Some Roman Republican denarii from Karur in South India

RAMASUBBAIYER KRISHNAMURTHY
Some Roman Republican denarii from Karur in South India
Since 1786, when a hoard of Roman aurei was unearthed
at Nellore (Andhra Pradesh), the finds and hoards of
Roman gold and silver coins have fascinated historians
and archaeologists. Elliot (1844), for the first time,
published a documentation of the hoards from India,
known upto that date. Thurstan (1888 and 1894) in his
Catalogue of the Madras Government Museum published a more
camprehensive list of the Roman hoards from India.
Wheeler (1954) was the first archaeologist to publish a
map showing the distribution of Roman finds in India1.
The trade of Rome or the Roman Empire with India
has drawn the attention of many scholars in India as
well as in the west during the last few decades. They,
generally, believe that the Indo-Roman trade was very
prosperous; it lasted for several centuries. According
to some scholars, it had its beginning in or about the
second century B.C.; while a few others place it in the
middle of the first century B.C.2
Ancient coins from the Mediterranean area may have
reached India earlier than the Roman coins if we take
into account the emerging evidences. One of the
oldest coins found in India is a silver coin of the city
of Cyzicus (Mysia, Asia Minor, 3rd c. B.C.)3. The coin
is in the collection of Asiatic Society, Bombay4. Off
and on Greek coins are found in Western and
Southern India, but they are negligible and hence no
attention was paid to them5.
But this state of affairs changed in the year 2000 when
a well documented book on coins from Thrace,
Thessaly, Crete and Rhodes, coins of Seleucid kings of
Syria and coins from Phoenicia belonging to a period
from third century B.C., found from the Amaravathi
river bed near Karur in South India was published6.
Apart from this, two-thirds of the amphorae fragments
found at Arikamedu excavations came from wine-jars.
Initially the wine came from Roman Greece, especially
from the island of Kos, Knidos and Rhodes. While the
Koan amphoras are dated to as early as the second century B.C., the pieces from Knidos and Rhodes probably
belong to the first century B.C.7 From the above evidences, we can reasonably presume, that early Greek and
Roman contacts with India could have taken place some
time during second or first century B.C.
Roman Republican coins are generally found associated with the coins belonging to the Roman Imperial
period in several coin hoards reported from Tamil
Nadu and Kerala states in India. Stray finds of
Republican denarii were also reported. A denarius of
the Roman Republican period of Caesar (46 B.C.,
Sydenham type no: 1623) found at Tirupur in Tamil
Nadu, India has been reported8. Another coin of
Republican period (79 B.C.) was found in South
Pennar river near Kaveripatnam in Dharmapuri district, again in Tamil Nadu. This coin was identified by
Dr. Andrew Burnett of British Museum9.
To this category of finds we may now add the six
Republican denarii reported here. They were found
from the Amaravathi river bed near Karur (11º latitude, 78º longitude) in South India. The details of these
six coins are provided below in the hope that they may
enhance our knowledge of Roman contacts with South
India, particularly Tamil Nadu.
1. Peter Berghaus, Roman Coins from India and their Imitations, in:
Coinage, Trade and Economy, Indian Institute of Research in
Numismatic Studies, Anjaneri, Nasik, India, 1991, p. 108.
2. P.L. Gupta, Coins in Rome’s Indian Trade, Ibid., p. 122.
3. Peter Berghaus, op. cit.
4. Peter Berghaus, ibid., p. 112.
5. P.L.Gupta, op. cit., p. 123.
6. R.Krishnamurthy, Non-Roman Ancient Foreign Coins from Karur in India,
Garnet Publishers, Chennai, India, 2000, p. 7-37.
7. Elizabeth Lyding Will, Mediterranean Shipping Amphora from
1941-50 Excavations, in: Vimala Begley et. al. (eds.), The Ancient
Port of Arikamedu, Volume 1, de l’Ecole Française d’Extrème-Orient,
p. 318.
8. News item in Dinamani (Tamil Daily) dated 22nd April 1990.
9. Nishathuddeen Ahmed, A Roman Serrated Denarius from Tamil
Nadu, Studies in South Indian Coins, Vol. IV, 1994, p. 43.
625
RAMASUBBAIYER KRISHNAMURTHY
Coin no. 1
Denarius: 16 mm; 2.700 gm; (Sydenham coin type
no. 738a).
Obverse: Head of Apollo facing right, laureate.
Reverse:
Man on horse, galloping, facing right,
hurling a spear.
No legend is seen on the obverse or reverse.
Moneyer: P. Crepusius
Period:
C. 82-81 B.C.
Coin no. 2
Denarius: 17 mm; 2.220 gm; (Sydenham coin type
no. 928).
Obverse: Head of Bonus Eventus, facing right with
broad diadem, and on right the characters,
ON, E, being part of the legend BON
EVENT.
Reverse:
Well head (puteal), with letters TEAL
(being part of the legend PVTEAL) and
CRIBON being part of the legend
SCRIBON in exergue.
Moneyer: (Lucius Scribonius) Libo.
Period:
55 B.C.
626
SOME ROMAN REPUBLICAN DENARII FROM KARUR IN SOUTH INDIA
Coin no. 3
Denarius: 17 mm; 3.800 gm; (Sydenham coin type
no. 932).
Obverse: Head of Cybele facing right, turreted;
hair in knot and falling down the neck.
Legend not visible.
Reverse:
Human figure, with hands extended, kneeling right, beside a camel; on right
IVDAEVS; in exergue, BACCHIVS.
Moneyer: A. Plautius
Period:
54 B.C.
Coin no. 4
Denarius: 18 mm; 2.950 gm; (Sydenham coin type
no. 976).
Obverse: Jugate heads of Dioscuri facing right;
each wearing laureate pileus. On left and
below RVFVS.III VIR.
Reverse:
Venus Verticordia standing left holding
scales and sceptre; behind her, cupid; on
right CORDIVS.
Moneyer: Manius Cordius Rufus
Period:
C. 46 B.C.
Coin no. 5
Denarius: 18 mm; 3.720 gm; (Similar to Sydenham
coin type no.1151)
Obverse: Eagle with wings spread, facing right and
standing on three horizontal lines.
Above, instead of the usual legend PETILLIVS
there is a Jumbled legend. Below, instead
of the legend CAPITOLINVS, there is
another jumbled legend.
Reverse:
Hexa style temple; hanging garlands between three of the columns; pediment decorated with figures, on left, S and on right, F.
Moneyer: Petillius Capitolinus for the original coin.
Period:
C. 37 B.C., for the original coin.
This coin is an ancient imitation. The obverse and the
reverse are not similar to the original coin10.
The thunderbolt depicted on the original coin is not
seen in this coin. The legends are also not correctly spelled. It is not possible to determine the date of this coin.
The photograph of the obverse and reverse, as they
appear in a original coin of this type, are reproduced
at the right.
10. Catalogue Mail Bid Sale 47, Classical Numismatic Group, Inc., London,
1998, Coin no. 1311.
627
RAMASUBBAIYER KRISHNAMURTHY
Coin no. 6
Denarius: 18 mm; 3.720 gm; (Similar to Sydenham
coin type no. 918)
Obverse: Head of Libertas facing right, wearing a
prominent ear-ring and necklace of pendants; hair in knot; jewels in hair and above
forehead; on left, instead of the usual
legend LIBERT (Sydenham-918), we see a
jumbled legend and on right instead of
CASSIVS, we see another jumbled legend.
Reverse:
Deemed temple of Vesta, surmounted by
ornamental decorations; within temple, a
curule chair; on left voting urn; on right
voting tablet inscribed AC.
Moneyer: Q. Cassius, for the original coin.
Period:
C. 57 B.C. for the original coin.
This is also an ancient imitation coin. It is not possible
to determine the date of this coin.
The obverse and reverse as they appear in a original
coin of this type are illustrated at the right11.
11. Catalogue Auction 42, Classical Numismatic Group, Inc., New York, 1997,
Coin no. 743.
628