Introduction
There was always a complex relationship between the Roman Empire and Barbariantribes. One so complex that it often led to violence, that doesn’t mean that there weren’t economic ties between Rome and the tribes in free Germany and Northern Europe. There has been evidence of such contact between Rome and the Germanic tribes through historical sources by Tacitus in his works The Annals and Germania and Strabo’s Geographia talking about the complex relationship between the Marcomanni and Quadi tribes along the Danube and Rome. Where the leaders of such tribes did not completely detest the culture of Rome but instead detested its harsh economic exploits on the tribes which led to the Marcomannic Wars among others (Pitts 1989).
Trade between Rome and the Germanic tribes is a rather interesting subject because it led to the dispersal of Roman artefacts beyond the stretches of the empire. One such example is that of Roman coins. A prized possession mentioned by Tacitus who said:
the tribes of the interior to us practise barter in the simpler and older fashion. The coinage which appeals to them is the old and long-familiar: the denarii with notched edges, showing the two-horsed chariot. They prefer silver to gold: not that they have any feeling in the matter, but because a number of silver pieces is easier to use for people whose purchases consist of cheap objects of general utility. (Tacitus 5.1)
Although this statement is of course generalised. Often not assessing the manner in which Barbarian tribesmen left such coins as remains in burials like the Aestii leaving Roman sestertius coins found in the form of amulets in modern day found in the Sambian Peninsula in the Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia.
Map showing the homeland of the Aestii.
History of Investigation
The excavations of the Sambland of the Aestii homeland have been ongoing since the nineteenth century when the area was in control of the former German empire. The Aestii were known for being suppliers of amber for the Roman Empire,despite being situated hundreds of kilometres away. The Aestii lived in the western part of the Baltic region that was a melting pot of cultures. They were prosperous people who benefited heavily from Roman trade. They started to have their first contact with Roman goods in the first century AD towards the beginning of the empire with trading amber.
From the nineteenth to the early twentieth century many scholars uncovered a huge array of findings in grave sites all around the Sambian peninsula. The most predominant coin featured at the site being sestertius coins. With coins coming from the reigns of Caracalla and Antonius Pius.
The Aestii were a highly stratified society which, depending on your social ranking, determined what you would be buried with. Children, slaves, and often the elderly were buried with either nothing or bronze Roman coins. Whilst the rest of the social structure had Roman coins of all sorts with the tribal nobility and leaders were buried with gold coins. Many of the commoners were buried with roman coins, sundry jars, and glass beads, the tribal elite were buried with more silver than the commoners (with the men in that class were often buried with horses), whilst the tribal nobility and leaders were buried with such objects like Roman gold coins, and silver spoons (Skvortsov 2012).
Sestertius coins from the reigns of Antonius Pius and Caracalla. Found at Samland (Skvortsov 2012).
Daggers and Swords found at Samland (Skvortsov 2012).
Significance of the Site
The area of the Sambian Peninsula is unique because it shows us how far Roman goods have travelled via trade. As well as funerary practices revolving around Roman coins.
The burials at the Sambian Peninsula are different from other burials in the Barbaricum because it did not feature denarii coins from the second and third centuries in its findings, like the site of Illerup or Augsburg. Which is one of the most common coins in Free Germany and Northern Europe. Many scholars do not understand why that is but many believe that due to conflicts with Rome in the second century AD, the Alamanni raided Roman routes and looted their finds (Hellings 2016). Dispersing it all across the Barbaricum. Illerup features a third century denarii used as a game piece in a pocket of individuals buried at the site (Bursche 2002). Whilst Augsburg has a newly excavated coin hoard from the third century with over 5,500 coins in the hoard with most of them being silver denarii (Saraceni 2021).
The finds at Sambia are some of the most examined finds containing Roman coins in burials. Which helps show us the importance Roman coins had on Barbarians and how Barbarian burials worked.
Artefacts from Illerup.
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Denarii coins from Augsburg.
Sources
Bursche, A., 2002. Circulation of roman coinage in Northern Europe in late antiquity. Histoire & mesure, XVII(3/4), pp.121–141.
Hellings, B.D.R., 2016. The Denarii of Septimius Severus and the Mobility of Roman Coin: the case of Roman Germany. The Numismatic Chronicle, 176, pp.171–181.
Pitts, L.F., 1989. Relations between Rome and the German ‘kings’ on the Middle Danube in the first to fourth centuries A.D. Journal of Roman Studies, 79, pp.45–58.
Saraceni, J.E., Hoard of 1,800-year-old silver coins discovered in Germany. Archaeology Magazine. Available at: https://www.archaeology.org/news/10151-211118-germany-coin-hoard [Accessed March 19, 2022].
Skvortsov, K.N., 2012. The formation of a Sambian-natangian culture patrimonial elite in the roman period in the context of the Amber Trade. Archaeologia Baltica, 18, pp.167–191.
Tacitus, C. & Hutton, M., 1925. Tacitus, London, UK: W. Heinemann.