| Περιγραφή: | The invention of coinage at the end of the 7th c. BC transformed the way exchanges were made in the ancient world. In Cyprus the earliest known coins date just after the mid-6th c. BC. They were made of silver, but varied in iconography and legends among kingdoms and even among kings of the same city-kingdom. However, all kingdoms used a common weight standard, based on the siglos of ca. 11 grams, and its division in thirds. The 6th and 5th c. BC coinage of Salamis, Kition, Amathous, Marion, Lapethos, Idalion, Paphos, as well as some coin issues which cannot yet be attributed with certainty to specific mints, offer important (sometimes unique) information about the history of Cypriot city-kingdoms. Coins inform us about the dating of Cypriot dynasties and the names of rulers – in some cases revealing royals names which are not attested in other written sources – and shed light on various aspects of the kingdoms’ culture, interactions, political alliances and ideological preferences. For example, the absorption of the kingdom of Idalion by Kition, known to have taken place around the middle of the 5th c. BC, is clearly reflected on the ceasing of coin-minting at Idalion by the same time – an irrefutable testimony to the loss of the kingdom’s autonomy. Coinage provides even more specific information for the 4th c. BC, when Cypriot kings participated in many international events described by ancient authors, such as Diodorus, Arrian and others. Written sources and surviving epigraphic documents provide sufficient information about royal names. But coins – which are now minted in gold, silver and bronze – reveal fascinating details about the history and economic policy of the various kings. For example, from the study of coins we learn a lot about difficulties encountered at times of war by such rulers as Evagoras I of Salamis, who ended up reducing the weight and purity of gold coins in order to be able to pay his mercenaries. In another case, the large number of gold coins minted by the king of Kition, Pumayaton, during his 30th year of reign (333/2 BC) is linked with his preparations for war against Alexander III and the intention to help his Phoenician allies in the naval battle of Tyr (332 BC). Coins were also used as means of political propaganda. Such may be the case of Menelaos, brother of Ptolemy, who succeeded the last local king of Salamis, Nikokreon, in 311/0 BC. Menelaos issued coins with his own name but adopted the iconographic types used by the last kings of Salamis. Although Cypriot coins present considerable diversity in material, iconography and legends among city-kingdoms and kings, modern methods of analysis combined to the available primary sources, allow the researchers to decipher the succession and dating of coinages, their distribution and volume of production, and so on. The comprehension of such aspects of ancient monetary policy, enhances our understanding of the ancient history of the Cypriot city-kingdoms. |
