Roman Coin Circulation in Ancient Armenia

Project Information

RoCCAA

Grant agreement ID: 892180

DOI

10.3030/892180

Project closed

EC signature date 11 March 2020

Start date 1 October 2020

End date 2 July 2023

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 212 933,76

EU contribution

€ 212 933,76

Coordinated by

THE CHANCELLOR, MASTERS AND SCHOLARS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD
United Kingdom

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - RoCCAA (Roman Coin Circulation in Ancient Armenia)

Reporting period: 2020-10-01 to 2022-09-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Studying the Greater Armenian Kingdom, which was located in the Caucasus region, is important for the understanding of the regional perspective from the 1st century BCE to the beginning of the 5th century CE. Since the 1st century BCE, the Roman and Parthian/Sasanian empires both aimed by various policies to take and maintain their own influence over the Kingdom of Greater Armenia, which became a point of conflict between these two empires.
Unfortunately, the dataset available for the study of the Greater Armenian Kingdom is quite limited and mostly derives from the Graeco-Roman sources. These data mainly offer a biased view of events, whilst the lack of contemporary Armenian or Parthian literature does not allow us to counterbalance the Roman imperialist overview of the Greater Armenian Kingdom.
In accordance with the lacuna in the data, the RoCCAA project intended, as a first step, to analyse the circulation of Roman coins within the territory of the Kingdom of Greater Armenia from 95 BCE (the date of accession of Tigranes II) until the 428 CE, the date of the fall of Arsacid dynasty.
Henceforth, it is fundamental for scholars to generate tangible evidence to improve the knowledge and understanding of the Greater Armenian Kingdom, as well as its interactions with neighbouring kingdoms and empires. The RoCCAA project offers a groundbreaking study in the sources submitted to analysis, and the methodology interlinked with an interdisciplinary approach.
The project bridged gaps in the data for the region and highlighted the dominant role that the Roman coins play in the circulation of money from the 1st century CE in ancient Armenia. The current data, notably, point out the dominant role of Republican and Early Imperial coins in contrast with later centuries and attest of the singularity of the monetary circulation in ancient Armenia by contrast to others surrounding kingdoms. Additional discoveries with archaeological context will, however, be necessary to confirm and narrow the monetary patterns observed in the current available dataset. On the other hand, Roman provincial coins minted in Syria (especially in Antioch) are attested in some quantity in ancient Armenia. The presence of imitations minted in ancient Armenia or Upper Mesopotamia confirms the importance, as well as the regional circulation, of the genuine and imitative coins between Syria, ancient Armenia, and Upper Mesopotamia.
Therefore, the project fills a gap in our understanding of monetary circulation in ancient Armenia, as well of Roman numismatics, especially monetary circulation in the Roman East, and lay the foundation a study of the monetary circulation of the whole Caucasus.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The first step of the project aimed to gather all the material (i.e. coins) available for the study and forms the basis of the interpretation of the RoCCAA project. With COVID-19, geopolitical instabilities, and the closure of some museums severely affected the original schedule. Yet, the RoCCAA catalogue of coins gathers 1440 coins to date, comprising Roman coins and other coins from various issuers in order to study the impact of Roman coins on the overall monetary circulation of the Greater Armenian Kingdom.
Once the dataset had been finalised, interdisciplinary research combining numismatics, history, archaeology, statistical analysis, comparative analysis and Geographical Information System was undertaken to highlight patterns of monetary circulation.
In addition, to the collect of data, regional comparisons with Georgia, the region beyond the Germano-Danubian border of the Roman empire, and other areas of the Roman empire have been undertaken to analyse the singularity of the monetary circulation of ancient Armenia.
The results have been disseminated to different audiences combining scholars and public engagement. First of all, results have been communicated to scholars during national and international numismatic conferences (Oxford, AIEA online, Warsaw, Yerevan, Caen), as well as talks and lectures, especially at Wolfson College. Results will be also shared via five or six forthcoming and ongoing papers, and a monograph (in progress). A forthcoming Summer School in Georgia in September 2023 will participate to the dissemination of the results of the RoCCAA as well as sharing expertise. Published hoards have been entered into the Coin Hoards of the Roman empire online database, thereby extending the availability of the data to a larger audience.
Training sessions to PhD and postdoctoral students interested in Marie Słodowska-Curie application have been provided by the researcher with a view to sharing skills and knowhow. As an ambassador of MSCA, RoCCAA project has been presented at the national day of Marie Curie, organised by the Ministère de l’Enseignement supérieur et de la Recherche in France.
In a wider perspective, the Researcher participated to improve and sustain the position of junior and fixed term researchers within the Ashmolean Museum by representing them at the governing body committee of the Ashmolean Research Committee.
Lastly, public engagement has been part of the results via some talks and lectures (especially in the INALCO), among various fields, and an upcoming paper in a public engagement review in Archéologia.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The RoCCAA project is unique in collecting and studying the numismatic data available from the territory of what was the Greater Kingdom of Armenia. The corpus of coins brings a unique perspective in the region which aims to understand the flux of Roman coins amongst other coins circulating within the whole region.
The project filled the gap in our understanding of the material culture of the Greater Kingdom of Armenia. It also analysed the patterns of monetary circulation in ancient Armenia and its singularity in terms of monetary circulation compared to its surrounding neighbours (which are the kingdoms of Iberia and Colchis). The project also improved our understanding of the circulation in Roman East and of Roman numismatics, as numerous coins from the dataset are imperial coins.
Before studying other mixed currencies, which circulated contemporaneously, starting by analysing the Roman coins was also a real advantage. Hence, Roman numismatics have considerably progressed during the last decades in terms of the understanding of deposition and coin circulation thanks to worldwide projects. In most cases it also provides good dating of the coins, in contrast with most Armenian and Parthian coins. The methodologies in Roman numismatics have considerably improved in the last decades and will be applied to other coinages in future research.
Besides, the RoCCAA project allows a solid basis for a long-term project on the monetary circulation in the Caucasus region. The project allowed the researcher to initiate the scientific knowledge, skills, and competences, as well as networking in order to establish the best assets for a wider perspective of study. The experience of Oxford University brought a complementary approach of thinking the research with higher standard level. The unforeseen critical risks, which have severely affected the original schedule, will definitely be an asset for the management and application of fellowships in the future.

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