The Silver Coinage of Roman Syria Under the Julio-Claudian Emperors

Authors: Butcher, Kevin; Ponting, Matthew

Source: Levant, Volume 41, Number 1, Spring 2009 , pp. 59-78(20)

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Abstract:

Analyses of 71 Roman provincial silver coins of the Julio-Claudian emperors (27 BC–AD 68) minted at Caesarea in Cappadocia and Antioch and Tyre in Syria are discussed in this paper. The finenesses of the alloys are presented and it is proposed that there was a logical relationship between the standards used for Caesarea and Antioch. Trace element profiles and selected lead isotope analyses help to characterize the products of the different mints, and also demonstrate that one particular issue of coinage, normally attributed to a mint in Syria, was probably produced at Caesarea in Cappadocia. During this period minting of silver at Tyre was discontinued and trace elements suggest that some of the later Antiochene coinage may have been produced from recycled Tyrian silver.

Keywords: ROMAN; ANALYSIS; ANTIOCH; COINS; SILVER

Document Type: Research Article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1179/175638009X427594

Publication date: 2009-03-01

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