The Boscoreale Treasure

The Boscoreale Treasure is a large collection of exquisite silver and gold Roman objects discovered in the ruins of the Villa della Pisanella at Boscoreale, near Pompeii. It consists of 109 pieces of silverware, as well as gold jewellery (necklaces, bracelets and earrings) and over 1000 gold coins. Items from the hoard date from the 4th century BC to the 1st century AD. Many of the silver items from the treasure are considered masterpieces of Roman art that could only have belonged to the elite.

Boscoreale was buried by volcanic ash following the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.

Skeleton cups of the Boscoreale Treasure

Among those who escaped Mt. Vesuvius was the owner of Villa Pisanella, a popular wine producing villa. It's believed that the owner was Lucius Caecilius Iucundus, a wealthy merchant and banker who was the son of a freed slave.

In 1895, 109 gold and silver plates and hundreds of gold aurei were found.

The coins were stored in an empty cistern in the wine cellar. With a general exchange rate of one aureus as pay for one month of work, it is a significant sum.

The coins are known as “Boscoreale” aurei because of the distinctive toning found on many of them. Gold itself is inert, but when made into coins, it is alloyed with small amounts of silver and copper which are susceptible to toning.

Over the 1,800 years that the coins spent buried beneath the ash and pumice from Vesuvius, some examples developed significant toning.

Augustus aureus - £480,000

This aureus was made between 27 B.C. and 18 B.C. The early lifetime coin depicts the new portrait of Augustus transformed into an ageless Apollo-like figure on one side and an image of a heifer based on a long-lost masterpiece by a Greek sculptor on its reverse.

22 examples of the heifer-reverse aureus minted during the reign of Augustus are known, of which 15 are in museums. Of the seven in private collections, the one that sold is among the best and most sought after. Brisk bidding at the London auction in 2014 saw the price of the coin soar past its pre-sale estimate of £300k and eventually go for a hammer price of £400k.

In 27 BC Octavian, the great nephew of Julius Caesar, founded the Principate. He took the name of Augustus, meaning ‘stately’ or ‘dignified’, and began to stamp his authority on Rome. The depiction of Augustus is unlike the severe portraits found in late republican Rome. The young Octavian is a figure of calm dignity and power. The reverse celebrates the 28 BC dedication of the temple of Apollo on the Palatine which had as its centrepiece an altar with four statues of heifers by the sculptor Myron of Eleutherae.

Pertinax

Pertinax (1 August 126 – 28 March 193) was a Roman military leader and Roman Emperor for the first three months of 193. He succeeded the insane Commodus to become the first emperor during the Year of the Five Emperors.

Born the son of a freed slave, Pertinax became an officer in the army. He was promoted to higher-ranking positions in both the military and political spheres, leading to the rank of provincial governor and urban prefect. He was a member of the Roman Senate. Following the death of Commodus, Pertinax was acclaimed emperor.

Pertinax attempted several reforms during his short reign of 86 days. One was the restoration of discipline among the Praetorian Guards, and that led to conflict that cost him his life.

Didius Julianus

The Praetorian Guard expected a generous donativum on his ascension, and when they were disappointed, they agitated until he produced money, selling off Commodus' property. He was assassinated by the Guard on 28 March 193. After his death, the Praetorians auctioned off the imperial title, which was won by the wealthy senator Didius Julianus, whose also short reign would end on 1 June 193 in death.

Pertinax gold is rare and valuable. Gold aureus of Pertinax. EF $56,525 in 2017.

Masada

Masada is one of the most visited sites in Israel. It contains ancient palaces and fortifications located on top of an isolated rock plateau overlooking the Dead Sea.

Masada (‘fortress’ in Hebrew) became known for its significance in the First Jewish-Roman War. In the first century A.D. a thousand Jewish rebels took over the fortress and were surrounded by the Roman army, which left behind the most complete siege works in the world. When defeat was imminent, the rebels chose to commit suicide.

The fortress was built during the time of King Herod between 37 and 31 BCE. The eastern side of the rock falls in a sheer drop of about 450m to the Dead Sea basin, the lowest point on earth.

In 73 CE, the Roman governor of Judaea, Lucius Flavius Silva commanded the Roman legion X Fretensis and laid siege to Masada.

Roman Emperor Vespasian, who reigned from 69 to 79 AD.

The Roman legion surrounded Masada, built a circumvallation wall and then a siege ramp against the western face of the plateau. Remnants of one of the legionary camps of X Fretensis at Masada, outside the circumvallation wall.

The inscription reads IVDEA CAPTA. Coins inscribed Ivdaea Capta (Judea Captured) were issued throughout the Empire

The ramp was complete in the spring of 73, after several months of siege, allowing the Romans to breach the wall of the fortress with a battering ram. When Roman troops entered the fortress, they discovered that its 960 inhabitants had set all the buildings but the food storerooms ablaze and committed mass suicide or killed each other. Only two women and five children were found alive.

The Sicarii were a splinter group of the Jewish Zealots who, in the decades preceding Jerusalem's destruction in 70 CE, heavily opposed the Roman occupation of Judea. The Sicarii carried sicae, or small daggers, concealed in their cloaks. At public gatherings, they pulled out these daggers to attack Romans and sympathizers alike, blending into the crowd after. The Sicarii were one of the earliest forms of an organized assassination unit.

Aureus of Pompey

Gnaeus Pompeius ('Pompey') was a pivotal figure in the events that led to the collapse of the Roman Republic. Born September 29, 106 BCE in the Italian province of Picenum, he was the son of Pompeius Strabo, a rich landowner who became a Roman senator and eventually consul in 89 BCE.

The first coin attributed to Pompey is an extremely rare gold aureus, probably issued at Rome on his triumph in 71 BCE. The extremely rare Roman gold coin features a female head in an elephant-skin headdress (personifying Africa) on the obverse and Pompey in a chariot on the reverse, celebrating his triumphs. Only five examples exist, with the best-known in the British Museum.

The inscription is simply MAGNVS (“the Great”). On the reverse, Pompey stands in a triumphal quadriga; a small figure riding the lead horse may be Pompey’s son, Cnaeus. The inscription PRO•COS abbreviates another of his titles, Proconsul. The aureus, valued at 25 silver denarii (a month’s pay for a soldier) was not a regular part of the currency at this time; it was only issued on special occasions.

Pyrrhic Victory

When the Romans broke a treaty with Taras in 282 B.C. to subdue an adjacent Greek city, Taras expelled the Roman garrison from the captured township. The Romans sought revenge. Taras or Tarentum, in Calabria, is modern Taranto in southern Italy.

Bust of Pyrrhos

Taras appealed for help to King Pyrrhos of Epirus in northwestern Greece. Pyrrhos embarked upon the Pyrrhic War of 280-275 B.C.E. A skilled commander, with a strong army fortified by war elephants, Pyrrhus had initial success against the Roman legions, but suffered heavy losses even in victory. 3 battles represent the origin of the phrase “Pyrrhic victory” The battle of Heraclea was a decisive victory for Pyrrhus, who employed a tight phalanx formation with elephant charges. Though the win was complete, it caused high casualties of Pyrrhus’ best troops.

The next battle of Asculum was a similar result; the Romans attempted to repulse the elephants with war wagons but failed. The Romans withdrew to higher ground. The Romans were worse off, but Pyrrhus lost thousands of men and his best officers. The battle of Beneventum was either inconclusive, a Roman victory or a victory for Pyrrhus. The Romans repulsed the elephants and send them rampaging through Pyrrhus’ lines. The result drove him from Italy and in 278 B.C.E. Pyrrhos abandoned Taras to its fate.

He returned in 275 B.C.E., but was soundly defeated and returned to Epirus. Three years later Taras was besieged and the city finally fell to the Romans.

A superbly struck example of a rare gold stater from the ancient Greek city state of Taras (Tarentum) in southern Italy, a.k.a. Calabria. The 8.55 g coin dates from 276-272 BC. The obverse shows the head of Zeus. On the reverse an eagle with wings displayed perches on a thunderbolt. $ 18,000 in VF.

EPIRUS. Pyrrhus (297–272 BC). Silver tetradrachm (16.56 gm). $60K in 2012.

After the particularly bloody Battle of Asculum in 279 BCE, Pyrrhus famously remarked: “If we are victorious in one more battle with the Romans, we shall be utterly ruined.” This would live forever in the phrase “Pyrrhic victory”. The silver tetradrachms were a high-value coin and were struck with dies engraved by the most skilled artisans.

Pyrrhos, King of Epiros, (297-272 BC.), AV Stater, 8.55g, Struck in Syracuse, 278 BC. $180k.

To pay mercenaries needed to fight the Carthaginians, Pyrrhus produced a huge issue of gold staters and half staters at Syracuse. The finest engravers were hired to produce stunning designs.

Marmara Island

The largest island in the Sea of Marmara takes its name from its marble quarries. In antiquity it was called Prokonnesos, and Proconnesian marble was highly desired for sculptures, an example being the 3rd-century AD Great Ludovisi sarcophagus. The marble from Marmara is so specific one cannot find any other marble like it in the world. The marble was used for palaces, churches, mosques and statues.

Marmara marble quarries in Turkey's Balıkesir province are among the world's oldest, operating since the 7th century BC to supply iconic structures like the Hagia Sophia.

For 2,000 years, the island of Marmara has played an important role in the history of marble. The Romans, the Byzantines, the Ottomans; all valued the quality and beauty of the marble that was quarried from the island.