BIBLE HISTORY DAILY

Pirates and Silver Denarii

Roman coin hoard uncovered on Pantelleria island

Face of one of the silver denarii found on the Island of Pantellaria. Courtesy Archaeological Park of Selinunte, Caves of Cusa, and Pantelleria.

During recent restoration work, archaeologists on the Italian island of Pantelleria, located off the coast of Sicily, discovered a hoard of silver denarii in the acropolis of Santa Teresa and San Marco. Dating to the early first century BCE, the coins offer valuable insight into life on the Mediterranean at a time when pirates sailed the sea.

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Hiding Silver

According to the Archaeological Park of Selinunte, Caves of Cusa, and Pantelleria, the hoard of 27 silver coins was initially revealed after a rainstorm eroded the soil around its hiding place. Upon excavating the area, the team discovered the remaining coins hidden underneath a stone. The coins are all Republican-era silver denarii, which were minted in Rome between 94 and 74 BCE, around the time the Roman general Pompey was commissioned by the senate to track down and destroy the many pirate fleets that prowled the Mediterranean.

Mediterranean pirates frequently attacked coastal villages and, at one point, even kidnapped a young nobleman who would grow up to bring a final end to the Roman Republic, Julius Ceasar. “This little treasure hidden in a hole in the wall has a much higher value than its economic value because it tells something,” said Felice Crescente, director of the archaeological park. In 2010, excavations in the area revealed 107 more silver denarii, and even earlier excavations discovered carved busts of Julius Caesar, Agrippina, and Titus.

Related reading in Bible History Daily:

Tens of Thousands of Roman Coins Discovered

The Coins of Herod: A Modern Analysis and Die Classification

All-Access members, read more in the BAS Library:

Roman Coins Boast “Judaea Capta”

Tracing the Spread of Early Christianity Through Coins

The Holy Land in Coins

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