A Roman Figured Weight from the Sanctuary of Eklizi-Burun (Southern Crimea)

Abstract

This article is the publication of a suspended moveable weight for fast scales wrought in the shape of the bust of a Roman emperor which was found within the sanctuary of Eklizi-Burun. The cult place dates from between the Early Roman to the Late Medieval Period. The item is of good quality and well preserved. The depiction of the emperor has a combination of features which permit identification with Tiberius Claudius Nero (AD 14-37). It is an example of the Chiaramonti type distributed in the last decade of Tiberius’ rule and also reproduced after the Emperor’s death. After bringing together the available information about the artefact (date, attitudes to ‘Roman Imperial’ material culture, nature of the find’s context), the authors conclude that the fast scales, of which the weight under discussion formed a part, reached Southern Taurica during the Roman-Bosporan War (AD 45-49). The scales were probably captured by Taurians/Scytho-Taurians from Roman soldiers and then offered to the sanctuary. It is possible that they had been on one of the ships transporting Romans (soldiers of Gaius Julius Aquila stationed in the Bythinia-and-Pontus Province?) in AD 49 along the sea coast, sailing westwards from the Bosporan kingdom. These ships were cast on to the ‘Taurian beach’ by a storm and plundered by the native population (Tac. Ann. XII. 17). One of the possible locations of that event could be Plaka Cape (ancient Lampas), which is situated 17.5 kilometres directly south of the Eklizi-Burun sanctuary.