On The Coins of Narbonensis With Iberian Inscriptions / by George F. Hill

NUMISMATIC
AND
NOTES
MONOGRAPHS
No.
ON
THE
WITH
COINS
44
OF
IBERIAN
NARBONENSIS
INSCRIPTIONS
BY
GEORGE
F. HILL
The American Numismatic Society

Broadway at 156th Street
New York
1930
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NUMISMATIC
NOTES
AND
MONOGRAPHS
NumismaticNotes and Monographs

on subis devotedto essaysand treatises
to coins,papermoney,
medals
jectsrelating
anddecorations,
andisuniform
withHispanic
Notes and Monographs
publishedby the
of
HispanicSociety America,and with
issuedby
Indian Notes and Monographs
the Museumof the AmericanIndian
HeyeFoundation.
PublicationCommittee
AgnesBaldwinBrett, Chairman
W. GedneyBeatty
HenryRussell Drowne
JohnReilly, Jr.
Editorial Staff
SydneyPhilip Noe, Editor
Editor
HowlandWood,Associate
by
Copyright,
1930,
TheAmerican
Numismatic
Society
LANCASTER
INC.
PRESS,
PA.
LANCASTER,
ON THE
WITH
COINS
IBERIAN
OF NARBONENSIS
INSCRIPTIONS
BY
GEORGEF. HILL
TheAmerican
Numismatic
Society
Broadway
at 156th
Street
NewYork
1930
ON THE COINS OF NARBONENSIS WITH

IBERIAN INSCRIPTIONS
My excusefortakingup this difficult
subject
mustbe that the authorof the workon Spanish
coins1 which,we had all hoped, would place
beforescholarsthe materialfor formingtheir
at the Pyreconclusions,has drawnhis frontier
nees,and ignoredthewholeof theseriesin question. The archaeologicalevidence makes it
at
abundantlyclearthattheethnological
frontier,
the period with which we are concerned,was
north of Narbonne, perhaps even north of
Bziers. A recentvisitto thisregionallowedme
to examinea certainnumberof local collections
and obtaininformation
whichmay be of service
to students;althoughI cannotpretendto have
completelysolved any of the problems,it is at
least somethingto be able to state them more
precisely.2
1A.Vives
LaMoneda
1926.
yEscudero,
Hispnica,
Madrid,
2I havepleasure
inrecording
tothearchaeomyindebtedness
ofthetowns
thatI visited,
whogavemeaccess
tothe
logists
M.Jean
various
collections.
Babelon
andmyother
of
colleagues
theCabinet
atParis
asusual,
desMdailles
been
in
have,
generous
casts
andanswering
AtNimes,
M.Espranproviding
enquiries,
intheMaison
dieuallowed
metostudy
thecollection
Carre
and
most
introduced
metovarious
other
sources
ofinformation.
kindly
metheremarkable
M.FlixMouret
showed
results
ofhisexcavaDr.Cavali,
M.Cambon
atEnsrune,
andwith
andother
tions
1
COINS OF NARBONENSIS
We have to deal with threeor fourseriesof

coins whichcertainlybelong to the districtof
since theyare alwaysfoundthere,
Narbonensis,
and not to the southof the Pyrenees.
NERO
and numerous
oftheseries
The mostimportant
with whichwe are here concernedcan be with
attributedto the peoplewho,usingthe
certainty
Iberianalphabet,inhabitedthesiteofMontlaurs,
a fewkilometres
to the N.W. of Narbonne;the
Narbo, was cername of the Roman foundation,
in
tainlyderivedfromthem.1 The inscription
Iberian which they bear is to be transcribed
neronc
, according
, neroncn
, neroncenor neronen
to the various ways in which it is written.2
ofBziers
meto
enabled
oftheArchaeological
members
Society
inthatSociety's
Museum
andintheMus
thecollections
study
Dr.Henri
tothank
eumofthetown.Above
all,I have
Rouzaud,
who
thelastquarter
ofNarbonne,
citizen
thedistinguished
during
tothrow
onthelocalarchaesomuch
hasdone
ofa century
light
hisexample
iseven
more
were
important
and,what
(ifonly
ology
onwhich
thelines
scientific
followed
exploralways
!),toindicate
beconducted.
should
ation
1Hbner,
Nummi
no.1,gives
Mon.
a nearly
comIber.,
Lingu.
towhich
however
should
ofearlier
publications,
bibliography
plete
desmonn.
Catal.
.
beadded:
Muret-Chabouillet,
gaul.dela Bibl
desmonn.
Trait
nos.2444^98;
Blanchet,
gaul.,
p.276.
Nat.,
2Thisisnottheplace
thevalue
ofthevarious
todiscuss
Iberian
o fortheIberian
I adoptthetransliteration
letters.
H, after
a Menendez
Pidaliii(1925)
inHomenaje
Gmez-Moreno
p.484.
cnorcen,
itisa genitive
seeSchuchstothetermination
plural:
Iberische
Deklination,
p.37.
ardt,
The nameof theplace musthave been Nero(the

sound of the e may have inclinedto a before
ther, hencethe Latin formNarbo*). The attributionof the coinsto Narbois due to Boudard.2
He transcribed
theinscription
Nedhena,connectingit withNado, as he readthenamein Avienus,
Ora marit.587. But the textreallyreads Naro,
3 De Saulcy
whichHudson correctedto Narbo.
firstreadnerenkn. Previouswriters
have usually
spokenof the peoplerepresented
by thisinscriptionas the Nerenesor Nedenes
. In viewof what
has been said above, it seemsconvenientto call
themNeronenses.
The site occupiedby the Neronenseswas not
howeverthat of the Roman Narbo, but a little
eminenceabout fourkm. N. by W. of Narbonne,
whichnow bears the nameof Montlaurs. It is
themeritof Dr. HenriRouzaudthattheclaimof
thissite to have precededNarbo has been definitelyestablished.4The statisticswhichhe has
been good enoughto allow me to compilefrom
the coins,whichhe and membersof his family
1Whether
thebinNarbo
toa peculiar
of
points
pronunciation
theH,isa question
tobeleft
tothephilologists.
2Numismatique
ibriennef
pp.237f.
3Muret-Chabouillet
misread
have
Boudard
andassume
that
the
MSShaveNado.SeeSchulten,
Fontes
Hispaniae
Antiquae,
I,
pp.71,116.
4Comptes
Rendus
desInscr.,
, Acad,
1905,
pp.136,
213;1907,
p.
delaCommission
p.981;1916,
260;1909,
pp.399,
477,
480;Bulletin
deNarbonne,
Archol.
VIII,1905,
pp.489-521;
IX,1906,
pp.471d'Arezzo
trouvs
Narbonne).
481;1917,
pp.45-49
(surlesvases
have collectedon the site duringconstantvisits

extendingover 25 years, are very significant.
The coinsofall sortsfromthesitein hispossession
now number423 (reckoningfragments
as whole
coins). Of these no less than 128 are of the
all stagesofdevelopNeronenses.Theyrepresent
mentof this coinage,as we shall describethem
later(i.e. thecoinsof betterstyle,42; thosewith
tuison theobverse,26;
theadditionalinscription
and those,similarto the coinsof betterstylein
51; and the
type,butofdegenerate
workmanship,
with the hippocamp,9).
smallerdenomination,
in anything
No otherclass of coinsis represented
like thesame numbers. Thus of thecoinswhich
are attributedbelow to Brigantio(?), thereis
only 1; of the Lonostaletae,40; of the coinsof
Kaiantolosand Bitouioswiththe lion (perhaps
also a flannot struck),27,and of the quadrans1
of Kaiantolos with the boar, 3. There are no
coinsof Betarra(Bziers). Of Massalia thereare
31 bronzecoins;twosilverdrachms,and 13 obols
rangingfrom the early period (types of the
Trsord'Auriol)to the thirdcentury. To these
mustbe added the obols similarto the ordinary
ones with M A betweenthe spokesof a wheel,
but having also a stylisedbull's head on the
reverse(Pl. VI, 1, 2): of thisrarity14 have been
1Dr.Rouzaud
hasa fine
ofthis
found
atNarbonne,
coin,
specimen
ofvalue
themark
theboar(Pl.V,4).
above
showing
(three
pellets)
foundat Montlaurs,though2 are now lost.1

Imitationsof Rhoda and drachmsand divisions
of themonnaie la croix
, in all 99.
Passingover othercoins foundin small numbers,2I note that only one specimen(and that
halved) of the very commonasses of Augustus
and Agrippa struck at Nemausus was found.
Of the Roman Republicancoins, thereare
asses, 1 semis,8 smallerdivisions;15^ denariiand
3 quinarii. Of the Imperial bronze,down to
Marcus Aurelius,thereare only 4; of the Constantinianperiod,6. The MiddleAgesand later
timesare represented
by 16 coinsand jetons.
In contrast,
althoughhe has livedand collected
so longat Narbonne,Dr. Rouzaud has onlyone
coin of the Neronensesfoundin thattown.
Furtherproofis not neededthat the coins of
the Neronenseswere struckat Montlaurs. It
is also fairlyclearthatthe place was suppressed,
doubtlessas a part of the generalpolicyof the
Romans. The colonyof Narbo was foundedin
118 B.C.; ifMontlaurswas notcondemned
then,
it musthave been later,whenin 71 B.C., after
1There
isoneintheBibliothque
oneatMontpellier
Nationale,
dela Socit
Mdaitter
Archol.
deMontpellier
, 1896,
(E. Bonnet,
thatthismaybeanalliance-coin
no.69). M. Bonnet
suggests
other
Massalia
andsome
andDr.Rouzaud
between
isinplace,
this
wasNarbo,
that
orrather
clined
tosuggest
itspredecessor
place
atMontlaurs.
2Ofbronze
from
coinsimported
there
are10(chiefly
Spain,
ofEmporiae,
1ofOsca,1oftheIlergetes
asses)oftheIndigetae
and2 uncertain.
(.lltrcescn
), 2ofCese-Tarraco,
the end of the SertorianWar, PompeiusreorofSpain,and setup histrophies

ganisedtheaffairs
on the Pyrenees.1
ante
We maythentake 71 B.C. as theterminus
quemforthecoinagewithwhichwe areconcerned.
Whendid it begin? The styleofthebetterspecimenssuggestssome timein the firsthalfof the
second century B.C. The heaviest recorded
specimen (that in the British Museum, here
Pl. I, 1) weighs20.68 grm. Almostall theother
2 belongto a lighterclass,being
knownspecimens
1Thelatest
Dr.Rouzaud
inanyquanwhich
hasfound
pottery
atMontlaurs
istheso-called
black
tity
ware;
Etrusco-Campanian
inanyquantity
andtheearliest
hasbeen
found
which
atNarbonne
is ofthesamekind.Themaker
Rullius
is represented
at both
atMontlaurs
RVLLI
LVSIMACVS
places,
bythemark
reading
at Narbo
RVLLI
reading
(notype),
bythemark
LICIN(I)VS
Zurlteren
andclub).SeeOx,
Nomenklatur
derrmilyre
(type,
schen
inRhein.
Sklaven
forthenames;
Mus.,LIX,19C4A
p. 128,
deNimes,
Mmoires
del'Acad.
1878(187<?),
Pl.13,1andla,for
theform
ofthefoot
ofthebeakers.
Themark
ofRullius
with
the
headofMinerva
hasbeenfound
alsoat Ensrune,
butinupper
strata
which
M. Mouret
datesto thefirst
cent.
B.C.(Corpus
fase.6,p.6,andPI.21,nos.11and12). M.
Vasorum,
France,
s comparison
oftheheadofMinerva
Mouret'
with
thatondenarii
ofServilius
Rullius
willnotbear
examination.
Ontheevidence
of
theforms
oftheslaves
taken
itseems
clear
bythenomenclature
ofRullius
comes
down
thepottery
lateinthefirst
that,
fairly
tothank
Mr.F. N.Pryce
B.C. (I have
for
mycolleague
century
information
onthispoint;
andI reproduce
here
inPl.VI,9-11,
from
castskindly
thethree
of
supplied
byDr.Rouzaud,
stamps
inquestion.)
thepotter
2A sulphur-cast
intheBritish
Museum
(ofMionnet's
series)
instyle
a coin
similar
tothat
and
very
justmentioned,
represents
I donotknow
from
thesame
obverse
die;butitsweight
perhaps
tobeintheParis
doesnotseem
for
theoriginal
cabinet.
whata Romanwouldcallsemuncialasses. There

is evidence,intowhichI neednotenterhere,that
the heavier bronze coins of the Indigetae of
Emporiae(weighingfrom26.70 to 24.12 grm.)
werein circulation
in the firsthalfof the second
The
heavier
Neronensiancoins probcentury.
ably representthe same standardin a slightly
degradedform. We may therefore
regardour
coins as having covered a period of about a
century,
say from175 to 71 B.C.
Dr. RouzauddivideshisseriesfromMontlaurs
into threeseries:
(1) Obv. Veiled femalehead. In front,Iberianletterse1.
Rev. Bull leaping r.; above, wreath;below,
Iberianinscription
neroncn.
.
Obv
femalehead; in frontIberian
Veiled
(2)
tuts.
inscription
Rev. As preceding.
(3) Similarto firstgroup,but ofworsestyle.
Combiningthe evidenceof Dr. Rouzaud'scolI wouldpropose
lectionwithcoinsseenelsewhere,
:
classication
the following
Iberian
1. Obv. Veiledfemaleheadr.; in front,
lettersel (or eva).
Rev. Bull leaping r.; above, wreath;below,
yieroncn.
Iberianinscription
Heavy group: recordedweight,20.68 grm.
BritishMuseum. Pl. I, 1.
1According
this
toHubner's
probably,
however,
transliteration;
orva.
ba(asGmez-Moreno)
I represents
thesyllable
Iberian
2. Similartypes and inscriptions,

but double
letterce forc occasionally.
Lighter group: weightsrangingfrom 12.92
grm.(Paris 2451) to 6.42 grm.(Paris 2465) or,in
imitations
suchas Paris2481,as low as 5.05 grm.
The styleofthesesteadilydegenerates.Varieties
are shownin Pl. I, 2-4, fromParis, the Hague,
and the BritishMuseum.
3. Obv. Same typeand letters,but the dress
of thebusttreatedveryelaborately.
Rev. Bull and wreathas usual,butinscription
neroncen
So. Weightsfrom11.74 grm.to 5.92
grm.(B.M.).
The finespecimenfromthe Hague (Pl. I, 5)
shows the peculiartreatmentof the bust and
dress.1 The sixth letter of the inscriptionis
sometimes
read as an e but it is, I think,onlythe
doubleletterforce badlyplaced. On the letters
So see later,on thecoinageof Selo.
4. Obv. Similarto group2.
Rev. Bull and wreathas usual,butinscription
neronc
. Berlin,368, 1877,Pl. I, 6.
pu .. .
This varietyis veryrare. Thereare none at
Paris norin Dr. Rouzaud'scollection. A coinin
the collectionof the Socit Archologiqueof
Bziers,whichis said to read pu(r?)pcnin the
exergue,appearedto me, whenI saw it, to be
1Mr.Robinson
theuncertain
North
African
coins
in
compares
where
theengraving
however
isinadequate.
Muller,
iii,p.177,
quite illegible. Boudard is responsiblefor the

the second letteras
readingptrcn(he interprets
/), based on three incompletecoins; Zobel, on
the fewand bad specimenswhichhe examined,
noticed a gap betweenthe second and third
letters,and suggestedpurpcn. Consequentlyhe
associatesthesecoins withthose of the Longostaleteswhichcertainlyread purp. We shall discuss thesebelow.
ofvery
5. Obv. Veiledbustas usual,generally
tuts.
carelesswork;in front,inscription
Rev. Bull and wreathas usual; inscription
neroncen.
Weights:12.34 grm. (Stockholm),and 11.75
(Paris 2493) downto 6.60 (London).
The Stockholmexample(Pl. II, 1) showsthe
stylewell;theBritishMuseumexample(Pl. II, 2)
showsa peculiarformofthece sign. The reading
neroncencen
on Paris2496 is a freak. One of Dr.
seemsto showtheel, (oreva)
Rouzaud'sspecimens
of the othergroups,as wellas the
characteristic
tui,on theobverse.
6. Obv. Male head r., wearingan animal's
skin (?) head-dress;shouldersdraped; in front,
Iberianlettersecc.
Rev. Winged hippocampr.; below, inscriptionneroncen.
Weights: 7.35 grm. (London) to 4.51 grm.
(Paris 2447).
The head is recognizedas that of Herculesin
10
the Paris Catalogue,and a finespecimenin Dr.

Rouzaud's collection(obv. on Pl. II, 3) makes
is an animal'sskin.
it certainthatthe head-dress
Yet it is not by any meansan ordinarylion-skin
that the head wears; the bands that seem to
confineit are neverfoundon ordinaryheads of
comedownto
Hercules,nordo thelion'sforefeet
be tied underthe chin. The obversefromthe
BritishMuseum hereillustrated(Pl. II, 4) also
shows the nostriland eye of the animal, and
whatappearsto be a pointedear, as of a dog or
wolf; a second specimen(Pl. II, 5) shows the
Iberianletterson the obverse.
The weightofthecoinsofthislast groupshows
that theyare to be regardedas semisses,if the
othersare asses.
Theseare all thecoinswhichcan withcertainty
ofRomanNarbo.
to thepredecessor
be attributed
As to the meaningof the types,we have no
certainty. The veiled head has been called
Diana by Delgadoand Heiss; but to say thatit is
derivedfromthe head of Artemison the silver
coins of Massalia is absurd. At Massalia she is
not veiled,and hereshe has no bow or quiver.
There is nothingto be said forHiibner'sidentificationas Minerva,or forBoudard'sdescription
of it as a helmetedmale head. It is equallyunwarrantableto derivethe bull fromthe bronze
coinsof Massalia; the attitudeis quite different,
and thefactthata wreathis seenabove thebullat
11
Massalia provesnothing,
sincethatwreathis only
one of a numberof changingsymbols. The bull
is doubtlessof native Iberianinvention. As to
thewreath,wesee it as a standingaccompaniment
of the Pegasuson thecoinsof Emporiae. We do
not knowwhatit meansthere;but theengravers
ofourcoinsweredoubtlessfamiliar
withthecoins
of Emporiae(a specimenfromthe Museo Arqueolgicoin Madridis shownin Pl. II, 6), whichcirculated widely in Narbonensis,and may have
adoptedthe symbolas a convenientspace-filler.
The hippocampmusthave been familiarto the
fishermen
of the coast; the engraver'sfancyhas
suppliedit with wings. It is possiblethat the
commontypeof the quadrantesof otherIberian
mintssuch as Cese-Tarraco,whichis generally
called a half-Pegasus,
may be a half-hippocamp.
At Emporiae,on one varietyof the Indigetan
occurs
bronze,the completehippocamp,
wingless,
as the reversetype.
withEmporiaeis to be seen
Anotherconnexion
in theletterse orevawhichappearbeforethehead
on theobverse(cf.Pl. II, 6). Thesametwoletters
occurin thesame positionon thebronzeasses of
the Indigetai;and on one variety,but onlyone,
theyare accompaniedby what have been taken
to be the Roman numeralsXV (Delgado, III,
Pl. CXXXVI, nos. 206, 207; Catai. Lorichs
, no.
of
1267). As a matterof facttheinterpretation
thesignsas Romanis notcertain;theV is smaller
12
thantheX, and is connectedbyits leftlimbwith

theright-hand
toparmoftheX, so thatthewhole
looks like a monogramof some kind. The
IberianlettersIvs or lus also occurin company
withel or evaon anothercoinoftheIndigetai,and
thesetoo havebeentakenfornumerals. It is obvious thatif el is equated,on thestrength
of the
signsXV and of thefactthatEI in Greekwould
with15,thenIvscannot
have thesamesignificance,
be a numeral,sinceit also is foundaccompanying
el.
These lettersel, apart fromthe coins of the
and certainothersmall
Indigetaiand Neronenses,
to be discussed
groupsof coins of Narbonensis,
below,are foundalso on one varietyof the as of
Saetabi. This can hardlybe a case of mere
sinceSaetabi was so farremovedfrom
imitation,
Emporiae,and the stylesof the coinsof the two
places are not like each other.1 Further,just as
coinswe findel on theas, and
on theNeronension
eccon thesemis,so tooat Saetabiwe findel on one
varietyof the as, and cc (if the signsare rightly
on a semis. But,ifcc is themarkof
interpreted)
denominationof the semis, how is it that at
Emporiae it does not occur? There, on one
series,we findei on the as, e on the semis,e
1Itisthis
which
rules
outthesuggestion,
which
to
hadoccurred
carries
with
itthevowel
me,thatex(thelatter
a,
sign
frequently
sothat
wemight
read
inIberian
letters
ofthe
a) isanabbreviation
Latin
name
on
ofho(sca)n
cp.honasanabbreviation
E{rnpor)ia;
coins
ofOsca.
13
followedby a horizontaldash on the quadrans,

and s on thesextans.
Until furtherinformation
is available, it is
clear thatwe mustleave thisproblemundecided.
SELO
The existenceofa placeofthisnameis attested
to theasses of the
by certaincoinscorresponding
Neronenses. Their style is distinctive,so that
therecan be no questionof theirbeingblundered
Neronensiancoins;but theybear the same type
of the veiled femalehead, accompaniedby the
sam markei; on thereverseis the chargingbull
is
accompaniedby a wreath. But theinscription
eloncen.
In
collections
and
clearly
catalogues
theyare usuallyfoundlurkingamongcoinsofthe
Neronensians.1The specimenfromthe Vidal
in PI.
Quadras y Ramon collectionis illustrated
the
reverse
of
the
Paris
in
1;
Ill,
specimen PI.
Ill, 2.
On the analogy of Neroncen-Nero
we may
assume eloncenSelo. But no such name has
come downin literaryrecords.
The typesshow that therewas a close connexionbetweenthe two places. Therefore
it is
i Hbner
no.12;Heiss,Pl.LXV,4; Delgado.
Pl.CXCIV,
4;
Muret-Chabouillet
nos.2468-9;
Catai.VidalQuadras
y Ramon
no.498. (I owea castofthis
toM.Bourgey.)
M.Mouret
hasa
atEnsrune;
inthecollection
found
there
isanother
good
specimen
oftheSocit
deBziers.
Archologique
14
not unreasonableto suggest that the letters

o whichoccurin the exergueof a certaingroup
arean abbreviation
of
ofcoinsoftheNeronensians
(el)o. Such a methodof abbreviationis easily
e.g. MM for
paralleled in Greek inscriptions,
I'G., XIV, 1829; 0KX for O(eois)
ibid.,1359;MNF forn(r)v(as)y',
k(<ltol)x(Oovols),
ibid.,1715.1
OTHER ISSUES
In connexionwiththe coinsof Nero and Selo,
we have to deal withcertainissues whichmust
but for
have been producedin the same district,
is forthcoming.
attribution
whichno satisfactory
Under Narbo one findsdescribedthe following
coin:
Obv. Beardlesshead r., withshortcurlyhair,
betweentwo dolphins;dottedborder.
Rev. Bull runningr.; above, wreath;below,
on exergualline;
brokendowninscription/A*QIII
plain border. JE 25 mm. 7.98 gm. Paris 2481,
Heiss, Pl. LXV, 9. Delgado, Pl. CXCV, 9.
Cp. Hbner,M. L. /., no. 15. Here Pl. III, 3.
Another(fromthesamedies?)is in theAshmolean
Museum,fromtheMarqusde MolinsCollection,
presentedby Mr. W. H. Buckler.
. n. 193b) publishesanothersimilar
Pujol (epigr
in
which
the last three strokesof the
piece,
1From
I owetoMr.M.N.
ofsimilar
instances
which
a number
Tod.
15
inscriptionare wanting. The firstsign is the

same in both,althoughHbnerreproducesit on
the Pariscoinas a plain I (whichhe transliterates
). I have verylittledoubtthat we mayregard
as a barbarousattemptat
the wholeinscription
neron. It occurs in almost exactly the same
formon othercoins at Paris (Nos. 2477,2481),
whichhave the usual obverseof the Neronenses.
with Hbner and
There is no need therefore,
in
a
coins
these
to
special category.
others, put
The obverseis evidentlyinspiredby the Iberian
head accompaniedby dolphinswhichmusthave
been familiarin the districtfromcoinsimported
fromthe otherside of the Pyrenees.
groupis
Closely allied to the last-mentioned
another(Pl. Ill, 4, 5) whichshowsa semi-barbarousimitationoftheIberianhorseman
carrying
in combination
with
on thereverse,
a palm-branch
thesame twoobverses,i.e. theveiledfemalehead
withtheusualmarke, and themaleheadbetween
the dolphins.1The dolphins,it is true, have
almostentirelydisappeared,but thereare slight
tracesof themon at least one specimen. These
in the collectionsat Paris,
coins are represented
Nimes and Bziers,and are never,so far as we
know,foundin Spain, but onlyin the Narbonnaise. The best specimensof each type known
i Boudard,
Pl.LXVI,2.
Pl.XXIX,11,13,14;Heiss,
Num.
ibr.,
Num.
inMem.
no.10. Zobel
2701-6.Hbner
Esp.t
Paris
Catal.
no.196.
nos.23-25.Pujol,
epigr.
v,pp.219,
16
to me are in the Maison Carreat Nimes,and I

illustratethese fromcasts whichI owe to the
kindnessof M. Esprandieu. The inscription
belowthejinetewas readNMY by Boudard(who
attributedthe coinsto Nemausus),A'M'V by the
Paris cataloguers(who pointout thebaselessness
of Boudard's attribution),and A-MY by Zobel
and Hbner. Hbner,in accordancewith his
however
everything,
practice of transliterating
barbarous,as if it weregood Iberian,gives the
equivalent of these signs as Liu, A close examinationof all theavailablespecimens(castsof
two fromNimesand six fromParislie beforeme
as I write)showsthat the readingis A7AY with
possiblya faintstrokejoiningthe seconddot to
the top of the nextstroke. It seemsclear that,
accordingto our presentlights,thereis nothing
I can
to be madeof thebroken-down
inscription;
as to whatIberianinscription
makeno suggestion
lies at the back of it.
BRIGANTIO
Anothergroupcloselyalliedto theasses of the
Neronensescomprisescoinswiththe usual types
of veiled female head (and letterse) on the
obverse,and bull accompaniedby wreathon the
reverse,which however bears the inscription
pricatioor pricantio,Thereis, I think,no doubt
about the reading;on the BritishMuseumspeci-
17
men illustratedin Pl. III, 6, all the lettersare

clearexceptthe ti, and thatis certainfromother
specimens.1We maydismissthereadingswhich
see an o in the second letter. The firstmay
eitherporb; therewas,as is wellknown,
represent
no special sign forb in Iberian. Similarlythe
signused forca mayalso represent
ga. The sign
has almostuniversally
been read as i.
following
A closeexamination
ofall thespecimens
available
to me shows that thereis hardlythe slightest
foundation
forreadingit as anythingbut n.2 It
is ofcourseonlya questionofa singlesmallstroke,
whichturnsan n intoan i. The sixthletteris ti
to Hbner
system;taccording
(on Gmez-Moreno
and others). The finalletterappearsto meto be
o, but othersread it as n. Both -atinand -ntin
are possibleIberianterminations.We thushave
the possibility
of Brigatioor Brigantio. That is a
Celticname;butat thetimewhenthesecoinswere
struck (2d-lst cent. B.C.), Iberians may well
have beenin occupationof a site whichformerly
belongedto the Celts.
i SeeBoudard,
Pl.XXIX,
nos.3,S,9;Heiss,
Pl.LXVI,1;
p.437,
Pl.CXCV
deLanguedoc
iii,p.468,
Delgado,
; Robert,
Numismatique
,
inMem.
Zobel
Num.
Esp.,V,p.26,nos.39p.516,Pl.IV,21-23;
ParisCatal.nos.2499-2506;
nos.191a-fc;
E.
41; Pujol,epigr.
deMontpellier
Mdailler
delaSoc.Arch,
Bonnet,
, 1896,
p.16,no.
no.11. One(reading
isinthecollection
of
pricatio)
184;Hbner,
found
at Montlaurs;
at Narbonne,
Dr.Rouzaud
another
inthe
deBziers.
collection
oftheSoc.archologique
2OftheMontpellier
I have
which
notbeen
abletosee,
specimen,
thefifth
M. Bonnet
writes
letter
although
tobei,
that,
appears
itisnotan.
hecannot
that
affirm
18
Of the otherinterpretations
we may mention
Hbner'sp(u)ricaitn;whichis rightlyrejected
by Schuchardt. The coins are said to be freof Bziers,whichhas
quentin theneighbourhood
suggested,throughthe readingbricitze
(Heiss), a
hazardous
with
some
ancient
form
very
equation
of the name of that place (which appears as
, Besara, etc.; see Ihm in
Brjrappa, Baeterrae
I, 2762f.).
Pauly-Wissowa,
The two forms,with and without, are an
illustrationof anousvara. If the readingi is
insistedon, we may assume alternativeforms
as in Brigetio-Bpiya'iTiov
(Ptol.) and Bregentiothe
Danube.
on
Brigantio
If we lookfora placeofthisnamein theregion
we mustrule out
withwhichwe are concerned,
the two places called Brigantiumin Galicia
( Betanzos
) and in the CottianAlps (Brianon);1
theyare too faraway. I mention,however,as
in this connexion,the name of the
interesting
in the tervicus Brugetia
, whichwas somewhere
The
Nemausus.2
of
comparatively
good
ritory
style of our coins, however,suggestsan origin
even nearer to Narbo than we can suppose
Brugetiato have been. It is worthyof mention
merelyas showingthat a nameof thiskindwas
possiblein thedistrict.
1SeeSchuchardt,
Ibar.
Dekl.,
p.41.
aC.I. L.,XII,3362
intheMuse
at
andp.346;now
Lapidaire
deNimes,
Guide
SomLeMuse
Nimes
Lapidaire
(Esprandieu,
1924,
p.19).
maire,
19
LONGOSTALETAE
This tribeis not mentionedby any literary
and is knownonlyfromits coins,which
authority,
are inscribedAOITOITAAHTUUNor AOITOC and styleindicate
TAAHTUJN.1Bothprovenance
that the coins were strucksomewherein the
of Narbonneand Bziers. Dr.
neighbourhood
Rouzaud possesses no less than 40 specimens
foundat Montlaurs. The
(includingfragments)
chiefvarietiesare:
1. Obv. Head of Hermesr., withformalcurls,
wearingwingeddiadem or hat, and sometimes
torquewithanimalornament;behind,caduceus.
Rev. Tripod-lebes;on r. and 1., variouslyarranged,AOrrOITAAHTlN(-nN)or AOITOC TAAHTUJN. JEWeightsfrom17.37to 7.18 grm.
Pl. IV, 1-4.
2. Obv. Similar,but in frontof head,BUKIOC or AOYKOPIKNOC orAOY KOTIKNOC.
Rev. Similar; inscriptionalways AOITOC TAAHTUJN
, and betweenthe firstpart of the
inscriptionand the tripod,four Iberian letters
purp. JE Weights13.20 to 3.86 grm. Pl. IV,
5-7.
The earlierformof sigma(withsplayedarms)
is foundon onlya fewspecimensof the former
1Hbner
no.2band2c(for
2a seeabove,
p.7ff.).TohisbibaddMuret-Chabouillet
nos.2350-99;
H. dela Tour,
liography
Atlas
inBull,
delaComm.
Arch,
deNarbonne
, Pl.VI;G.Amardel
,
1893,
1894,
pp.328-54;
pp.13-36;
Blanchet.
pp.549-64;
1895^
Trait
,pp.272-8.
20
variety.1The great majorityof the specimens

show the lunatesigma (e.g. Paris 2357, here PL
IV, 4).
As to theinterpretation
oftheinscriptions,
there
has been some dispute. Most of the views will
be found set out by Muret-Chabouilletand
Hbner. That whichdependson dividingthe
, the
legendinto two parts,Longosand Taleton
firstbeing the name Longus, the second the
genitiveplural of the name of a tribe,may be
dismissedwithoutfurtherconsideration.There
is now generalagreementthat the name representsa tribeof Aoyyo<rTa'rjTai
or AoyyoaToXrjTes
The namesBokiosand Loukoriknos
orLoukoUknos
havea Celticratherthanan Iberianair. But the
shortIberian inscriptionpurp showsthat these
kings,if such theywere,ruledin a place where
Iberianwas spoken. It is to be notedthaton one
smallgroupofcoinsoftheNeronenses
wehavethe
firsttwo letterspu 2 associated with the main
i Thefour-line
isvery
rare
coins.Paris
no.2350,
onthese
sigma
described
as bearing
worn
that
to
itisimpossible
it,is somuch
detect
theform
intheAtlas)
to
(Pl.IV,2). 2355(3355
appears
havetheearly
form
these
with
arms
splayed
(Pl.IV,1). Both
tohave
f. ABritish
Museum
has2 with
appear
specimen
parallel
arms,
and,apparently,
UJ(Pl.IV,3).
>Boudard,
thecoins
which
p.246,Pl.XXVIII,
9,10,published
seem
toindicate
a longer
Heiss,
inscription
puren.
p. 436(after
andBoudard)
Zobel
itasParp{e)c(oe)n.
Saulcy
completes
{Mem.
Num.
reads
andsaysthatonthefew
V,p.30)here
Esp.t
pupen
allbadly
isa small
that
hehasseen,
there
examples,
preserved,
gap
between
thesecond
andthird
thereading
sothat
letter,
may
perasPu(r)pcn.
I have
notbeen
abletoseeany
hapsbecompleted
21
legend,in just the sartieway1as the So (which

may as we have seen stand forSelo), and as the
purpon thepresentcoinsare associatedwiththeir
main legends. Whetherthis associationmeans
alliance or subordinationit is not possibleto
decide.
The interpretation
of purp(thistransliteration
may be regardedas correct,and all attemptsto
- in connexion
read it otherwise,
as ptrpor btrp
- maybe ignored)is quiteuncertain.
withBeterra
Ofcoursethep mayhave beena b. Anyconnexion with Perpignan(Saulcy, Lenormant,Zobel,
Heiss) is ruled out by the fact that Perpignan
did not exist in antiquity.1It has also been
suggestedthat theremay be a connexionwith
Pyrene. This is not the place to enquireinto
the questionof the situationof that city,which
was in Sordicenicaespitisconfinio2i.e. between
the Sordi and the Ceretes. It was, as Schulten
says, the firstport of Spain approachedby the
Massaliotes before they founded Rhoda and
more
than
thefirst
specimen
twoletters
oranytrace
fo
showing
there
been
a longer
having
legend.
1Philipon
hisusual
accuses
, p.184)with
(LesIbres
inaccuracy
Hbner
oftranslating
Pur
"sansmme
se
penbyPerpinianum
demander
si Perpignan
existait
olesLongostaltes
a l'poque
battaient
monnaie."
Hbner
of
merely
quotestheopinion
andZobel.Hehimself
"nomen
Saulcy
fortasse
sayscautiously
cohaeret
cumurbis
vetustae
origine
abAvieno
dictae
or.
Pyrene
marit.
v.558ss.etcum
montibus
Pyrenaeis."
*Avienu
Fontes
s, Oramaritima
(ed.Schulten,
Hisp.Ant.,
I,
v.568andp.115.
1922),
22
Emporiae. He thinksit is to be soughtamong

of the Pyreneesat Cadaques
the promontories
,
wherethereis notonlya safeportbuta wayinto
whichis lackingto the otherports
the interior,
on this coast. It is clear enoughfromAvienus
that Pyrenewas southof the Pyrenees. Thereforeany attemptto identifyit with Ensrune,
the site near Bziersfromthe cemetery
of which
M. Mourethas excavatedso remarkable
a collection of antiquities,includingimportedGreek
potteryfromthe sixthcenturydownwards,will
not bear examination.1If thentherebe a connexionbetweenthe names Pyreneand Purpwhichseemsnot verylikely,since the secondp
- there is still no
would remain unexplained
that the placeiif it is a place,repreprobability
sentedbypurpis identicalwiththecityofPyrene.
We do not,ofcourse,knowwhether
purprepresents a place or somethingelse. But if the
readingpu{r)pcnor purenrecordedfromcertain
2 is
coinsof the Neronensesin privatecollections
correct,that must be a genitiveplural of an
ethnic,of the familiarform. Anotherargument
in favourofitsbeinga place-name
wouldbe forthcomingif we couldbe certainof thesoundnessof
the suggestion,made above, that the letters o
iSeeF. Mouret,
surle
ettartessiennes
Desinfluences
hellniques
auxtemps
etleRoussillon
Mditerranen
prhistoriques.
Languedoc
deBziers
Bull.
Soc.Archol.
, 1929),
pp.21f.
2Seeabove,
pp.3-4.
23
on other coins of the Neronensesrepresenta

place Selo.
What is the period of this coinage of the
Longostaletes? Here we have to take into considerationthe definitedatum, providedby M.
Flix Mouret,1that the two coinsof the Longostaletes obtained by him in the necropolisof
Ensrunewerefoundin twovases,figured
one of
themon PI. 18, no. 2, theotheron PI. 19, no. 5,
of his publication.2Now of thesevases that on
PI. 18, no. 2 (describedas of the Attico1taliot
style),may belongto the thirdcentury;but that
on PI. 19, no. 5, of Campanianstyle,is earlier,
and certainly
as earlyas thefourthcentury.?
Unlesswe areto supposethatthecraftsmanship
oftheseobscurepeoplesof Narbonensis
was much
in advanceof thatof theGreeksfromwhomthey
borrowedtheirideas of coinage,it is impossible
to date any of the coins of the Longostaletes
beforethethirdcenturyB.C. It is notreasonable
to date themearlierthan,forinstance,the third
centurycoinsof Rhegiumwiththetripodreverse,
1Ina letter
5 Dec.1929.
tomedated
2Corpus
Vasorum
Mouret
fase.
France,
6,Collection
Antiquorum,
nodate(!).
(Fouilles
Paris,
d'Ensrune),
8Prof.
CV.Mouret,
writes:
"thecalyx-krater
J.D. Beazley
pl.
ItisAttic,
tothesecond
half
ofthefourth
19,5,belongs
century.
as I pointed
be
outinJ.H.S.,1928,
p.127... : itcantherefore
correlated
with
Attic
ther.f.calyxr.f.calyx-krater
s forshape:
krater
s ofthisshape-stage
thefull
areinthefullKerch
style:
Kerch
canbedated
style
amphorae.
bythedatedPanathenaic
PI.18,2,I should
callvery
orearly
latefourth
butamnot
third,
surehow
lateitmight
beinthethird."
24
which their own reverserecalls. The bronze

coinsof Massalia,withthe tripodon thereverse,
fromwhichsome have thoughtthe tripodof the
Longostaleteswas derived,cannotreasonablybe
dated before250. The coinsof the Celticrulers
Rigantikos,Bitoukos, Kaiantolos seem to be
moreor less contemporary
withor even earlier
than thosewhichwe are considering;
and a coin
of Agathocles,of his last period(304^289B.C.),
was actuallyusedas theblankfora coinofKaiantolos.1 I do notpresstheargument
thatthetitle
a<ri'evs, whichthese rulersuse, was not employedby the successorsof Alexanderbefore306
B.C., because we know that barbarianswere
independentof Greek usage in this respect,as
the coins, for instance,of Geta, King of the
to prove.
Edonians,suffice
The formofthelettersigmain theinscription
is
not of muchservicein datingthe
unfortunately
coins.2 The sigma with splayedarms is found
down to the firstcenturyB.C. The form2,
withparallelarms,occursas earlyas the fourth
century,if certaincoins of Sicyonare correctly
dated, which is doubtful;3 at any rate it is
commonfromthe thirdcenturyonwards. The
lunate sigmaoccurs on a coin of Cos whichis
thoughtto be earlierthan300 B.C.; on a coinof
1Muret-Chabouillet,
no.2424.
9Hill,Handbook
,p.213.
*B.M.C.
, PI.8,21.
Peloponnesus
25
the Illyrianking Monunios,who is supposedto

have reignedabout300 or 280 B.C.; at Tarentum
in Evans's Eighth Period (272-235 B.C.) on
fourout of the fortyvarietiesof coinsbelonging
to that period;in the next period(235-228) on
fiveout ofthetenvarieties;1on a coinofSeleucus
II of Syria (246-226 B.C.) and in manyother
places before the end of the third century.
Since the coins of Sicily are most likely,after
those of Massalia (the datingof whichis very
uncertain),to furnishevidencebearingon our
special point,we may note2 that it occursfirst
at Agrigentumca. 241-210 B.C.; at Agyrium
after241 B.C.; at Syracuseafter212 B.C. It
is difficult
to admitthat it could have foundits
beforethelast quarterofthe
way to Narbonensis
thirdcentury.
As to theformof theomega
, theformco,which
is usualon thesecoins,is late; its occurrence
on a
coin of AntiochusII (261-241 B.C.) is exceptionallyearly.3 It is not foundin Sicily before
the periodof Roman dominion(Entella,Solus).
M. Blanchet,thewriterwhohas mostrecently
consideredthe date of the coinsin question,has
intothewholematter. He
goneverythoroughly
holds, like most of those who have preceded
him,thatthedateofthecoinsoftheLongostaletes
1Evans,
Horsemen
ofTarentum,
p.184note.
2OnthebasisofGrose's
Greek
Coins
oftheMcClean
,
Catalogue
Vol.I.
*Hill,Handbook
, p.214.
26
is bound up withthat of the coins bearingthe

names of the kingsBitovios(Bitoukos) (Pl. V,
5, 6), Amytos(Pl. V, 3), Kaiantolos(Pl. V, 1, 2, 4)
and Rigantikos(Pl. V, 7). F. de Saulcy, Ch.
Robert,and Amardelhave all attributedthese
regal coins to Narbo. The typesare similarto
those of the coins bearingthe name of Bziers
(BHTAPPATIC), althoughthe latter show
handin frontof thebuston theobverse,and are
of a very degeneratestyle (Pl. IV, 8; in the
BritishMuseum, presentedby Dr. Rouzaud);
are commonin the coland the coinsthemselves
lectionsof Narbonneand Bziers. M. Blanchet
proceedsto the datingof thesevariousgroupsof
coinsas follows:
He starts with the admissionof Robert's
suggestionthat the quadrantesof Kaiantolos,
witha boaron the reverse(Pl. V, 4), are copied
froma coinof PhintiasofAgrigentum
(287-279).
This seemsto me unnecessary.Is it necessary,
forinstance,to explainthe boar on the coinsot
to Phintias? A greatdeal
Avenio by reference
of quite
too muchhas been made of the filiation
ordinarytypes,such as bulls and boars,which
than they
otherwise
could hardlybe represented
coincideexactly,we
are. If the representations
are told that one is copiedfromanother. If, as
in the case of the bull witha wreathabove it at
the
Massalia and on thecoinsof the Neronenses,
attitudesdifferaltogether,we are told that it
27
does not matter.1Gibbon'sremark,

that11much
learnedtrifling
mightbe spared,if our antiquarians would condescendto reflectthat similar
mannerswill naturallybe producedby similar
situations," may with profit be applied to
in general. However,we mayadmit
archaeology
without furtherquestion that the coins of
Kaiantolos(Pl. V, 1, 2, 4) are laterthanthoseof
Phintias. They have the four-legged
sigma,like
the earliestcoinsof the Longostaletes.The lion
of all the coins of the kingsconcerned,and of
Beterra,may,M. Blanchetsays,wellbe imitated
fromcoins of Syracuseattributedto Agathocles
(317-289). The typeof thetripodof theLongoor
staletesmaycomefrombronzesofAgrigentum
of Massalia; but he findsthat the styleof the
bronzesof Massalia withthe tripodis inferior
to
that of the earliestbronzesof the Longostaletes.
We mustgo to Sicily,he thinks,fortheoriginof
this,as of the buttingbull,whichhe holdswas
borrowedby Massalia from Sicily about the
middleofthethirdcentury. Thus it followsthat
and oftheGaulish
the typesoftheLongostaletes
kingsKaiantolos,etc., must have been adopted
in the courseof the thirdcentury.
successively
1Blanchet,
ifanorigin
7. I may
note
that
iswanted
276,
p. note
intheIberian
itshould
besought
for
theNeronensian
series,
type
occur
asregular
of
where
thebullandwreath
atEmporiae,
types
thewreath
certain
andwhere
is.theconstant
accompanisemisses,
oneof
oftheasses,
asatMassalia,
ment
ofthePegasus
not,
merely
ofchanging
a number
symbols
(Pl.II,6).
28
Of all the coins of the region,those of the

Neronenses
are themostnumerous,
and showthe
longest development(or degeneration).1The
coinsof theLongostaletes
withthenamesBokios
and Loukotiknosand the Iberian inscription
with the
Purp are, he thinks,contemporary
earliestof the Neronensian.The coins of the
Longostaleteswithoutthe personal names in
Greek,and also withoutthe Iberianinscriptions,
are earlierthantheothers. Theyshowthefourlegged sigma,2like the coins of Kaiantolos;
whereastheothercoinsof theLongostaletes,
and
thoseof the otherkings,have the lunatesigma.
The kingshe rangesin the following
orderby
styleand legend:Kaiantolos,Amytos,Bitoukos,
Bitovios,Rigantikos;theywillbe foundin that
orderon our Plate V.
I gather,then,that M. Blanchet'sviewof the
relativechronologyof these coins may be expressedmoreor less by thefollowing
diagram,in
whichthecoinagesmentioned
in thefirst
rowmay
be placed roughlyabout the middleof the third
century.
1Hesays(p.277)that
since
arethecommonest,
andalso
they
those
ofwhich
the
issue
lasted
for
wefind
numerous
longest,
stages
ofdeformation,
wemay
conclude
from
thisremark
thatthey
are
themost
recent.
Thisseems
tometobelogically
I
elliptical;
takeitthatitmeans
thatsince
wefind
a number
ofstages
of
theissuemust
havelasted
deformation,
andthedeformed
long,
arethemost
recent.
types
2Thisisnotrigidly
intheBritish
Museum
isonewith
the
true;
lunate
sigma.
29
Kaiantolos
Longostaletes
withoutpersonal
names
Amytos
Longostaletes
itoukos
and
1 Bitovios
Neronenses-(Bokios
Loukotiknos)
Rigantikos
The coinsof Beterra,whichare oftenverydegenerate,mightbe added at the bottomof the
thirdcolumn.
If we accept the date of ca. 70 B.C. forthe
at
suppressionof the oppidumof the Neronenses
Montlaurs,we may take it that theircoinage
stoppedthen,whiletheothercoinageswithwhich
we are concernedhad alreadycome to an end
some timebefore.
Consideredby itself,this complexof coinages
mightwell seem to be dated betweenabout 250
and 70 B.C. But it cannotbe consideredapart
fromthe Iberiancoinagewithwhichit is manifestlyconnected. One has only to comparethe
male head on the obverseof the coinsof Kaiantolos with that on Iberian coins such as those
struckat Cese-Tarraco(Pl. IV, 9) to see thatone
is a copyoftheother;norcan therebe muchdoubt
whichis the originaland whichthe copy. The
head is so charIberian type of curly-haired
acteristicthat we cannotsupposeit to have been
inventedin Gaul; the Gibbonian
independently
30
maximquotedabove does not apply here. Nor

can it ever be admittedthat the type which
over a vast area in Spain
spreadhomogeneously
was copiedfromcoinsof a smallissue made by
obscurereguliin NarboneseGaul. Therefore
the
coins of Kaiantolos are not earlier than the
earliestIberiancoinswiththefamiliartypeofthe
maleheadand thehorseman
reverse.
curly-haired
Thereis a generalagreementthat thesedate at
the earliestfromabout 218 B.C. We are thereforeforcedto bringthe originof the coinageof
Narbonensisdown by at least fifty
years.
I confessthat,as faras styleis concerned,
this
later date is quite agreeable. It was generally
"
to the " second-first
century that,on beginning
the study of these coinages,I was inclinedto
date them, on groundsof style, and on the
assumptionthat theyfollowedinsteadof led the
developmentin mattersof coinage,when compared with theirnearestneighboursamongthe
Greeks. That was before I looked for any
pointsthat mightbe fixedby externalevidence.
Dr. Rouzaud'sworkat Montlaurshas furnished
a terminus
antequemforone series,at any rate,
whichgivesus no difficulty.M. Mouret'sdatumt
on the otherhand, is by no means so easy to
at Ensrune
digest. How longwas thecemetery
in Use? Is it likelythat manyfinevases would
have been preservedfor more than a century
beforetheywere used for burial? Considering
31
how commonlyfragileporcelainis treasuredby

us fora longerperiodthan that,we can surely
admitthattheinhabitants
ofEnsrunekepttheir
fineGreekvases,of solidconstruction,
forone or
eventwohundredyears,and did notuse themas
ossuariesas soon as theywereimported. Until
M. Mouret'sexcavation-notes
are properlypub- forthe fasciculeof the CorpusVasorum
lished
is quiteinadequateas an accountofthegroupsin
- we
whichpotteryand otherobjectswerefound
shall not be able to estimatethevalue of his discoveriesas evidenceforthe datingof the coins.
The assumptionthatthecoinsbelongto thedate
of the origin(or even of the importation)
of the
vases in whichthey were stated to have been
foundleads us into difficulties
so grave froma
numismatic
pointof view that we are boundto
rejectit.
Coins of Sicilyand SouthernItaly foundtheir
way in quantitiesinto Spain and SouthernGaul.
It has been thoughtthat the Iberian bronze
head and thejinete
coinagewiththe curly-haired
was suggestedby thespearmancoinsof HieroII;
and we have alreadymentioned
varioustheories
as to the Drototypes
of the coinagesof Southern
Gaul. This constantsearchforprototypes,
which
allows nothingto the originality
of Spaniardor
Gaul,has,as we havehinted,beenmuchoverdone.
Still the generaleffectof the influxof quantities
of foreigncoins may be admitted. It mightat
32
least suggesttheidea ofa coinageoftheirownto

theinhabitants. Imitativecoinagesin barbarous
or semi-barbarous
countries
do notas a rulebegin
untilthe supplyof importedcoinsbeginsto fail.
At least we mustallowtheimportedcoinsa long
circulation
beforethe necessityof supplementing
them by a native coinage begins to be felt.
whetherwe admitthat the peoplesof
Therefore,
Narbonensisactuallycopiedforeign
coins,or got
fromthemmerelythe idea of a coinageof their
own, whose types occasionallyreflectedforeign
models,we may reasonablysay that the native
behindthat
coinagewas twoor threegenerations
whichinspiredit. And thustheend of thethird
centuryor beginningof the second seems the
ofthebronze
mostsuitabledate forthebeginning
coinagein Narbonensis.
Where werethecoinsoftheCelticrulerswithout tribalor place-name,and the coins of the
Longostaletes,struck? Amardel has collected
statisticsof the local frequencyof these coins.
They lead himto the conclusionthat Narbowas
the place whereall the coins,thoseof theLongostaletes,thoseof the Celticchiefsof the Volcae,
and those with purelyIberianinscriptions
(i.e.
werestruck. Narbo,hethinks,
the Neronensian),
may, like Emporiae,have comprisedtwo cities,
whichwas the older
that of the Longostaletes,
and has disappeared,and that of the Volcae,
which was supersededby the Roman colony.
33
The coinageof the Longostaletesperhapsbegan

beforethatof thechiefsof theVolcae,and lasted
to the beginningof the Roman domination.
The purelyIberiancoins succeededthoseof the
Volcae. " The language of the Iberians had
superseded Greek in all the country. The
appearanceof an Iberianlegendon the coinsof
the Longostaletes,whichbeforethen had been
purelyGreekin spiteof theoriginof thatpeople,
proves this. The foreignelementshad been
absorbed everywhere,the ancient nationality
reappeared,the Iberianrace remainedpredominant. The barbarousstyleof the last coins of
the Gaulishchiefs,of thelast coinsof Riganticos,
bears witness to the decline of the Hellenic
civilisationand the decadence of the Volcae.
1
The Iberianshad regainedtheirpredominance."
The passage just quoted expressesadmirably
what seems to have been the courseof events,
but it is hardlypossibleto accepttheattribution
of all threeseriesof coins to one and the same
mint. The discoveriesof Dr. Rouzaud leave no
doubt as to the locality of the mint of the
Neronenses. The filiation
ofthetypesof Beterra
with those of the Gaulish chiefsaffordsa presumptionthatBeterrawas the mintof thelatter.
* are
Amardelfindsthathisstatistics
againstsuch
an attribution.Let us see what theycome to:
1Bull.Comm.
Arch,
deNarbonne,
1895,
pp.563-4.
*Bull,
deNarbonne
delaComm.
arch,
pp.344ff.
1892-3
34
Longostaletes
Gaulish
Chiefs
Nero
Beterra
ti

. ^ftj
Uj>>
t ,
.o
c jj
t-C 41
t
IsS 1 5 "gB
III
dB
SM^SM-g
JfcS
U 2 S U O
tf
7 5 10 21 3 5 3 3 21 8 3
18 14 14 56 34 12
10 6
1
thesix columnsintotwowe have

Compressing
Longostaletes
Gaulish
Chiefs
Neronenses
Beterra
Narbonne
Collections
22
11
46
0
Bziers
Collections
24
32
102
17
These detailswouldrequiresome modification

now; in fact I found4 coins of Beterrain the
collectionof the Socit archol. de Bziers.
The 12 coinsof the Neronensesin the same collectionincludedone of Selo. Thereis also one of
Brigantio.
of the coins of the NeroThe preponderance
nensesis moremarkedat Bziersthan at Narbonne; yet, in view of the facts revealed by
Montlaurs,we shouldnot be justifiedin attribseemto me
utingthemto Bziers. The statistics
to showno case forNarbo as againstBeterraas
themintofthecoinsoftheLongostaletes
and the
35
Gaulish chiefs.1The fact is, the statisticscollectedby Amardelare on too smalla scale to be
of service; they are not comparablewith the
observationsof Rouzaud. One thingis clear,
and that is that the coinsof the Neronensesare
and must have circulated
generallydistributed,
as at Montlaurs. But
as
well
at
Bziers
widely,
they were producedat the latterplace. If we
went merelyby Amardel'sfigures,we should
assumethat not onlythey,but also the coinsof
the two othergroups,wereproducedat Bziers.
Now add Dr. Rouzaud's figuresto thoseof the
Narbonnecollections:
Narbonne
Collections
B&iws
andMontlaurs Collections
62
Longostaletes
24
Chiefs
41
Gaulish
32
174
Neronenses
102
Beterra
17
I.e., in the Narbonneand Montlaurscollections
59.2ofthecoins"areoftheLongostaletes
together,
as comparedwith100ofthoseof the Neronenses;
at Bziersthe proportion
is 53.9 to 100. And
that after 25 years of intensivecollectingat
Montlaurs,wherethe provenanceof everycoin
1Some
bedone
with
strange
statistics.
things
Amardel
may
that
from
therichness
ofprivate
collections
atBziers
says
wemust
notconclude
that
allthese
coins
arecommoner
there
than
tNarthisrichness
theindefatigable
zealofthe
bonne*,
merely
proves
collectors.
Andsoon.
36
is certain,whereasthe indefatigablecollectors
of Bziersdoubtlessaccumulatedcoinsnotfound
in theirownparish.
and oftheGaulThe mintoftheLongostaletes
forthe presentremain
ish chiefsmusttherefore
uncertain. Excavationmay at any timereveal
it. As to the dates of the coins,we may accept
of the groupsrelaM. Blanchet'sarrangement
tively to each other,placingthe beginningof
and ofKaiantolos
thecoinageoftheLongostaletes
and bringing
at theveryendof thethirdcentury,
the latest coinsof the Neronenses(to whichwe
may add thoseof Selo and Brigantioas well as
Beterra)downto about 70 B.C.
WhetherNero had a coinageearlierthanthat
by the bronzecoinswithits nameis
represented
a questionthat has to be consideredin the light
of Dr. Rouzaud's suggestionabout the silver
obols of Massaliote types. It is certainlyrerare coins,of
markablethat of theseextremely
whichonly16 are known,14 werefoundat Montin Pl. VI,
laurs. One of the latteris illustrated
2; the specimenin the BibliothqueNationalein
Pl. VI, 1. I shouldregardthemnot as alliance
coins with Massalia- alliancesof this sort were
probablymuchless commonthanit has been the
fashionto suppose- butas mereimitations. The
stylisedbull's head which distinguishesthese
coins representsthe animal whose complete
figureappearson the laterbronze. These obols
37
correspond,in theirway, to the imitationsof

Massalioteobolsissuedat Ilerda.1
SILVER COINS
It remainsto mentiona fewsilvercoins,which
were certainlystruckin Gaul, but bear Iberian
inscriptions.
1. The small silvercoins with the head of a
nymphon the obverse,rev.wheelor cross (derived from Rhoda). The inscriptionon the
reverseappears to be ^<0lXlv4,ls' acoequntin
,2
Pl. VI, 3. Therecan be no doubtof the Iberian
characterof the inscription.Doubtlessthe unblunderedexampleswerestruckmuchnearerthe
Spanish borderthan any of the places of provenance mentioned. The weightof the specimen
from Saint-Etiennedes Landes is given by
Luneau as 3.60 grm.;thatin the Paris cabinetis
3.45 grm. The two blunderedspecimensfrom
Blaye (Pl. VI, 5, 6; Paris 3548-9) are on the
other hand lighter(2.65 and 2.61 gm.). The
weightof the heavierspecimensagreeswiththat
1Pans539= Heiss,
no.323
Pl.IX,2;Vidal
Quadras
yRamon
= Heiss,
isunduly
about
Pl.IX,3. Vives
sceptical
(I,pp.14-16)
ofIlerda.
coins
these
1Ch.Robert,
deLanguedoc
dela province
, p.488,
Numismatique
no.
Num.
Mem.
Pl.III,19. Zobel,
Epigr.
Esp.,V,p.221. Pujol,
no.15a. Rev.Num.,
190.Hbner
1901,
p. 311,Pl.VIII,134
Trait
desLandes,
Saint-Etienne
, I,
Blanchet,
Dordogne).
(from
nos.3548-9.The
p.284,fig.148.Cp.alsoMuret-Chabouillet,
found
atBlaye
were
more
orlessblundered
(Gironde),
specimens
Limogne
(Aveyron).
38
of the commonmonnaies la croix, generally

attributedto the Volcae Tectosages.
2. Anothersilvercoin also derivedfromthe
Rhoda typesis in the Paris Cabinet(Pl. VI, 4).
It has the head of the nymphto r., on the rev.a
crosscantonnedwithglobulesand letterswhich
.* The connexionwith
have been read
the coins just describedis obvious. Its provenance is not known. Hbner, reading untga
,
oftheIberianformofthe
comparesthebeginning
nameoftheIndigetai. Heiss'sguessat Agdeand
recordedin Muret-Chabouillet
othersuggestions
have no plausibility.
3. The unique silvercoin in the BritishMuseum (Pl. VI, 7). Obv. Head of Roma r. in
wingedhelmet;behind,X. Rev. Dioscuririding
r.; below,Iberianinscr.iece. 2.62 grm.2
The inscriptioniece has been connectedby
Zobel withthe Iacetani; but laca is well repreclass of pure Iberian
sentedby a quite different
coins,and styleand weightpointto some place
northofthePyrenees. Nordoesthereseemto be
it, as Pujol does,with
any reasonforconnecting
the purely Iberian coins reading ieso. Vives
describesit as a Gaulishimitationin whichare
mingled Roman and Spanish elements. The
1Hbner
to which
no. lSg,withbibliography,
addMuretPl.X; Blanchet,
Trait
Chabouillet
Atlas,
,p.283.
3558;
2From
Dr.Nott
sSale,1842.Zobel
Num.
{Mem.
p.20,
Esp.,V),
no.112andp. 343. Hbner
no.3,andp.221. Pujol,
no.
epigr.
15c.Vives,
Prol.,
p.xlix.
39
letteringis perfectlygood, and was done by

someonewho understoodIberian,not by a mere
Gaulishimitator. The typesare imitatedfroma
RomandenariusofthesecondcenturyB.C. The
weighthoweveris that of the Massalianvictoriatus of the same period.
on an imitation
The readingof the inscription
of a Massalian coin, as grek(Hbner 15e),
libeci(Saussaye,p. 92), etc.,etc.,is quite uncertain,especiallyin viewofthefactthatwe cannot
is Iberianat all.1 A
be sure that the inscription
specimenfromthe Bcke collection(Pl. VI, 8)
has longlain (and willforthepresentcontinueto
lie) among the imitationsof Massalia in the
is to be read.
BritishMuseum; on it
1There
Collection
intheNewell
drachms
with
similar
arethree
below).Twoof
theinscription
clearly
reading
O A0 1A(cut3
ofcognate
hoard
from
a large
aresaidtohavecome
coins
these
andthethird
inthePoValley",
was
unearthed
"somewhere
pieces
almost
certain
Itseems
inGermany.
that
from
a dealer
purchased
France.R.Forrer,
todowith
southwestern
canhave
nothing
they
Rhein
-und
der
Numismatik
Keltische
Donaulandet
assigns
pp.85-89,
totheMaritime
similar
with
them
Alps.
pieces,
together
Fditor.
NARBONENSES
PLATE I
NARBONENSES
PLATE II
NARBONENSES
PLATE III
NARBONENSES
PLATE IV
NARBONENSES
PLATE V
NARBONENSES
PLATE VI

On The Coins of Narbonensis With Iberian Inscriptions / by George F. Hill

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On The Coins of Narbonensis With Iberian Inscriptions / by George F. Hill

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NUMISMATIC

The American Numismatic Society

NumismaticNotes and Monographs

ON THE COINS OF NARBONENSIS WITH

We have to deal with threeor fourseriesof

The nameof theplace musthave been Nero(the

have collectedon the site duringconstantvisits

foundat Montlaurs,though2 are now lost.1

the end of the SertorianWar, PompeiusreorofSpain,and setup histrophies

whata Romanwouldcallsemuncialasses. There

2. Similartypes and inscriptions,

quite illegible. Boudard is responsiblefor the

the Paris Catalogue,and a finespecimenin Dr.

thantheX, and is connectedbyits leftlimbwith

followedby a horizontaldash on the quadrans,

not unreasonableto suggest that the letters

inscriptionare wanting. The firstsign is the

to me are in the Maison Carreat Nimes,and I

men illustratedin Pl. III, 6, all the lettersare

variety.1The great majorityof the specimens

legend,in just the sartieway1as the So (which

Emporiae. He thinksit is to be soughtamong

on other coins of the Neronensesrepresenta

which their own reverserecalls. The bronze

the Illyrianking Monunios,who is supposedto

is bound up withthat of the coins bearingthe

does not matter.1Gibbon'sremark,

Of all the coins of the region,those of the

maximquotedabove does not apply here. Nor

how commonlyfragileporcelainis treasuredby

least suggesttheidea ofa coinageoftheirownto

The coinageof the Longostaletesperhapsbegan

thesix columnsintotwowe have

These detailswouldrequiresome modification

correspond,in theirway, to the imitationsof

of the commonmonnaies la croix, generally

letteringis perfectlygood, and was done by

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