[gothic-l] Re: Trailing the Eruli in the North

[faltin2001]

--- In gothic-l at y..., Tore Gannholm <tore.gannholm at s...> wrote:
> >--- In gothic-l at y..., "Bertil Haggman" <mvk575b at t...> wrote:
> >> Adding to personal names and the rune inscription
> >> of Stentoften it is also interesting to follow the
> >> trace of treasures and gold from the Roman empire
> >> to Denmark including the island of Bornholm, Scania,
> >> Blekinge, Kalmar Province, the Islands of Oeland
> >> and Gotland and Uppland Province (Ivarl Lindquist,
> >> _Galdrar_ and Olof R. Janse, _Le travail de l'or
> >> en Sude a l'epoque Mervingienne_).
> >>
> >> It was during the reign of Anastasius that part of the Eruli
> >> people migrated back to Scandinavia.  Flavius Anastasius
> >> I governed Byzantium from 491 - 518 AD. The solidi
> >> of the time of Anastasius I were the latest of these coins
> >> reaching Scandinavia. After the arrival between 512 and
> >> 515 AD of the Eruli in Scandinavia, the no solidi arrived
> >> (except for some later, see underneath).
> >>
> >> The route of the solidi could be the route of the Eruli.
> >>
> >> Island of Funen     2 solidi
> >> Bornholm               8 solidi
> >> Scania                   8 solidi
> >> Blekinge                1 solidus
> >> Kalmar Province   1 solidus
> >>
> >> A number of solidi have been found also on the island
> >> of Gotland but together with coins from the reign of
> >> Justinianus I (527-565), so therefore the Gotlandic
> >> coins may have arrived later.
> >>
> >> Erulically/Gothically
> >>
> >> Bertil
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >The argument in general seems to be a valid one, however, a few
> >problems remain. Firstly,  by the same argument one could contruct
an
> >Ostrogothic migration to Germany. A large number of Ostrogothic
> >tremisses have been found in the Klepsau cemetary, and a hoard of
> >Ostrogothic silver siliquae have been found at Mengen, with many
> >stray finds in between, indicating a migratory path via Bavaria to
> >the Rhine. There was of course no migration of Ostrogoths to the
> >Rhine and the finds cannot be used to demonstrate such a migration.
> >The example shows that even apparently much better find evidence do
> >not necessitate a migration.
> >
> >There are a few serious problems with the finds of Anastasius'
solidi
> >in Scandinavia as proof of Herulic migrations, though. Firstly, we
> >hear from Procopius that the Heruli were completely defeated. He
even
> >reports about hunger and poverty in the aftermaths of the defeat.
So
> >why would they carry gold denominations if they were so poor? And
why
> >would the victorious Langobards allow them to to so?
> >
> >Also, all gold denominations found in Scandinavia are from the
> >Constantinopel mints - without a single execption. Since the Heruls
> >are supposed to have come from Moravia, one would expect coins from
> >western mints like Sirmium, but especially from Ravenna and Rome,
as
> >they used to be allied with the Ostrogoths.
> >
> >
> >cheers,
> >Dirk
>
> Dirk,
> There are no Anastasius coins found in the supposed Herulic areas
in Sweden.
>
> The Anastasius coins are mainly found in Gotland.
> Tore


Hi Tore,

that is interesting, because Gotland was of course a trading-hub and
the Anastasius solidi might have come there by trade. But what was
the main trading good, to warrant such high denomination? One might
think of amber, slaves and other high-value goods. Do you know how
many solidi were found on Gotland? The one thing that argues in
favour of solidi having travelled for other reasons than trade is
there high value. Solidi were largely used for tax purposes, as
subsidies/tributes, annonae payments, and of course long-distance
trade in luxury goods.

Dirk







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