
URSS,
Bucharest,
1947,
p.
7; Auktion 101, Antike Münzen, München, 6
March
2000,
p.
25,
nr.
132.
105
King
Sandalas
II treasure given to him by Queen Polemocratia; this information is
provided by the historian Appianus
(Bellům
civile, IV,
75).
Thus, Julius Friedlaender18 considered that the inscription
ΚΟΣΩΝ
was but
the very name of the prince s murdered son whereas F. Lenormant19 thought that
the staters were coins struck by the Thracian prince Coson with Brutus granting
before the battle of Philippi. Vasile
Pârvan20
specified that the huge number of
gold coins found in
Dacia
and bearing the Thracian King s name
ΚΟΣΩΝ,
but with
Brutus portrait had been issued in
42
ВС
when Brutus had got Sandalas II
treasure. The existence of such a great number of
ΚΟΣΩΝ
type coins in the hoards
found in Transylvania could be due to the Getae s continuous lootings in
Thracia and to the payments of Geto-Dacian mercenaries made by Brutus to
have as many allies as possible against the Caesarians . The same idea is
expressed in the works belonging to J. Eckel2 ,
Theodor
Mommsen2
,
Victor
Gardthausen23. Other presumptions, which have been given up recently, started
from the significance of the legend and referred to the town
Cosa (Cosea)
as the
mint place in
Etruria,
or Kossea in Thracia, or even to the Cos island
.
c) Coson would be a king who ruled in
Dacia,
but he was not one and the
same person with Cotiso mentioned in the Latin sources. This assertion belongs to
Anton
von
Premerstein25 and Arthur
Stein26
embraced it; later it will be resumed
by C. Daicoviciu and H. Daicoviciu.
The Romanian researchers latest opinions regarding the peculiar coins
found at Sarmizegetusa
Regia
and in the nearest areas are among the most varied
ones. Thus,
Bucur Mitrea27
has a cautious attitude and does not tackle the identity
question Cotiso- Coson; he has just presented the opinions expressed by Max
Bahrfeldt and Vasile
Pârvan
endorsing neither of the opinions, and considers the
stater of
ΚΟΣΩΝ
type a coin struck by Brutus, as a means of propaganda or
payment of the
Dacian
mercenaries28.
Starting from Bahrfeldt s opinion (who had said that staters of
ΚΟΣΩΝ
type
were minted to prepare the great war against Rome ),
Al. Ferenczi29
has pointed
18
J. Friedlaender, in Berliner
Münzblatter, 2,1865,
p.
145.
19
F. Lenormant,
La monnaie dans l Antiquité,
II,
1897,
p.
120-122.
20
V.
Pârvan, Getica,
1926,
p.
84
and
η
1,
p.
604;
idem,
Dacia. Civilizaţiile antice din ţările
carpato-danubiene
,
Bucharest,
1967,
p.
100-101.
2|
J.
Eckhel,
Doctrina
numonim
veterum,
VI,
1796,
p.
23
(apud
С.
Preda, Monedele.
..,
p.
355).
n
Th.
Mommsen,
Histoire de la monnaie romaine,
III,
Paris,
1873,
p.
283-284.
23
V.
Gardthausen,
Augustus
und
seine
Zeit,
Leipzig,
1891,
1,
159,
II
69;
cf.
Oct.
Iliescu,
op. cit.,
p.
198.
24
Vezi
С.
Preda, Monedele...,
p.
355,
notes
1058, 1060;
Oct.
Iliescu,
op. cit., p.
196.
25
A.
von
Premerstein,
Der Daker-Germanensieger
M.
Vinícius (cos
19
v.
Chr.) und sein Enkel
(Cos 30 und 45 n.Chr), JÖAI, 29,1935, p. 66-67.
26 A. Stein, in
PIR2, C
1536.
С.
Daicoviciu, La
Transylvanie dans l Antiquité, Bucarest,
1938,
p.
23;
H. Daicoviciu,
Coson
sau
Cotiso? in AMN,
2, 1965,
p.
107-110.
B. Mitrea,
Penetrazione
commerciale
e circolazione monetaria nella Dacia prima della
conquista, ED,
10, 1945,
p.
127-128.
29 See
С.
Daicoviciu, Al. Ferenczi,
Aşezările dacice...,
p.
98.
106
out that this coin was not circulation either before or during the war between
Kotison and Crassus
(29
ВС).
Its existence cannot be explained otherwise, but
according to the fact that it was struck by a powerful leader located on a Greek
territory, on Koson s behalf; after being rewarded for his services with this coin,
he hoarded it . The author thinks that this favour refers to a possible alliance
between Cotiso and
Octavian
that helped the latter in his battle against Marcus
Antonius;
another possibility would be that Marcus
Antonius
himself sent Cotiso
an amount of gold coins to take his side. The staters of
ΚΟΣΩΝ
type would date
before the battle from Actium, between
32-31
ВС,
under such circumstances. At
the same time, he does not exclude the possibility of dating the coins in
43-42
ВС
taking into account that the monogram could be read L. Brutus and the fact that the
obverse is an imitation of Brutus
s
coin . Therefore,
Al. Ferenczi
thinks that
Brutus is the one who repaid Cotison for a kind of favour . Since such coins were
not to be found somewhere else the presumption that the stater of
ΚΟΣΩΝ
type
was used only around the fortress
Dealul Grădiştei
seemed likely to be true.
Constantin Daicoviciu30
wrote: The gold coin
Koson
should be connected to
a royal
Dacian
power no matter how the pieces were commissioned: by King
Coson himself or by foreigners for him between
40-29
ВС.
I do not think that
Coson is one and the same person with Cotiso
-
as it is usually said, but another
king. The presence of the staters of
ΚΟΣΩΝ
type in the
Orăştie
Mountains can be
explained as follows: this royal hoard was brought to the capital of the
Dacian
state by one of the important kings from the south
-
west of Transylvania
-
either
as a loot, or as natural inheritance after the unification of the
Dacian
kingdom
under Decebalus or under one of his close predecessors ; Brutus relationships
and, especially Suetonius opinions about him: as Getarum rex have made us
consider Coson a dynastic descendant from the south of the Danube or from the
northern area not far from this river .
Hadrian
Daicoviciu31,
resuming A.
von
Premerstein s opinion and poin;,ng
out Suetonius
s
point of view, concludes that the ancient author referred to ihe
Getian king Coson and not to Cotiso. In that case, the experienced archaeologist
and historian wrote: a probable reconsideration of the history would be, broaaly,
the following: in
44
ВС
Coson inherited a part of the territories from Burebista and
had relationships with Brutus, who was preparing his fight against the triumviri in
Macedonia. The Getian King might have provided soldiers to Brutus and got gold
coins with his name in return, but the features on the staters imitated those on the
Roman General s coins. Brutus was defeated in the battle of Philippi
(42
ВС)
and
committed suicide. Octavianus forgave Coson for the uninspired alliance with his
enemy. Their relationships had become so good that in the years
32-31
there were
rumours in Rome about a future possible marriage between their children.
Iudita
Winkler
comes down in favour of the assumption that the staters of
ΚΟΣΩΝ
type had been struck by a Geto-Dacian king that must have been Brutus
contemporary and ally because otherwise the coins would not have issued with the
30
See
Istoria României,
I, Bucharest,
1960,
p.
276, 290.
31
H. Daicoviciu,
Dacia de
la Burebista
Ia cucerirea romană, Cluj,
1972,
p.
109.
107
same obverse . At the same time, the author says: As it had not been an alliance
of mutual interest, Brutus did not hire [the Dacians] as mercenaries, so he had no
reason to strike a special coin to pay them 32.
In his thorough monograph about the Geto-Dacian coins,
Constantin
Preda
has dedicated a whole chapter to the staters of
ΚΟΣΩΝ
type33. After running over
different opinions about these coin type, the author has made the remark: the
Dacian
king Coson-Cotiso, one of Burebista s immediate descendants, maybe the
most important one, managed to issue his own gold coin, a copy of the Roman one,
bearing his name written with Greek letters better known and, perhaps,
mòre
widespread in the area of the Geto-Dacian fortresses. He could do that because
both the historical and economical circumstances had been favourable, he had a
Roman type mint and was fond of the Greek culture.
The author
dos
not exclude the presumption according to which the
Dacian
King took possession of an important quantity of gold from Brutus, from King
Sadalas II treasure and then turned it into coins. This conclusion has been drawn
because there is no other plausible way to explain the rare gold hoards dating from
period when the Geto-Dacians were unified and powerful. In addition, the lack of
archaeological proofs regarding the gold mining in the
Apuseni
Mountains as well
as the lack of some gold objects processed by the Geto-Dacians would support the
theory that the Roman gold had been turned into coins.
The problem of the stater of
ΚΟΣΩΝ
type has been resumed by
С
Preda
in a
book
25
years later. The numismatist underlines the fact that:
the latest research
works or just the simple references to the
ΚΟΣΩΝ
type coins, performed and made
almost exclusively by the Romanian specialists, narrow the discussion sphere
without solving the matter. Moreover, pointing out the difficult aspects regarding
the interpretation of these staters, the author has stated that: in spite of the interest
taken by the numismatists in this interesting and strange coin type, we have to
admit that none of the opinions, that have been expressed so far, has offered
satisfactory answers to many of the questions regarding the respective issues
.
Furthermore,
С
Preda
has referred to the problem of the counterfeited coins from
the hoard found at
Baia Mare35
(three gold coins having the weights of the
tetrastaters were found together with medieval issues dating from the
15
century and the beginning of the 17th one) that has made him draw the following
conclusion, namely that the
ΚΟΣΩΝ
type coins might be counterfeited money as
well dating from the same time span: the end of the
16*
century-the beginning of
iLc
і 7Ш
one, to be more precise .36
32
I.
Winkler,
op. cit., p.
182-183.
3
C.
Preda, Monedele
geto-dacilor, p.
353-361.
34
Idem,
Istoria monedei...,
p.
228.
35
E.
Chirilă, O. Bandula, Tezaurul monetar
de la Baia Mare,
1966^. 34.
36
С.
Preda,
Über eine neue Chronologie der Koson-Münzen, in XII. Internationaler Numismatischer
Kongress.
Vortragszusammenfassungen), Berlin, 1997, p. 112 («Wenn wir diese Argumente sowie
die Informationen bezüglich der Verhältnisse und des Kontextes der Funde berücksichtigen, müssen
wir annehmen, daß die Münzen mit der Legende
ΚΟΣΩΝ
erst Ende des 16. Jh. Oder Anfang des 17. Jh.
in Siebenbürgen geprägt wurden»).
This complete report was published in Stephanos
Numismatikos
Edith Schönert-Geiss zum 65. Geburtstag, Berlin, 1998, p. 555-561.
108
Virgil
Mihăilescu-Bîrliba
considers that king Coson and king Cotiso are
one and the same person rewarded by M. Iunius Brutus, in
43-42
ВС,
for sending
Geto-Dacians mercenaries to fight in his campaigns. The author thinks that the
Dacian
king Coson-Cotiso hoarded the gold or offered it as tribute to the great
sanctuary of Sarmizegetusa
Regia,
where he might have lived . As far as the issues
of
ΚΟΣΩΝ
type are concerned, the specialist points out: The large concentration
of the discoveries within inter Carpathian
Dacia
and, especially, in the area of the
Oraştie
Mountains is but a proof to support the assumption according to which the
coins had been struck for the Dacians.
Virgil
Mihăilescu-Bîrliba
declares himself for the Roman origin and mint
of the gold. Consequently, he has rightfully noticed that the latest opinions
expressed by L. Morawiecki38, regarding the mint, cannot be accepted. L. Morawiecki
has ignored the fact that the coins of
ΚΟΣΩΝ
type are quite rare in the south of
the Carpathians and, therefore, he has stated that they were minted in Wallachia
(in the first half of the 1st century) and king Coson would have bestowed these
coins (or would have given them as a tribute) to Burebista s descendants of
Sarmizegetusa
Regia.
The various aspects of the problems raised by the coins of
ΚΟΣΩΝ
type are
tackled by the scholar and researcher
Octavian
Iliescu
in his work
Sur les
monnaies d or à
la legende
ΚΟΣΩΑ?9.
The study is focused on three directions: the
iconography and its interpretation; the legend and the identification of the issue;
the monetary system and the identification of the denomination. The author has
written that the coins are undoubtedly imitations or the outcome of the inspiration
from the Roman coin iconography of the
1
st century
ВС.
Mayer Halevy has a different opinion and views the legend
ΚΟΣΩΝ
as a
symbol of value checking and punching of the gold turned into coins
,40
Many years ago a tremendous find contributed to the reconsideration of the
assumptions. A new hoard of more than
1,000
pieces was found in
1996
and
divided among the people involved in archaeological poaching activities. The
National History Museum of Romania bought
179
staters in
1997;
the precious
treasure was dealt with in an article written in that very year41. Other
18
specimens
were purchased during the autumn of the same year. The
197
pieces were
37
V.
Mihăilescu-Bîriiba, Dacia răsăriteană în secolele Vl-l î.e.n. Economie şi monedă, Iaşi,
1990,
p.
92.
38
L. Morawiecki,
Zloté monety
ΚΟΣΩΝ,
in
Wiadomości Numizmatiyczne,
Varşovia,
31,1987,
1-2,
p.
52-58, 59;
cf.
V.
Mihăilescu-Bârliba, loc. cit.
39
See note
1.
40
M. Halevy, StCl,
3,1961,
p.
89-92. .
41
Carmen
Maria Petolescu, A Hoard
of
Koson
-Туре
Gold Coins, in
130
Years since the
Establishment of the Modern Romanian Monetary System,
1997,
p.
83-92.
109
exhibited under the title King
Koson
s
Hoard in 199842. A number of
75
staters
were added afterwards as a bestowing of the Romanian Commercial Bank.
221
pieces from the same hoard (in successive parcels) were brought to the
National Bank of Romania43. Other staters were taken to the Museum of the
Dacian
Civilisation of
Deva
(42
pieces), to the History Museum of
Transylvania of
Cluj-Napoca
(22
pieces)44 and the National Museum of
Unification of Alba Iulia
(5
pieces)45. The remaining part of the hoard was
dispersed and the numismatists lost their trace.
King Coson
As we have noticed so far, almost every author has identified king Coson as the
authority who issued the mysterious
ΚΟΣΩΝ
coins. The first to mention this king, the
poet
Horatius,
was a contemporary, and therefore, the most credible one; in one of
his odes
(Ш,
8,18),
dating from
29
ВС,
and the poet addressed to Maecenas:
Mitte
civiles
super
Urbe curas,
occidit
Daci
Cotisonis agmen
Medus
infestus
šibi luctuosis
dissidet armis,
servit
Hispanae
vetus
hostis
orae
Cantaber sera domitis catena,
iam
Scythae
laxo meditantur
arcu
cedere campis.
The historian Florus (2nd century AD) handed down to us the following
information
(П,
28,18-19):
Daci
montibus inhaerent.
Inde
Cotisonis Regis
imperio,
quoties concretus
gelu
Danuvius
iunxerat
ripas,
decurrere solebant
et vicina
populari.
Visum
est
Caesari
Augusto
gentem aditu
difflcilliam summovere. Misso igitur Lentulo
ultra
ulteriorem perpulit
ripam;
citra
praesidia
constituía.
Sic lune Dacia
non
viet,
sed summota atque dilate
est.
42
Eadem,
Comoara regelui
Koson,
1998,
p.
1-24
(Exhibition catalogue). See also our short
exposure: King
Koson
mint, published in the Exhibition catalogue,
Goldskater Rumänien
under
7000 Ar,
Stockholm,
2004,
p.
40-45.
Mihai Chiriac, O achiziţie de monede de tip
Koson
făcută de Banca Naţională a României,
BSNR,
90-91 (1996-1997), 144-145
(publication:
2002),
p.
247-252;
Mihai
Dima,
Dan Hie,
Tezaurul
de
monede
de
tip
Koson
descoperit
la Társa,
com.
Boşorod,
jud.
Hunedoara. Lotul păstrat la Banca
Naţională a României, in Simpozion de numismatică organizat cu ocazia comemorării Sfântului
Ştefan cel Mare, domn al Moldovei
(1504-2004),
Cltisinău,
29
septembrie
- 2
octombrie,
2004.
Comunicări,
studii şi
note (ed.
Eugen Nicolae),
Bucharest,
2007,
p.
35-65.
44
Liviu Călian, Cristian Găzdac,
Ágnes
Alfoldy-Găzdac,
The Ancient and Byzantine Gold Coinage
in the National Museum from Transylvania.
Moneda de aur antică şi bizantină în Muzeul Naţional
de Istorie a Transilvaniei, Cluj-Napoca,
2007,
p.
28-38; 4
coins
(n.
17-20,
inv,
14146-14149)
with
an uncertain origin (weights:
8.25, 8.44, 8.32, 8.08
g); other
22
coins came from Liviu
Pricăjan s
batch, from
Társa
(n.
21-42,
inv.
97762-97783).
Viorica Suciu, Radu Ardevan,
Quelques monnaies
Koson
gardées au Musée d Âlba Iulia,
in Dacia
Felix.
Studia
Michaeli
Bãrbulescu oblata,
Cluj,
2007,
p,
83-86.
ПО
Cotiso
is mentioned by Suetonius as well in a fragment from Augustus
biography
(63, 4);
thus, he retells the conflict between
Octavian
(the future
emperor Augustus) and Marcus
Antonius
(one of the triumviri) while presenting
the future Augustus family and points out the existence of a kind of pamphlet:
M.
Antonius
scribii
primům eum Antonio
filio
suo
despondisse
Miam,
dein
Cotísoni
Getarum
regi,
quo
tempore sibi quoque in
vicem filiam
regis in matrimonium petisset
C.
Daicoviciu46, and then
H. Daicoviciu,
have noticed that the above
quotation was the only fragment where Suetonius wrote about the Getae, and not
about the Dacians (the Dacians were mentioned six times in The Lives of the
Twelve Caesars and twice in Augustus biography). Isn t that odd that the
historian made an exception precisely in Cotiso s case, whereas the other sources
tell us that he was
Dacian
and not Getae? 47
Anyway, the very fact that king Cotiso was referred to as Getarum rex, does
not compel us to consider him a Getian, so a descendant of the people living in the
south of the mountains; an explanation thereof might be that
Antonius
wielded
imperium
proconsulare in the eastern part of the Empire where the Greek authors
considered the Dacians and the Getae one and the same people. Hence, the
assertion according to which Cotiso ruled the people living in Wallachian Plain
cannot be endorsed on the contrary, the expression Dad montibus inhaerent
(Floras) reveals that the Dacians lived in the mountains and were, of course,
mountain people.
As we nave seen so far, some modern historians have stated that the gold
staters with the legend
ΚΟΣΩΝ,
found in the area of the
Dacian
fortress in the
Orăştie
Mountains, belong to this king48. First, we should mention M.
von
Bahrfeldt, who identified the name Coson from the coins with the name Cotiso,
thus concluding that he was the one to have struck the coins with this inscription
.
Afterwards,
C. Daicoviciu50
and other numismatists agreed with this presumption.
There is another aspect open to debate regarding this mysterious king. So,
Anton
von Premerstein
noticed that in Suetonius oldest manuscripts from his
work,
Vitae
duodecim Caesarum,
Cosonì (or Cosini)
Getarum
regi
(but, generally
speaking, the publishers of this work used the form Cotisoni from the earliest
manuscripts) was used instead of the expression Cotisoni Getarum
regi;
therefore,
Coson and Cotiso had been two different kings6. Arthur Stein agreed with Anton
von
Premerstein s statement in 19377, but it has been overlooked for a long time.
The issue was resumed by H. Daicoviciu in an article published in
1965,
who
used Suetonius manuscripts The Lives of the Twelve Caesars as a source for his
arguments. Thus, the earliest manuscripts: Memmianus (9th century), Gudkinus
268
(11*
century), Vaticanus
1904
(ll*-12thcenturies),Laurentianus
66, 39(12
century),
46
C. Daicoviciu, in
Istoria
României,
I,
1960,
p.
290.
47
H. Daicoviciu, AMN,
2,1965,
p.
107-110.
48
See U. Kahrstedt, RE,
Xl, 2,
col.
1499;
E. Groag, RE,
XIII, 1,
col.
277.
49
M. Bahrfeldt,
op. cit., p.
367-368.
50
С
Daicoviciu, in
Istoria României,
I,
I960,
p.
290.
Ill
Montepessulanus
117
(12th century) show the spelling Cosoni or
Cosini
(H.
Daicoviciu
considers the second way of spelling a derivation from Cosoni). Other manuscripts:
three from the 12th century
{Parisinus
6116,
Parisinus
5802
and Regius
Londinensis
15
С
ΠΙ)
and two more from the 13th
с
(Suessinensis
19
and Regius
Londonensis
15
С
IV) render the spelling Cotisoni10. Consequently, H. Daicoviciu
(as his predecessors A.
von Premerstein
and A. Stein) has reached the conclusion
that there were two different kings.
To conclude his short contribution, H. Daicoviciu has brought other arguments
concerning the existence of the two different kings: It is true that both
Horatius
and
Florus presented the
Dacian
king as a constant and dangerous enemy of the Empire.
In
Horatius
opinion the complete defeat of Cotiso s army in about
29-28
ВС
spared
Mecena s political concerns; on the other hand, Florus wrote that the Dacians used to
attack (it happened more than once) the territory occupied by the Romans in the
south of the Danube. Suetonius statements would reveal very friendly relationships
between
Octavian
and the
Dacian
king in the years
32-31;
that could be the reason
why
Antonius
spread rumours, with some chances to be believed, about their
matrimonial interests ; and furthermore: Therefore, everything makes us draw the
conclusion that Suetonius spoke about the Getian king Coson and not about Cotiso
(the spelling
Cosini
is, obviously, a derivation from Cosoni). To sum up his probable
history broadly, we could say: in
44
ВС
Coson inherited a part of Burebista s
territories and established relationships with Brutus who, in Macedonia, was
preparing himself to fight against the triumviri. The Getian king might have provided
soldiers to Brutus and got in return gold coins with his name, but with the
iconography from the Roman general s coins. In the battle of Philippi (September
42
ВС)
Brutus was defeated and committed suicide. Coson was forgiven by
Octavian
for his bad inspiration to have allied with the latter
s
enemy and started having good
relationships with him and in about
32-31
rumours had been spread in Rome
regarding the possibility of their becoming in laws. 51
The numismatist
Octavian
Iliescu
s
presumption is in favour of the coins
being struck in the royal capital Sarmizegetusa
Regia. He
asserted that these coins
were struck to serve a military purpose, namely to pay the soldiers who were to
support King Coson if a war with Rome was to break out, but nothing of that kind
happened 52.
The issue of the gold coins was, undoubtedly, a sign of high reputation (both
military and political) and strong material support (the existence of a royal
tresurę,
containing such an important quantity of precious metal). Burebista himself might
have had the idea to mint these coins; as the inscription from Dionysopolis says, he
was considered by the Greeks from the left
Pontus
the first and greatest king of
1
H. Daicoviciu,
loc.
cit., p.
109-110.
Oct.
Iliescu
{op. cit., p.
201-202),
calling in question
this assessment (including A. v. Premerstein and the authors of
PIR2),
considers that Coson is
identical with Cotiso, asserting: Or,
ce roi, gète ou
dace,
ne peut être que le même, chez Suétone,
Florus et Horace. Quant à la reconstitution historique, élaborée par
Hadrian
Daicoviciu, elle représente
plutôt à notre avis un véritable
scenario
littéraire, débordant de fantaisie .
52
Oct.
Iliescu,
in
¡30
de ani..., p.
49.
112
all the kings in Thracia, ruling the whole country beyond and on this side of the
Danube 53. At the same time, he was the most well-known king in the Barbarian
world after Mithridates death.
King Coson might have been Burebista s associate as a close relative; the
issuing of the gold coin was an act of authority for which the new king was to be
supported by the Great Priest Deceneus as well. King Burebista s sudden death
hastened the separatist tendencies; the large amount of staters struck at that time
shows that the kingdom inherited by Coson was the most important part of that
Burebista s recently disappeared megale
arche
(μβγάλη αρχή)
(the Greeks words
are the ones handed down to us by Strabo,
VII,
3,11).
Then the question rises: who could have taken advantage of this coup? Of
course, the Dacians rebel leaders who led the divided parts of the kingdom. The
end of Burebista s hegemony was the very opportunity for those chieftains to
wield their authority. In our opinion, such circumstances imposed the establishing
of some mints meant to support the demonstration of an ostentatious generosity.
Burebista, the powerful and long-lasting ruler, did not need either
о
form of
representation or persuasive means. On the contrary, king Coson showed off his
wealth and made efforts to win supporters over his side by being extremely
generous. The very fact that Coson chose an iconography of Roman inspiration for
his coins, i.
e
Brutus
s
denar,
sheds a clear light on his option and orientation.
The events after Caesar s death evinced that Brutus was the only one whom
Rome s prestige was focused on; the historian Cassius
Dio
(XLVII, 25)
stated
clearly:
..
.on the coins he struck, [Brutus] showed his own portrait and a pileus as
well as two daggers to prove, by this effigy and the inscription it bears, that he
liberated the country together with Cassius (pi.
XIX, 7).
On the other hand,
Octavianus was rather weak; Cassius
Dio
(XLIV, 53),
went on:
Antonius...
felt
nothing else but contempt for Octavianus considering him a poor young man
without any experience in public affairs, overwhelmed by the burden of an
inheritance so difficult to deal with (see Ploutarchus, Marcus
Antonius, XVI;
Appianus, The Civil Wars,
Ш,
13, sqq.;
Suetonius, Augustus,
XXXV).
However, there is no literary source to suggest a possible alliance between
Brutus and any
Dacian
king. Cassius
Dio
(XLVII, 25)
mentioned only the alliance
between Brustus and the Thracian prince Rascuporis, who had fought for
Pompei
s
cause. Appianus (The Civil Wars, IV,
136)
certified Rascuporis cautious attitude
to urge his brother Rascus to fight on
Octavian
and
Antonius
side to protect his
kingdom if he had a personal failure. Ploutarchus also underlined (Parallel Lives,
Brutus,
38):
He had conquered the other peoples living around the Philippi
before. If there had been either a fortress or a ruler left unsubdued, then all of them
would have been lured to the sea around the Thasos island .
Although Coson was not mentioned, we could draw the conclusion that
Coson tried to be close to Burebista, who was an uncontested authority in the area,
53
G.
Mihaüov, IGB,
Ѓ,
13.
113
as Burebista had shared
Pompei
s
cause (brilliant military personality and
representative of the Senate and the Roman people) helped by the Greek
ambassador Acornion. It goes without saying that the wealthy person, who struck
the gold coins, might have had in view a Roman alliance willing to impose
himself on the other polities and
Dacian
military chieftains.
An example thereof is Rholes case, a Getian king, who got from
Octavian
the title amicus
et
sociuspopuli
Romani (Cassius
Dio, LI,
24:
φίλος και σύμμαχος
αύτοϋ).
The allies
of the Roman people sometimes claimed the assistance of the
Roman troops. It is quite possible that the circumstances after Burebista s
assassination
-
lack of stability because of the fights to get the power and
consolidate it
-
to have made Coson decide to ask for the Roman help. Thus, the
staters of
ΚΟΣΩΝ
type (with an iconography similar to the one of the coins struck
by the person who ruled over the provinces of the Balkan Peninsula) revealed the
acknowledgement of the exceptional authority (imperius maius) and prestige
Brutus was enjoying in the spring of the year
43
ВС.
The events followed one after another quickly and culminated in the defeat
of Philippi that made Brutus committed suicide. Consequently, the staters of
ΚΟΣΩΝ
type were just hoarded; as they had been issued under special
circumstances (as Mithridates VI and Vercingetorix s staters), they were not
necessary for dealing a possible alliance any longer.
Anyway the most important proof remains the name
ΚΟΣΩΝ
itself. If one
could take into account the great amount of gold coins concentrated at
Sarmizegetusa
Regia
and in the neighbouring area and the name inscribed on the
Dacian
staters, one should definitely state that the issuer exerted a real royal
authority in that region. The fact that he kept the acquired wealth after Burebista s
kingdom had been divided in many other parts, should be a proof that he was
undoubtedly the leader of the main political construction-in the
Orăştie
Mountains.
As far as the
Dacian
numismatic is concerned, this is a unique case in which
the minted gold coins bear the name of the issuer in the inscription. Although the
Dacians had known the Greek-Macedonian coins for centuries, they had never
been tempted to struck coins with the name of their own kings (the opposite can be
said about the Celts). Unfortunately, there is no prior source that could offer
information about the existence of a political authority in
Dacia
to have issued the
coins. The only proofs in this respect are but king Coson s gold coins.
Therefore, in our opinion, the existence of a king with the name Coson is
perfectly plausible and it is supported by an epigraphic representation by the
coins that I am focusing on in the present work. The fact that they were found
particularly in the area of the
Dacian
fortresses in the
Orăştie
Mountains is a
strong argument in favour of the presumption according to which this enigmatic
king Coson is the one who succeeded Burebista on the throne of the main kingdom
that occupied the whole territory within the Carpathians. He ruled from
44
ВС
until, at least,
30
ВС
(when he was mentioned by Suetonius).
One could wonder why
Jordanes
did not mention Coson on the list of the
Dacian
kings; but, as it has already been mentioned, other kings were not on the
114
list as well. Deceneus might have preserved his quality of the king s Great Priest
and Counsellor and he might have surpassed the latter with his personality. Hence,
Jordanes
viewed Deceneus as a king (as a matter of fact, during Burebista s reign
he was almost as powerful as a king:
pene regiam potestatem).
Anyway, the name Coson has not been witnessed clearly in the ancient
Dacian
personal names. G. G. Mateescu54,1. I. Russu55 and D. Detschew56 thought that the
name had Thracians origins giving the examples
Κοσις, Κοσσους, Κοσσιγας,
Cosingis. Likewise, an inscription dating back in
222
AD, found at
Histria
(reused as
construction material) was a dedicated to Jupiter Optimus
Maximus
from the
inhabitants of vicus Secundini, when
Flavius
Valens
and Valerius,
Cosen
s son,
were
mayors: magg(istris) Fl(avio)
Valente
et
Valerio Cosenis.
Although the
magisters
names were written in ablative (absolute ablative), the form Cosenis seems to be in
the genitive, being a patronymic;
D. M.
Pippidi has compared the name with Coson
and considers it a Thracian name57.
That kingdom in the mountains led by Coson ensured the continuity of the
Dacian
royalty, from Burebista to Decebalus. Actually, it went on being independent
until Domitian s reign, still having good relationships with the Empire.
Consequently, Cotiso was a different ruler; his kingdom might have covered
the area of the
Banat
Mountains and the west of
Oltenia.
He would have led a new
formed kingdom (the fifth, according to Strabo) from the part inherited by Coson.
On the other hand, many modern historians have agreed with the idea that they are
one and the same king.
A characteristic of all ancient royalties is the existence of some rich royal
treasures; after the Hellenistic kingdoms were turned into Roman provinces, most
of these treasures were taken to Rome where they were used to ensure the
prosperity and splendour of the Roman civilisation.
Dacia
(especially the territory surrounded by the Carpathians) represented a
region of the ancient world with remarkable quantities of gold ores; gold had
become an attraction for people since the prehistoric ages. The rich inventories of
the royal tombs suggest the possibility of some earlier policies, maybe even dating
from the 5th century
ВС,
to gather some objects (see the gold helmets, various
adornments and silver and gold ware found in
Dacia
and dating from the
2
-Is
centuries) (Herodotus, IV,
104
wrote about the Agathyrsoi that most of them were
χρυσοφόροι
they used the wear gold adornments ). It is true that the fame of
the
Dacian
gold was amplified by the capture of king Decebalus treasures which
were taken to Rome58.
54
G. G. Mateescu, ED,
2, 1926,
p.
233.
S51.1. Russu,
Limba
traco-dacilor2,
Bucureşti,
1967,
p.
99.
56
D. Detschew, Die thrakischen
Sprachreste2,
Vienna,
1976,
p.
256-257.
57
ISM, I,
345.
58 See: J. Carcopino,
Les richesses des
Daces
et le redressement de l Empire Romain
sous Trajan,
Dacia,
I
1924,
ρ
28-34;
idem, Points
de vite sur l
impérialisme romain, Paris,
1934,
p.
73-86;
1.1. Russu,
Comorile regelui
Deceba!,
Sargetia,
4, 1966,
p.
97-107;
J.
Makkai,
The treasures of Decebalus,
Specimina nova, Pecs,
1994 (1995),
p.
151-215.
115
There is still a problem left and I feel I will not have enough time to solve it:
the origin of gold used for the coins of
ΚΟΣΩΝ
type.
The main source to get the gold, before the Roman conquest, was the
panning of the gold dust and nuggets; the primitive methods were almost similar to
the ones used by the gold washers from Transylvania until the modern epoch.
There has been noticed the virtual disappearance of the gold objects from
Transylvania dating from the 5th century
ВС
(even in the area inhabited by the
Scythian Agathyrsoi named
χρυσοφόροι
by Herodotus, IV,
104).
The explanation
would be that the gold mines would have been a royal monopoly. This is a
presumption that has been accepted almost without reserves until nowadays; but it
is rather difficult to explain how the activity of the gold collectors was controlled.
It is but natural to admit that the upper layers of the Geto-Dacian world, i. e.
the king and the aristocracy, kept hold of the precious metal as wares, adornments
and coin; the imminent Roman danger made their owners concealed them. The
conquerors took many of the treasures by extorting the captive tarabostes as a
price for their liberation or even life; just a few of them remained buried as those
hoards with coins of
ΚΟΣΩΝ
type found not far from the royal Sarmizegetusa
Regia.
Another example of objects that were saved from the conquerors greed are
the recently discovered gold bracelets which are a special issue.
As far as the origin of the gold coins of
ΚΟΣΩΝ
type is concerned, V.
Pârvan s
assumption should be given up completely since these coins were not
struck in the area located in the south of the Danube as the historian suggested. It
would be tempting to take into account the presumption that the coins were struck
of alluvial gold (native) from
Dacia;
but the latest investigations seem to contradict
this opinion. Until we get a definite answer from the scientists who have
performed researches and supplementary tests, we would like to draw the attention
on a discovery that has been neglected: in the hoard found at
Strei,
quite likely
concealed in
106
AD, together with the coins of Lysimachus type (at least
150
years old), were found some gold bars (maybe ingots)
-
that could have been used
for making adornments or even for issuing coins (as a matter of fact coins of
ΚΟΣΩΝ
type were found in this hoard). This means that older coins were still
appreciated during king Decebalus s reign, that is to say that they will enjoy by far
greater appreciation during Burebista and his descendants reigns. Another
conclusion would be that the gold ingots of the royal treasure, gathered by the
great king as a tribute, might have been used to mint the enigmatic coins59.
Therefore, it is quite possible that at least a part of the gold for the staters of
ΚΟΣΩΝ
type to have had a local origin. We could assume as well that the Dacians
might have exploited the gold nuggets nearer to the surface, that were more
numerous in ancient times and more profitable than in modern times; otherwise, it
would have been more difficult to explain the gold mining during Trajan s reign17
in the
Apuseni
Mountains, without prior geological surveys 18!
59
See
CIL,
III,
1312 (=
ILS,
1593;
ILS,
ПІ/З,
366):
Marcus Ulpius Hernias, Aug(usti) libfertus),
procurator) aurariarum.
116
The Monetary Design
According to the general opinion expressed by the numismatist, starting with
Max
von Bahrfeldt
onwards, the coin of
ΚΟΣΩΝ
type was struck after the model
of two Roman Republican denars issued in the first half of the 1st century
ВС:
1.
Obverse: Laureate head of Jupiter, in profile, to the right; front the
inscription RVFVS, back
S C.
Reverse: Eagle with stretched wings, on a sceptre, to the left, the head to the
right, holding a wreath with the right claw; Q. POMPONTVS in exergue, a variable
symbol in the field. The year
73
ВС60:
PL
XIX, 4.
2.
Obverse: The head of an allegory (deified) to the right, with the inscription
LIBERTAS.
Reverse: A consul between two lictors, preceded by an accensus, moving to
the left; BRVTVS in exergue. The year
54
ВС61.
Pl.
XIX,
6.
The allegory with
Libertas
appears on the coins issued between
43-42
ВС
(pl.
ХГХ,
7-8)
when Brutus and Cassius bears the title of
proco(n)s(ul)
or
imp(erator). The presence of this allegory has made us change the dating of Brutus s
coin (differently dated; after M. Crawford, they would be dating from the year
54)
from the beginning of the year
43.
The character between the two lictors, with the
axe between fasces indicate war time; he is a Roman commander in campaign,
quality similar to Brutus s situation, even in the second part of the year
44:
Brutus
was sent to govern Crete but he remained in Athens where he started preparing his
legions for war. It was in April
43
when the Senate appointed him to govern
Macedonia and Cassius Syria (Cassius
Dio,
XLVI, 40;
see also
XLVII, 28) -
which
represents a terminus post quern for the title proconsul
snàjmperator
inscribed on
the coins. Nevertheless, it has to be agreed that the first coin with
Libertas
(thought
to be dating from the year
54
ВС)
should be dated later, towards the end of the year
43
ВС;
it was then when Brutus struck also the coins denars and even aureus bearing
60
E. Babeion,
MRK,
Pomponia-23,
71
ВС;
H.
A. Grueber, CRR,
3331,
Roma,
74
ВС;
E.
A. Sydenham, CRR, Roma,
93, 71
ВС;
M. H.
Crawford, RRC,
398/1,
Roma,
73
BC. aAccording
to
T. R. S. Broughton, Magistrates, II, New York,
1953,
p.
449, 605,
Q. Pomponius
Rufo
was triumvir
monetalis in
71
ВС.
61
The Catalogues propose different dates for this monetary issue: E. Babeion, MRR,
I, funia
31,
year
44
ВС;
H.
A. Grueber, CRR, Roma
3861,
year
59
a.
Chr.;
E. A. Sydenham,CÄÄ,
Roma
906,
year
60
a.
Chr.;
M. H.
Crawford,
RRC,
Roma 433/1,
year
54
a.
Chr.
(generally accepted dating). See
also P. R,
Franke, Die Münzsammlung des
Seminars fir
klassische Philologie
deer
Friedrich-Alexander-
Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg,
Arch.
Anz., 1967, 1,
p.
90,
n.
972.
The name appering on obverse,
within exergue, is the one of M. Iunius Brutus (Q. Serveius Caepio Brutus): possibly he appears as
triumvir monetalis (one of the task of the vigintivirat; but he is not attested in this function in any
antique source; see
T. R. S.
Broughton, Magistrates,
11,
Supplementum,
.1960,
p.
32.
In
53,
Brutus
was uuaestor in
Cilicia;
in
44
was praetor
urbánus;
in the same year was proconsul in Crete, afterwards
proconsul (holding
imperium maius)
of
Macedoniei
and Achaia
(Grecia);
consul
designatus
for year
41.
Two inscriptions originated in Athens agora
(AÉ,
1959, 248;
BÉp,
1960, 140)
and Oropos
(IG,
VII,
383),
honours him as saviour and benefactor
-
σωτήρ και
eixpyérrìc.
117
CUPRINS
Abrevieri
bibliografice......................................................................................
7
Cuvânt-înainte
................................................................................................... 9
Istoricul cercetărilor
......................................................................................... 15
Regalitatea dacică între anii
44-27
a.Chr
.................................................... 29
Tezaurul regal dacic
......................................................................................... 42
Tipul monetar
................................................................................................... 64
Clasificarea monedelor
..................................................................................... 79
Catalogul monedelor
........................................................................................ 85
Abstract:
King
Coson
s
coins (english translation by
Daniela Niculescu)
....... 101
|
| any_adam_object | 1 |
| author | Petolescu, Carmen Maria |
| author_facet | Petolescu, Carmen Maria |
| author_role | aut |
| author_sort | Petolescu, Carmen Maria |
| author_variant | c m p cm cmp |
| building | Verbundindex |
| bvnumber | BV040098622 |
| ctrlnum | (OCoLC)796202163 (DE-599)BVBBV040098622 |
| era | Geschichte 44-27 v. Chr. gnd |
| era_facet | Geschichte 44-27 v. Chr. |
| format | Book |
| fullrecord | <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><collection xmlns="http://www.loc.gov/MARC21/slim"><record><leader>01709nam a2200409 c 4500</leader><controlfield tag="001">BV040098622</controlfield><controlfield tag="003">DE-604</controlfield><controlfield tag="005">20120605 </controlfield><controlfield tag="007">t</controlfield><controlfield tag="008">120413s2011 ab|| |||| 00||| rum d</controlfield><datafield tag="020" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="a">9789732721414</subfield><subfield code="9">978-973-27-2141-4</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="035" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="a">(OCoLC)796202163</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="035" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="a">(DE-599)BVBBV040098622</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="040" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="a">DE-604</subfield><subfield code="b">ger</subfield><subfield code="e">rakwb</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="041" ind1="0" ind2=" "><subfield code="a">rum</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="049" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="a">DE-12</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="084" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="a">7,41</subfield><subfield code="2">ssgn</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="100" ind1="1" ind2=" "><subfield code="a">Petolescu, Carmen Maria</subfield><subfield code="e">Verfasser</subfield><subfield code="4">aut</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="245" ind1="1" ind2="0"><subfield code="a">Monedele regelui Coson</subfield><subfield code="c">Carmen Maria Petolescu</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="264" ind1=" " ind2="1"><subfield code="a">Bucureşti</subfield><subfield code="b">Ed. Acad. Române</subfield><subfield code="c">2011</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="300" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="a">128 S., [10] Bl.</subfield><subfield code="b">Ill., Kt.</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="336" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="b">txt</subfield><subfield code="2">rdacontent</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="337" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="b">n</subfield><subfield code="2">rdamedia</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="338" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="b">nc</subfield><subfield code="2">rdacarrier</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="500" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="a">Zsfassung in engl. Sprache u.d.T.: King Coson's coins</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="648" ind1=" " ind2="7"><subfield code="a">Geschichte 44-27 v. Chr.</subfield><subfield code="2">gnd</subfield><subfield code="9">rswk-swf</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="650" ind1="0" ind2="7"><subfield code="a">Münze</subfield><subfield code="0">(DE-588)4040629-5</subfield><subfield code="2">gnd</subfield><subfield code="9">rswk-swf</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="651" ind1=" " ind2="7"><subfield code="a">Dakien</subfield><subfield code="0">(DE-588)4070197-9</subfield><subfield code="2">gnd</subfield><subfield code="9">rswk-swf</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="689" ind1="0" ind2="0"><subfield code="a">Dakien</subfield><subfield code="0">(DE-588)4070197-9</subfield><subfield code="D">g</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="689" ind1="0" ind2="1"><subfield code="a">Münze</subfield><subfield code="0">(DE-588)4040629-5</subfield><subfield code="D">s</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="689" ind1="0" ind2="2"><subfield code="a">Geschichte 44-27 v. Chr.</subfield><subfield code="A">z</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="689" ind1="0" ind2=" "><subfield code="5">DE-604</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="856" ind1="4" ind2="2"><subfield code="m">Digitalisierung BSB Muenchen 2</subfield><subfield code="q">application/pdf</subfield><subfield code="u">http://bvbr.bib-bvb.de:8991/F?func=service&doc_library=BVB01&local_base=BVB01&doc_number=024955234&sequence=000003&line_number=0001&func_code=DB_RECORDS&service_type=MEDIA</subfield><subfield code="3">Inhaltsverzeichnis</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="856" ind1="4" ind2="2"><subfield code="m">Digitalisierung BSB Muenchen 2</subfield><subfield code="q">application/pdf</subfield><subfield code="u">http://bvbr.bib-bvb.de:8991/F?func=service&doc_library=BVB01&local_base=BVB01&doc_number=024955234&sequence=000004&line_number=0002&func_code=DB_RECORDS&service_type=MEDIA</subfield><subfield code="3">Abstract</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="940" ind1="1" ind2=" "><subfield code="n">oe</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="999" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="a">oai:aleph.bib-bvb.de:BVB01-024955234</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="942" ind1="1" ind2="1"><subfield code="c">907.2</subfield><subfield code="e">22/bsb</subfield><subfield code="f">09014</subfield><subfield code="g">3</subfield></datafield></record></collection> |
| geographic | Dakien (DE-588)4070197-9 gnd |
| geographic_facet | Dakien |
| id | DE-604.BV040098622 |
| illustrated | Illustrated |
| indexdate | 2024-07-10T00:16:50Z |
| institution | BVB |
| isbn | 9789732721414 |
| language | Romanian |
| oai_aleph_id | oai:aleph.bib-bvb.de:BVB01-024955234 |
| oclc_num | 796202163 |
| open_access_boolean | |
| owner | DE-12 |
| owner_facet | DE-12 |
| physical | 128 S., [10] Bl. Ill., Kt. |
| publishDate | 2011 |
| publishDateSearch | 2011 |
| publishDateSort | 2011 |
| publisher | Ed. Acad. Române |
| record_format | marc |
| spelling | Petolescu, Carmen Maria Verfasser aut Monedele regelui Coson Carmen Maria Petolescu Bucureşti Ed. Acad. Române 2011 128 S., [10] Bl. Ill., Kt. txt rdacontent n rdamedia nc rdacarrier Zsfassung in engl. Sprache u.d.T.: King Coson's coins Geschichte 44-27 v. Chr. gnd rswk-swf Münze (DE-588)4040629-5 gnd rswk-swf Dakien (DE-588)4070197-9 gnd rswk-swf Dakien (DE-588)4070197-9 g Münze (DE-588)4040629-5 s Geschichte 44-27 v. Chr. z DE-604 Digitalisierung BSB Muenchen 2 application/pdf http://bvbr.bib-bvb.de:8991/F?func=service&doc_library=BVB01&local_base=BVB01&doc_number=024955234&sequence=000003&line_number=0001&func_code=DB_RECORDS&service_type=MEDIA Inhaltsverzeichnis Digitalisierung BSB Muenchen 2 application/pdf http://bvbr.bib-bvb.de:8991/F?func=service&doc_library=BVB01&local_base=BVB01&doc_number=024955234&sequence=000004&line_number=0002&func_code=DB_RECORDS&service_type=MEDIA Abstract |
| spellingShingle | Petolescu, Carmen Maria Monedele regelui Coson Münze (DE-588)4040629-5 gnd |
| subject_GND | (DE-588)4040629-5 (DE-588)4070197-9 |
| title | Monedele regelui Coson |
| title_auth | Monedele regelui Coson |
| title_exact_search | Monedele regelui Coson |
| title_full | Monedele regelui Coson Carmen Maria Petolescu |
| title_fullStr | Monedele regelui Coson Carmen Maria Petolescu |
| title_full_unstemmed | Monedele regelui Coson Carmen Maria Petolescu |
| title_short | Monedele regelui Coson |
| title_sort | monedele regelui coson |
| topic | Münze (DE-588)4040629-5 gnd |
| topic_facet | Münze Dakien |
| url | http://bvbr.bib-bvb.de:8991/F?func=service&doc_library=BVB01&local_base=BVB01&doc_number=024955234&sequence=000003&line_number=0001&func_code=DB_RECORDS&service_type=MEDIA http://bvbr.bib-bvb.de:8991/F?func=service&doc_library=BVB01&local_base=BVB01&doc_number=024955234&sequence=000004&line_number=0002&func_code=DB_RECORDS&service_type=MEDIA |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT petolescucarmenmaria monedeleregeluicoson |