All content of Opuscula 13 is available with open access. Printed edition distributed by Eddy.se AB. Also available at Amazon.com, Adlibris, and Bokus. View volume at ERIH PLUS. Vidracco, Braone, and San Lorenzo. Recruitment or dilectio? By Svante Fischer (Independent scholar, Sweden) & Ian N. Wood (University of Leeds, United Kingdom) Abstract This paper is a study of three solidus hoards located at strategic passages through the Italian Alps. It is argued that the hoards are connected to barbarian mercenaries in Roman service. The hoards are analysed and compared to historical sources and solidus hoards from Scandinavia. It is argued that it may be possible to distinguish between hoards that contain solidi used to pay for barbarian recruits and hoards that are proof of dilectio, bonus payments. In the latter case, it is argued that freshly minted solidi from northern Italy are more likely to represent dilectio than older and imported coins. Bibliographical information Svante Fischer & Ian N. Wood, ‘Vidracco, Braone, and San Lorenzo. Recruitment or dilectio?’, Opuscula. Annual of the Swedish Institutes at Athens and Rome (OpAthRom) 13, Stockholm 2020, 165–186. ISSN: 2000-0898. ISBN: 978-91-977799-2-0. https://doi.org/10.30549/opathrom-13-07

Opuscula 9 (2016) is now available for purchase and free download at bokorder.se. Also available at Amazon.com, Amazon.de, Bokus.com and Adlibris.com. Subsidies for the Roman West? The flow of Constantinopolitan solidi to the Western Empire and Barbaricum By Svante Fischer & Fernando López Sánchez Abstract This paper discusses the presence of solidi struck in Constantinople found in 5th and early to mid-6th century solidus hoards in the Western Empire, Italy in particular. Some 112 different solidus hoards in eleven regions are compared and evaluated. It is suggested that solidi from Constantinople in most of these hoards may be interpreted as the evidence of subsidies for the Western Empire. A possible cause for the uneven but lengthy supply of gold from Constantinople to the Western emperor could have been the fear of Western insolvency and ultimately a state bankruptcy. Bibliographical information Svante Fischer & Fernando López Sánchez, ‘Subsidies for the Roman West? The flow of Constantinopolitan solidi to the Western Empire and Barbaricum’, Opuscula. Annual of the Swedish Institutes at Athens and Rome (OpAthRom) 9, Stockholm 2016, 249–269. ISSN: 2000-0898. ISBN: 978-91-977798-8-3. https://doi.org/10.30549/opathrom-09-09