Roman Coin Hoards Across Frontiers (Oxford Studies on the Roman Economy)

The spread of Roman coins and their imitations, from Ireland to Thailand, reaches well beyond a modern political map of the Roman provinces. Roman Coin Hoards Across Frontiers provides a broad survey of hoarding of Roman coins beyond the Roman Empire from c. 30 BC to AD 518 and its relevance to our understanding of the commercial, political, and cultural connections between Rome and its neighbours, near and far. Written by nineteen international scholars, it draws on data gathered for the Coin Hoards of the Roman Empire Project, an online database cataloguing all known Roman coin hoards. The volume starts with select studies on aspects of deposition within the Empire, followed by regional analyses covering Southern Scandinavia, Germany, and Eastern Europe, as well as the eastern part of the Roman Empire and its adjacent regions, from the Caucasus up to India. The last section looks outside the Roman hoard evidence itself, offering insights from a later period in the Viking north and from metallurgy. The concluding chapter provides an analysis of the key literary textual evidence for the export of coin outside the Empire. By studying the full reach of Roman material culture beyond the frontiers through the lens of coin hoards, this book reveals the nature of Roman imperialism, the importance of commerce, and the significance of borders. Read more