Black Sea vacation

[ambr0zie]

Yay! finally on holiday!

It's been a very stressful period, at work and I had some personal problems, but now all I think about is the incoming holiday, on a Black Sea beach.

Black Sea territory has very rich in numismatics and history, including the territory that is in my country.

I only have 2 coins minted in Romanian Black Sea territory but both are very important for me. No coin from Callatis yet but there's still time.

Moesia. Istrus circa 280 - 256/255 BC
Obol or Trihemiobol AR 12 mm, 0,77 g
Facing male heads, the left one inverted / IΣTΡIH, Sea-eagle left on dolphin, ΔI beneath dolphin.
Dima, Tabelul III, Grupa IV, Subgrupa VII, II – Pl XXI, 10

Histria or Istros (Ancient Greek: Ἰστρίη, Thracian river god, Danube), was a Greek colony or polis (πόλις, city) near the mouths of the Danube (known as Ister in Ancient Greek), on the western coast of the Black Sea. It was the first urban settlement on today's Romanian territory when founded by Milesian settlers in the 7th century BC. It was under Roman rule from the 1st to 3rd centuries AD. Invasions during the 7th century AD rendered it indefensible, and the city was abandoned. In antiquity, it also bore the names Istropolis, Istriopolis, and Histriopolis (Ἰστρόπολις, Ἰστρία πόλις).

 

Moesia, Tomis Æ21. 21 mm 5 g. Pseudo-autonomous issue, late 1st century AD. Laureate head of Zeus right / TOMEI-TѠN outwards around eagle facing right on thunderbolt, head reverted. RPC II, 411; AMNG I.2, 2509.

 

According to Jordanes (after Cassiodorus), the foundation of the city was ascribed to Tomyris, the queen of the Massagetae.

After achieving this victory (against Cyrus the Great) and winning so much booty from her enemies, Queen Tomyris crossed over into that part of Moesia which is now called Lesser Scythia – a name borrowed from Great Scythia –, and built on the Moesian shore of the Black Sea the city of Tomi, named after herself.

In 29 BC, the Romans captured the region from the Odrysian kingdom, and annexed it as far as the Danube, under the name of Limes Scythicus ("Scythian Frontier").

In AD 8, the Emperor Augustus banished the Roman poet Ovid (43 BC–17AD)here by Augustus for the last eight years of his life. He lamented his Tomisian exile in his poems Tristia and Epistulae ex Ponto. Tomis was "by his account a town located in a war-stricken cultural wasteland on the remotest margins of the empire".

A number of inscriptions found in and around the city show that Constanța stands over the site of Tomis. Some of these finds are now preserved in the British Museum in London.

The city was afterwards included in the Province of Moesia, and, from the time of Diocletian, in Scythia Minor, of which it was the metropolis. After the 5th century, Tomis fell under the rule of the Eastern Roman Empire. During Maurice's Balkan campaigns, Tomis was besieged by the Avars in the winter of 597/598.

Tomis was later renamed to Constantiana in honour of Constantia, the half-sister of Roman Emperor Constantine the Great (274-337). The earliest known usage of this name was in 950. The city lay at the seaward end of the Great Wall of Trajan, and was surrounded by fortifications of its own.

 

Please post coins from Istrus, Tomis or Callatis.

[Roman Collector]

Nice! Enjoy your vacation!

Here are some from Tomis:

Septimius Severus, AD 193-211.
Roman provincial diassarion, AE 21.2 mm, 6.30 g, 7 h.
Moesia Inferior, Tomis.
Obv: ΑY Κ Λ CΕ CΕΥΗΡΟC Π, laureate head, right.
Rev: ΜΗΤΡ ΠΟΝ ΤΟΜЄΩC, Asklepios standing facing, head left, holding serpent-entwined staff and with left hand on hip, B in left field.
Refs: AMNG 2781-85 var.; BMC 3.56,18 var.; Varbanov 4826 var.; Sear 2125 var.

Julia Domna AD 193-217.
Roman provincial Æ triassarion, 8.75 gm, 24.4 mm, 6 h.
Moesia Inferior, Tomis, AD 193-211.
Obv: ΙΟVΛΙΑ ΔΟΜΝΑ CЄ, bare-headed and draped bust, r.
Rev: ΜΗΤ ΠΟΝ ΤΟΜЄΩC, Nike advancing l., holding wreath and palm, retrograde Γ (=3) to left.
Refs: Varbanov 4857; AMNG 2811.

 

Gordian III, with Tranquillina, A.D. 238-244
Roman provincial AE 4.5 assaria, 12.80 g, 28.2 mm, 7 h.
Moesia Inferior, Tomis, A.D. 241-244.
Obv: AVT K M ANTΩNIOC ΓΟΡΔΙΑΝΟC // CABINIA TPA / NKVΛΛINA, confronted laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Gordian right and diademed, draped bust of Tranquillina left.
Rev: MHTPOΠON-TOV TOMEΩC, Hygieia standing right, feeding serpent from patera; Δ< (ligate) in lower left field.
Refs: AMNG I (Pick) 3534.

 

Gordian III, AD 238-244, and Tranquillina.
Roman provincial Æ 4-1/2 assaria, 12.51 g, 26.6 mm, 12 h.
Moesia Inferior, Tomis, AD 241-244.
Obv: ΑVΤ Κ Μ ΑΝΤ ΓΟΡΔΙΑΝΟC ΑVΓ·CЄ // ΤΡΑΝΚVΛ / ΛЄΙΝΑ, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Gordian, right, facing diademed and draped bust of Tranquillina, left.
Rev: ΜΕΤΡΟ ΠΟΝΤΟV ΤΟΜΕΩC, Homonoia standing facing, head left, wearing polos and holding patera and cornucopiae; Δ< (ligate) in left field.
Refs: AMNG I 3545; Varbanov 5693; Moushmov 2276; SNG Cop --; BMC --; Lindgren --; Sear --.

 

Gordian III, with Tranquillina, A.D. 238-244.
Roman provincial AE 4.5 assaria, 28.92 mm, 15.89 g, 7:00.
Moesia Inferior, Tomis, A.D. 241-244.
Obv: AVT K M ANTΩNIOC ΓΟΡΔΙΑΝΟC // [C]ABINIA (TP)AN / KVΛΛINA, confronted laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Gordian right and diademed, draped bust of Tranquillina left.
Rev: MHTPO ΠONTOV TOMEΩC, Nemesis standing facing, head left, holding arshin (rod) and bridle, wheel at feet; Δ - < (denomination) in fields.
Refs: AMNG I 3537; Varbanov 5701; Moushmov 2279; RPC VII.2, — (unassigned; ID 28078); Cf. SNG Cop 305.

[seth77]

Pls post pics from the historical sites you are going to visit while there.

[ambr0zie]

Would gladly, but 1. history is not respected here. Sad but true. Don't expect you'll find archeological sites with guides, or at least not how they should be 2. I intend to visit Histria ruins later this year but they are very far from where I'm going and impossible to reach without a car (that I don't possess). So I will stick to the beach. And food. And beach. And then again beach.

[Ryro]

You deserve a nice respite. Rest, relax, sex, drugs and rock n roll. Have some sex on the beach and then an alcoholic beverage with the same name 😉 

Istros:

Olbia:

Sinope:

[Spaniard]

@ambr0zie....The main thing is to disconnect and recharge those batteries!...So a few of @Ryro options seem very appealing 😁...

Enjoy!

[Phil Davis]

2 hours ago, ambr0zie said:

Would gladly, but 1. history is not respected here. Sad but true. Don't expect you'll find archeological sites with guides, or at least not how they should be 2. I intend to visit Histria ruins later this year but they are very far from where I'm going and impossible to reach without a car (that I don't possess). So I will stick to the beach. And food. And beach. And then again beach.

If you do make it to Histria, bring mosquito repellant! (I know from sad experience.)

[Agricantus]

I'm also vacationing at the beach. Just different continent.

[Phil Davis]

A few pics from the quite nice little museum at Histria:

Edited July 10, 2022 by Phil Davis

[Valentinian]

14 hours ago, ambr0zie said:

Black Sea territory has very rich in numismatics and history, including the territory that is in my country.

You are writing about Romania, correct?  You mentioned three cities now in Romania that minted ancient coins: Istrus (Istros), Tomis, and Callatis. Is that list complete for cities in Romania?

Here is my coin from Istros, in Thrace:

18 mm. 5.84 grams.
Two young male heads facing, side by side, one upright an one upside down. 
IΣTPIH above sea-eagle on dolphin, underneath, S.
Sear Greek 1669. SNG Copenhagen II Thrace 191-197 "Fourth C. B.C."



 

[ambr0zie]

As far as I know, these were the only three that minted coins. With an exception - Provincia Dacia 3rd century provincial coins but I am not sure about the mint location - probably Sarmizegetusa.