Some new findings of Roman coins in Vërban of Kllokot
At the archaeological site in Vërban of Kllokot, near Viti in Kosovo, artifacts from the Roman and Byzantine periods are continuously being discovered. Earlier, a series of relics from the Roman period were found at this site, among which a particularly notable place is held by the marble bust of the “Dardanian Lady,” depicting a woman from the Dardanian aristocratic class, dressed in characteristic Illyrian attire and adorned with ornaments exclusive to Dardanian women. During the spring and autumn of 2023 and 2024, a considerable number of coins were discovered as chance finds during agricultural work, belonging to the period of Roman rule in Kosovo from the 2nd century to the second half of the 6th century AD. These coins correspond to the times of the empresses Faustina Maior (wife of Emperor Antoninus Pius, 138-140) and Sallustia Orbiana (wife of Emperor Severus Alexander, 225-227), as well as to the emperors: Septimius Severus (193-211), Geta (209-211), Gordian III (238-244), Philip I (244-249), Trebonianus Gallus (251-253), Volusianus (251-253), Gallienus (253-268), Aurelian (270-275), Diocletian (284-305), Constantine I (306-337), Constantius Gallus (326-354), Constantius II (337-361), Valentinian I (364-375), Valens (364-378), and the Byzantine emperor Justinian I (527-565). On the obverse of these coins are depictions of the aforementioned emperors, while the reverse features images of the emperors as well as deities: Sol (the Sun god), Annona (a goddess associated with Ceres, representing the divine personification of grain distribution to the Roman people), Ceres (goddess of agriculture and fertility), Securitas (goddess of state security), Concordia (goddess of harmony), Roma (goddess personifying the city of Rome), and Victoria (winged goddess of victory, most commonly depicted on the reverse of Roman coins), along with representations of various animals or large letters indicating the coin’s nominal value, as in the case of the follis from the time of Emperor Justinian I. The coins are made of silver and bronze and belong to different types. Among them are coins of the types: denarius, sestertius, antoninianus, the reformed antoninianus introduced during the reforms of Emperor Caracalla (198-217); then bronze coins of the types nummus, follis, reduced follis, as well as the reformed solidus introduced during the reforms of Emperor Constantine the Great (306-337); bronze imitations of silver coins; commemorative coins; and the so-called “limes denarius,” which was an imitation of the official silver denarius, minted to pay military units stationed in the Danubian provinces. Based on the data from the inscriptions on the exergues (segments) of these coins, it is understood that they were minted in the central mints of Rome, as well as in provincial mints: in Viminacium (Upper Mezi, present-day Kostolac in Serbia), Rome (Italy), Ticinum (Pavia, Italy), Lugdunum (Lyon, France), Antioch, Constantinople (Turkey), and Thessalonica (Greece).
Members of the Roman army in Roman Dardania originating from province of Dalmatia
In the former Kingdom of the Dardanians, which, after the Roman conquest, became part of the Roman province of Moesia (and later, after the territorial division by the emperor Domitian, from 86 AD was part of Upper Moesia) numerous epigraphic monuments have been discovered. These texts name the Roman army members from Salona (Salonis, Salonitanis, domo Salonis) and other locality of Dalmatia (domo Curicum, domo Flanona) in the Io century AD. These monuments, mostly funerary, belonged to former Roman soldiers, specifically veterans, who settled in Colonia Flavia Scupinorum after the Roman occupation of Dardania. They date back to the Io century AD and epigraphic monuments were erected by their freedmen, who also became heirs upon the masters’ death and in one case the monument was erected by a friend of the deceased. The veteran soldiers mentioned in the inscriptions on these monuments belonged to Legio VIIo Claudia Pia Fidelis, originally stationed in Macedonia, and later transferred to Dalmatia, remaining in Tilurium and Salona (Trilj and Solin in Croatia) until AD 62 was transferred back to the new province of Moesia. Following the division of Moesia by the Emperor Domitian this legion, along with Legio IVo Flavia (transferred in 86 from Dalmatia), became part of the crew of the Roman army in Upper Moesia and they stayed there until the end of antiquity. Just one of the mentioned veterans was a member of Legio XIVo Gemina, which was stationed in Pannonia. During the colony settlement in Scupi (Io century AD) veterans from various Roman legions, including active soldiers and veterans of Legio VIIo Claudia from Dalmatia, were mentioned. This occurred much later in the list of newly retired soldiers at the end of the IIo century AD, found in the north of Moesia Superior, near Viminacium (Čajir, near Kostolac in Serbia). Scupi faced destruction due to a catastrophic earthquake in 518 AD and also later by Slavic invasions, ceasing to exist by the end of the VIth century, as evidenced by the last coins minted in 582-583 AD during the reign of the Byzantine emperor Mauricius (gr. Maurikios, 582-602), although archaeological findings prove that a modest life continued to exist in this area until the Xo- XIo centuries AD.
Ndikimet nga mesdheu në Dardaninë pararomake dhe romake
Dardanët dhe shteti i tyre, i vendosur në
udhëkryqin që lidh Evropën Veriore me Ballkanin e Jugut dhe Greqinë si
dhe brendësinë e Ballkanit me bregdetin ilir, fillojnë të përmenden në veprat
e autorëve antikë në shekullin IV para erës sonë, por dëshmitë arkeologjike
sugjerojnë se qysh në shekullin VI, para erës sonë, dardanët kishin pasur një
shoqëri të organizuar, të udhëhequr nga princër dhe që qysh në atë kohë
kishte pasur ndikime nga Mesdheu. Ndikimet e qytetërimeve të ndryshme
nga Mesdheu janë dëshmuar që nga periudha parahistorike, para së gjithash,
përmes gjetjeve të enëve prej argjile, të stolive dhe të pajisjeve të luftës të
importuara nga Mesdheu si dhe të monedhave të prodhuara nëpër punëtoritë
monedhëprerëse ilire të cilat vepronin nëpër qytetet buzë Adriatikut që
pjesërisht ishin me origjinë dalmate. Pas pushtimit romakët Mbretërisë
Dardane dhe të krijimit të provincës Mezia (Moesia) brenda të cilës ishte
integruar trojet dardane, këto ndikime ishin bërë më të shpeshta përmes
Romës dhe të brigjeve të Adriatikut dhe pasqyrohen përmes të gjetjeve të
monumenteve epigrafike të ushtarëve romakë, një pjesë e të cilëve kishin
qenë me origjinë nga Dalmacia.
Romakët dhe ata që erdhën me ta në Dardani sollën me vete dhe e
përhapen anembanë Mesdheut gjuhën latine dhe onomastikën latine e
greko-orientale si dhe nderimin e kulteve të hyjnive romake të ujit, por edhe
të hyjnive të tjera me origjinë greko-orientale, madje edhe kultet e njerëzve
të vdekshëm e të hyjnizuar pas vdekjes së tyre, kurse në fund edhe krishterimi
kishte arritur dhe ishte përhapur në Dardani përmes botës romake.
The Roman coins with military symbols found in Peja region
In 2021 as a case discovery in Peja was found a Roman coin of the reign of Emperor Gordian IIIo with a portrait of this emperor in avers and with a female figure who personifies the province of Moesia Superior (Upper Moesia) with the attributes of the Roman goddess Victoria in her hand, surrounded on both sides by two figures of a bull and one of a lion, which were the symbols of the legions of VIIo Claudia and IVo Flavia which were moved from Dalmatia to Moesia in 62 and 86 AD and which formed the military crew of Moesia Superior from the Io century to the end of antiquity.
On the averse are the portraits, names and titles of the emperors Gordian IIIo (225-244), Philip the Arab (244-249) and Trajan Decius (249-251), while on the reverse each coin bears the inscription: PMS COL VIM (Provinciae Moesiae Superioris Colonia Viminacium= Vimi- nacium of the Roman province Upper Moesia) and the signs AN IIII (anno quarto) which also date the coins in question.
It is an interesting fact that earlier in the region of Peja were found coins such a coin of the time of the emperor Philip the Arab (244-249) found in Dobrushë and another found in Dresnik from the time of Emperor Trajan Decius (249-251), with which began the period of Roman emperors of Illyrian origin which had continued until the time of Constantine the Great (306-337) and who avoided the rapid destruction of the Roman Empire. All three coins were minted in the years: 242/243, 244/245 and 249/250 AD, respectively belong to the time of the rule of three different emperors but all are minted in the same coin-cutting workshop in the capital of the province of Upper Moesia-Viminacium,
which had operated from 239 to in the year 255 AD.
In addition to the three coins dealt with here, from this time period is the coin treasure (hidden vault of money) found in 2004 in the Izvore locality between Mitrovica and Zubin Potok consisting of 28 bronze coins minted during the reign of the emperors: Gordian IIIo, Philip the Arab, Philip IIo, Trajan Decius, Etruscila, Quintus, Trebonianus Galus and Volusianus, 26 of which on the avers carry the portraits, names and titles of the mentioned emperors, while on the reverse have the ins- cription: PMS COL VIM and a female figure, personifing the province Moesia Superior (Upper Moesia) surrounded on both sides by two figures of a bull and one of a lion. Two other coins on the reverse have the legend PROVINCIA DACIA but it is likely that all these coins were minted in the provincial coinage workshop of Viminacium.
Otherwise, in the territory of Upper Moesia, a total of 16 hidden vault of money were found with such coins minted in Viminacium between the years 252/253 AD, which are supposed to have been hidden due to the danger during the civil war that took place at that time or the risk of attacks. barbarian tribes.
The coin of the Roman emperor Gordian IIIo recently found in Peja, together with the two earlier coins found in this region and the hidden vault (treasaury) of coins from the village of Izvore near Mitro- vica and other treasures with the coins of the same type found throughout Upper Moesia (whose main part formed the territory of the former Dardanian Kingdom) are important numismatic documents and historical evidence of the time related to the provincial issues of Roman coins and other historical events of the middle of the IIIo century AD, respectively of the time of the flourishing period of this province, the nucleus of which was the territory of the former Dardanian Kingdom inhabited by the Dardanian people and at the same time regarding the past of the region where the coins were found but also about the creation of an overview regarding the Roman Empire in general at certain historical
moments of the time when they were minted and were in use.