Reconsidering the Calvatone Hoard 1942 : a numismatic case study on the Roman vicus of Bedriacum (Cremona, Italy)

Having defeated the Celts in northern Italy, the Romans built the Via Postumia, a vital road connecting Aquileia (east) and Genova (Genoa, west), in 148 BC. On that occasion, the Romans founded Bedriacum, a small vicus close to the present town of Calvatone (Cremona), which past and current excavations by the University of Milan are revealing as a vital centre of Roman Gallia Cisalpina (Cisalpine Gaul). Recent investigations have shed new light on coin circulation and offer fresh data to be compared with hoarding trends and old finds. The aim of this paper is to analyse the Calvatone Hoard 1942, a significant reserve of 16 Roman coins. First, the paper assesses the discovery of the hoard and its coins, dated from the second century BC to the early age of Augustus, which offer a great deal of information concerning hoarding trends in Gallia Cisalpina and contribute to greater knowledge of the history and archaeology of northern Italy. Then the essay compares the Calvatone hoard with the circulation of the coins of Bedriacum and new archaeological data from excavations