Byzantium in Dark-Age Greece (the numismatic evidence in its Balkan context) more

Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies Vol. 29 No. 2 (2005) 113-146 Byzantium in Dark-Age Greece (the numismatic evidence in its Balkan context) Florin Curta University of Florida Much has been made of the presence or absence of seventh- and eighth-century coins on several sites in Greece, primarily in Athens and Corinth. Kenneth Setton and Peter Charanis have paved the way for a cultural-historical interpretation of coin finds, but a thorough comparison of both single and hoard finds from Greece with others from the Balkans suggests a very different interpretation. Instead of signalising decline, low- denomination coins, especially from Athens, may point to local markets of low-value commodities, such as food, as well as to the permanent presence of the fleet. Almost half a century ago, three polemical articles appeared in Speculum on seventh- century Corinth. Apparently, the debate opposing Peter Charanis to Kenneth Setton was about an obscure episode, the alleged conquest of Corinth by a group of nomads known to Byzantine sources as Onogurs.1 In fact, at stake was more than just the interpretation of a confusing passage in a late source, namely a letter of Isidore, the fifteenth-century metropolitan of Kiev, who had allegedly preserved 'a reminiscence of a Peloponnesian tradition'.2 In his first article, Setton reacted against Charanis's earlier work,3 in which he had treated the Chronicle of Monemvasia, one of the most controversial sources for the early medieval history of Greece, as 'absolutely trustworthy'. According to Setton, the Chronicle was no more than 'a medley of some fact and some fiction' that historians should use 'with caution'.4 Charanis had taken the Chronicle at face value. By contrast, Setton believed it was ludicrous to claim that the Peloponnese had remained under Avar-Slavic domination for 218 years. According to him, 'much of the Slavonisation of the Balkans and of Greece' was the result of peaceful settlement: 'unknown numbers of Slavs' came 'at unknown times and under unknown circumstances'. There was, however, no such thing as a Slavic conquest of Greece. 'The Slavs came, but they did not conquer.'5 In response, Charanis wrote of Slavic domination and great numbers of settlers coming to Greece during the entire period from 'just before the beginning of Maurice's reign [582-602] to the early years of the reign of Heraclius [610—41]'.6 He attacked the 'official version of the Slavic problem in Greece' espoused by Stilpon Kyriakides: 'no Greek © 2005 Centre for Byzantine, Ottoman and Modern Greek Studies, University of Birmingham 114 Florin Curta scholar, writing in Greece, has ever acknowledged that Slavs settled in Greece during the sixth century'.7 At a first glimpse, the Setton-Charanis debate was nothing new. Many of the argu- ments used by both sides were almost a century old. The Chronicle of Monemvasia was first used as a primary source for the history of the Slavs in Greece by Jakob Philipp Fallmerayer, the German journalist who claimed that the modern Greeks were descen- dants not of ancient Greeks, but of Slavs and Albanians whose ancestors had settled in Greece during the Middle Ages and had learned to speak Greek from the Byzantine authorities.8 In fact, Setton went as far as to claim that although Charanis seemed to hold Fallmerayer up to opprobrium, his views were not 'unlike those entertained by Fallmerayer more than a century ago'.9 In 1952, comparing one's work with that of Fallmerayer was a serious charge. In Greece, Fallmerayer had been demonised to the point that, although actually an enemy of Russia, he came to be regarded as a Panslavist and as an agent of the tsar.10 Long before its first translation into Greek, Fallmerayer's work was stigmatised as 'anti-Greek'.11 During and after the Civil War, the 'Slavs' became the national enemy. By 1950, those embracing the ideology of the right saw their political rivals as the embodiment of all that was anti-national, Communist, and Slavic. A strong link was established between national identity and political orientation, as the Civil War and the subsequent defeat of the left-wing movement turned Slav Macedonians into the Sudetens of Greece.12 To hold Fallmerayeran views was thus a crimen laesae maiestatis. Dionysios A. Zakythinos, the author of the first monograph on medieval Slavs in Greece, wrote of the Dark Ages separating Antiquity from the Middle Ages as an era of decline and ruin brought by Slavic invaders.13 Some insisted on the beneficial Byzantine influence that forced the Slavs to abandon their nomadic life of bandits.14 Others rejected the Chronicle of Monemvasia as an absolutely unreliable source.15 In reality, the controversy was substantially different from everything published until then on the 'Slavic problem'. Kenneth M. Setton and Peter Charanis 'infused the study of the texts with information from numismatics and archaeology'.16 Setton first used the archaeological evidence to support arguments derived from the interpretation of written sources. Despite his criticism of Charanis, he believed that the archaeological evidence confirmed 'to some extent' the Chronicle of Monemvasia, 'especially as to the Greek aban- donment of Corinth'. He noticed that the largest number of seventh-century coins from Corinth had been found on the Acrocorinth and that such finds were rare in the lower town, a distribution he further interpreted as indicating that the inhabitants of the city moved 'within the protection of the precipitous heights of the citadel'.17 Charanis's inter- pretation of the distribution of coins on the Acrocorinth differed only in that he viewed it as an indication that the Avars had severely damaged Corinth and that, as a consequence, all economic activities indicated by coins had been transferred to the Acrocorinth.18 Both historians agreed that following the attacks of the barbarians (according to Setton, the Onogurs), Corinth must have been a deserted village. According to Setton, 'we must fit the Corinthian archaeological evidence as best we can into the historical pattern of events established for us by the literary and documentary record'. His eagerness to use the Byzantium in Dark-Age Greece 115 archaeological evidence, albeit of artifacts rather than of closed finds, seems to have been based on a firm belief that coins and other archaeological finds are 'from their very nature susceptible to fewer distortions by the historian than most literary texts, which can be in substance inaccurate and misleading and the historical value of which can never exceed their authors' knowledge of the events they describe'.19 By shifting the emphasis from written to archaeological sources, Setton bequeathed to posterity not only his vision of the early medieval history of Greece, but also a powerful methodology for exploring its Dark Ages. It demanded that, in the absence of reliable written sources, archaeological data be used for historical reconstructions. Since the interpretation of the archaeological evidence relied on the 'historical patterns of events established for us by the literary and documen- tary record', such reconstructions quickly replaced traditional accounts based on historical and linguistic evidence without altering their fundamental thrust.20 This is particularly true for the numismatic evidence. Following Setton's insistence upon the decreasing number of coin finds in Corinth, Charanis drew coin frequency lists, which he then interpreted in accordance to what was known from the meagre historical record about Dark Age Corinth. He noticed that in Athens, the number of coins minted for Emperor Philippikos (711-3) was larger than that of any other reign within that period of decline and he explained the phenomenon in reference to the mission of the spatharios Helias, who, shortly after the execution of Justinian II, had been sent to the western provinces with Justinian's head. According to Charanis, Philippikos struck new coins to replace those of the 'fallen tyrant' and Helias must have been responsible for the presence of these coins in Athens.21 As for the overall diminishing number of coins found in Corinth and Athens, this was usually interpreted as a sign of economic and social transformations. Some spoke of the 'feudalisation' of Byzantine society22 and pointed to a pre-Dark Age date for the beginning of the gradual reduction in the distribution of coins.23 Others cited new finds from Corinth disproving Setton's and Charanis's interpretation: the number of seventh-century coins found in the lower town is in fact larger than that of coins from the Acrocorinth.24 More to the point, the relatively large number of coins from Justin II to Phokas now in the collection of the Patras museum is believed to demonstrate that one cannot take the Chronicle of Monemvasia very seriously, since it is precisely during that period of time that, according to the Chronicle, the inhabitants of Patras had moved to Reggio Calabria.25 Besides an obsessive preoccupation with associating coin finds with almost every event known from historical sources,26 the recent literature on Byzantine coins from Dark Age Greece typically ignores finds from other areas of the Balkans, while at times pointing to those of Anatolia. Despite complaints about the scarcity of numis- matic evidence,27 the Dark Age Balkans produced so far over 1,500 coins of copper, silver, and gold, of which more than 1,300 are Greek finds. There are several reasons for adopt- ing a general view of the Balkans when dealing with the Byzantine presence in Greece during this period. First, the general withdrawal of Byzantine troops from the Balkans in c.620 was followed by the creation of the first themes, Thrace first and then Hellas.28 Second, it has long been noted that in terms of coin circulation during the period dubbed 116 Florin Curta 'Dark Ages' because of the relative lack of written sources,29 Greece has much more in common with the coastal areas of the Balkan peninsula than with Anatolia, where copper coins disappear between the late seventh and the early ninth century. By contrast, such coins continued to appear in the Balkans, and not just in Greece, until after 8 00.30 Unlike Asia Minor, where gold was not hoarded any more between the reigns of Heraclius and Theophilos, there are no less than three hoards of gold in the Balkans dated to the seventh century. Indeed, it has long been noted that in the Balkans, 'some form of arrangement involving sporadic and vestigial monetary payments to the army has survived or evolved'.31 At a quick glimpse, there is a sharp contrast between the Balkan distributions of coins dated to the first two decades32 and the remainder of the seventh century, respectively (Fig. 1). Instead of a significant number of hoards of copper and a few hoards of gold, Greece produced so far only three hoards, two of gold and one of copper, that could be dated after c.630. With just one exception (the solidus minted for Justinian II discovered in Athens, see Catalogue no. 96), all stray finds from the subsequent period are of copper. Figure 1 Seventh-century Byzantine coin finds in the Balkans: copper (circle), silver (square), and gold (star). Larger symbols show hoard, smaller ones show stray finds. Numbers refer to the catalogue Byzantium in Dark-Age Greece 117 The contrast is also striking in relation to the northern regions of the peninsula. Instead of copper33 or copper and silver,34 silver alone now dominates in the Lower Danube region in the form of hexagrams mostly found in hoards. In the early 600s, hoards of gold were buried in the immediate vicinity of Constantinople35 and from Greece.36 After c.630, gold finds appear in the northern Balkans, especially on the northwestern coast, as well as in the Middle Danube region. Istria and the Dalmatian coast are the only regions in the Balkans that have so far produced a significant number of gold coins dated to the second half of the eighth century (Fig. 2). By contrast, the northeastern region (Dobrudja) pro- duced mainly copper and silver.37 Copper coins minted for Emperor Heraclius that could be dated after 630 (i.e., after the new weight reduction of the follis) are rare in the Balkan region (Catalogue nos 1-5), while his silver coins known from that area are all hexagrams of his first series (MIB III 140-5), dated between 615 and 638/40 (Catalogue nos 9-13). Hexagrams of that particular series are otherwise known from Armenian (Dvin I and II,38 Kosh) and Georgian hoards (Marganeti, Mtskheta) or from finds in the Kama-Perm region. The latter also produced miliaresia minted for the same emperor, often in large Figure 2 Eighth-century Byzantine coin finds in the Balkans: copper (circle), silver (square), and gold (star). Larger symbols show hoard, smaller ones show stray finds. Numbers refer to the catalogue 118 Florin Curta quantities. For example, the Bartym hoard with 272 die-linked specimens has been inter- preted as a lump payment or gift to a local chieftain.39 This may also be true for hoards with hexagrams of Heraclius. In fact, to a much larger extent than miliaresia, the emperor's hexagrams seem to have been coins specifically struck for paying mercenaries recruited for his Persian campaigns, most importantly for his conquest of Tiflis.40 A simi- lar interpretation applies to the hexagrams of Constans II. All Balkan specimens are hoard finds, and include specimens of Constans' first (MIB III 142, dated between 642 and 646), fourth (MIB III 149-151, dated between 654 and 659), and fifth series (MIB III 152^1, dated between 659 and 668).41 To the latter belongs the closing coin of the Valandovo hoard (Catalogue no. 45), while in most Romanian hoards accumulation continued through Constantine IV's reign. Emperor Constans II also issued gold coins, such as 'light weight solidi' of 20 carats commonly found in rich burial assemblages in the Middle Dnieper region. Since specimens from Malo Pereshchepino and Novo Senzhary are die-linked, it has been suggested that gold coins of Constans II may have been struck for distribution to nomads in the steppes north of the Black Sea.42 None of the Balkan coins minted for Emperors Heraclius and Constans II belongs to this category. Nor are gold coins found in Hungary or western Romania 'light weight solidi' of the kind commonly associated with Ukrainian burial assemblages. On the contrary, given the presence of some coins minted in Carthage or Sicily, it is more likely that they mirror the Avar-Byzantine rapprochement during Constans IPs campaign in Italy against the Lombards. As such, they must have come from Italy, not from the steppes north of the Black Sea.43 The same may be true for twelve copper coins of Constans II found in the Balkans (Catalogue nos 16-17, 21, 30-1, 38-9). Three of them were minted in Carthage.44 By contrast, out of 817 coins of Constans from the Athenian Agora, 108 were struck in Constantinople between 655 and 657. The number of coins of Constans found in Athens is almost four times larger than that of coins struck during the much longer reign of his father, Heraclius. The unusually large number of coins of Constans has been explained in terms of the emperor's visit to Athens in 662/3.45 Indeed, more than 600 pieces from the Athenian series were minted before that date. Moreover, they seem to cluster along the axis of the Panathenaic Way, which may indicate the existence of 'a military or para- military encampment' on or near the Areopagus.46 However, leaving aside the chronologi- cal difference — for it is hard to understand why the emperor would have 'injected' into Athens issues that were already several years old — the phenomenon is also visible in Corinth and cannot be explained as a mere consequence of the imperial sojourn in Athens. Moreover, there is a similar and, indeed, parallel, surge in the number of copper coins of Constans in Sicily.47 It is therefore more likely that responsible for this phenomenon was the military accompanying the emperor, not just Constans or his court. This hypothesis is further substantiated by the presence among the Athenian coins of a relatively large number of half-folles, all minted in a single year (659/60), whereas, with just one exception (Catalogue no. 38), this denomination is not known from anywhere else in the Balkans. The evidence suggests that in Greece or, at least, in Athens, small change was suddenly put into circulation on the eve of the Italian campaign.48 It would be hard to visualise this Byzantium in Dark-Age Greece 119 surge as anything else than the arrival in Athens of a group of people carrying coins available at that time in Constantinople.49 In the case of Athens and Corinth, it is possible that the sudden infusion of radiate was indeed associated with the military preparations preceding the mobilization of the fleet for the war in Italy, although the local demand for low denominations continued long after the beginning of the Italian campaign.50 A number of coins from Sicily suggest that the mint of Constantinople was not alone in meeting that demand. Coins from Italy continued to reach the Balkans during the reign of Constantine IV. Many copper coins of this emperor, as well as of his successors Justinian II and Tiberius III, were found in coastal regions (Catalogue nos 59, 60, 62-6, 92-4, 100-01), including the five folles of Constantine IV minted in Sicily and retrieved from excavations in the southern Agora of Corinth.51 By contrast, all silver coins of Constantine IV are hexagrams from North Balkan hoards.52 The latest are the closing coins of the Galati and Priseaca hoards, which are specimens of Emperor Constantine's third series {MIB III 66-8, dated to 674-81). The largest group of coins in the Priseaca hoard date to the 670s, at the time of Mu'awiyah's attack on Constantinople. We know that following the Byzantine victory, 'the Chagan of the Avars as well as the kings, chieftains, and castaldi who lived beyond them, and the princes of the western nations, sent ambassadors and gifts to the emperor, requesting that peace and friendship should be confirmed with them'.53 It has been suggested that the hoards of silver found in Romania were initially bribes or gifts sent to the Bulgars, who had recently arrived in the Lower Danube region. By such means, Emperor Constantine 'was aiming at ensuring good relations with the new barbarians at the empire's northern frontier', during the difficult period preceding the Byzantine victory.54 An equally special purpose had the token of Vi siliqua from the Silistra hoard (Catalogue no. 77). The token was struck in Constantinople at some point between 668 and 685, perhaps shortly before 681, for the celebration of either Rome (12 April) or, more likely, Constantinople (11 May).55 A date c.681 may also be accepted for two of the three hoards with gold of Constantine IV that were found in the Balkans. At least one of them may have been buried in the circumstances surrounding the invasion of the Bulgars and their settlement in the northeastern region of the peninsula. Most other gold coins of the late seventh and early eighth century are stray finds from coastal areas minted in neighbor- ing mints (Constantinople for Catalogue nos 82-4, 86 and 96; Rome for no. 85; Ravenna for no. 98). Except specimens found in such assemblages as the Athenian hoard with a closing date during Constans IPs reign or the 'Attic hoard' with a closing date within the reign of Leo III, the solidus minted for Justinian II during his second reign (705-11) is so far the only Dark Age gold coin found in Greece. The rare Balkan finds of such coins, as well as of those struck under Tiberius III, should not be taken as an indication of low mint output, for issues of both emperors were found in relatively significant numbers in burial assemblages in the north Caucasus and Lower Don areas. This has been rightly associated with the liveliest Byzantine relations with both Khazars and Alans.56 In contrast with finds of gold, an unusually large quantity of copper minted for Philippikos has been found in Athens, with a coin/regnal year ratio second only to that of 120 Florin Curta Constans II.57 Since among the thirty-one legible coins, only six obverse dies were repre- sented, it has been suggested that these die-linked specimens formed a body of coin speci- fically transported from Constantinople and 'injected' into the circulating medium at Athens.58 Responsible for this phenomenon must have been the military.59 It has also been noted that all pieces were minted during Philippikos' second regnal year (712/3), which is also the year in which the apotheke appeared in the Aegean Sea.60 All identifiable coins are 10-nummia pieces struck over half-folles of Justinian II. Margaret Thompson initially proposed that they were the products of a local mint, despite the fact that they all bear the mint mark CON. If indeed struck in Constantinople, such coins are conspicuously absent from the Sarachane series.61 On the other hand, coins of a later date found in the Athenian Agora have been overstruck in Constantinople on coins of Philippikos.62 The relatively large number of coins of Philippikos found in Athens is indeed remarkable, especially in the light of the absence of such coins from Sicily, in spite of the creation of the Sicilian theme precisely at this point in time.63 But the absence of any coins of Philippikos from Corinth makes any interpretation of this surge in connection with the apotheke highly dubious. Unfortunately, little is known about coins in circulation in Thessalonica during this period, for despite extensive archaeological work within the perimeter of the city, no comprehensive catalogue of coin finds has so far been published that would allow us to draw comparisons.64 In Greece, on the other hand, the earliest seals are those of military65 and fiscal66 officials of the theme of Hellas. While the appearance of a genikos kommerkiarios of Hellas in 698/9 may have been connected with the creation of the strategia not long before 695, when the first strategos is mentioned in written sources, there is no necessary association between the surge in coins of Philippikos and the seal of a kommerkiarios of the apotheke of Thessalonika. An un-named state official in charge with the imperial kommerkia of the strategia of Hellas was operating between 705 and 710. If the coins of Philippikos were in any way related to the peaks of activity of local kommerkiarioi, one would expect an equally large amount of copper for the subsequent reigns, for the imperial kommerkia of Hellas appear also on seals dated to 738/9 and 748/ 9. While twenty-two out of twenty-three coins struck for Leo III that were found in Athens are indeed 10-nummia pieces, the reign of Constantine V coincides in time with one of the lowest points in the monetary history of both Athens and Corinth. Similarly, the kommerkia of Mesembria are attested without interruption between the beginning of the eighth century until the joint reign of Constantine V and Leo IV (751-75).67 However, there are no coins minted during all that period, for the coin series in Mesembria stops with Justinian IPs first reign (685-95) and resumes only with that of Theophilus (829- 42).68 Coins of eighth-century emperors appear only sporadically outside the city walls, in Dobrudja. Between Tiberius III and Leo IV, there are no finds of silver coins in the Balkans. Gold coins of Constantine V, the only such finds of the second half of the eighth century, are known from burial assemblages in Croatia. But in all five graves from Biskupija that produced solidi of Constantine V, the associated grave goods indicate a date in the first half of the ninth century.69 All these coins were minted in Syracuse and must therefore Byzantium in Dark-Age Greece 121 have come across the Adriatic.70 Unlike coins of other emperors of the eighth century, those struck in gold for Constantine V cluster in the western and northwestern region of the Balkans. By contrast, seven out of fourteen copper coins of Constantine VI and Irene are from Greece. The only Balkan finds of gold and silver struck for that emperor are those from Bulgaria. Particularly important are the two coins, one of gold, the other of silver, found in burial 34 in Kiulevcha, the earliest coin-dated burial assemblage in early medieval Bulgaria known to date.71 There are several conclusions to be drawn from this survey of coin finds from the Dark Age Balkans. First, there is a clear cluster of gold and silver coins in the northern region. In Dobrudja and eastern Bulgaria, there is more gold and silver minted for Constans II and Constantine IV than copper struck for the same emperors, even though a significant number of gold coins of the former and hexagrams of the latter are hoard finds. On more than one occasion, various scholars have associated finds of solidi or hexagrams with special relations maintained by those emperors with individual barbarian leaders on the frontier.72 This may even be true for other hoards, such as Valandovo, the southern- most example of this group, which was found not far from the area known to have been taken over by Kouber's followers after leaving the Avar qaganate.73 The presence of copper on the northeastern and northwestern coast has received comparatively less atten- tion. Particularly important for the purpose of this paper are hoard and stray finds in and around Nesebar (Mesembria; Catalogue nos 28-9, 52-3, 66-7, 86 and 94), which represent half of all copper coins minted between Heraclius and Justinian II that were found in the region. During that period, Mesembria remained under direct Byzantine control without any interruption. The city is mentioned several times as an important port and military outpost on the western Black Sea coast.74 Emperor Constantine IV stopped in Mesembria, 'together with five dromones and his retinue', following his defeat by the Bulgars in 679 or 680.75 During Justinian IPs first reign, Mesembria was the place of exile for the future Emperor Leo III and his parents.76 A Bulgar chieftain, Sabinos, found shelter within the city walls after being overthrown in 761 or 762.77 Another Bulgar ruler, Krum, when even- tually taking the city in 812, found '36 brass siphons and a considerable quantity of the liquid fire that is projected from them as well as an abundance of gold and silver'.78 At least part of the apparent prosperity of Mesembria in the early ninth century must have been associated with the role the city played in the trade network in the Black Sea region. Mesembria was the main centre of trade with the Bulgars, and active trade may indeed have been the reason behind the early appearance of local kommerkiarioi.79 It is often assumed that the main task of these officials was to provide and sell military equipment and weapons to the soldiers80 and that the presence of copper coins may be associated with transactions between the apotheke and the local soldiery in which, in addition to in- kind payments, small amounts of cash may have been used for purchases. We know very little about prices in the late seventh or early eighth century, but even a hoard of copper such as that found in 1979 or 1980 in Nesebar (Catalogue nos 28, 66 and 94), must have been worth a very small fraction of a solidus.81 Copper coins could not have been used for the purchase of expensive items, such as weapons. Given the fiduciary nature of copper 122 Florin Curta coinage, it is also very unlikely that copper coins could indicate special relations with bar- barian chieftains, even if isolated finds of copper in the northern Balkans are relatively common in the 600s and 700s (Catalogue nos 30, 33, 37, 102, 118 and 126).82 While the presence of kommerkiarioi in Greece cannot be dated earlier than c.700, the large number of coins minted for Constans II, Constantine IV, and Justinian II found during excavations in Athens and Corinth cannot be explained in terms of either tax pay- ments or special-purpose coinage. If, as suggested above, the 'injection' of a large number of coins of Constans II into the market at Athens, a situation without any parallel in the Balkans, may be associated with the preparations for Constans IPs expedition to Italy in 663, it may be possible to raise the question of what system may have been in place in Byzantine Greece before the inception of the theme of Hellas. If anything, the numismatic evidence suggests that although copper coins have the tendency to follow the military,83 there is no mechanical association between warfare or the presence of Byzantine troops, on one hand, and copper coinage on the other. Indeed, one of the most conspicuous aspects of the distribution of seventh-century coins in the Balkans is the absence of a significant number of Istrian finds. There are only few coins that could be dated to this period (Catalogue nos 14, 39, 60, 71, 98 and 113). Long time under the authority of the exarch of Ravenna, Istria seems to have become in the late seventh century a separate administrative unit, much like a kleisoura, with its own troops under the command of a local magister militum.84 Besides milites alii per Histriam mentioned by Paul the Deacon, the magister militum had a small number of soldiers (about sixty) under his direct com- mand, all of whom were local recruits.85 By the late sixth or early seventh century, Trieste had become a separate administrative and military border unit, the numerus tergestinus.86 In addition, the network of castella in northern Istria (Piran, Umag, Rovinj, Labin, Motovun, Buzet, and Nezakcij) was designed to control access from Lombard or Avar-held territory to the north.87 Judging by the measure of their participation in crush- ing the usurpation of imperial power following Constans IPs assassination in 669, the Byzantine troops in Istria must have been relatively numerous.88 Yet no seals of kommerkiarioi have so far been found in Istria or anywhere else in Croatia. Nor is the apotheke mentioned in the Adriatic Sea at any point in time.89 The absence of the apotheke dovetails with the rarity, if not absence, of Byzantine copper coins from the north Adriatic region.90 That this is by no means the result of a lack of more elaborate administrative structures in Istria (such as the theme) is shown by the equally relevant absence of copper coins in Thrace. By the end of the seventh century, when the Thracian theme was created, it may not have comprised more than just two narrow strips of land along the western coast of the Black Sea and the northern coast of the Aegean Sea.91 The size of the theme must have grown considerably only after the revived Byzantine offensive under Constantine V, Peo IV and Irene.92 Yet absolutely no coins of copper have been found so far in the eastern region of the Balkans that could be dated to the eighth century. To be sure, the imperial kommerkia of Thrace are mentioned on seals dated to 730-41 and 751-75.93 Why then the absence of coins?94 Byzantium in Dark-Age Greece 123 The only regions in the Balkans to have produced a significant quantity of radiate are Greece, Dobrudja and eastern Bulgaria. By far the largest number is that of Greek finds (144 out of all 156 documented half-folies and 10-nummia pieces). In Athens, the three reigns conspicuously represented by such petty coinage are those of Constans II, Philippikos, and Leo III. Among coins from the northeastern area, four out of ten speci- mens were found in Mesembria. While less evident quantitatively, finds from Romania and Bulgaria may help us understand the significance of the Greek finds. For example, the decanummia of Philippikos found in Athens have been long viewed as a special local issue that did not circulate beyond Athens.95 But 10-nummia pieces are now known not only from other parts of Greece (Catalogue no. 108), but also from Dobrudja (Catalogue no. 109). There seems to be some connection between petty currency and coastal regions easily accessible by sea. Indeed, neither Istria, nor Thrace (as a theme) had any particular importance for the Byzantine fleet. The local troops in both areas were mainly designed to wage war on land, and no local harbour facility is known to have played any major role in various military confrontations in which Byzantium was engaged during the seventh or eighth century. By contrast, Mesembria, Athens, and Corinth were strategic points of control that the Empire did not relinquish at any time before 800. The interruption of the coin series in Mesembria after the first reign of Justinian II may well be a consequence of the increasing importance of the Bulgarian trade with its typical lack of monetary exchanges. But in the case of Greece, the presence of copper coins has to do more with the concomitant presence of the fleet than with the implementation of either the strategia or the apotheke. If the surge in number of coins minted for Emperor Constans II can be associated with his preparations for the sea expedition to Italy, the presence and importance of the fleet in Hellas during the reign of Constantine IV is highlighted in a passage from the second book of the Miracles of St Demetrius, in which we are told that a strategos of the fleet named Sisinnios was sent to Thessalonica together with his troops to sort out things related to accusations of conspiracy levelled at Mauros and his men.96 That coins struck in Carthage, Rome, or Syracuse were found in Dobrudja (Catalogue nos 17, 38, 62, 70 and 123) could hardly be explained without reference to the fleet. The letters sent by Pope Martin from his Crimean exile in 655 and 656 are often cited as an example of the bleak economic situation within a peripheral region of the empire.97 But it is often forgotten that they also demonstrate that sea communications between Chersonesus and Rome were not interrupted in the mid-seventh century. Nor were the sea-lanes between Athens and Constantinople interrupted at any point during the subsequent period. If the 10-nummia pieces minted for Philippikos found in the Agora of Athens were indeed minted in Constantinople, their presence in both Greece and Dobrudja should also be attributed to the fleet. Indeed, one is reminded of the similar situation of the late fifth and early sixth century, when both areas must have been flooded with relatively large numbers of minimi that later turned out in hoards with latest coins minted before c.570.98 By the time hoards without such coins were closed in the 570s or 580s, the smallest fractions of the follis were already valueless and probably out of 124 Florin Curta circulation." Similarly, by the time 10-nummia pieces of Philippikos may have been in use in Athens, the value of the follis itself had dropped to 1/288 of a solidus.100 The seventh- century collection of the miracles of St Artemius describes a man who, after falling on a muddy street of Constantinople, gathers all the small change he dropped on the ground, 'down to the last half-follis', as if this were the smallest denomination in existence.101 That small change remained in use throughout this period is further confirmed by other sources.102 On the other hand, the rapidly diminishing value of the follis makes one wonder what was the exact use people had for such low-value denominations as 10- nummia pieces. According to the seventh-century Life of St. John the Almsgiver, five folks were sufficient for buying the daily ration of food.103 All known 10-nummia pieces from Athens could have bought food for three days, if the monetary value was still reckoned in nummia, but taken individually, each one of them could not have been worth much more than a portion of the daily ratio of vegetables.104 In fact, such coins may not even have circulated at fixed value, as suggested by the practice of overstriking lower on higher- denomination coins. The half-folks and decanummia found in Greece and Dobrudja may thus signal the existence of local markets of low-price commodities, most likely food in small quantities, serving a population that had direct access to both low-value coinage and sea-lanes. Such coins can hardly be associated with either the apotheke or the high-ranking individuals serving as kommerkiarioi during this period. Nor should the low-value coinage be interpreted as evidence of 'deserted villages', for, if anything, the presence of such small change suggests that oarsmen or sailors of either commercial or war ships could rely on constant supplies of fresh food in certain points along the coast. In the absence of a 'historical pattern of events established for us by the literary and documentary record', the numismatic evidence can in this case guide us towards a different understanding of the Dark Ages. Dark-Age coins in the Balkans: A catalogue Heraclius (after 630/1) a. copper 1. Athens (Greece); stray find; follis minted in Ravenna in 631/2; M. Thompson, The Athenian Agora. Results of Excavations Conducted by the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, II (Princeton 1954) 70. 2. Corinth; stray find; follis minted in Constantinople in 633/4; K. Edwards, Corinth. Results of Excavations Conducted by the American School of Classical Studies at Athens (Cambridge 1933) 131. 3. Silistra (Bulgaria); stray finds; follis minted in Constantinople in 639/40 and a 12-nummia piece minted in Alexandria between 632 and 641; E. Oberlander- Tarnoveanu, 'Monnaies byzantines des Vlle-Xe siecles decouvertes a Silistra, dans la Byzantium in Dark-Age Greece 125 collection de l'academicien Pericle Papahagi, conservees au Cabinet des Medailles du Musee National d'Histoire de Roumanie', Cercetari numismatice 7 (1996) 119 nos 44 and 52. 4. Solin (Croatia); hoard with half-follis minted in Constantinople in 630/1 (closing coin); I. Marovic, 'Reflexions about the year of the destruction of Salona', Vjesnik za arheologiju i historiju Dalmatinsku 77 (1984) 295. 5. Unknown location in Dobrudja (Romania); follis minted in Constantinople in 640/1; Poenaru-Bordea and Donoiu, 'Contribut.ii', 238. b. gold 6. Alexandria (Romania); stray find; solidus of Heraclius' fourth series (variant a) minted in Constantinople between 632 and 638; E. Oberlander-Tarnoveanu, 'La monnaie byzantine des VIe-VIIIe siecles au-dela de la frontiere du Bas-Danube. Entre politique, economie et diffusion culturelle', Histoire & Mesure 17 (2002) 170. 7. Backa Palanka (Serbia); stray find; solidus minted in Constantinople in 637/8 (MIB II 45); Somogyi, Byzantinische Fundmunzen, 24-5. 8. Prigrevica (Serbia); stray find; solidus of Heraclius' fourth series minted in Constantinople between 632 and 641; Somogyi, Byzantinische Fundmunzen, 73-4. c. silver 9. Galatj (Romania); hoard with three hexagrams of Heraclius' first series (MIB III 140-5), dated between 615 and 638; V. Butnariu, 'Raspindirea monedelor bizantine din secolele VI-VII in teritoriile carpato-dunarene', Buletinul Societztii Numismatice Romdne77-9 (1983-5) 230. 10. Sannicolau Mare (Romania); stray find; hexagram of Heraclius' first series {MIB III 140-5), dated between 615 and 638; B. Mitrea, 'Decouvertes de monnaies antiques et byzantines dans la RSR (XV)', Dacia 16 (1972) 373. 11. Silistra (Bulgaria); stray find; hexagram of Heraclius' first series (MIB III 140), dated between 615 and 638; Oberlander-Tarnoveanu, 'Monnaies byzantines', 119 no. 46. 12. Valandovo (Macedonia); hoard with two hexagrams of Heraclius' first series {MIB III 140), dated between 615 and 638; V. Radic, 'Nalaz srebrnog novca careva Iraklija i Konstansa II iz zbirke Narodnog Muzeja u Beogradu', Numizmaticar 17 (1994) 78-9. 13. Vartop (Romania); hoard with one hexagram of Heraclius' first series {MIB III 140-5), dated between 615 and 638; C. Chiriac, 'Despre tezaurele monetare bizantine din secolele VII-X de la est §i sud de Carpati', Pontica 24 (1991) 374. Heraclonas (641) 14. Unknown location in Istria (Croatia); follis minted in Sicily; R. Matijasic, 'Zbirka bizantskog novca u Arheoloskom muzeju Istre u Puli', Starohrvatska prosvjeta 13 (1983) 226. 126 Florin Curta Constans II (641-68) a. copper 15. Akhtopol (Bulgaria); stray find; follis minted in Constantinople; I. Iordanov, A. Koichev, and V. Mutafov, 'Srednovekovniiat Akhtopol VI-XII v. spored dannite na numizmatikata i sfragistika', Numizmatika i sfragistika 2 (1998) 69. 16. Athens (Greece); stray finds: 817 coins of different denominations: 119 folks minted in Constantinople between 641 and 651, one follis minted in Constantinople in 643/ 4, 152 folks minted in Constantinople between 651 and 656, 38 folks minted in Constantinople in 655/6, 108 folks minted in Constantinople between 655 and 657, 180 folks minted in Constantinople between 659 and 664, 103 folks minted in Constantinople between 663 and 666, five folks minted in Constantinople in 665/6, 10 half-folks minted in Constantinople between 641 and 656, 27 half-folks minted in Constantinople in 659/60, four folks minted in Sicily between 659 and 668, and 70 uncertain pieces; Thompson, Athenian Agora, 70-1. 17. Constanta (Romania); stray find; follis minted in Carthage between 658 and 668; Poenaru-Bordea and Donoiu, 'Contribut.ii' 238. 18. Corinth (Greece); stray finds; 127 coins of different denominations (mostly folks) minted in Constantinople; Edwards, Corinth, 132-3; Avramea, Peloponnese, 74. 19. Dokos (Greece); stray find; A. Kyros, TlepiTi^avfjaeig ayicov ^8i\|/dvcov koci uta ayvcoaxr) Kaaxpcmo^axeia axdv 'Apyo^iKo', nsAonovvrjoiaKd 21 (1995) 112 Fig. 5. 20. Dubrovnik (Croatia); stray find; I. Mirnik and A. Semrov, 'Byzantine coins in the Zagreb Archaeological Museum Numismatic Collection. Anastasius I (AD 497-518) — Anastasius II (AD 713-15)', Vjesnik Arheoloskog Muzeja u Zagrebu 30-1 (1997-8) 134. 21. Durres (Albania); stray finds; seven coins: follis minted in Constantinople in 643/4, 4 folks minted in Carthage between 663 and 668, follis minted in 654/5 and follis minted in 660/1; F. Tartari, 'Nje varreze e mesjetes se hershme ne Durres', lliria 14 (1984) 241; A. Hoti and H. Myrto, 'Monedha perandorake bizantine nga Durresi (491-1025)', lliria 21 (1991) 104-5. 22. Hagia Triada (Greece); stray find; follis; M. Galani-Krikou, 'No|-iia|aaxiKo\ 0r)aaupoi xcov laeacov xpdvcov dnb xrj 0fipV, AeXxiov tv]q xpioziuMiKf\q ipX^ioloyiKfiQ hoapswq 20 (1998) 151. 23. Isaccea (Romania); stray find; follis; Oberlander-Tarnoveanu, 'Monnaies byzantines', 104 with n. 34. 24. Isthmia (Greece); stray find; T.E. Gregory, 'An Early Byzantine (Dark Age) settle- ment at Isthmia: preliminary report', in T.E. Gregory (ed.) The Corinthia in the Roman Period Including the Papers Given at a Symposium Held at the Ohio State University on 7-9 March, 1991 (Ann Arbor 1993) 151-3. 25. Kenchreai (Greece); follis; R.L. Hohlfelder, 'A conspectus of the early Byzantine coins in the Kenchreai Excavation Corpus', Byzantine Studies 1 (1974) 75. 26. Madara (Bulgaria); stray find; N. A. Mushmov, 'Moneti', in Madara. Razkopki i prouchvaniia I (Sofia 1934) 446. Byzantium in Dark-Age Greece 127 27. Nauplion (Greece); stray find; Avramea, Peloponnese, 74. 28. Nesebar (Bulgaria); hoard with six coins: one of 655/6, one of 655/6 or 656/7, and four of 666-668; V. Penchev, 'Kolektivna nakhodka ot medni vizantiiski moneti ot vtorata polovina na VII v., namerena v Nesebar', Numizmatika 25 (1991) 5-9. 29. Nesebar (Bulgaria); stray finds; 12 folks: one of 642-648, one of 644/5, one of 645/6, one of 651/2, two of 653/4, one of 655/6, and five of 666-8; Theoklieva-Stoytcheva, Mediaeval Coins, 44-5. 30. Novaci (Romania); stray find; follis minted in Carthage between 651/2 and 655/6; C. Preda, 'Monede gasite la Novaci (reg. Bucuresti)',Studii$i cercetari de numismatica 3 (1960) 474. 31. Novi Vinodolski (Croatia); stray find; half-follis minted in Carthage; Mirnik and Semrov, 'Byzantine coins', 199. 32. Perani (Greece); stray finds (three coins); Galani-Krikou, 'No|-iia|aaxiKOt 0r)aaupoi', 151. 33. Resca (Romania); stray find; follis minted in Constantinople between 647 and 655; Oberlander-Tarnoveanu, 'From the Late Antiquity', 43. 34. Salamina (Greece); hoard with three folks minted in Constantinople; Morrisson, 'La Sicile byzantine', 321. 35. Shkoder (Albania); stray finds; G. Hoxha, 'Shkodra, chef-lieu de la province Prevalitane', Corso di cultura sull'arte ravennate e bizantina 40 (1993) 566. 36. Silistra (Bulgaria); stray finds; six folks minted in Constantinople in 642/3, 647/8 (two specimens), 651/2, 645/6 and between 647 and 650, respectively; Oberlander- Tarnoveanu, 'Monnaies byzantines', 120 no. 46. 37. Unknown location in Banat (Romania); follis minted between 643 and 655; Oberlander-Tarnoveanu, 'From the Late Antiquity', 43 and 'La monnaie byzantine', 174. 38. Unknown location(s) in Dobrudja (Romania); three folks minted in Constantinople in 642/3 and between 655 and 658, respectively, and a half-follis minted in Carthage between 647 and 659; Dimian, 'Citeva descoperiri monetare', 197; Gh. Poenaru- Bordea, 'Monede bizantine din Dobrogea provenite dintr-o mica colectie', Studii cercetari de numismatica 4 (1968) 406; Gh. Poenaru-Bordea and R. Ochesanu, 'Probleme istorice dobrogene (sec. VI—VII) in lumina monedelor bizantine din colecfia Muzeului de istorie nationals si arheologie din Constanta', Studii si cercetari de istorie veche si arheologie 31 (1980) 390; G. Custurea, 'Unele aspecte ale patrunderii monedei bizantine in Dobrogea in secolele VII-X', Pontica 19 (1986) 277. 39. Unknown location in Istria (Croatia); follis minted in Syracuse; Matijasic, 'Zbirka', 226. b. silver 40. Dragasani (Romania); hoard with three hexagrams of Constans IPs first series (MIB III 142), dated between 642 and 646; Butnariu, 'Raspindirea', 230. 41. Galati (Romania); hoard with four hexagrams of Constans IPs fourth series (MIB 149-51), dated between 654 and 659; Butnariu, 'Raspindirea', 230. 128 Florin Curta 42. Priseaca (Romania); hoard with two hexagrams of Constans IPs fourth series (MIB III 149-51), dated between 654 and 659, and eight hexagrams of his fifth series (MIB III 152), dated between 659 and 668; B. Mitrea, 'Date noi cu privire la secolul VII. Tezaurul de hexagrame bizantine de la Priseaca (jud. Olt)', Studii $i cercetari de numismatica 6 (1975) 124. 43. Silistra (Bulgaria); stray find; hexagram of Constans IPs second series (MIB III 144) dated between 648 and 651/2; Oberlander-Tarnoveanu, 'Monnaies byzantines', 120 no. 64. 44. Stejanovci (Serbia); grave find; miliaresion minted in Constatinople between 658 and 668 (MIB III 141); D. Minic, 'The grave inventory from Stejanovci near Sremska Mitrovica', in Sirmium IV (Belgrade/Rome 1982) 117-24 and pi. 2/4-5. 45. Valandovo (Macedonia); hoard with two hexagrams of Constans IPs second series (MIB III 144), dated between 648 and 651/2, two hexagrams of his fourth series (MIB III 149), dated between 654 and 659, and one hexagram of his fifth series (MIB III 152), dated between 659 and 668 (closing coin); Radic, 'Nalaz', 79-80. 46. Valea Teilor (Romania); hoard with two hexagrams of Constans IPs fourth series (MIB III 149-51), dated between 654 and 659; E. Oberlander-Tarnoveanu, 'Monede bizantine din secolele VII-X descoperite in nordul Dobrogei', Studii $i cercetari de numismatica 7 (1980) 163-4. 47. Vartop (Romania); hoard with one hexagram of Constans II, dated between 641 and 668; Butnariu, 'Raspindirea', 224. c. gold 48. Athens (Greece); hoard finds (closing coins); 140 solidi, one of which is minted in Sicily (three of Constans IPs third series dated between 651 and 654; 137 of his fourth series dated between 654 and 659), as well as 16 semisses and 21 tremisses (dated between 641 and 668), all minted in Constantinople; I.N. Svoronos, '0r|aaupot Pi^avxivrav xpuarov voutauaTCOv 8K xrav dcvacjKdaprov xoO kv 'A0r|voac 'AaK^r|7ii8iou', Journal international d'archeologie numismatique 7 (1904) 153-60; Morrisson, 'Pa Sicile byzantine', 321. 49. Beba Veche (Romania); stray find; solidus minted in Constantinople between 662 and 667 (MIB III 31); Somogyi, Byzantinische Fundmiinzen, 27-8. 50. Isaccea (Romania); stray find; solidus of Constans IPs fifth, sixth, or seventh series (dated between 659 and 668); B. Mitrea, 'Decouvertes recentes de monnaies anciennes sur le territoire de la RPR', Dacia 7 (1963) 599; Oberlander-Tarnoveanu, 'Monnaies byzantines', 104 with n. 34. 51. Nerezisce (Croatia); hoard with six coins; F. Bulic, 'Skroviste zlatnih novaca, nasasto u Nereziscima', Vjesnik 43 (1920) 199. 52. Nesebar (Bulgaria); hoard with 43 solidi of Constans II; I. Iurukova, 'Un tresor de monnaies d'or byzantines du VH-e siecle decouvert a Nessebre', in T. Ivanov (ed.) Nessebre II (Sofia 1980) 186. Byzantium in Dark-Age Greece 129 53. Nesebar (Bulgaria); stray find; solidus minted in Constantinople between 642 and 646; Theoklieva-Stoytcheva, Mediaeval Coins, 44. 54. Orfisoara (Romania); stray find; two solidi minted in Constantinople between 662 and 667 (MIB III 36); Somogyi, Byzantinische Fundmunzen, 70-1. 55. Sofia (Bulgaria); hoard with two coins; T. Gerasimov, 'Sakrovishta s moneti, namereni v Balgariia prez 1967 g.', Izvestiia na Arkheologicheskiia Institut 31 (1968) 234. 56. Szeged (Hungary); grave find; solidus minted in Constantinople between 654 and 659 (MIB III 26); E. Garam, 'Die munzdatierten Graber der Awarenzeit', in F. Daim (ed.), Awarenforschungen (Vienna 1992) 145. 57. Unknown location in the Bosna region (Bosnia-Hercegovina); stray find; solidus minted in Constantinople; Mirnik and Semrov, 'Byzantine coins', 199. 58. Unknown locations in Dobrudja (Romania); solidus minted in Constantinople between 661 and 663 and semissis minted in Constantinople between 641 and 668; Gh. Poenaru-Bordea and R. Ochesanu, 'Tezaurul de monede bizantine de aur descoperit in sapaturile arheologice din anul 1899 de la Axiopolis', Buletinul Societatii Numismatice Romdne 77-9 (1983-5) 193-4. Constantine IV (668-85) a. copper 59. Athens (Greece); 30 coins of different denominations: one half-follis, two folles, and 22 pieces of 10 nummia minted in Constantinople, as well as five folles of the first class minted in Sicily between 668 and 674; Thompson, Athenian Agora, 71. 60. Brioni (Croatia); stray find; follis minted in 680/1 in Ravenna; Matijasic, 'Zbirka', 226. 61. Carevec (Bulgaria); settlement find; V. Dinchev, 'Zikideva — an example of Early Byzantine urbanism in the Balkans', Archaeologia Bulgarica 1 (1997) 66. 62. Constanta (Romania); stray find; half-follis minted in Rome between 668 and 674; Dimian, 'Citeva descoperiri monetare', 197. 63. Corinth (Greece); stray finds; seven coins, one of which is a 10-nummia piece minted in Constantinople; Edwards, Corinth, 133; Avramea, Peloponnese, 74. 64. Dokas (Greece); stray find; Kyrou, TlepiTi^avfjaeig ayicov ^8i\|/avcov', 112. 65. Mangalia (Romania); stray find; follis of Constantine IV's fourth or fifth class minted in Constantinople between 681 and 685; N. Banescu, 'La vie politique des Roumains entre les Balkans et le Danube', Bulletin de la section historique de I'Academie Roumaine 23 (1943) 193. 66. Nesebar (Bulgaria); hoard with a 10-nummia piece; Penchev, 'Kolektivna nakhodka', 5-9. 67. Nesebar (Bulgaria); stray finds; two 10-nummia pieces, minted 668-73 and 668-85, respectively; Theoklieva-Stoytcheva, Mediaeval Coins, 45. 68. Prozor (Bosnia-Hercegovina); stray find; Mirnik and Semrov',Byzantine coins', 201. 130 Florin Curta 69. Silistra (Bulgaria); stray finds; follis minted in Constantinople between 674 and 681 and a 10-nummia piece minted in Constantinople between 669 and 674; Oberlander- Tarnoveanu, 'Monnaies byzantines', 120 nos 72-3. 70. Unknown location in Dobrudja (Romania); half-follis of Constantine IV's second series minted in Rome between 674 and 685; Poenaru-Bordea and Donoiu, 'Contributii', 238. 71. Unknown location in Istria (Croatia); follis minted in Sicily; Morrisson, 'La Sicile byzantine', 322. b. silver 72. Agighiol (Romania); stray find; silvered bronze imitation of a hexagram of Constantine IV's second series (MIB III 63b), dated between 668 and 669; G. Custurea, 'Monede bizantine dintr-o colecfie constanteana', Pontica 31 (1998) 291. 73. Galati (Romania); hoard with one hexagram of Constantine IV's second series (MIB III 64-5), dated between 669 and 674, and four hexagrams of his third series (MIB III 66-8), dated between 674 and 681 (closing coins); Butnariu, 'Raspindirea', 230. 74. Niculifel (Romania); stray find; hexagram of Constantine IV's third series (MIB III 66-6-7), dated between 674 and 681; E. Oberlander-Tarnoveanu and E. Marius Constantinescu, 'Monede romane tarzii si bizantine din colectia Muzeului judefean Buzau', Mousaios 4 (1994) 331-2. 75. Piua Petrii (Romania); two hexagrams; C. Preda, 'Circulafia monedelor bizantine in regiunea carpato-dunareana', Studii $i cercetari de istorie veche 23 (1972) 406. 76. Priseaca (Romania); hoard with five hexagrams of Constantine IV's first series (MIB III 62a-b), dated between 668 and 669; 55 hexagrams of Constantine IV's second series (MIB III 63b-c), dated between 669 and 674; and 73 hexagrams of his third series (MIB III 66-7), dated between 674 and 681 (closing coins); Mitrea, 'Date noi', 124. 77. Silistra (Bulgaria); hoard with a silver token of Vi siliqua minted in Constantinople; S. Angelova and V. Penchev, 'Srebarno sakrovishte ot Silistra', Arkheologiia 31 (1989) 2, 40. 78. Silistra (Bulgaria); stray finds; two hexagrams of Constantine IV's second series (MIB III 63b) dated between 668 and 669, and his third series (MIB III 66-7), dated between 674 and 681, respectively; Oberlander-Tarnoveanu, 'Monnaies byzantines', 100 with note 17 and 120 no. 71. 79. Valea Teilor (Romania); hoard with two hexagrams of Constantine IV's second series (MIB III 64-5) dated between 669 and 674; Oberlander-Tarnoveanu, 'Monede bizantine', 163-4. 80. Vartop (Romania); hoard with one hexagram dated between 668 and 685; Butnariu, 'Raspindirea', 224. c. gold 81. Checea (Romania); stray find; semissis minted in Constantinople between 669 and 685 (MIB III 15c); Somogyi, Byzantinische Fundmunzen, 33. Byzantium in Dark-Age Greece 131 82. Durres (Albania); stray find; solidus minted in Constantinople; Hoti and Myrto, 'Monedha perandorake bizantine', 105. 83. Histria (Romania); stray find; solidus of Constantine IV's third series minted in Constantinople between 674 and 681; H. Nubar, 'Monede bizantine descoperite in satul Istria (reg. Dobrogea)', Studii $i cercetdri de istorie veche 17 (1966) 605. 84. Lunca (Romania); stray find; solidus of Constantine IV's third series minted in Constantinople between 674 and 681; M. Iacob, 'Aspecte privind circulatia monetara pe teritoriul Romaniei in a doua parte a secolului VII p.Hr., in M. Iacob et al. (eds.) Istro-Pontica. Muzeul tulcean la a 50-a aniversare 1950-2000. Omagiu lui Simion Gavrila la 45 de ani de activitate, 1955-2000 (Tulcea 2000) 485-8. 85. Novi Vinodolski (Croatia); stray find; tremissis minted in Rome; Mirnik and 'emrov, 'Byzantine coins', 201. 86. Nesebar (Bulgaria); hoard with three solidi of Constantine IV, the last one of which is a specimen of the fourth series minted in Constantinople between 681 and 685 (closing coin); Iurukova, 'Un tresor', 186-7. 87. Silistra (Bulgaria); stray find; solidus; Oberlander-Tarnoveanu, 'Monnaies byzantines', 105. 88. Sofia (Bulgaria); hoard with a solidus of Constantine IV's third series minted between 674 and 681 (closing coin); Gerasimov, 'Sakrovishta s moneti', 234. 89. Stapar (Serbia); stray find; Somogyi, Byzantinische Fundmiinzen, 78. 90. Unknown location in Attica (Greece); hoard with a tremissis minted between 668 and 685; S. Vryonis, 'An Attic hoard of Byzantine gold coins (668-741) from the Thomas Whittemore collection and the numismatic evidence for the urban history of Byzantium', Zbornik radova Vizantoloskog Instituta 8 (1963) 293. 91. Unknown location in Dobrudja (Romania); half-tremissis minted in Constantinople between 668 and 685; Poenaru-Bordea and Ochesanu, 'Tezaurul de monede', 194. Justinian II (685-95 and 705-11) a. copper 92. Athens (Greece); seven coins: one follis minted in Sicily between 685 and 695, two folles struck in Constantinople in 705, and four half-folles struck in Constantinople in 705 (two) and 710 (two); Thompson, Athenian Agora, 71. 93. Corinth (Greece); stray finds (two coins); Avramea, Peloponnese, 74. 94. Nesebar (Bulgaria); hoard with a half-follis minted in 689/90 (closing coin); Penchev, 'Kolektivna nakhodka', 5-9. 95. Topalu (Romania); stray find; follis minted in 686/7 in Constantinople; Poenaru- Bordea and Donoiu, 'Contributii', 238. b. gold 96. Athens (Greece); stray find; solidus of Justinian's third series minted in Constantinople between 705 and 711; Penna, "H ^cofj', 202 with note 23. 132 Florin Curta 97. Unknown location in Attica (Greece); hoard with four solidi minted between 685 and 695, 7 solidi, and one tremissis minted between 705 and 711; Vryonis, 'Attic hoard', 293. 98. Vodinjan, Istria (Croatia); stray find; tremissis minted in Ravenna; G. Gorini, 'La collezione di monete d'oro della Societa istriana di archeologia e storia patria', Atti e memorie della Societa istriana di archeologia e storia della patria 22 (1974) 146. Leontius 99. Unknown location in Attica (Greece); hoard with one solidus; Vryonis, 'Attic hoard', 293. Tiberius III Apsimaros (698-705) a. copper 100. Athens (Greece); stray find; follis minted in Constantinople in 700/1; Thompson, Athenian Agora, 71. 101. Corinth (Greece); stray find; follis minted in Sicily; Avramea, Peloponnese, 74; C. Morrisson, 'La Sicile byzantine: une lueur dans les siecles obscurs', Quaderni ticinesi 27 (1998) 321. 102. Drobeta Turnu-Severin (Romania); stray find; follis minted in Constantinople in 700/1; Oberlander-Tarnoveanu, 'From the Late Antiquity', 63. 103. Stari Grad, Hvar (Croatia); follis; Mirnik and Semrov, 'Byzantine coins', 133. 104. Unknown location in Dobrudja (Romania); Poenaru-Bordea and Donoiu, 'Contributii', 249 with n. 48. a. gold 105. Unknown location in Attica (Greece); hoard with one solidus; Vryonis, 'Attic hoard', 293. b. silver 106. Silistra (Bulgaria); hexagram; Banescu, 'La vie politique', 193-4; Oberlander- Tarnoveanu, 'Monnaies byzantines', 106. Philippikos (711-13) a. copper 107. Athens (Greece); 61 coins, all pieces of 10 nummia overstruck on old flans in 711/2; Thompson, 'Some unpublished bronze money', 363-6; Thompson, Athenian Agora, 71. 108. Monemvasia (Greece); stray find; a 10-nummia piece minted in Sicily; Penna, "H ^rofj', 201. Byzantium in Dark-Age Greece 133 109. Unknown location in Dobrudja (Romania); a 10-nummia piece minted in Constantinople in 711/2; Poenaru-Bordea and Donoiu, 'Contribufii', 238. b. gold 110. Porec, Istria (Croatia); stray find; tremissis; Matijasic, 'Zbirka', 229. 111. Unknown location in Attica (Greece); hoard with one solidus; Vryonis, 'Attic hoard', 293. Anastasius 11 (713-15) a. copper 112. Athens (Greece); four half-folles; Thompson, 'Some unpublished bronze money', 369; Thompson, Athenian Agora, 72. 113. Unknown location in Istria (Croatia); Matijasic, 'Zbirka', 226. b. gold 114. Unknown location in Attica (Greece); hoard with one solidus and one semissis; Vryonis, 'Attic hoard', 293. Theodosius III (715-17) a. gold 115. Unknown location in Attica (Greece); hoard with one solidus; Vryonis, 'Attic hoard', 293. 116. Veliki Gaj (Serbia); hoard with one solidus; Oberlander-Tarnoveanu, 'La monnaie byzantine', 176. Leo III (717-41) a. copper 117. Athens (Greece); 23 coins, 22 of which are 10-nummia pieces minted in Constantinople between 717 and 720, the other being a follis minted in Sicily; Thompson, Athenian Agora, 71; Morrisson, 'La Sicile byzantine', 321. 118. Drobeta Turnu-Severin; stray find; follis minted in Constantinople between 720 and 741; Oberlander-Tarnoveanu, 'From the Late Antiquity', 43. 119. Hagios Nikolaos, Hydra (Greece); stray find; half-follis; Penna, "H ^cofj', 201. b. gold 120. Unknown location in Attica (Greece); hoard with 21 solidi and one semissis (closing coins); Vryonis, 'Attic hoard', 293. 121. Vodinjan, Istria (Croatia); stray find; tremissis minted in Sicily between 720 and 741; Gorini, 'La collezione', 146. 134 Florin Curta Constantine V (741-75) a. copper 122. Athens (Greece); three coins, two of which are folles minted in Constantinople, one between 751 and 775, the other between 741 and 751, and a 'barbarous imitation'; Thompson, Athenian Agora, 72. 123. Constanta (Romania); follis minted in Sicily between 751 and 775; Poenaru-Bordea and Donoiu, 'Contributii', 238. 124. Corinth (Greece); stray finds; eight coins, one of which is a follis minted in Sicily; Edwards, Corinth, 133; P. Charanis, 'The significance of coins as evidence for the history of Athens and Corinth in the seventh and eighth centuries', Historia 4 (1955) 166; Avramea, Peloponnese, 74; Morrisson, 'La Sicile byzantine', 321. 125. Ovcharov (Bulgaria); stray find; follis; L. Bobcheva, Arkheologicheskaia karta na Tolbukhinski okrag (Sofia, n.d.) 51. 126. Voila (Romania); stray find; Preda, 'Circulatia', 411. b. gold 127. Biskupija, near Knin (Croatia); grave finds; six solidi minted in Sicily between 751 and 775; V. Delonga, 'Bizantski novae u zbirci Muzeja hrvatskih arheoloskih spomenika u Splitu', Starohrvatska prosvjeta 11 (1981) 211-3. 128. Trilj, near Sinj (Croatia); grave find; solidus minted in Sicily between 751 and 775; J. Werner, 'Zur Zeitstellung der altkroatischen Grabfunde von Biskupija-Crkvina (Marienkirche)', Schild von Steier. Beitrage zur steirischen Vor- und Friihgeschichte und Munzkunde 15-16 (1979) 228. 129. Unknown location in Albania; solidus; H. Spahiu, 'Monedha bizantine te shekujve V-XIII, te zbuluara ne territorin e Shqiperise', lliria 9-10 (1979-80) 385. 130. Veli Mlun, Istria (Croatia); grave find; tremissis minted in Sicily or Ravenna; B. Marusic, 'Nekropole VII. i VIII. stoljeca u Istri', Arheoloski vestnik 18 (1967) 338; Morrisson, 'La Sicile byzantine', 319. Leo IV (775-80) a. copper 131. Athens (Greece); stray find; one follis of Leo IV's first series struck in Constantinople between 778 and 780; Thompson, Athenian Agora, 72. 132. Constanta (Romania); stray find; Dimian, 'Citeva descoperiri', 197. 133. Corinth (Greece); stray finds (four coins, two of which were specimens of Leo IV's first series minted in Constantinople between 778 and 780); Edwards, Corinth, 134; Charanis, 'Significance of coins', 166; Avramea, Peloponnese, 74. 134. Silistra (Bulgaria); stray find; half-follis minted in Constantinople between 776 and 780; Oberlander-Tarnoveanu, 'Monnaies byzantines', 120 no. 74. Byzantium in Dark-Age Greece 135 b. silver 135. Tichile§ti (Romania); stray find; miliaresion; N. Harfuche, 'Preliminarii la repertoriul arheologic al judefului Braila', Istros 1 (1980) 335. Constantine VI and Irene (780-802) a. copper 136. Athens (Greece); two coins, a follis of Constantine VPs first series struck in 780- 790 and another of Irene's third series struck in 797-802; Thompson, Athenian Agora, 72. 137. Balchik (Bulgaria); stray finds; M. Dimitrov, 'Pregled varkhu monetnata cirkulaciia v Dionisopolis prez rannoto srednevekovie (VI-XI v.)', Numizmatika 16 (1982) 40 with note 5. 138. Corinth (Greece); stray finds (two folks); Charanis, 'Significance of coins', 166; Avramea, Peloponnese, 74. 139. Rovi (Greece); stray find; follis; Penna, "H ^oorj, 243. 140. Kythera (Greece); stray find; follis; Penna, "H ^cofj', 257. 141. Hagios Phloros, near Messene (Greece); stray find; follis of Constantine VPs first series minted between 780 and 790; Penna, "H ^cofj', 261. b. gold 142. Kiulevcha (Bulgaria); grave find; solidus minted in Constantinople between 780 and 797; Zh. Vazharova, Slaviani i prabalgari po danni na nekropolite ot VI-XI v. na teritoriiata na Balgariia (Sofia 1976) 106. b. silver 143. Kiulevcha (Bulgaria); grave find; miliaresion minted in Constantinople between 780 and 797; Vazharova, Slaviani i prabalgari, 106. 144. Telerig (Bulgaria); stray find; miliaresion minted in Constantinople between 780 and 797; V. Parushev, 'Nepublikovani srednovekovni moneti ot Iuzhna Dobrudzha (VIII-XIV v.)', Dobrudzha 10 (1993) 161. Notes 1 K.M. Setton, 'The Bulgars in the Balkans and the occupation of Corinth in the 7th century', Speculum 25 (1950) 502^3; P. Charanis, 'On the capture of Corinth by the Onogurs and its recapture by the Byzantines', Speculum 27 (1952) 343—50; K.M. Setton, 'The emperor Constans II and the capture of Corinth by the Onogur Bulgars', Speculum 27 (1952) 351-62. 2 Setton, 'Bulgars in the Balkans', 520. For the Onogur conquest of Corinth in Isidore's letter, see S. Szadeczky-Kardoss, 'Eine unbeachtete Quellenstelle uber die Protobulgaren am Ende des 6. Jhs.', Bulgarian Historical Review 11 (1983) 78 with note 20. 3 P. Charanis, 'Nicephorus I, the savior of Greece from the Slavs (810 AD)', Byzantina-Metabyzantina 1 (1946) 75-92. 4 Setton, 'Bulgars in the Balkans', 517. 5 Setton, 'Bulgars in the Balkans', 511. For contemporary, similar views, see A. Bon, 'Le probleme slave dans le Peloponnese a la lumiere de l'archeologie', Byzantion 20 (1950) 14: 'il n'y a pas de bataille entre deux armees; il s'est produit une 136 Florin Curta infiltration, une avance progressive d'elements non militaires qui n'a pas ete marquee par aucun fait saillant'. See also P. Lemerle, 'La chronique improprement dite de Monemvasie: le contexte historique et legendaire', Revue des etudes byzantines 21 (1963) 35 ('infiltration progressive'); J. Herrin, 'Aspects of the process of hellenization in the early Middle Ages', Annual of the British School at Athens 68 (1973) 115 ('an insidious infiltration'); M. Dunn, 'Evangelism or repentance? The re-Christianisation of the Peloponnese in the ninth and tenth centuries', Studies in Church History 14 (1977) 73 ('a process of infiltration'); M. F. Hendy, Studies in the Byzantine Monetary Economy c. 300-1450 (Cambridge 1985) 619 ('largely hesitant and piecemeal penetration southwards of unorganized bands of prospective settlers'). For 'infiltration', 'penetration', and the wave metaphor used to describe the Slavic settlement in the Balkans, see V. Papoulia, 'To 7ipof3/Vr|ita zf\q Elpr|ViKf|C SisiaSuascoi; icov E/Vaf3cov o-Tf|v 'E\\6.8a.', in AisOvsq <7op.n6<7io "Bo^avrivrj MriKsdovia., 324-1430 fi.X.", &soouXoviKr\, 29-31 'OK-ccofipiou 1992 (Thessaloniki 1995) 255-65; F. Curta, Making the Slavs: History and Archaeology of the Lower Danube Region, ca. 500—700 (Cambridge/New York 2001) 74-5. 6 Charanis, 'On the capture', 345—6; 'Nicephorus I', 86: Nicephorus I's campaigns 'gave to the Slavs of Peloponnesus a mortal blow', and although they continued to resist, 'their long domination of the western Peloponnesus was over'. See also P. Charanis, 'Ethnic changes in the Byzantine Empire in the seventh century', Dumbarton Oaks Papers 13 (1959) 40 and 'Observations on the history of Greece during the Early Middle Ages', Balkan Studies 11 (1970) 26-7. 7 P. Charanis, 'On the question of the Slavonic settlements in Greece during the Middle Ages', Byzantinoslavica 10 (1949) 254—8 and 'Observations on the history of Greece', 26. This specific criticism was aimed at Dionysios A. Zakythinos, in Charanis's review of Zakythinos' Ol Z/Vaf3oi sv 'E/OVdSi. Euitf3o/Vai eiq zf\v icyiopiav iou uxcjaicoviKOU 'E\\r\vi<5\jL0U (Athens 1945), in Byzantinoslavica 10 (1949) 95. See also S.P. Kyriakides, BouXyapoi xca ZXctfioi sic; rrjv sXXr\viKr\v ioxopiuv (Thessaloniki 1946). Kyriakides had attacked Charanis's theories in his Bv'Qavxivai MsXs-coa VI: Oi ZXctfioi sv IlsXonovvrjoqj (Thessaloniki 1947). 8 J.P. Fallmerayer, Geschichte der Halbinsel Morea wdhrend des Mittelalters. Ein historischer Versuch I (Stuttgart/Tubingen 1836) iii—v. Fallmerayer's ideas were not entirely original. The first to speak about the 'Slavonisation of Greece' was W. Leake, Researches in Greece (London 1814) 61—3, 254—5, and 378—80. For Leake's influence on Fallmerayer, see T. Leeb, Jakob Philipp Fallmerayer. Publizist und Politiker zwischen Revolution und Reaktion, 1835-1861 (Munich 1996) 54. 9 Setton, 'Emperor Constans', 351. 10 S. Vryonis, Review of M.W. Weithmann, Die slavische Bevolkerung auf der griechischen Halbinsel. Ein Beitrag zur historischen Ethnographie Siidosteuropas (Munich 1978), in Balkan Studies 22 (1981) 407; E.W. Borntrager, 'Die slavischen Lehnworter im Neugriechischen', Zeitschrift fur Balkanologie 25 (1989) 9. For the relationship between the 'Slavic thesis' and Fallmerayer's political views of Russia, see R. Lauer, 'Jakob Philipp Fallmerayer und die Slaven', in E. Thurnher (ed.) Jakob Philipp Fallmerayer. Wissenschaftler, Politiker, Schriftsteller (Innsbruck 1993) 145. For his anti-Russian attitude, see also E. Thurnher, Jahre der Vorbereitung. Jakob Fallmerayers Tatigkeiten nach der Riickkehr von der zweiten Orientreise, 1842-1845 (Vienna 1995) 42-7; E. Skopetea, <Pa.Xnspd.isp. Tsyyuofiuxu too avTinriXou dsooQ (Athens 1997) 99-132. 11 Zakythinos, ZXctfioi sv 'EXXctbi, 101. The first Greek translation of Fallmerayer's work is TIspi Tf/g KUTuy(tiyr\c, tcov or\fispivmv 'EXXr\v(ov (Athens 1984). 12 G. Augustinos, 'Culture and authenticity in a small state: historiography and national development in Greece', East European Quarterly 23 (1989), no. 1, 23; L.M. Danforth, The Macedonian Conflict. Ethnic Nationalism in a Transnational World (Princeton 1995) 74 and 76; J. S. Koliopoulos, Plundered Loyalties. World War II and Civil War in Greek West Macedonia (New York 1999) 283. 13 Zakythinos, ZXctfioi sv 'EXXridi, 72 and 'La grande breche dans la tradition historique de l'hellenisme du septieme au neuvieme siecle', in Charisterion eis Anastasion K. Orlandon, I (Athens 1966) 300, 302, and 316. For Zakythinos's political activities during the Civil War, see Koliopoulos, Plundered Loyalties, 285. Byzantium in Dark-Age Greece 137 14 P.A. Yannopoulos, 'La penetration slave en Argolide', in Etudes argiennes (Athens 1980) 353; M. Nystazopoulou-Pelekidou, ZXctfiiKZQ iyKwiuoxkoac, cvi] /iscroaojviKrj 'EXXrida. r&vmr\ i%iaK6%r\ar\ (Athens 1993) 23; A. Avramea, he Peloponnese du IVe au VHIe siecle. Changements et persistances (Paris 1997) 161. According to Phaedon Malingoudis, the 'nomadic Slavs' is a favorite cliche of Greek historiography. See P. Malingoudis, 'Za materialnata kultura na rannoslavianskite plemena v Garciia', htoricheski pregled 41 (1985) 64-71 and E^dfjoi cnf| uxcjauoviKf| 'EM,a8a (Thessaloniki 1988) 15-18. 15 J. Karayannopoulos, 'Zur Frage der Slavenansiedlungen auf dem Peloponnes', Revue des etudes sud-est europeennes 9 (1971) 460. 16 Vryonis, Review, 439. Charanis ('On the Slavic settlement', 97) viewed Bon's work as 'the first general treatment' of the archaeological material pertaining to the 'Avaro-Slavic penetration of Peloponnesus'. See also I. Anagnostakis and N. Poulou-Papadimitriou, 'H 7ipC0Tof3u(^avTivf| Mso-o-f|vr| (5oc,-7oc, dicovac,) Kai 7ipof3/Vf)itaTa xfjc ^sip07ioir|Tr|i; KEpainKfjc, axfiv ITs/Vo7i6vvr|cjo', ZvnneiKza. 11 (1997) 292-3; I. Anagnostakis, 'H x£ip07ioir|Tr| KEpainKf| avditsaa ctttiv 'Io-ropia Kai 'ApxaioXoyia', Bui^avnaKa 17 (1997) 289. For the relative eclipse of interest in the (medieval) Dark Ages in Greek archaeology, see K. Kotsakis, 'The past is ours. Images of Greek Macedonia', in L. Meskell (ed.) Archaeology under Fire. Nationalism, Politics, and Heritage in the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East (London/New York 1998) 45. 17 Setton, 'Bulgars in the Balkans', 522. For a similar interpretation of coins found in Athens in association with walls covered with a 'burned "destruction fill", indicating a fire some time in the seventh century, which may be conceivably related to the Bulgar attack', see K. Setton, 'The archaeology of medieval Athens', in J.H. Mundy (ed.) Essays in Medieval Life and Thought, Presented in Honor of Austin Patterson Evans (New York 1955) 239. The idea that the distribution of coin finds in Corinth indicates a retreat of the inhabitants to Acrocorinth to protect themselves from Slavic attacks goes back to A.R. Bellinger, 'The coins', in C.W. Blegen, O. Broneer, R. Stillwell, and A.R. Bellinger (eds) Acrocorinth. Excavations in 1926 (Cambridge 1930) 61—8. For a different interpretation of the Corinth distribution of coin finds, see D. Pallas, 'Td dpxaiO/VoyiKd xsKitf|pia zf\q Ka965ou icov Pappdpcov sic 'EiadSa', 'EiariviKd 14 (1955) 88-95. Recent excavations in the Agora produced a relatively large number of coins minted for Phocas, Heraclius, Constans II, and Constantine V. The number of coins found in the lower town is now larger than that of coins found on the Acrocorinth. See Avramea, Peloponnese, 73—4 and n. 37. 18 P. Charanis, 'The significance of coins as evidence for the history of Athens and Corinth in the seventh and eighth centuries', Historia 4 (1955) 171. For sixth and seventh-century coins from Corinth that were known to Setton and Charanis, see K. Edwards, Corinth. Results of Excavations Conducted by the American School of Classical Studies at Athens (Cambridge 1933) 121—33. Despite replying, in 1952, to Setton's 1950 article, Charanis believed, in 1953 ('On the Slavic settlement', 97), that Bon, and not Setton, was the first to have expressed the idea that during the seventh century, the population of Corinth moved to the Acrocorinth and deserted the lower town, which was thus more exposed to barbarian incursions. 19 Setton, 'Emperor Constans', 354. 20 For a critique of hasty attempts to combine archaeological evidence and linguistic data (place names) for the reconstruction of Slavic history in Greece, see P. Malingoudis, Studien zu den slawischen Ortsnamen Griechenlands 1. Slawische Flurnamen aus der messenischen Mani (Wiesbaden 1981) 177. 21 Charanis, 'Significance of coins', 168; D.M. Metcalf, 'Monetary recession in the Middle Byzantine period: the numismatic evidence', Numismatic Chronicle 161 (2001) 127. Indeed, coins of Philippikos are die4inked, which has led others to believe that they must have come at the same time from the mint in Constantinople, probably for a special occasion (Hendy, Studies, 659). But all coins are struck on older flans and in many cases badly so, which can hardly be evidence for replacement of the 'fallen tyrant's' coinage. See M. Thompson, 'Some unpublished bronze money of the early eighth century', Hesperia 9 (1940) 367 and 369. 138 Florin Curta 22 Pallas, 'Ta apxaioXoyiKa TEKLtfjpia', 88-95. For a somewhat different interpretation, see J. R. Marin, 'La "cuestion eslava" en el Peloponeso bizantino (siglos VI—X)', Bizantion Nea Hellas 11—12 (1991-92) 235-6. 23 V. Penna, 'H (^cof| onq fjui^avTivsi; noXeiq zf\q ris/Vo7iovvf|cjou: r| voitiaitaTiKfi itapiupia. (8oi;-12oi; ai. \i. X.)', in A.P. Tzamalis (ed.) Mvijurj Martin J. Price (Athens 1996) 199: the decline began in the years following Justinian I's death. 24 Avramea, Peloponnese, 73. 25 Avramea, Peloponnese, 76—7. Much like Setton, Avramea does however believe the Chronicle when it comes to finds of Byzantine buckles 'confirming' that the eastern coast of the Peloponnese remained under Byzantine control (Avramea, Peloponnese, 159). For coins found in Patras, see also A. Lambropoulou, 'Le Peloponnese occidental a l'epoque proto-byzantine (IV—Vile siecles). Problemes de geographie historique d'un espace a reconsiderer', in K. Belke et al. (eds.) Byzanz als Raum. Zu Methoden und Inhalten der historischen Geographie des ostlichen Mittelmeerraumes (Vienna, 2000) 106; A. Lampropoulou, I. Anagnostakis, V. Konti, and A. Panopoulou, 'Euitf3o/Vf| cjTf|V epu.r|VEia tcov dpxaio/VoyiKtov TSKitr|picov xfjc ris/Vo7iovvficjou Kara lobq "cjkotsivoui; ai&veq"', in E. Kountoura-Galake (ed.), The Dark Ages of Byzantium (7th-9th c.) (Athens 2001) 216-7. 26 The first numismatist to establish coin hoards as a class of evidence illustrating political events (mainly barbarian invasions) known from written sources was A. Blanchet, 'Les rapports entre les depots monetaires et les evenements militaires, politiques et economiques', Revue numismatique 39 (1936) 1-70 and 205-69. Blanchet's ideas are in fact a numismatic variant of the culture-historical approach in archaeology, for which see B. G. Trigger, A History of Archaeological Thought (Cambridge 1989) 148-206. 27 Charanis, 'Significance of coins', 163—4. 28 For Thrace, see R.-J. Lilie, '"Thrakien" und "Thrakesion". Zur byzantinischen Provinzorganisation am Ende des 7. Jahrhunderts', Jahrbuch der osterreichischen Byzantinistik 26 (1977) 7—47. For Hellas, see G. Ostrogorski, 'Postanak tema Khelada i Peloponez', Zbornik radova Vizantoloskog Instituta 1 (1952) 64—77. 29 G. Huxley, 'The second Dark Age of the Peloponnese', Lakonikai spoudai 3 (1977) 84—110; R. Browning, 'Athens in the "Dark Age'", in B. Smith (ed.) Culture & History. Essays Presented to Jack Lindsay (Sydney 1984) 297-303; T.E. Gregory, 'Archaeology of the Byzantine Dark Age: problems and prospects', in I. Sevcenko et al. (eds) Acts. XVIIIth International Congress of Byzantine Studies. Selected Papers: Moscow 1991 II (Shepherdstown 1996) 217—24. For the misconstrued notion of lack of sources, see R.-J- Lilie, 'Wie dunkel sind die "dunklen Jahrhunderte"? Zur Quellensituation in der mittelbyzantinischen Zeit und ihren Auswirkungen auf die Forschung', Jahrbuch der osterreichischen Byzantinistik 43 (1993) 37-43. 30 This is in sharp contrast with curiously stubborn, yet completely erroneous views, according to which no Dark-Age coins have been found in the Balkans. E.g., C. Morrisson, 'Survivance de l'economie monetaire a Byzance (VII—IXe siecle)', in E. Kountoura-Galake (ed.) The Dark Ages of Byzantium (7th-9th c.) (Athens, 2001) 384; Metcalf, 'Monetary recession', 144. 31 Hendy, Studies, 662. 32 F. Curta, 'Invasion or inflation? Sixth- to seventh-century Byzantine coin hoards in Eastern and Southeastern Europe', Annali dell'Istituto Italiano di Numismatica 43 (1996) 221 Fig. 44. 33 The Histria hoard: C. Preda and H. Nubar, Histria III. Descoperirile monetare 1914—1970 (Bucharest 1973) 231. 34 The Rancaciov hoard: Gh. Poenaru-Bordea and P. I. Dicu, 'Monede romane tirzii §i bizantine (sec. IV—XI) descoperite pe teritoriul judefului Arges', Studii 5! cercetari de numismatica 9 (1989) 79. 35 Akalan: I. Iurukova, 'Sakrovishteto ot Akalan', Numizmatika i sfragistika 1-2 (1992) 10-6. The hoard was wrongly indicated as from Belopoliane, district of Kardzhali (Bulgaria) in Curta, 'Invasion of inflation?' 166. It had in fact been found behind the Long Walls of Constantinople, not far from present-day Catalca (Turkey). As a consequence of this apparently widespread confusion, a second hoard from Catalca has erroneously made its appearance in the numismatic literature. See S.M. Mosser, A Bibliography of Byzantine Coin Hoards (New York 1935) 18; D.M. Metcalf, 'The Aegean coastlands under threat: some coins and coin hoards Byzantium in Dark-Age Greece 139 from the reign of Heraclius', Annual of the British School at Athens 57 (1962) 14—5; Curta, 'Invasion or inflation?', 166. For the exact find spot, see U. Fiedler, 'Die Gurtelbesatzstiicke von Akalan. Ihre Funktion und kulturelle Stellung', Izvestiia na Arkheologicheskiia Institut 37 (1994) 32 Fig. 1. 36 Vasaras: A. Avramea, 'Nou.io~u.aiiKoi "9r|o~aupoi" teal itsitovcoitsva vou.lo~u.aTa dmo ir\v ns/V07i6vvr|o"0 (605-7oq ai.)', Xv/i/ieiKTa 5 (1983) 65. Paiania: D.M. Metcalf, 'The minting of gold coinage at Thessalonica in the fifth and sixth centuries and the gold currency of Illyricum and Dalmatia', in W. Hahn and W.E. Metcalf (eds) Studies in Early Byzantine Gold Coinage (New York 1988) 108. 37 Excluded from the catalogue at the end of this paper is the Urluia hoard (if indeed it is just one hoard), which includes a number of eighth-century coins, both copper and silver, but closes with a coin minted for Constantine VII and Romanus II (945—59). As such, the Urluia hoard is very different from all hoards of the sixth or seventh century that have a typically homogeneous structure. It is, on the other hand, quite similar to many other ninth- and tenth-century hoards (e.g., Cleja), which often contain coins more than one hundred years old. See Gh. Poenaru-Bordea and I. Donoiu, 'Contribufii la studiul patrunderii monedelor bizantine in Dobrogea in secolele VII—X', Buletinul Societa\ii Numismatice Romdne 75-6 (1981-2) 237-51; D.M. Metcalf, 'Corinth in the ninth century: the numismatic evidence', Hesperia 42 (1973) 181. 38 Besides the two hoards found in 1955 and 1947, respectively, excavations in Dvin produced 22 hexagrams of Heraclius, 16 of which are of his first series (MIB III 140-147). See Kh. Mousheghian, A. Mouseghian, C. Bresc, G. Depeyrot, and F. Gurnet, History and Coin Finds in Armenia. Coins from Duin, Capital of Armenia (4—13th c). Inventory of Byzantine and Sassanian Coins in Armenia {6-7tb c) (Wetteren 2000) 63. 39 V. Iu. Morozov, 'Puti proniknoveniia sasanidskikh monet i khudozhestvennykh izdelii v Povolzh'e i Prikam'e', in A.F. Kochkina et al. (eds) Kul'tury evraziiskikh stepei vtoroi poloviny 1 tysiacheletiia n.e. (Samara 1996) 156—7. 40 Curta, 'Invasion or inflation?', 111. 41 A somewhat unique occurrence is the group of miliaresia of Constans II from the Zemiansky Vrbovok hoard found in Slovakia. Die-links indicate that the seventeen specimens in this hoard belong to two different groups with different obverses and reverses. See A. Fiala, 'K objavu miliarense Constansa II. z pokladu zo Zemianskeho Vrbovku', Numismaticky sbornik 17 (1986) 15—20. These coins were most likely struck in limited numbers, specifically to serve as gifts or bribes to some barbarian chief on the northern frontier. The latest date of the Zemiansky Vrbovok hoard is that of a miliaresion of 659—68. Since c.660 is also the earliest date associated with the collection of the Priseaca hoard, it is possible that these coins were distributed on the occasion of the proclamation in 660 of Heraclius and Tiberius as co-emperors. See Curta, 'Invasion or inflation?', 112. The only other miliaresion of Constans II known from Eastern Europe is that from burial chamber no. 257 in Eski Kermen (Crimea), for which see A.I. Aibabin, 'Pogrebeniia konca VH-pervoi poloviny VIII v. v Krymu', in A.K. Ambroz and I. Erdelyi (eds) Drevnosti epokhi velikogo pereseleniia narodov V—VIII vekov. Sovetsko-vengerskii sbornik (Moscow 1982) 186-7. 42 IV. Sokolova, 'Monety pereshchepinskogo klada', Vizantiiskii Vremennik 54 (1993) 151-2; I. Bona, '"Barbarische" Nachahmungen von byzantinischen Goldmiinzen im Awarenreich', Kivista italiana di numismatica e scienze affini 95 (1993) 531; C. Morrisson, 'La diffusion de la monnaie de Constantinople: routes commerciales ou routes politiques?', in C. Mango and G. Dagron (eds), Constantinople and its Hinterland. Papers from the Twenty-seventh Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies, Oxford, April 1993 (Aldershot 1995) 84. 'Light weight solidi' of Constans II also appear in the Lower Don and north Caucasus regions. See A.I. Semenov, 'Vizantiiskie monety Kelegeiskogo kompleksa', Arkheologicheskii sbornik Gosudarstvennogo Ermitazha 31 (1991) 126. The Dnieper region also produced silver imitations of 'light weight solidi' of Constans II. See V.V. Kropotkin, Klady vizantiiskikh monet na territorii SSSR (Moscow 1962) 31. 43 M. Woloszyn, 'Moneta bizantyriska na terenie kaganatu awarskiego (uwagi na marginesie ksiazki Petera Somogyi 1997)', Archeologia Polski 44 (1999) 164. Most Hungarian archaeologists assume that the gold coins of Constans II and Constantine IV have 140 Florin Curta been brought from the steppes north of the Black Sea during the alleged migration of the Onogurs and the foundation of the so-called second Avar qaganate thought to be responsible for the profound cultural changes of the Middle and, especially, Late Avar period. The underlying assumption is that these coins have entered the Carpathian basin long after being minted and that after 626 no Byzantine coins at all could have been sent from Constantinople to the Avars. But Middle Avar assemblages also produced silver imitations of such miliaresia of Constans II as those found in the Zemiansky Vrbovok hoard. If such coins were imitated not long after being sent from Constantinople, solidi minted in Italy or in Constantinople could also have been sent as gifts to the Avars. See Bona, '"Barbarische" Nachahmungen', 529—38; P. Somogyi, Byzantinische Fundmiinzen der Awarenzeit (Innsbruck 1997) 128. 44 Issues of the Carthaginian mint seem to have reached deep into central and northeastern Europe. Two half-folles struck in 641-68 and 646-59, respectively, were found in Bohemia. See J. Kucera, 'Nalezy byzantskych minci z 6. a 7. stol. v Podebradech', Numismaticky sbornik 9 (1966) 225. A small hoard of copper coins of Constans II is known from Krnov, near the Czech-Polish border. See P. Radomersky, 'Byzantske mince z pokladu v Zemianskem Vrbovku', Pamdtky Archeologicke 44 (1953) 111. A coin of Constans II minted in Sicily was found as far as Pinsk (Belarus). See V.F. Isaenko, A.G. Mitrofanov, and G.V. Shtykhov, Ocherki po arkheologii Belorussii. Chast' I (Minsk 1970) 238. For Sicilian coins of Constans II in France and northern Germany, see C. Morrisson, 'La Sicile byzantine: une lueur dans les siecles obscurs', Quaderni ticinesi 27 (1998) 313, 315, 318, and 320. 45 An explanation first offered by D.M. Metcalf, 'Coinage and coin finds associated with a military presence in the medieval Balkans', in V. Kondic (ed.) Kovanje i kovnice antilkog i srednjovekovnog novca (Belgrade 1976) 88-97. See also Hendy, Studies, 662. For coin finds from Corinth, see Penna, 'He zoe', 199. Metcalf, 'Monetary recession', 125 offers a tabulation of Athenian finds of coins struck for Constans II by DOC classes. His list has only 705 specimens, 146 of which belong to DOC classes VI to VIII, dated between 655 and 657/8. 46 D.M. Metcalf, 'Frankish petty currency from the Areopagus in Athens', Hesperia 34 (1965) 213. The bronze coinage of Constans II has been found in large quantities on both sides of the upper slopes of the Panathenaic Way, but especially in the BB section of the Agora excavations. 47 E. Kislinger, 'Byzantinische Kupfermunzen aus Sizilien (7.-9. Jh.) im historischen (Context', Jahrbuch der osterreichischen Byzantinistik 46 (1996) 29-30. 48 It is interesting to note in this respect that coins of Constans II in the northern Balkans tend to be specimens minted before the Italian campaign. With the exception of nine specimens from Nesebar (Catalogue nos 28—9), all stray finds from the northern Balkans are coins minted before c.660. 49 Excavations at Sarachane produced 77 coins of Constans II, including half-folles (three of which were minted before the Italian campaign) and 10-nummia pieces. See M.F. Hendy, 'The coins', in R.M. Harrison (ed.) Excavations at Sarachane in Istanbul, I (Princeton 1986) 313-5. 50 Metcalf, 'Monetary recession', 124. The strategos of Karabisianoi is first mentioned in the 670s, but a Byzantine fleet was surely in existence before Constans IPs campaign to Italy, as indicated by the events of 653/4. See Theophanes Confessor, Chronographia, AM 6146, ed. C. de Boor, vol. 2 (Berlin 1885) 345-6; English tr. in C. Mango and R. Scott, The Chronicle of Theophanes Confessor. Byzantine and Near Eastern History A.D. 284-813 (Oxford 1997) 482. See H. Ahrweiler, Byzance et la mer. ha marine de guerre, la politique et les institutions maritimes de Byzance aux Vlle—XVe siecles (Paris 1966) 19—26. Warren Treadgold has even suggested that the strategia of Karabisianoi was created precisely at this point in time and that the goal of the emperor's visit to Athens in 662/3 was to ready the Karabisianoi for his expedition to Italy. See W. Treadgold, Byzantium and Its Army, 284-1081 (Stanford 1995) 72-5. 51 Avramea, Peloponnese, 73. The Athenian Agora produced a Sicilian follis of Justinian II (Catalogue no. 92). Sicilian coins of Constantine IV and Tiberius III were found in Istria (Catalogue no. 71) and Corinth (Catalogue no. 101), respectively. By contrast, only a few coins struck for Emperor Tiberius III are known from Crimea: two specimens from Kerch and one from Chersonesus. See Byzantium in Dark-Age Greece 141 V.V. Kropotkin, 'Novye nakhodki vizantiiskikh monet v Kerch', Vizantiiskii Vremennik 32 (1971) 217—18; V.K. Golenko, 'Monety iz raskopok gosudarstvennogo istoricheskogo muzeia v Khersonese (1958—69 gg.)', Sovetskaia Arkheologiia 4 (1972) 212. The coin from Drobeta Turnu-Severin (Catalogue no. 102) is certainly to be associated with two other coins of Tiberius III found in Romania, one of which was struck in Ravenna. See I. Dimian, 'Citeva descoperiri monetare pe teritoriul RPR', Studii 5! cercetari de numismatica 8 (1957) 197. Given the brevity of their respective reigns, there is an unusually large number of copper coins of Philippikos, Anastasius II, and Theodosius III within the area controlled by the Avars, an indication of renewed, if sporadic, relations with the Byzantines, most likely via Italy. In fact, most coins dated between 668 and 886 found in that region are products of the Sicilian mint. See M. Kozub, 'The chronology of the inflow of Byzantine coins into the Avar khaganate', in P. Urbanczyk (ed.) Origins of Central Europe (Warsaw 1997) 241—2; Morrisson, 'La Sicile byzantine', 319. 52 Except two specimens from the Sukko hoard, all 253 known specimens of Constantine IV's hexagrams come from the Lower Danube region. See Curta, 'Invasion or inflation?', 113; for the Sukko hexagrams, see K.V. Golenko, 'Klad vizantiiskikh monet VII v., naidennyi bliz Anapy', Vizantiiskii Vremennik 26 (1965) 162—5. This is in sharp contrast with the absence of such or equivalent high-value coins from other areas in Eastern Europe. Besides a few solidi of Constantine IV, burial assemblages in Hungary produced so far only one gilded imitation of a solidus and several silvered imitations of miliaresia. See K. Biro-Sey, 'Ujabb avar utanzatu eziistpenz a MNM eremgyujtemenyben', Numizmatikai Kozlony 76—7 (1977—8) 50; Somogyi, Byzantinische Fundmiinzen, 80—1; M. Kozub-Woloszyn, 'Monety bizantyriskie VI—VIII w. nad srodkowym Dunajem i kwestia ich zroznicowania pod wzgledem miesjca emisji', in V. V. Sedov (ed.) Istoriia i kul'tura drevnikh i srednevekovykh slavian (Moscow 1999) 291. Gold imitations of solidi are also known from burial assemblages in the Lower Don area (Semenov, 'Vizantiiskie monety', 126). No 'light weight solidi' of Constantine IV have so far been found in the steppes north of the Black Sea. 53 Theophanes, A.M. 6169, 356 de Boor (496 Mango). See A. Avenarius, 'Die Konsolidierung des Awarenkaganates und Byzanz im 7. Jahrhundert', Byzantina 13 (1985) 1023; W. Pohl, Die Awaren. Ein Steppenvolk im Mitteleuropa 567—822 n. Chr. (Munich 1988) 278. 54 Curta, 'Invasion or inflation?', 115. For the chronology of the Bulgar migration to the Lower Danube, see now Ts. Stepanov, 'Balgarite ot nai-drevni vremena do vtorata polovina na VII vek', in G. Bakalov (ed.) Istoriia na balgarite I (Sofia 2003) 88-93. 55 W. Hahn, Moneta Imperii Byzantini. Von Heraclius bis Leo III.I'Alleinregierung (610—720) III (Vienna 1981) 156. 56 Semenov, 'Vizantiiskie monety', 126; J. Smedley, 'Seventh-century Byzantine coins in southern Russia and the problem of light weight solidi', in W. Hahn and W.E. Metcalf (eds) Studies in Early Byzantine Gold Coinage (New York 1988) 119. James Breckenridge, 'The numismatic consequences of the exile of Justinian II to the Black Sea', in V. Giuzelev (ed.) Bulgaria Pontica II. Nessebre, 26-30 mai 1982 (Sofia, 1988) 491 mentions three solidi of Constantine IV and six of Justinian II in the collection of the National Archaeological Museum in Sofia. The records of provenance for these coins have been lost during World War II, but two solidi of Justinian 'have been holed for suspension', an indication that such coins may have been either of a much later date or acquired on the antique market elsewhere outside Bulgaria. 57 Charanis, 'Significance of coins', 165. 58 D.M. Metcalf, 'How extensive was the issue of folles during the years 775—820?' Byzantion 37 (1967) 278. 59 Hendy, Studies, 659. 60 The seal of an unknown kommerkiarios of the apotheke of Thessalonica: G. Zacos and A. Veglery, Byzantine Lead Seals (Basel 1972) no. 210; R.-J. Lilie et al. (eds) Prosopographie der mittelbyzantinischen Zeit V (Berlin/New York 2001) 355. For the role of the apotheke and its connection with military activities, see Hendy, Studies, 659; J.F. Haldon, Byzantium in the Seventh Century. The Transformation of a Culture (Cambridge 1990) 237 and 'Military service, military lands, and the status of soldiers: current problems and interpretations', 142 Florin Curta DOP 47 (1993) 16-17. The first kotntnerkiarios of Hellas is one Constantine mentioned on a seal dated to 698/9, see M. Mordtmann, 'Plombs byzantins de la Grece et du Peloponnese', Revue archeologique 33 (1877) 291 and Prosopographie II (Berlin/New York 2000) 507. 61 Only one half-follis of Philippikos has been found in the Sarachane excavations. Nor are decanummia of Leo III represented among coins of that emperor found in Constantinople. See Hendy, 'The coins', 317—8; Metcalf, 'Monetary recession', 126. 62 P. Grierson, in A.R. Bellinger and P. Grierson (eds) Catalogue of the Byzantine Coins in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection and in the Whittemore Collection II (Washington 1968) 665. Grierson rejects the idea of a damnatio memoriae because of the obvious substitution of one denomination with another. Instead, he proposes that the phenomenon be interpreted as a kind of revaluation similar to that carried out during Constantine IV's reign, whose folles were overstruck on large sixth-century coins hammered flat to render all details invisible. Indeed, this seems to have been a recurrent practice in the seventh century: decanummia of Constantine IV and half-folles of Justinian II were overstruck on folles of Constans II, as indicated by specimens from the Sarachane excavations. To be sure, the rarity of copper coins of Philippikos suggests a very small volume of mint output, perhaps as low as 100,000 coins. See Metcalf, 'How extensive', 278. 63 Kislinger, 'Byzantinische Kupfermunzen', 31. See N. Oikonomides, 'Une liste arabe des strateges byzantins du Vile siecle et les origines du theme de Sicile', Kivista di Studi Bizantini e Neobizantini 11 (1964) 121—30. For the creation of themes as a boost to monetary circulation, see Metcalf, 'Monetary recession', 151—2. However, the Monemvasia coin shows that coins of Philippikos were minted in Sicily. 64 In any case, there are so far no eighth-century copper coins in the Aegean area to be dated earlier than a follis minted in Syracuse for Constantine V and found on the island of Amorgos. See V. Penna, 'Noitio-itaxiKSi; vui;sii; yia zf\ i^cofi o-iiq KuK/VdSec KaxaTOUi; 8o Kai 9o aicovsi;', in E. Kountoura- Galake (ed.) The Dark Ages of Byzantium (7th-9th c.) (Athens 2001) 408. No connection seems to have existed between coinage and the appearance of the apotheke in the Aegean region. 65 George, a strategos with the dignity of spatharios: K.M. Konstantopoulos, 'Bui^aviiaKO! ux>/U)P56pou/'wVa sv ico 'EOvikco Mouo-eicp 'A9r|vcbv', Journal International d'Archeologie Numismatique 5 (1902) 160. Peter, an archon with the dignity of hypatos: J. Nesbitt and N. Oikonomides (eds) Catalogue of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg Museum of Art II (Washington 1994) 23. Basil, a drungarios: Nesbitt and Oikonomides, Catalogue of Byzantine Seals II, 27. All three seals could be dated with some degree of certainty to c.700. Another drungarios named Stephen is attested by an eighth-century seal found on the island of Rovi (Avramea, Peloponnese, 99). The evidence seems to disprove Winkelmann's idea of a lack of military officials associated with the theme of Hellas; see F. Winkelmann, Byzantinische Rang- und Amterstruktur im 8. und 9. Jahrhundert (Berlin 1985) 123. The only seals associated with Athens are those of Marinos and John, both bishops (Zacos and Veglery, Byzantine Lead Seals, no. 925; Konstantopoulos, 'Bu^avnaKa u.O/Vup56pou/>wVa', 190). The latter may be the same person as the bishop whose death in 713 is mentioned in a graffito on a Parthenon column (Prosopographie II, 253). A third bishop of Athens, Theodosius, appears on a seal dated to the first half of the eighth century (Nesbitt and Oikonomides, Catalogue of Byzantine Seals II, 51). Out of seven seals of churchmen dated before c.750, five are of Athenian bishops, three of which belonged to one and the same bishop John. 66 Constantine, apo eparchon and genikos kommerkiarios of Hellas: Mordtmann, 'Plombs byzantins', 291; Prosopographie II, 507. Constantine was kommerkiarios of Constantinople and of Mesembria between 700 and 702. Another seal of a fiscal official is that of the dioiketes Theodore, for which see Nesbitt and Oikonomides, Catalogue of Byzantine Seals II, 27. 67 N. Oikonomides, 'Silk trade and production in Byzantium from the sixth to the ninth century. The seals of kommerkiaroi', Dumbarton Oaks Papers 40 (1986) 47. For a list of kommerkiarioi of Mesembria, see Zacos and Veglery, Byzantine Lead Seals, 182—4. 68 E. Theoklieva-Stoytcheva, Mediaeval Coins from Mesemvria (Sofia 2001). Byzantium in Dark-Age Greece 143 69 V. Delonga, 'Bizantski novae u zbirci Muzeja hrvatskih arheoloskih spomenika u Splitu', Starohrvatska prosvjeta 11 (1981) 206-7. Solidi of Leo III and Constantine V are relatively common in burial assemblages in the Lower Don area and in the north Caucasus region, where they are often associated with dirhams. See Semenov, 'Vizantiiskie monety', 126 and 'New evidence on the Slavynsk (Anastasaiyevka) hoard of the 8th century and Byzantine Arab gold coins', in New Archaeological Discoveries in Asiatic Russia and Central Asia (St Petersburg 1994) 83—5. Gold coins of Constantine V also appear in burial assemblages in Crimea: V. V. Kropotkin, 'Mogil'nik Chufut Kale v Krymu', Kratkie soobshcheniia Instituta Arkheologii AN SSSR 100 (1965) 110 and 'Novye nakhodki', 218; E. V. Veimarn and A.I. Aibabin, Skalistinskii mogil'nik (Kiev 1993) 80-1. 70 A. Distelberger, 'Import in die awarischen Westgebiete im 8. Jahrhundert', in F. Daim et al. (eds) Keitervolker aus dem Osten. Hunnen + Awaren. Burgenldndische Landesausstellung 1996. Schlofl Halbturn, 26 April-31 Oktober 1996 (Eisenstadt 1996) 306; Kozub, 'Chronology of the inflow', 244; M. McCormick, Origins of the European Economy. Communications and Commerce, A.D. 300-900 (Cambridge 2001) 370. For the Veli Mlun tremissis, see also Morrisson, 'La Sicile byzantine', 319. 71 For the role of these coins in establishing a late eighth-century date for the beginning of interments in the Kiulevcha cemetery (a date otherwise confirmed by artifacts with analogies in Late Avar burial assemblages), see U. Fiedler, Studien zu Graberfeldern des 6. bis 9. ]ahrhunderts an der unteren Donau (Bonn 1992) 170. For Kiulevcha, see also Zh. Vazharova, 'Zur Frage der Etnogenese und der materiellen Kultur des bulgarischen Volkes (Zwei Nekropolen aus Nordostbulgarien)', in D. Angelov et al. (eds) Culture et art en Bulgarie medievale (VUle-XlVe s.) (Sofia 1979) 5-30. 72 C. Bonev, 'Nachalo dunaiskoi Bolgarii v svete nekotorykh arkheologicheskikh dannykh i monetnykh nakhodok', Etudes Balkaniques 21 (1985) 62-76; Curta, 'Invasion or inflation?', 114-16; E. Oberlander-Tarnoveanu, 'From the Late Antiquity to the early Middle Ages—the Byzantine coins in the territories of the Iron Gates of the Danube from the second half of the sixth century to the first half of the eighth century', Etudes byzantines et post-byzantines 4 (2001) 65—8. 73 An episode known from the Miracles of St Demetrius II 5. 292. There is a large body of literature dedicated to the Kouber episode. See especially V. Popovic, 'Kubrat, Kuber i Asparukh', Starinar 37 (1986) 103-33 and P. Pavlov, 'Belezhki za prabalgarskite na Kuber, kakto i za prisastvieto na pechenezhski i kumanski grupi v dneshna Makedoniia (VII—XIV v.)', Arkhiv za poselishtm prouchvaniia 2—3 (1994) 95—102. Kouber has also been associated with the hoard of gold and silver from Vrap (Albania); see S. Szadeczky-Kardos, 'Kuvrat fianak, Kubernek a tortenete es avar kori regeszeti leletanyag', Antik Tanulmdnyok — Studia Antiqua 15 (1968) 87 with note 19; J. Werner, 'Neue Aspekte zum awarischen Schatzfund von Vrap', lliria 13 (1983) 199. This interpretation has recently been rejected on chronological grounds: E. Garam, 'Uber den Schatzfund von Vrap (Albanien)', Acta Archaeologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 49 (1997) 23-33; R. Rashev, Prabalgarite prez V-VII vek (Sofia 2000) 78; F. Daim, '"Byzantinische" Gurtelgarnituren des 8. Jahrhunderts', in F. Daim (ed.) Die Awaren am Rand der byzantinischen Welt. Studien zu Diplomatie, Handel und Technologietransfer im Fruhmittelalter (Innsbruck 2000) 95. 74 V. Velkov, 'Mesembria zwischen dem 4. und dem 8. Jahrhundert', in R. Pillinger et al. (eds) Die Schwarzmeerkiiste in der Spatantike und im friihen Mittelalter (Vienna 1992) 21. For the archaeology of early medieval Mesembria, see T. Ivanov (ed.) Nessebre I (Sofia 1969) and L. Ognenova, 'La datation des edifices medievales a Nessebre d'apres les donnees des fouilles', in Bulgaria Pontica II, 570-6. 75 Theophanes Confessor, A.M. 6171, 358 de Boor (499 Mango). The emperor is said to have used the 'bath' in Mesembria, an indication that the thermae may have still been in use. See I. Chimbuleva, 'Rannevizantiiskie termy v Nessebre', in V. Giuzelev (ed.) Bulgaria Pontica II. Nessebre 26—30 mai 1982 (Sofia 1988) 577-84. 76 Theophanes Confessor, A.M. 6209, 391 de Boor. Although mentioned as 'in Thrace', there is no indication that Mesembria was part of the Thracian theme. The city was ruled by archons, much like Dyrrachium on the opposite coast of the 144 Florin Curta Balkan peninsula. See A. Ducellier, 'Les Albanais dans l'Empire byzantin: de la communaute a l'expansion', in Ch. Gasparis (ed.) Ol 'AXftavoi axb HEOoacbva (Athens 1998) 33. Five archons of Mesembria are known from seals dated to the eighth century. See Nesbitt and Oikonomides, Catalogue of Byzantine Seals I, 77; Zacos and Veglery, Byzantine Lead Seals, no. 1981a; Jean Ebersolt, Catalogue des sceaux byzantins (Paris 1922) no. 300. 77 Theophanes Confessor, A.M. 6254, 433 de Boor (559 Mango and Scott). For Sabinos, see V. Beshevliev, Die protobulgarische Feriode der bulgarischen Geschichte (Amsterdam 1981) 219 and 505-7. 78 Theophanes Confessor, A.M. 6305, 499 de Boor (683 Mango and Scott). See Hendy, Studies, 654. 79 See E. Christophilopoulou, 'Bu^aviivf| MaKsSovia. ExeSiaaita yia Tf|v hno%i\ dmo ia zeXr\ too 6' uixpi ia usaa too 9' alcova', Bo^avrivri 12 (1983) 53; A.E. Laiou, 'Exchange and trade, seventh- twelfth century', in A.E. Laiou (ed.) The Economic History of Byzantium From the Seventh Through the Fifteenth Century (Washington 2002) 704. The earliest seal is that of 690/1 belonging to Cosmas, apo hypaton et genikos kommerkiarios of the apotheke of Mesembria. See N.P. Likhachev, 'Datirovannye vizantiiskie pechati', Izvestiia Rossiiskoi Akademii Istorii Material'noi Kul'tury 3 (1924) 174-5. 80 Oikonomides, 'Silk trade', 35 with note 12, has disputed the idea that kommerkiarioi were some kind of 'quartermasters general'. But Oikonomides' arguments were in turn refuted by Haldon, Byzantium, 235—8. There is now agreement as to the close connection between military undertakings and seals of kommerkiarioi. 81 Five folles could buy the daily food in the 600s, a good horse was worth three solidi, while a carpenter's annual income in the early 700s was no more than sixteen nomismata. See C. Morrisson, 'Monnaie et prix a Byzance du Ve au Vile siecle', in G. Dagron (ed.) Hommes et richesses dans l'Empire byzantin, I (Paris 1989) 252—6; C. Morrisson and J.-C. Cheynet, 'Prices and wages in the Byzantine world', in A.E. Laiou (ed.) The Economic History of Byzantium From the Seventh through the Fifteenth Century II (Washington, 2002) 865. For a comparative list of hoards and prices, see Curta, 'Invasion or inflation?', 171—3. 82 For the uniformly fiduciary nature of the Byzantine copper coinage, see Hendy, Studies, 251. Contra: H. Pottier, Analyse d'un tresor de monnaies en bronze enfoui au Vie siecle en Syrie byzantine. Contribution a la methodologie numismatique (Brussels 1983) 225. For a balanced position, see Morrisson, 'Monnaie et prix', 251. While no lead coins are known from this period to make the case for copper being of some value when absent, the recycling of old flans for striking coins of Philippikos, such as those found in Athens, does indeed support Morrisson's idea of a partially fiduciary copper coinage. Although certainly not a precious metal, copper had intrinsic value and could serve for storing wealth. For an example of copper coins hoarded as raw material along with agricultural implements, see Th. Volling, 'Ein fruhbyzantinischer Hortfund aus Olympia', Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archdologischen Instituts. Athenische Abteilung 110 (1995) 425-59. 83 An idea first formulated for the Balkan context by Metcalf, 'Coinage and coin finds'. 84 J. Ferluga, 'L'Istria tra Giustiniano e Carlo Magno', Arheoloski vestnik 43 (1992) 180; M. Torcellan, he tre necropoli altomedioevali di Finguente (Florence 1986) 22; B. Marusic, Istra i sjevernojadranski prostor u ranom srednjem vijeku [materijalna kultura od 7. do 11. stoljeca) (Pula 1995) 9. See also Lujo Margetic, 'Istra 751-91', Croatica Christiana periodica 16 (1992) 1—10. Istria remained under Byzantine control until the Lombard conquest of the Exarchate of Ravenna. A letter of the patriarch John of Grado to Pope Stephen III (MGH Epistulae 3:172) describes the hostility of the Istrians towards Lombards and their loyalty to Byzantium. Shortly after Charlemagne's conquest of the Lombard kingdom, Istria reverted to Byzantium before the implementation of Frankish control at some point between 780 and 787. See G. de Vergottini, 'Venezia e l'Istria nell'alto Medio Evo', in G. Rossi (ed.) Scritti di storia del diritto italiano III (Milan 1977) 1291-2; J. Ferluga, 'Uberlegungen zur Geschichte der byzantinischen Provinz Istrien', Jahrbucher fur Geschichte Osteuropas 35 (1987) 165. 85 Paul the Deacon, History of the Lombards V 12. See L. Margetic, 'Neka pitanja prijelaza vlasti nad Istrom od Bizanta na Franke', Acta Histriae 2 Byzantium in Dark-Age Greece 145 (1994) 22; R. Cunja, Capodistria tardoromana e altomedievale. Lo scavo archeologico nell'ex Orto dei Cappuccini negli anni 1986—1987 alia luce del reperti dal V al IX secolo d.C. (Koper 1996) 17. 86 Ferluga, 'Uberlegungen', 168. Similar defensive zones are known from frontier areas of Italy. A system of kastra stretched across the Apennines northeast of Luni to the Byzantine possessions in southern Emilia. See T.S. Brown, Gentlemen and Officers. Imperial Administration and Aristocratic Power in Byzantine Italy A.D. 554-800 (Rome 1984) 43; E. Zanini, he Italie bizantine. Territorio, insediamenti ed economia nella provincia bizantina d'ltalia (V1-V1U secolo) (Bari 1998) 209-90. 87 Ferluga, 'Uberlegungen', 168; Marusic, Istra, 9. 88 Paul the Deacon, History of the Lombards V 11—12; R. Bratoz, 'Aquileia und der Alpen-Adria- Raum (von der Mitte des 6. Jahrhunderts bis 811)', in G. Hodl and J. Grabmeyer (eds) Karantanien und der Alpen-Adria-Raum im Fruhmittelalter (Vienna/ Cologne/Weimar 1993) 163. 89 The placitum of Rizana (804) mentions only the existence of a cancellarius of civitas Novae (Novigrad), who was without any doubt the cancellarius of the Byzantine magister militum of Istria. See Margetic, 'Neka pitanja', 22. 90 This is also confirmed by a recently compiled catalogue of all known finds of Byzantine coins in northern Italy. See McCormick, Origins, 361—9 (with map 12.5 on page 364) and 834—51 (for Sardinia, see 354—7 with map 12.2). Altogether, there are only seven copper (only one of which was minted outside Italy) and five gold coins (only one of which was minted in Italy) for the entire period from Constantine IV to Leo VI. 91 Peter Soustal, Tabula Imperii Byzantini 6: Thrakien (Tbrake, Rodope und Haimimontus) (Vienna 1991) 76. 92 Lilie, '"Thrakien" und "Thrakesion"', 41. 93 Christophilopoulou, 'Bu^aviivf) MaKsSovia', 53. 94 A correlation between the presence of seals and absence of coins has already been noted by Archibald Dunn. According to Dunn, the presence of kommerkiarioi made sense only where and when taxes and payments to the army had not (yet) been converted into cash. See A. Dunn, 'The Kommerkiarios, the Apotheke, the Dromos, the Vardarios, and the West', BMGS 17 (1993) 14. 95 Metcalf, 'How extensive', 278. Moreover, the coins found in the Athenian Agora have been interpreted as an indication that in Athens, but not in Corinth, petty currency remained in use for much of the eighth century. See D.M. Metcalf, Coinage in the Balkans, 820-1355 (Chicago 1966) 19. 96 Miracles of St Demetrius II 5, ed. P. Lemerle (Paris 1979). Sisinnios was a strategos of the Karabisianoi. On Sisinnios, see Prosopographie IV, 143. 97 PL 87: 201—3, epp. xvi and xvii. See also O.R. Borodin, 'Rimskii papa Martin I i ego pisma iz Kryma (statiia, perevod, kommentarii)', in S.P. Karpov (ed.) Prichernomor'e v srednie veka. K XVIII Mezhdunarodnomu kongressu vizantinistov (Moscow 1991) 173-90. 98 See H.L. Adelson and G. Kustas, 'A sixth century hoard of minimi from the Western Peloponnese', American Numismatic Society. Museum Notes 11 (1964) 159-205; G. Poenaru- Bordea and E. Nicolae, 'Minimi din tezaurul descoperit la Constanfa, in cartierul Anadolchioi', Buletinul Societapi Numismatice Romdne 80—5 (1986-91) 101-15. 99 The last nummia were struck under Emperor Maurice, but both the nummion and the pentanummion were already rare during Justinian's reign. See Morrisson, 'Monnaie et prix', p. 250. With small denominations driven out of circulation, leaden imitations of such coins were produced on a small scale in certain peripheral areas of the empire. See V. Culica, 'Imitafii locale ale unor monede din epoca romano-bizantina descoperite in Dobrogea', Buletinul Societapi Numismatice Romdne 70—4 (1976-81) 253-61; C. Morrisson, 'Monnaies en plomb byzantines de la fin du Vie et du debut du Vile siecle', Rivista italiana di numismatica e scienze affini 83 (1981) 119-32; W. Weiser, 'Neue byzantinische Kleinmiinzen aus Blei', Schweizerische Munzbldtter 35 (1985) 13-16. 100 As a result of Constantine IV's reform of 669. See Hahn, Moneta, 17. 101 V.S. Crisafulli and J.W. Nesbitt, The Miracles of St. Artemios. A Collection of Miracle Stories by an Anonymous Author of Seventh-Century Byzantium (Leiden/New York 1997) 129. The episode can be dated to 643/4 and the small change in question was received after the purchase of candles. 146 Florin Curta 102 According to the seventh-century Life of St. Alypius, in order to change large denomination coins into smaller ones, one needed to go into a city. See H. Delehaye, Les Saints Stylites (Brussels 1923) 160; N. Oikonomides, 'Es moio PaOu.6 Tyrav eyxpriuOTio-uivri r\ itsaoPui^avTivri oiKovouia;' in PcoSovia. Tifii] oxbv M. I. MctvooactKct II (Rethymno 1994) 368; Laiou, 'Exchange and trade', 712 with note 75. 103 Or a ticket to the bath. See Leontius of Neapolis, Life of St. John the Almsgiver 38, in E.A.S. Dawes and N.S. Baynes, Three Byzantine Saints. Contemporary Biographies (Oxford 1948) 246. 104 For daily alms of twenty to thirty nummia (two to three 10-nummia pieces) and vegetables worth no more than two folles, see Morrisson, 'Monnaie et prix', 253 and 256.