point to a high degree of interaction between the different agents operating
in the region. The common occurrence of shared coin designs (such as the
reverses with an owl on a spearhead on coins of Agathopolis, Bisanthe, and
of the ruler Adaios, dating to the second quarter of the third centurybc)
and common countermarks, such as the bronze of Antiochos II counter-
marked at Kabyle, or the six- or eight-pointed star that appears on the
reverse of Byzantion’s earliest bronze issues (dated 240– 220 bc)and
contemporary coins of Adaios, show a closely interconnected web of
commercial relations.^29
The emergence of monopolistic behaviour, linked to control of the
physical bottleneck constituted by the Straits, will be re-examined below
in connection with the extraordinary rise of Byzantion. The internal
picture of the east Balkans over the periodc. 300 – 100 bcindicates great
prosperity on the one hand and substantial disruption of overland trade
links on the other. The Celtic incursions of the early 270sbcare linked to
rural destructions in lower Macedonian farm estates, as well as cities,
such as Aigeai and Pistiros. At the same time, most of the coastal cities of
the Aegean and west Pontic coast, the chief cities of lower Macedonia
and central Thrace, experienced thefirst significant period of urban
expansion in their histories, with the emergence of public squares,
buildings, and various civic amenities. What is more, the archaeological
evidence for the‘Celtic’presence in the region does not indicate a well-
differentiated social entity.^30 This confirms the notion that there was far
more to the conflict between Byzantion and its neighbours than a simple
case of greed (on the part of neighbouring communities). The web of
connections was interrupted by the advent of Roman troops in response
to the activities of Mithridates VI of Pontus (132– 63 bc). This is the
point at which the configuration of the networks begins to change to the
new order, based on bilateral treaties with Rome. The lead here seems to
have come from Kallatis, as early as 106– 101 bc.^31
Cross-cultural exchangeMore subtle but no less penetrating than bulk transports, and the coin
distributions that seem to follow the same dynamics as the bulk produce,
were other socio-cultural features of economic life that seemed to move
in step with the demand for bulk commodities, particularly those
(^29) Jourukova 1994, 261–5, on Agathopolis and related issues.
(^30) See esp. Emilov 2010.
(^31) Avram 1999; Minchev 2011, 21–2.
206 Regionalism and regional economies