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

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 January 2016

Florin Curta
Florin Curta*
Affiliation:
University of Florida
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Extract

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.

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Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies , Volume 29 , Issue 2 , 2005 , pp. 113 - 146
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Copyright © The Centre for Byzantine, Ottoman and Modern Greek Studies, University of Birmingham 2005

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References

Notes

1 Setton, K.M., ‘The Bulgars in the Balkans and the occupation of Corinth in the 7th century’, Speculum 15 (1950) 502-43CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Charanis, P., ‘On the capture of Corinth by the Onogurs and its recapture by the Byzantines’, Speculum 27 (1952) 343-50CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Setton, K.M., ‘The emperor Constans II and the capture of Corinth by the Onogur Bulgars’, Speculum 27 (1952) 351-62CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

2 Setton, ‘Bulgars in the Balkans’, 520. For the Onogur conquest of Corinth in Isidore’s letter, see Szádeczky-Kardoss, S., ‘Eine unbeachtete Quellenstelle über die Protobulgaren am Ende des 6. Jhs.’, Bulgarian Historical Review 11 (1983) 78 Google Scholar with note 20.

3 Charanis, P., ‘Nicephorus I, the savior of Greece from the Slavs (810 AD)’, Byzantina-Metabyzantina 1 (1946) 75–92 Google Scholar.

4 Setton, ‘Bulgars in the Balkans’, 517.

5 Setton, ‘Bulgars in the Balkans’, 511. For contemporary, similar views, see Bon, A., ‘Le problème slave dans le Péloponnèse à la lumière de l’archéologie’, Byzantion 20 (1950) 14 Google Scholar: ‘il n’y a pas de bataille entre deux armées; il s’est produit une infiltration, une avance progressive d’éléments non militaires qui n’a pas été marquée par aucun fait saillant’. See also Lemerle, P., ‘La chronique improprement dite de Monemvasie: le contexte historique et légendaire’, Revue des études byzantines 21 (1963) 35 CrossRefGoogle Scholar (‘infiltration progressive’); Herrin, J., ‘Aspects of the process of hellenization in the early Middle Ages’, Annual of the British School at Athens 68 (1973) 115 CrossRefGoogle Scholar (‘an insidious infiltration’); Dunn, M., ‘Evangelism or repentance? The re-Christianisation of the Peloponnese in the ninth and tenth centuries’, Studies in Church History 14 (1977) 73 CrossRefGoogle Scholar (‘a process of infiltration’); Hendy, M. F., Studies in the Byzantine Monetary Economy c. 300-1450 (Cambridge 1985) 619 CrossRefGoogle Scholar (‘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 Papoulia, V., ‘To πρόβλημα τής εΐρηνικής διεισδυσέως τών Σλάβων στήν Έλλάδα’, in Διεθνες συμπόσιο “Βυζαντινη Μακεδονία, 324-1430 μ.Χ.”, Θεσσαλονίκη, 29-31 Όκτωβρίου 1992 (Thessaloniki 1995) 255-65Google Scholar; Curta, F., Making the Slavs: History and Archaeology of the Lower Danube Kegion, ca. 500-700 (Cambridge/New York 2001) 74-5CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

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 Charanis, P., ‘Ethnic changes in the Byzantine Empire in the seventh century’, Dumbarton Oaks Papers 13 (1959) 40 CrossRefGoogle Scholar and ‘Observations on the history of Greece during the Early Middle Ages’, Balkan Studies 11 (1970) 26-7Google Scholar.

7 Charanis, P., ‘On the question of the Slavonic settlements in Greece during the Middle Ages’, Byzantinoslavica 10 (1949) 254—8Google Scholar and ‘Observations on the history of Greece’, 26. This specific criticism was aimed at Dionysios Zakythinos, A., in Charanis’s review of Zakythinos’ Oi Σλάβοι εν Έλλάδι. Συμβολοή είς τήν ίστορίαν τοϋ μεσοαωνικοδ Έλληνισμοΰ (Athens 1945), in Byzantinoslavica 10 (1949) 95 Google Scholar. See also Kyriakides, S.P., Βούλγαροι κοα Σλάβοι είς την έλληνικην ίστορίαν (Thessaloniki 1946)Google Scholar. Kyriakides had attacked Charanis’s theories in his Βοζαντινοά Μελέται VI: Oí Σλάβοι εν Πελοποννήσφ (Thessaloniki 1947).

8 Fallmerayer, J.P., Geschichte der Halbinsel Morea während des Mittelalters. Ein historischer Versuch I (Stuttgart/Tübingen 1836) iii–v Google Scholar. Fallmerayer’s ideas were not entirely original. The first to speak about the ‘Slavonisation of Greece’ was Leake, W., Researches in Greece (London 1814) 61-3Google Scholar, 254-5, and 378-80. For Leake’s influence on Fallmerayer, see Leeb, T., Jakob Philipp Fallmerayer. Publizist und Politiker zwischen Revolution und Reaktion, 1835-1861 (Munich 1996) 54 Google Scholar.

9 Setton, ‘Emperor Constans’, 351.

10 S. Vryonis, Review of Weithmann, M.W., Die slavische Bevölkerung auf der griechischen Halbinsel. Ein Beitrag zur historischen Ethnographie Südosteuropas (Munich 1978), in Balkan Studies 22 (1981) 407 Google Scholar; Bornträger, E.W., ‘Die slavischen Lehnwörter im Neugriechischen’, Zeitschrift für Balkanologie 25 (1989) 9 Google Scholar. For the relationship between the ‘Slavic thesis’ and Fallmerayer’s political views of Russia, see Lauer, R., ‘Jakob Philipp Fallmerayer und die Slaven’, in Thurnher, E. (ed.) Jakob Philipp Fallmerayer. Wissenschaftler, Politiker, Schriftsteller (Innsbruck 1993) 145 Google Scholar. For his anti-Russian attitude, see also Thurnher, E., Jahre der Vorbereitung. Jakob Fallmerayers Tätigkeiten nach der Rückkehr von der zweiten Orientreise, 1842-1845 (Vienna 1995) 42-7Google Scholar; Skopetea, E., Φαλμεράιερ. Τεχνάσματα τοο άντιπάλου δέοος (Athens 1997) 99–132 Google Scholar.

11 Zakythinos, Σλάβοι έν Έλλάδι, 101. The first Greek translation of Fallmerayer’s work is IJspi τής καταγωγης τών σημερινών Έλλήνων (Athens 1984).

12 Augustinus, G., ‘Culture and authenticity in a small state: historiography and national development in Greece’, East European Quarterly 23 (1989), no. 1, 23 Google Scholar; Danforth, L.M., The Macedonian Conflict. Ethnic Nationalism in a Transnational World (Princeton 1995) 74 Google Scholar and 76; Koliopoulos, J. S., Plundered Loyalties. World War II and Civil War in Greek West Macedonia (New York 1999) 283 Google Scholar.

13 Zakythinos, , Σλάβοι εν Έλλάδι, 72 and ‘La grande brèche dans la tradition historique de l’hellénisme du septième au neuvième siècle ’, in Charisterion eis Anastasion K. Orlandon, I (Athens 1966) 300 Google Scholar, 302, and 316. For Zakythinos’s political activities during the Civil War, see Koliopoulos, Plundered Loyalties, 285.

14 Yannopoulos, P.A., ‘La pénétration slave en Argolide’, in Etudes argiennes (Athens 1980) 353 Google Scholar; Nystazopoulou-Pelekidou, M., Σλαβικες έγκατα,στάσεις στη μεσχιωνικη ‘Ελλάδοι. Γενικη έπισκόπηση (Athens 1993) 23 Google Scholar; Avramea, A., Le Péloponnèse du IVe au VIIIe siècle. Changements et persistances (Paris 1997) 161 CrossRefGoogle Scholar. According to Phaedon Malingoudis, the ‘nomadic Slavs’ is a favorite cliché of Greek historiography. See Malingoudis, P., ‘Za materialnata kultura na rannoslavianskite plemena v Gărciia’, Istoricheski pregled 41 (1985) 64–71 Google Scholar and Σλάβοι στή μεσαιωνική Έλλάδα (Thessaloniki 1988) 15-18.

15 Karayannopoulos, J., ‘Zur Frage der Slavenansiedlungen auf dem Peloponnes’, Revue des études sud-est européennes 9 (1971) 460 Google Scholar.

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 Anagnostakis, I. and Poulou-Papadimitriou, N., ‘H πρωτοβυζαντινή Μεσσήνη (5ος-7ος άιώνας) και προβλήματα τής χειροποίητης κεραμικής στήν Πελοπόννησο’, Σόμμεικτα 11 (1997) 292-3Google Scholar; Anagnostakis, I., ‘H χειροποίητη κεραμική άνάμεσα στήν Ίστορία καί Άρχοαολογία’, Βυζαντιακά 17 (1997) 289 Google Scholar. For the relative eclipse of interest in the (medieval) Dark Ages in Greek archaeology, see Kotsakis, K., ‘The past is ours. Images of Greek Macedonia’, in Meskell, L. (ed.) Archaeology under Fire. Nationalism, Politics, and Heritage in the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East (London/New York 1998) 45 Google Scholar.

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 Bulgár attack’, see Setton, K., ‘The archaeology of medieval Athens’, in Mundy, J.H. (ed.) Essays in Medieval Life and Thought, Presented in Honor of Austin Patterson Evans (New York 1955) 239 Google Scholar. 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 Bellinger, A.R., ‘The coins’, in Biegen, C.W., Broneer, O., Stillwell, R., and Bellinger, A.R. (eds) Acrocorinth. Excavations in 1926 (Cambridge 1930) 61-8Google Scholar. For a different interpretation of the Corinth distribution of coin finds, see Pallas, D., ‘Та άρχααολογικά τεκμήρια τής καθόδου τών βαρβάρων είς Έλλάδα’, Έλληνικά 14 (1955) 88-95Google Scholar. 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, Péloponnèse, 73-4 and n. 37.

18 Charanis, P., ‘The significance of coins as evidence for the history of Athens and Corinth in the seventh and eighth centuries’, Historia 4 (1955) 171 Google Scholar. For sixth and seventh-century coins from Corinth that were known to Setton and Charanis, see Edwards, K., Corinth. Results of Excavations Conducted by the American School of Classical Studies at Athens (Cambridge 1933) 121-33Google Scholar. 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 Malingoudis, P., Studien zu den slawischen Ortsnamen Griechenlands 1. Slawische Flurnamen aus der messenischen Mani (Wiesbaden 1981) 177 Google Scholar.

21 Charanis, ‘Significance of coins’, 168; D. Metcalf, M., ‘Monetary recession in the Middle Byzantine period: the numismatic evidence’, Numismatic Chronicle 161 (2001) 127 Google Scholar. Indeed, coins of Philippikos are die-linked, 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 Thompson, M., ‘Some unpublished bronze money of the early eighth century’, Hesperia 9 (1940) 367 CrossRefGoogle Scholar and 369.

22 Pallas, ‘Та άρχαιολογικά τεκμήρια’, 88-95. For a somewhat different interpretation, see Marín, J. R., ‘La “cuestión eslava” en el Peloponeso bizantino (siglos VI-X)’, Bizantion Nea Heliás 11-12 (1991-92) 235-6Google Scholar.

23 Penna, V., ‘H ζωή στις βυζαντινες πόλεις τής Πελοποννήσου: ή νομισματική μαρτυρία. (8ος-12ος αι. μ. X.)’, in Tzamalis, A.P. (ed.) Μνήμη Martin J. Price (Athens 1996) 199 Google Scholar: the decline began in the years following Justinian I’s death.

24 Avramea, Péloponnèse, 73.

25 Avramea, Péloponnèse, 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, Péloponnèse, 159). For coins found in Patras, see also Lambropoulou, A., ‘Le Péloponnèse occidental à l’époque proto-byzantine (IV-VIIe siècles). Problèmes de géographie historique d’un espace à reconsidérer’, in Belke, K. et al. (eds.) Byzanz als Raum. Zu Methoden und Inhalten der historischen Geographie des östlichen Mittelmeerraumes (Vienna, 2000) 106 Google Scholar; Lampropoulou, A., Anagnostakis, I., Konti, V., and Panopoulou, A., ‘Συμβολή στήν έρμηνεία τών άρχοαολογικών τεκμηρίων τής Πελοποννήσου κατά τους “σκοτεινους άιώνες”’, in Kountoura-Galake, E. (ed.), The Dark Ages of Byzantium (7th-9th c.) (Athens 2001) 216-7Google Scholar.

26 The first numismatist to establish coin hoards as a class of evidence illustrating political events (mainly barbarian invasions) known from written sources was Blanchet, A., ‘Les rapports entre les dépôts monétaires et les événements militaires, politiques et économiques’, Revue numismatique 39 (1936) 1–70 Google Scholar and 205-69. Blanchet’s ideas are in fact a numismatic variant of the culture-historical approach in archaeology, for which see Trigger, B.G., A History of Archaeological Thought (Cambridge 1989) 148–206 Google Scholar.

27 Charanis, ‘Significance of coins’, 163-4.

28 For Thrace, see Lilie, R.-J., ‘“Thrakien” und “Thrakesion”. Zur byzantinischen Provinzorganisation am Ende des 7. Jahrhunderts’, Jahrbuch der österreichischen Byzantinistik 26 (1977) 7–47 Google Scholar. For Hellas, see Ostrogorski, G., ‘Postanak tema Khelada i Peloponez’, Zbornik radova Vizantološkog Instituta 1 (1952) 64–77 Google Scholar.

29 Huxley, G., ‘The second Dark Age of the Peloponnese’, Lakonikai spoudai 3 (1977) 84–110 Google Scholar; Browning, R., ‘Athens in the “Dark Age”’, in Smith, B. (ed.) Culture & History. Essays Presented to Jack Lindsay (Sydney 1984) 297–303 Google Scholar; Gregory, T.E., ‘Archaeology of the Byzantine Dark Age: problems and prospects’, in Ševčenko, I. et al. (eds) Acts. XVIIIth International Congress of Byzantine Studies. Selected Papers: Moscow 1991 II (Shepherdstown 1996) 217-24Google Scholar. For the misconstrued notion of lack of sources, see Lilie, R.-J., ‘Wie dunkel sind die “dunklen Jahrhunderte”? Zur Quellensituation in der mittelbyzantinischen Zeit und ihren Auswirkungen auf die Forschung’, Jahrbuch der österreichischen Byzantinistik 43 (1993) 37-13Google Scholar.

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., Morrisson, C., ‘Survivance de l’économie monétaire à Byzance (VII-IXe siècle)’, in Kountoura-Galake, E. (ed.) The Dark Ages of Byzantium (7th-9th c.) (Athens, 2001) 384 Google Scholar; Metcalf, ‘Monetary recession’, 144.

31 Hendy, Studies, 662.

32 Curta, F., ‘Invasion or inflation? Sixth- to seventh-century Byzantine coin hoards in Eastern and Southeastern Europe’, Annali dell’Istituto Italiano di Numismatica 43 (1996) 221 Google Scholar Fig. 44.

33 The Histria hoard: Preda, C. and Nubar, H., Histria III. Descoperirile monetare 1914–1970 (Bucharest 1973) 231 Google Scholar.

34 The Râncăciov hoard: Poenaru-Bordea, Gh. and Dicu, P. I., ‘Monede romane tîrzii şi bizantine (sec. IV-XI) descoperite pe teritoriul judeţului Argeş’, Studii şi cercetări de numismatică 9 (1989) 79 Google Scholar.

35 Akalan: Iurukova, I., ‘Săkrovishteto ot Akalan’, Numizmatika i sfragistika 1-2 (1992) 10-6Google Scholar. The hoard was wrongly indicated as from Belopoliane, district of Kărdzhali (Bulgaria) in Curta, ‘Invasion of inflation?’ 166. It had in fact been found behind the Long Walls of Constantinople, not far from present-day Çatalca (Turkey). As a consequence of this apparently widespread confusion, a second hoard from Çatalca has erroneously made its appearance in the numismatic literature. See Mosser, S.M., A Bibliography of Byzantine Coin Hoards (New York 1935) 18 Google Scholar; Metcalf, D.M., ‘The Aegean coastlands under threat: some coins and coin hoards from the reign of Heraclius’, Annual of the British School at Athens 57 (1962) 14-5CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Curta, ‘Invasion or inflation?’, 166. For the exact find spot, see Fiedler, U., ‘Die Gürtelbesatzstücke von Akalan. Ihre Funktion und kulturelle Stellung’, Izvestüa na Arkheologicheskiia Institut 37 (1994) 32 Google Scholar Fig. 1.

36 Vasaras: Avramea, A., ‘Νομισματικοι “θησαυροι” καΐ μεμονωμένα νομίσματα άπο τήν Πελοπόννησο (6ος-7ος αi.)’, Σόμμεικτα 5 (1983) 65 Google Scholar. Paiania: Metcalf, D.M., ‘The minting of gold coinage at Thessalonica in the fifth and sixth centuries and the gold currency of Illyricum and Dalmatia’, in Hahn, W. and Metcalf, W.E. (eds) Studies in Early Byzantine Gold Coinage (New York 1988) 108 Google Scholar.

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 Poenaru-Bordea, Gh. and Donoiu, I., ‘Contribuţii la studiul pătrunderii monedelor bizantine în Dobrogea ín secolele VII-X’, Buletinul Societăţii Numismatice Románe 75-6 (1981-2) 237-51Google Scholar; Metcalf, D.M., ‘Corinth in the ninth century: the numismatic evidence’, Hesperia 42 (1973) 181 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

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 Mousheghian, Kh., Mouseghian, A., Bresc, C., Depeyrot, G., and Gurnet, F., History and Coin Finds in Armenia. Coins from Duin, Capital of Armenia (4-13th c.). Inventory of Byzantine and Sassanian Coins in Armenia (6-7th c.) (Wetteren 2000) 63 Google Scholar.

39 Morozov, V. Iu., ‘Puti proniknoveniia sasanidskikh monet i khudozhestvennykh izdelii v Povolzh’e i Prikam’e’, in Kochkina, A.F. et al. (eds) Kul’tury evraziiskikh stepei vtoroi poloviny I tysiacheletiia n.e. (Samara 1996) 156-7Google Scholar.

40 Curta, ‘Invasion or inflation?’, 111.

41 A somewhat unique occurrence is the group of miliaresia of Constans II from the Zemianský 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 Fiala, A., ‘K objavu miliarense Constansa II. z pokladu zo Zemianského Vrbovku’, Numismatický sborník 17 (1986) 15–20 Google Scholar. 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 Zemianský 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 Aibabin, A.I., ‘Pogrebeniia konca VII-pervoi poloviny VIII v. v Krymu’, in Ambroz, A.K. and Erdélyi, I. (eds) Drevnosti epokhi velikogo pereseleniia narodov V-VIII vekov. Sovetsko-vengerskii sbornik (Moscow 1982) 186-7Google Scholar.

42 Sokolova, I.V., ‘Monety pereshchepinskogo klada’, Vizantiiskii Vremennik 54 (1993) 151-2Google Scholar; Bòna, I., ‘“Barbarische” Nachahmungen von byzantinischen Goldmünzen im Awarenreich’, Rivista italiana di numismatica e scienze affini 95 (1993) 531 Google Scholar; Morrisson, C., ‘La diffusion de la monnaie de Constantinople: routes commerciales ou routes politiques?’, in Mango, C. and Dagron, G. (eds), Constantinople and its Hinterland. Papers from the Twenty-seventh Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies, Oxford, April 1993 (Aldershot 1995) 84 Google Scholar. ‘Light weight solidi’ of Constans II also appear in the Lower Don and north Caucasus regions. See Semenov, A.I., ‘Vizantiiskie monety Kelegeiskogo kompleksa’, Arkheologicheskii sbornik Gosudarstvennogo Ermitazha 31 (1991) 126 Google Scholar. The Dnieper region also produced silver imitations of ‘light weight solidi’ of Constans II. See Kropotkin, V.V., Klady vizantiiskikh monet na territorii SSSR (Moscow 1962) 31 Google Scholar.

43 Wołoszyn, M., ‘Moneta bizantyńska na terenie kaganatu awarskiego (uwagi na marginesie książki Petera Somogyi 1997)’, Archeologia Polski 44 (1999) 164 Google Scholar. Most Hungarian archaeologists assume that the gold coins of Constans II and Constantine IV have 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 Zemianský 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 Bòna, ‘“Barbarische” Nachahmungen’, 529-38; Somogyi, P., Byzantinische Fundmünzen der Awarenzeit (Innsbruck 1997) 128 Google Scholar.

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 Kučera, J., ‘Nálezy byzantských mincí z 6. a 7. stol. v Podebradech’, Numismatický sborník 9 (1966) 225 Google Scholar. A small hoard of copper coins of Constans II is known from Krnov, near the Czech-Polish border. See Radomerský, P., ‘Byzantské mince z pokladu v Zemianském Vrbovku’, Památky Archeologické 44 (1953) 111 Google Scholar. A coin of Constans II minted in Sicily was found as far as Pinsk (Belarus). See Isaenko, V.F., Mitrofanov, A.G., and Shtykhov, G.V., Ocherki po arkheologii Belorussii. Chast’ I (Minsk 1970) 238 Google Scholar. For Sicilian coins of Constans II in France and northern Germany, see Morrisson, C., ‘La Sicile byzantine: une lueur dans les siècles obscurs’, Quaderni ticinesi 27 (1998) 313 Google Scholar, 315, 318, and 320.

45 An explanation first offered by Metcalf, D.M., ‘Coinage and coin finds associated with a military presence in the medieval Balkans’, in Kondić, V. (ed.) Kovanje i kovnice antičkog i srednjovekovnog novca (Belgrade 1976) 88–97 Google Scholar. 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 Metcalf, D.M., ‘Frankish petty currency from the Areopagus in Athens’, Hesperia 34 (1965) 213 CrossRefGoogle Scholar. 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 Kislinger, E., ‘Byzantinische Kupfermünzen aus Sizilien (7.-9. Jh.) im historischen Kontext’, Jahrbuch der österreichischen Byzantinistik 46 (1996) 29–30 Google Scholar.

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 Nesebăr (Catalogue nos 28-9), all stray finds from the northern Balkans are coins minted before c.660.

49 Excavations at Saraçhane produced 77 coins of Constans II, including half-folles (three of which were minted before the Italian campaign) and 10-nummia pieces. See Hendy, M.F., ‘The coins’, in Harrison, R.M. (ed.) Excavations at Saraçhane in Istanbul, I (Princeton 1986) 313-5Google Scholar.

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 II’s campaign to Italy, as indicated by the events of 653/4. See Theophanes Confessor, Chronographia, AM 6146, ed. de Boor, C., vol. 2 (Berlin 1885) 345-6Google Scholar; English tr. in Mango, C. and Scott, R., The Chronicle of Theophanes Confessor. Byzantine and Near Eastern History A.D. 284-813 (Oxford 1997) 482 Google Scholar. See Ahrweiler, H., Byzance et la mer. La marine de guerre, la politique et les institutions maritimes de Byzance aux VIIe-XVe siècles (Paris 1966) 19–26 Google Scholar. 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 Treadgold, W., Byzantium and Its Army, 284-1081 (Stanford 1995) 72-5Google Scholar.

51 Avramea, Péloponnèse, 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 Kropotkin, V.V., ‘Novye nakhodki vizantiiskikh monet v Kerch’, Vizantiiskii Vremennik 32 (1971) 217-18Google Scholar; Golenko, V.K., ‘Monety iz raskopok gosudarstvennogo istoricheskogo muzeia v Khersonese (1958-69 gg.)’, Sovetskaia Arkheologiia 4 (1972) 212 Google Scholar. 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 Dimian, I., ‘Cîteva descoperiri monetare pe teritoriul RPR’, Studii şi cercetări de numismatică 8 (1957) 197 Google Scholar. 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 Kozub, M., ‘The chronology of the inflow of Byzantine coins into thi Avar khaganate’, in Urbańczyk, P. (ed.) Origins of Central Europe (Warsaw 1997) 241-2Google Scholar; 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 Golenko, K.V., ‘Klad vizantiiskikh monet VII v., naidennyi bliz Anapy’, Vizantiiskii Vremennik 26 (1965) 162-5Google Scholar. 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 Biró-Sey, K., ‘Ujabb avar utánzatú ezüstpénz a MNM éremgyüjteményben’, Numizmatikai Közlöny 76-7 (1977-8) 50 Google Scholar; Somogyi, Byzantinische Fundmünzen, 80-1; Kozub-Wołoszyn, M., ‘Monety bizantyńskie VI-VIII w. nad środkowym Dunajem i kwestia ich żróznicowania pod wzgledem miesjca emisji’, in Sedov, V.V. (ed.) Istoriia i kul’tura drevnikh i srednevekovykb slavian (Moscow 1999) 291 Google Scholar. 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 Avenarius, A., ‘Die Konsolidierung des Awarenkaganates und Byzanz im 7. Jahrhundert’, Byzantina 13 (1985) 1023 Google Scholar; Pohl, W., Die Awaren. Ein Steppenvolk im Mitteleuropa 567-822 n. Chr. (Munich 1988) 278 Google Scholar.

54 Curta, ‘Invasion or inflation?’, 115. For the chronology of the Bulgar migration to the Lower Danube, see now Stepanov, Ts., ‘Bălgarite ot nai-drevni vremena do vtorata polovina na VII vek’, in Bakalov, G. (ed.) Istoriia na bălgarite I (Sofia 2003) 88–93 Google Scholar.

55 Hahn, W., Moneta Imperii Byzantini. Von Heraclius bis Leo III./Alleinregierung (610-720) III (Vienna 1981) 156 Google Scholar.

56 Semenov, ‘Vizantiiskie monety’, 126; Smedley, J., ‘Seventh-century Byzantine coins in southern Russia and the problem of light weight solidi’, in Hahn, W. and Metcalf, W.E. (eds) Studies in Early Byzantine Gold Coinage (New York 1988) 119 Google Scholar. Breckenridge, James, ‘The numismatic consequences of the exile of Justinian II to the Black Sea’, in Giuzelev, V. (ed.) Bulgaria Pontica II. Nessèbre, 26-30 mai 1982 (Sofia, 1988) 491 Google Scholar 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 Metcalf, D.M., ‘How extensive was the issue of folles during the years 775-820?’ Byzantion 37 (1967) 278 Google Scholar.

59 Hendy, Studies, 659.

60 The seal of an unknown kommerkiarios of the apotheke of Thessalonica: Zacos, G. and Veglery, A., Byzantine Lead Seals (Basel 1972) no. 210 Google Scholar; Lilie, R.-J. et al. (eds) Prosopographie der mittelbyzantinischen Zeit V (Berlin/New York 2001) 355 Google Scholar. For the role of the apotheke and its connection with military activities, see Hendy, Studies, 659; Haldon, J.F., Byzantium in the Seventh Century. The Transformation of a Culture (Cambridge 1990) 237 CrossRefGoogle Scholar and ‘Military service, military lands, and the status of soldiers: current problems and interpretations’, DOP 47 (1993) 16-17. The first kommerkiarios of Hellas is one Constantine mentioned on a seal dated to 698/9, see Mordtmann, M., ‘Plombs byzantins de la Grèce et du Péloponnèse’, Revue archéologique 33 (1877) 291 and Prosopographie II (Berlin/New York 2000) 507 Google Scholar.

61 Only one half-follis of Philippikos has been found in the Saraçhane 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 Grierson, P., in Bellinger, A.R. and Grierson, P. (eds) Catalogue of the Byzantine Coins in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection and in the Whittemore Collection II (Washington 1968) 665 Google Scholar. 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 Saraçhane 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 Kupfermünzen’, 31. See Oikonomides, N., ‘Une liste arabe des stratèges byzantins du VIIe siècle et les origines du thème de Sicile’, Rivista di Studi Bizantini e Neobizantini 11 (1964) 121-30Google Scholar. 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 Penna, V., ‘Νομισματικες νύξεις γιά τή ζωή στίς Κυκλάδες κατά τούς 8ο καί 9ο αίώνες’, in Kountoura-Galake, E. (ed.) The Dark Ages of Byzantium (7th-9th c.) (Athens 2001) 408 Google Scholar. 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: Konstantopoulos, K.M., ‘Βυζαντιακά μολυβδόβουλλα έν τφ Έθνικφ Μουσείω Άθηνων’, Journal International d’Archéologie Numismatique 5 (1902) 160 Google Scholar. Peter, an archon with the dignity of hypatos: Nesbitt, J. and Oikonomides, N. (eds) Catalogue of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg Museum of Art II (Washington 1994) 23 Google Scholar. 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, Péloponnèse, 99). The evidence seems to disprove Winkelmann’s idea of a lack of military officials associated with the theme of Hellas; see Winkelmann, F., Byzantinische Rang- und Ämterstruktur im 8. und 9. Jahrhundert (Berlin 1985) 123 Google Scholar. The only seals associated with Athens are those of Marinos and John, both bishops (Zacos and Veglery, Byzantine Lead Seals, no. 925; Konstantopoulos, ‘Βυζανηακά μολυβδόβουλλα’, 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 Google Scholar). 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 Google Scholar.

67 Oikonomides, N., ‘Silk trade and production in Byzantium from the sixth to the ninth century. The seals of kommerkiaroi ’, Dumbarton Oaks Papers 40 (1986) 47 CrossRefGoogle Scholar. For a list of kommerkiarioi of Mesembria, see Zacos and Veglery, Byzantine Lead Seals, 182-4.

68 Theoklieva-Stoytcheva, E., Mediaeval Coins from Mesemvria (Sofia 2001)Google Scholar.

69 Delonga, V., ‘Bizantski novac u zbirci Muzeja hrvatskih arheoloških spomenika u Splitu’, Starohrvatska prosvjeta 11 (1981) 206-7Google Scholar. 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) 83-5Google Scholar. Gold coins of Constantine V also appear in burial assemblages in Crimea: Kropotkin, V. V., ‘Mogil’nik Chufut Kale v Krymu’, Kratkie soobshcheniia Instituta Arkheotogii AN SSSR 100 (1965) 110 Google Scholar and ‘Novye nakhodki’, 218; Veimarn, E. V. and Aibabin, A.I., Skalistinskii mogil’nik (Kiev 1993) 80-1Google Scholar.

70 Distelberger, A., ‘Import in die awarischen Westgebiete im 8. Jahrhundert’, in Daim, F. et al. (eds) Reitervölker aus dem Osten. Hunnen + Awaren. Burgenländische Landesausstellung 1996. Schloβ Halbturn, 26 April-31 Oktober 1996 (Eisenstadt 1996) 306 Google Scholar; Kozub, ‘Chronology of the inflow’, 244; McCormick, M., Origins of the European Economy. Communications and Commerce, A.D. 300-900 (Cambridge 2001) 370 Google Scholar. 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 Fiedler, U., Studien zu Gräberfeldern des 6. bis 9. Jahrhunderts an der unteren Donau (Bonn 1992) 170 Google Scholar. For Kiulevcha, see also Vãzharova, Zh., ‘Zur Frage der Etnogenese und der materiellen Kultur des bulgarischen Volkes (Zwei Nekropolen aus Nordostbulgarien)’, in Angelov, D. et al. (eds) Culture et art en Bulgarie médiévale (VIIIe-XIVe s.) (Sofia 1979) 5–30 Google Scholar.

72 Bonev, C., ‘Nachalo dunaiskoi Bolgarii v svete nekotorykh arkheologicheskikh dannykh i monetnykh nakhodok’, Etudes Balkaniques 21 (1985) 62–76 Google Scholar; Curta, ‘Invasion or inflation?’, 114-16; Oberländer-Târnoveanu, E., ‘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) 65-8Google Scholar.

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 Popović, V., ‘Kubrat, Kuber i Asparukh’, Starinar 37 (1986) 103-33Google Scholar and Pavlov, P., ‘Belezhki za prabălgarskite na Kuber, kakto i za prisăstvieto na pechenezhski i kumanski grupi v dneshna Makedoniia (VII-XIV v.)’, Arkhiv za poselishtni prouchvaniia 2-3 (1994) 95–102 Google Scholar. Kouber has also been associated with the hoard of gold and silver from Vrap (Albania); see Szádeczky-Kardos, S., ‘Kuvrat fiának, Kubernek a története és avar kori régészeti leletanyag’, Antik Tanulmányok — Studia Antiqua 15 (1968) 87 Google Scholar with note 19; Werner, J., ‘Neue Aspekte zum awarischen Schatzfund von Vrap’, Iliria 13 (1983) 199 CrossRefGoogle Scholar. This interpretation has recently been rejected on chronological grounds: Garam, E., ‘Über den Schatzfund von Vrap (Albanien)’, Acta Archaeologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 49 (1997) 23–33 Google Scholar; Rashev, R., Prabǎgarite prez V-VII vek (Sofia 2000) 78 Google Scholar; Daim, F., ‘“Byzantinische” Gürtelgarnituren des 8. Jahrhunderts’, in Daim, F. (ed.) Die Awaren am Rand der byzantinischen Welt. Studien zu Diplomatie, Handel und Technologietransfer im Frühmittelalter (Innsbruck 2000) 95 Google Scholar.

74 Velkov, V., ‘Mesembria zwischen dem 4. und dem 8. Jahrhundert’, in Pillinger, R. et al. (eds) Die Schwarzmeerküste in der Spätantike und im frühen Mittelalter (Vienna 1992) 21 Google Scholar. For the archaeology of early medieval Mesembria, see Ivanov, T. (ed.) Nessèbre I (Sofia 1969 Google Scholar) and Ognenova, L., ‘La datation des édifices médiévales à Nessèbre d’après les données des fouilles’, in Bulgaria Pontica II, 570-6Google Scholar.

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 Chimbuleva, I., ‘Rannevizantiiskie termy v Nessebre’, in Giuzelev, V. (ed.) Bulgaria Pontica II. Nessèbre 26-30 mai 1982 (Sofia 1988) 577-84Google Scholar.

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 Balkan peninsula. See Ducellier, A., ‘Les Albanais dans l’Empire byzantin: de la communauté à l’expansion’, in Gasparis, Ch. (ed.) Oi Άλβανοι στο μεσαιώνοι (Athens 1998) 33 Google Scholar. Five archons of Mesembria are known from seals dated to the eighth century. See Nesbitt, and Oikonomides, , Catalogue of Byzantine Seals I, 77 Google Scholar; Zacos and Veglery, Byzantine Lead Seals, no. 1981a; Ebersolt, Jean, Catalogue des sceaux byzantins (Paris 1922) no. 300 Google Scholar.

77 Theophanes Confessor, A.M. 6254, 433 de Boor (559 Mango and Scott). For Sabinos, see Beshevliev, V., Die protobulgarische Periode der bulgarischen Geschichte (Amsterdam 1981) 219 Google Scholar and 505-7.

78 Theophanes Confessor, A.M. 6305, 499 de Boor (683 Mango and Scott). See Hendy, Studies, 654.

79 See Christophilopoulou, E., ‘Βυζαντινή Μακεδονία. Σχεδίασμα γιά τήν έποχή άπο τά τέλη τοϋ 6’ μέχρι τά μέσα τοΰ 9’ αίώνα’, Βοζαντινά 12 (1983) 53 Google Scholar; Laiou, A.E., ‘Exchange and trade, seventh-twelfth century’, in Laiou, A.E. (ed.) The Economic History of Byzantium From the Seventh Through the Fifteenth Century(Washington 2002) 704 Google Scholar. The earliest seal is that of 690/1 belonging to Cosmas, apo hypaton et genikos kommerkiarios of the apotheke of Mesembria. See Likhachev, N.P., ‘Datirovannye vizantiiskie pechati’, Izvestiia Rossiiskoi Akademii Istorii Material’noi Kul’tury 3 (1924) 174-5Google Scholar.

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 Morrisson, C., ‘Monnaie et prix à Byzance du Ve au VIIe siècle’, in Dagron, G. (ed.) Hommes et richesses dans l’Empire byzantin, I (Paris 1989) 252-6Google Scholar; Morrisson, C. and Cheynet, J.-C., ‘Prices and wages in the Byzantine world’, in Laiou, A.E. (ed.) The Economic History of Byzantium From the Seventh through the Fifteenth Century II (Washington, 2002) 865 Google Scholar. 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, 257. Contra: Pottier, H., Analyse d’un trésor de monnaies en bronze enfoui au VIe siècle en Syrie byzantine. Contribution à la méthodologie numismatique (Brussels 1983) 225 Google Scholar. 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 Völling, Th., ‘Ein frühbyzantinischer Hortfund aus Olympia’, Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts. Athenische Abteilung 110 (1995) 425-59Google Scholar.

83 An idea first formulated for the Balkan context by Metcalf, ‘Coinage and coin finds’.

84 Ferluga, J., ‘L’Istria tra Giustiniano e Carlo Magno’, Arheološki vestník 43 (1992) 180 Google Scholar; Torcellan, M., Le tre necropoli altomedioevali di Pinguente (Florence 1986) 22 Google Scholar; Marušić, B., Istra i sjevernojadranski prostor u ranom srednjem vijeku (materijalna kultura od 7. do 11. stoljeća) (Pula 1995) 9 Google Scholar. See also Margetić, Lujo, ‘Istra 751-91’, Croatica Christiana periodica 16 (1992) 1–10 Google Scholar. 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 de Vergottini, G., ‘Venezia e l’Istria nell’alto Medio Evo’, in Rossi, G. (ed.) Scritti di storia del diritto italiano III (Milan 1977) 1291-2Google Scholar; Ferluga, J., ‘Überlegungen zur Geschichte der byzantinischen Provinz Istrien’, Jahrbücher für Geschichte Osteuropas 35 (1987) 165 Google Scholar.

85 Paul the Deacon, History of the Lombards V 12. See Margetić, L., ‘Nęka pitanja prijelaza vlasti nad Istrom od Bizanta na Franke’, Acta Histriae 2 (1994) 22 Google Scholar; Cunja, R., Capodistria tardoromana e altomedievale. Lo scavo archeologico nell’ex Orto dei Cappuccini negli anni 1986-1987 alla luce dei reperti dal V al IX secolo d.C. (Koper 1996) 17 Google Scholar.

86 Ferluga, ‘Überlegungen’, 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 Brown, T.S., Gentlemen and Officers. Imperial Administration and Aristocratic Power in Byzantine Italy A.D. 554-800 (Rome 1984) 43 Google Scholar; Zanini, E., Le Italie bizantine. Territorio, insediamenti ed economia nella provincia bizantina d’Italia (VI-VIII secolo) (Bari 1998) 209-90Google Scholar.

87 Ferluga, ‘Überlegungen’, 168; Marušić, Istra, 9.

88 Paul the Deacon, History of the Lombards V 11-12; Bratož, R., ‘Aquileia und der Alpen-Adria-Raum (von der Mitte des 6. Jahrhunderts bis 811)’, in Hödl, G. and Grabmeyer, J. (eds) Karantanien und der Alpen-Adria-Raum im Frühmittelalter (Vienna/ Cologne/Weimar 1993) 163 Google Scholar.

89 The placitum of Rižana (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 Margetić, ‘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 Soustal, Peter, Tabula Imperii Byzantini 6: Thrakien (Thrake, Rodope und Haimimontus) (Vienna 1991) 76 Google Scholar.

92 Lilie, ‘“Thrakien” und “Thrakesion”’, 41.

93 Christophilopoulou, ‘Βυζαντινή Μακεδονία’, 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 Dunn, A., ‘The Kommerkiarios, the Apotheke, the Dromos, the Vardarios, and the West’, BMGS 17 (1993) 14 Google Scholar.

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 Metcalf, D.M., Coinage in the Balkans, 820-1355 (Chicago 1966) 19 Google Scholar.

96 Miracles of St Demetrius II 5, ed. Lemerle, P. (Paris 1979)Google Scholar. Sisinnios was a strategos of the Karabisianoi. On Sisinnios, see Prosopographie IV, 143.

97 PL 87: 201-3, epp. xvi and xvii. See also Borodin, O.R., ‘Rimskii papa Martin I i ego pisma iz Kryma (statiia, perevod, kommentarii)’, in Karpov, S.P. (ed.) Prichernomor’e v srednie veka. K XVIII Mezhdunarodnomu kongressu vizantinistov (Moscow 1991) 173-90Google Scholar.

98 See Adelson, H.L. and Kustas, G., ‘A sixth century hoard of minimi from the Western Peloponnese’, American Numismatic Society. Museum Notes 11 (1964) 159–205 Google Scholar; Poenaru-Bordea, G. and Nicolae, E., ‘Minimi din tezaurul descoperit la Constanta, ín cartierul Anadolchioi’, Buletinul Societăţii Numismatice Románe 80-5 (1986-91) 101-15Google Scholar.

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 Culică, V., ‘Imitaţii locale ale unor monede din epoca romano-bizantina descoperite ín Dobrogea’, Buletinul Societaţii Numismatice Románe 70-4 (1976-81) 253-61Google Scholar; Morrisson, C., ‘Monnaies en plomb byzantines de la fin du Vie et du début du Vile siècle’, Rivista italiana di numismatica e scienze affini 83 (1981) 119-32Google Scholar; Weiser, W., ‘Neue byzantinische Kleinmünzen aus Blei’, Schweizerische Münzblätter 35 (1985) 13–16 Google Scholar.

100 As a result of Constantine IV’s reform of 669. See Hahn, Moneta, 17.

101 Crisafulli, V.S. and Nesbitt, J.W., The Miracles of St. Artemios. A Collection of Miracle Stories by an Anonymous Author of Seventh-Century Byzantium (Leiden/New York 1997) 129 Google Scholar. The episode can be dated to 643/4 and the small change in question was received after the purchase of candles.

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 Delehaye, H., Les Saints Stylites (Brussels 1923) 160 Google Scholar; Oikonomides, N., ‘Σε ποιο βαθμο ήταν έγχρηματισμένη ή μεσοβυζαντινή οΐκονομία;’ in Ρωδονία. Τιμή στόν Μ. I. Μ/χνούσακθί II (Rethymno 1994) 368 Google Scholar; 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 Dawes, E.A.S. and Baynes, N.S., Three Byzantine Saints. Contemporary Biographies (Oxford 1948) 246 Google Scholar.

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.