ROMAN AND LATE ROMAN LEAD TESSERAE FROM NICOPOLIS AD ISTRUM

Abstract

The present paper discusses lead tesserae discovered during archaeological excavations at Nicopolis ad Istrum – an urban centre initially at the northern edge of the province of Thrace, and later in the province of Lower Moesia and its successor Moesia Secunda. The finds come from an area in the southwest corner of the agora. There is situated a П-shaped square open to the west, surrounded by a colonnade from the north, west and south – a portico or stoa. The edifice is adjacent to the odeon/bouleuterion. A huge number of pits were dug into the virgin layer, which predate the colonnade. They are filled up with soil and architectural elements from a 2nd – 3rd century public building – column shafts, bases, capitals, architraves, mensa ponderaria, inscriptions, etc. Except for the architectural fragments, which have good parallels with the Antonine period buildings in the city, most of the pits contain small finds, including coins and some of them lead tesserae.

The last two categories of finds are the subject of the present analysis. The coins are mainly from the last decades of the 4^th century. They give the terminus post quem for the erection of the stoa public building. A relatively smaller number are the coins from the 2^nd – 3^rd century. Together with the architectural details, they could be used to determine the dating of most of the tesserae. Despite the minor number of small finds discussed, they come from relatively well-dated contexts of the Roman, Late Roman and Early Byzantine city of Nicopolis ad Istrum.