All’alba della città romana: il deposito votivo del Tempio romano di Nora

Abstract: The paper deals with the discovery of 18 silver coins and an anthropomorphic clay slab recovered in 2008 during the excavation of the Roman Temple of Nora by the University of Padua. The precious finds were brought to light in the layers of restructuring of the sanctuary operated in the Roman imperial age (III century AD). The same area of the discovery was already occupied by a first building of probable sacred character, built in the Archaic age, and by a second valuable building, built between 260 and 240 BC. The production of the slab is placed in the III century BC and the formation of the hoard, consisting of the most ancient Greek and Roman coins found in Sardinia, can be placed between the years 230- 225 BC. Various elements and clues lead us to hypothesize that the coins and the mask were donated in the new sacred building in these crucial years for the history of the island. Indeed the evidence generates some reflections on the possible relationship between the votive offers and the contemporary constitution of the provincia of Sardinia et Corsica, as on the role of Nora in the Roman expansionist policy in Sardinia.