T. Šeparović - COIN FINDS OF EMPEROR CONSTANTINE V COPRONYMUS IN SOUTHERN CROATIA

8/12/2019 T. eparovi - COIN FINDS OF EMPEROR CONSTANTINE V COPRONYMUS IN SOUTHERN CROATIA

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Byzantine Coins in Central Europe between the 5thand 10thCenturyM. Wooszyn (ed.)

MORAVIA MAGNA, vol. VKrakw 2008, p. ....

Abstract. Coin Finds of Emperor Constantine V Copronymus in southern Croatia. The paper

publishes some informations about the finds of golden coins (golden solidus) of Byzantineemperor Constantine V Copronymus in southern Croatia. By their features the coins belongto the same coin type mint in the period 760-775 in the mint of Syracuse, particulary activelyin the second half of the 8thcentury. Croatian museums keep numerous coins of this type. Theirmultitude in the area between the Zrmanja and the Cetina rivers, the time and the reasons oftheir arrival here and their function as grave contributions, especially as related to dating ofgraves at the important old-Croatian site Biskupija near Knin, made them topics of scientificdiscussions over a long period of time. It appears that their presence in the southern Croatia maybe explained by the common political situation prevailing in the second half of the 8 thcentury.

This is the time following the fall of the Exarchate of Ravenna, when Dalmatian towns remainedthe scarce Byzantine strongholds at the Adriatic, besides Venice, wherefore Byzantium tried to

secure them by giving large quantities of gold coins to the Croats in their back, for the case thatByzantium is to employ militarily against the strengthening Frank state. The Croatian rulingstratum, not familiar with monetary economy and still undergoing Christianisation, for severaldecades utilised the received gold coins as valuables only. Some of the coins were placed, withother objects, into graves, and some have probably been cast into jewellery.

Coin finds, both individual and group, represent one of the most important types of historical evidence.By studying them we can make significant deductions about the economic, and also political, history ofparticular areas. When discussing the period of the early Middle Ages in the area of southern Croatia, it is

very difficult to talk about the circulation of money because the exchange of money for goods was poorlydeveloped at that time and f inds are relatively rare. Therefore the requirement is imposed on us to develop

a numismatic topography in order to illuminate this period as much as possible from the aspect of coinfinds.One of the most intriguing questions of early mediaeval or, in this case, Byzantine numismatics in

southern Croatia is certainly that of the finds of a large number of gold solidi of Constantine V Copronymusof exactly the same type and from the same mint.

The obverse of the coin contains a depiction of the bust of Constantine V and of his son Leo IV facing.They are both dressed in a chlamysand wear a stemma. Above their heads is a cross. Because of the cut of thecoin, the legend on the obverse is not visible but generally this consisted of the names of these co-regents.On the reverse is the bust of Leo III, father of Constantine V, facing, dressed in a loros, wearing a stemmaandholding a cross in his right hand. Around this depiction is a legend (Fig. 1). By its characteristics this coinbelongs to the type which was minted in the mint of the city of Syracuse which was especially active in thesecond half of the 8th century (Morrisson 1970, 471). The mint in Syracuse was founded for emperor Maurice

Tiberius, and was active up to 878 when this city was captured by the Arabs.

TOMISLAV EPAROVI

COIN FINDS OF EMPEROR CONSTANTINE V COPRONYMUS IN SOUTHERN CROATIA


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The time span in which such examples were issued ranges from 760 until death of Copronymus in775. This type of money was minted during the joint reign of Constantine Copronymus and his son Leo IV.

Copronymus pronounced Leo IV as Augustus, that is took him as his co-regent in 751 when he was still atwo-year-old child. The dating is determined as the last third of Copronymuss reign because of the depictionof Leo IV as a young man.

Museums in southern Croatian possess numerous examples of Copronymus gold coins of this type butunfortunately the data on the place or circumstances in which the majority of them were found is not known1.

A pierced Copronymus gold coin of this type which had a secondary use as a piece of jewellery or an orna-ment on national dress was found in the coastal area of Makarska (eparovi 2003, 130). The most famouslocation in which they were found is certainly Biskupija near Knin (Fig. 2). There at Crkvina, Copronymus

Fig. 1. Biskupija Crkvina near Knin,ibensko-Kninska upanija, Grave 7.The obverse and the reverse of gold

solidus of Constantine V Copronymusminted in Syracuse 760 775

(Photo Z. Alajbeg).

1The Museum of Croatian Archaeological Monuments possesses a total of 22 examples, the Archaeological Museum in Split 48 examples, theArchaeological Museum in Zadar 2 examples, the ibenik County Museum 1 example.

Fig. 2. Biskupija Crkvina near Knin, ibensko-Kninska upanija. Grave 7 with a gold solidusof Constantine V Copronymus (Photo Z. Alajbeg; no scale).


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gold coins were found in the function of an obolus alongside numerous grave goods in the graves to the southof the early mediaeval church of St Mary (not in all graves; Delonga 1981). One other example originatesfrom the same location which was found in summer 2000 during the revision investigations, but out of con-text (Gudelj 2000). It is supposed that this also originated in one of the graves. All of the above examples are

kept in the Museum of Croatian Archaeological Monuments (Delonga 1981). The locations of the other findscan be seen on the accompanying map (Fig. 3).

The appearance of coinage in the function of an obolus in the context of old Croatian graveyards witha pagan method of burial also demands explanation. L. Karaman thought that the oboli could be interpretedas pagan beliefs similar to those from ancient religions according to which the ferrymen Charon was paid totransport the dead across the river Acheron or Styx to the underworld (Karaman 1940, 24-25). The money

was placed under the tongue of the deceased so that they would be able to pay for the ferry journey (Fig. 4).This tradition continued in the ancient world long after the victory of Christianity and thence also enteredinto the funerary customs of other peoples (Zamarovsk 1973, 111). But in Late Antiquity, at the time whenthe Croats were settling, such phenomena can no longer be expected and therefore oboli in graves cannot beinterpreted as a tradition inherited from the indigenous population. The appearance of oboli in areas settledby Slavs is usually connected with western influences but not until the 9th century. Following some olderideas (Vaa 1958, 203), E. Kolnikov (1967) devoted considerable attention to this problem and came to

Fig. 3. The area of southern Croatia. Locations of the finds of Constantine V Copronymus gold solidi:1. Nin, Zadarska upanija; 2. Islam Latinski, Zadarska upanija; 3. Bribir, ibensko-Kninska upanija; 4. Piramatovci,ibensko-Kninska upanija; 5. Dubravice, ibensko-Kninska upanija; 6. Mokro Polje, ibensko-Kninska upanija;7. Prevjes, ibensko-Kninska upanija; 8. Vrpolje, ibensko-Kninska upanija; 9. Topolje, ibensko-Kninska upanija;

10. Biskupija Crkvina, ibensko-Kninska upanija; 11. Cetina (Glava), ibensko-Kninska upanija;12. tikovo, ibensko-Kninska upanija; 13. Gradac, ibensko-Kninska upanija; 14. Danilo Gornje, ibensko-Kninska upanija; 15. Gornje Utore, Splitsko-Dalmatinska upanija; 16. Mu, Splitsko-Dalmatinska upanija;

17. Bajagi, Splitsko-Dalmatinska upanija; 18. Gardun, Splitsko-Dalmatinska upanija; 19. Trilj, Splitsko-Dalmatinskaupanija; 20. Klis, Splitsko-Dalmatinska upanija.


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the conclusion that the obolus as a tradition appeared for the first time among the Slavs in places wherethe political, economic and cultural influence of the Frankish state can be confirmed, and its appearanceis limited exclusively to the graves of the higher social class. Taking into consideration just the findsfrom Biskupija and Trilj, this author places the appearance of the obolus in Croatia in the period after 800.

J. Werner (1979) thinks similarly and concluded that the Croatian nobility used Constantine V gold coins asoboli only for special occasions in the same way that the nobility of Greater Moravia used them. In the areaof Greater Moravia in one of the graves next to a three-aisled basilica (the so-called first church in Mikulice),a gold coin of Michael III used as an obolus was discovered, while in certain graves in Stare Mesto gold leaves

were in the mouths of the deceased (Kolnikov 1967, 233). Nor was money found in the mouths of thedeceased in all the graves at Crkvina in Biskupija; in the fifth grave was a golden headband with a pendant inthe shape of a tile and in the ninth grave a gilded silver earring of the grape-shaped type.

In the early Carolingian period we find oboli which will replace all other items in the grave. This isprecisely the period when the first influences from the West are observed in our region through archaeologi-cal depositories. Therefore it can be stated that the Croats acquired this tradition from the West but that thiscould have happened even before 800. It should also be emphasised that Byzantine coinage in graves in this

area was not always used as an obolus which is confirmed by the finds from Grave 140 by the church of StCross in Nin (Beloevi 1969, 210) and the sarcophagus at Crkvina in Biskupija (Delonga 1981). The customof placing an obolus continued right up until the middle of the 9th century which is testified by Grave 62 atdrijac in Nin with the silver denarius of Lothar I (Beloevi 1980, 295).

The numerous finds of Copronymus gold solidi in the area between the rivers Zrmanja and Cetina, thetime and reason for the arrival in this area and their function as oboli, especially connected with the dating ofthe above graves in Biskupija, have long been the subject for debate in professional and scientific literature(Delonga 1981, 205-206). Many authors have tackled this problem and some of them have used these goldcoins as an argument for the approximate dating of the Biskupija graves to the south of the basilica to the endof the 8th century (Karaman 1929, 183; Vinski 1970, 138). U. Giesler also thought that they had some dating

validity and used them to date these graves to the last third of the 8th century (Giesler 1974, 532). Z. Vinskilater corrected his opinion raising the dating of some graves right up to the mid 9th century (Vinski 1981,22). In doing so he accepted the theory of J. Werner who considered that the gold coins originate from somefamily treasure which for some unknown reason came into the hands of the ruling class of Croats who placed

Fig. 4. Dubravice near Skradin,

ibensko-Kninska upanija. Grave 34 withthe position of coin marked by arrow

(photo taken from Gunjaa 1989, 148).


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Adress of the Author:Dr. Tomislav eparovi

Muzej hrvatskih arheolokih spomenika

Stjepana Gunjae bb21000 Split Croatia

e-mail: [email protected]

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T. Šeparović - COIN FINDS OF EMPEROR CONSTANTINE V COPRONYMUS IN SOUTHERN CROATIA