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ForewordbyAleksanderBursche
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Ukraine),aninstitutionwhichhadalargenumismaticlibraryandacollection
ofnearlytwentythousandcoins,completedhistextbookofcoinagesinPoland
andLithuaniaforthestudentsofhisschoolOrzeczymenniczejwPolsceiLitwie
dlauczniówWołyńskiegoGimnazjum(KAboutCoinageinPolandandLithuaniafor
StudentsoftheVolhynianLyceum”),publishedin1835,apioneeringworkand
anambitiousattemptatwritingasynthesisofthehistoryofcoinageinPoland.
InthisworkCzackidescribedsomenumismaticfinds,morerelevantly–using
thearchivalrecordsoftheBenedictinemonasteryoftheHolyCross–ahoard
reportedlydiscoveredontheŁysaGóra(BaldMountain)summit–amountain
whichduetoitsextraordinaryformhasaspecialplaceinthePolishhistoricaland
literarytradition.ThehoardallegedlycontainedKseveralhundredpiecesofsilver
coinandafewscoregoldcoins,withtheimagesofCaesarandAugustus”.The
reliabilityofthisrecordhandeddownbyCzackiwasexaminedingreatdetailby
JerzyKolendo,whounderstandthatthehoardinquestionincludedRomandenarii
fromthefirstandthesecondcentury,oneofmanyrecordedintheterritoryof
theBarbaricum.Notlessinterestinginthiscontextisthecommentmadeby
T.Czacki,wellacquaintedwithclassicalwrittensources,includingtheGermania
andtheAnnalesofTacitus.ForthePolishhistorian,pedagogueandnumismatist
hadconcludedthatthemountainusedtobeasacredsitewithKanancienttemple
ofCastorandPollux”,andwentontoaddthatKapparentlythesecoinswereapart
oftheplundertakenfromtheLegionsofVarus,senthereinsacrifice”.Thushalf
acenturyearlierthanthetextofT.MommsenwefindinPolishliteraturean
attemptatlinkingancientcoinsdiscoveredintheterritoryoftheBarbaricumto
theBattleoftheTeutoburgerForest.
Asimilarideawasputforwardinthesecondhalfofthetwentiethcentury
byAndrzejKunisz,oneofthemostoutstandingPolishspecialistsinRoman
numismatics.In1970hepublished,soonafteritsdiscovery,thePołaniechoard
fromLesserPoland,thefirstcollectivefindofRomanRepublicanandAugustan
coinsrecordednorthoftheCarpathians,andwhichisdiscussedatsomelengthin
thepresentvolume.Nexttootherattemptsatinterpretation,Kuniszadmittedthat
thehoardcouldbeafragmentofplundertakenbytheGermansintheTeutoburger
Forest.Withtheevidencenowavailablethisinterpretationisnolongertenable,but
itshouldbestressedthatthisnewdatawasunknowntoA.Kunisz.
OurmainsourceininterpretingthecircumstancesoftheinfluxofRoman
coinagetotheterritoryofeast-centralandnorthernEuropeanditsusesthereare
findsofcoinsandmedallions,andthecontextoftheirdiscovery.Onthissubject
wehavealmostnoinputfromthewrittenrecord,withtheexceptionofdetails
pertainingtothepoliticalcircumstancesoftheinfluxofthiscoinage,mostlyrelated
totheperiodoftheLateEmpire.However,thereisonesignificantexception:the
highlysignificantpassageintheGermaniaofTacitus(cf.thediscussionbelow).
Notwithoutreasonisthispassagediscussedinextensointheworkpresentedhere,
indeedafragmentisusedasanelementofitstitle.
Theinterpretationofthesaidpassagehasbeenanobjectofagreatcontroversy
