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The Gothic invasions of the mid-3rd c. A.D. and the Battle of Abritus: coins and archaeology in east-central Barbaricum

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 October 2020

Aleksander Bursche
Affiliation:
Instytut Archeologii, Uniwersytet Warszawski abursche@yahoo.com
Kirill Myzgin (Kирилл Мызгин)
Affiliation:
Instytut Historyczny, Uniwersytet Warszawski kvmyzgin@gmail.com
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In the Numismatic Chronicle for 2013, A. Bursche put forward the proposition that the imperial treasury was seized by the Goths when in A.D. 251 they crushed the Roman army at Abritus.1 Most of the plundered Roman gold was presumably in the form of coin (ingots are neither excluded nor confirmed). This gold has now been traced with some confidence to archaeological sites of the Wielbark and the Chernyakhiv cultures, in particular to grave assemblages dated to the second half of the 3rd c. (phase C1b-C2 of the Late Roman period).2 This had even broader consequences, since the capture of an enormous amount of gold by the barbarians could have been the immediate cause of the deterioration of the aureus under Decius‘ successors.3

Type
Articles
Copyright
© Journal of Roman Archaeology L.L.C. 2020