Aurelian: Rome's most underrated Emperor

Lucius Domitius Aurelianus grew up in the most turbulent phase of the Crisis of the Third Century. In fifty years, twenty-six men claimed the Imperial throne. Roman emperor from 270 to 275, Aurelianus won an unprecedented series of military victories which reunited the Roman Empire. Bust of Aurelian. 274-275. Unabridged legend: Imperator, Caesar, Aurelianus Augustus. Reverse: Sol. XF. $20,000 in 2022.

After it had nearly disintegrated from barbarian invasions and internal revolts Aurelian won much of the empire back. For his success, Aurelian was honored with the title Restitutor Orbis ("Restorer of the World").

Aurelian and the personification of Sol defeat the Palmyrene Empire, and celebrates ORIENS AVG – oriens Augusti: the rising sun/star of Augustus.

He defeated the Alamanni after a devastating war. He also defeated the Goths, Vandals, Juthungi, Sarmatians, and Carpi. Aurelian restored the Empire's eastern provinces after his conquest of the Palmyrene Empire in 273. The following year he conquered the Gallic Empire in the west, reuniting the Empire in its entirety. His successes were instrumental in ending the crisis. His monetary reformation included the introduction of antoniniani containing 5% silver. They bore the mark XXI which meant that twenty one of such coins would contain the same silver quantity of an old silver denarius. The severity of the economic situation Aurelian faced came as he struggled to introduce the new good coin by recalling all the old 'bad' coins.

An opportunity to attack the Sassanid Empire in 275 saw Aurelian set out for another campaign against the Sassanids. He would never reach Asia. A plot involving notarius Mucapor and other high-ranking officers of the Praetorian Guard, who feared punishment from the emperor, murdered him shortly after October 275.

A hoard of aureus of Aurelian were discovered as part of the Lava Treasure in Corsica, France, in the 1980s.

Elephants on ancient coins

Elephants have a long history of interaction with humans. The Indus Valley civilization used captive Asian elephants as early as 2000 BCE for logging, transportation and ceremonial processions. India provides the earliest appearance of elephants on coins.

Karshapana, or punch-marked silver coinage of India, dates from 500 BCE to ca. 300

Alexander the Great (336-323 B.C.), Silver dekadrachm, 5 shekels, 40.08g. Minted at Babylon, c. 327 B.C. Alexander, lance in hand and on Bucephalus, charges an elephant. This may have been an actual event during the Battle of the Hydaspes (326 BCE). Among the finest of 8 known. $300k.

African elephants appear on the reverse of rare Carthaginian coins struck in Spain from about 220 to 206 BCE, probably to pay mercenaries. The best-known elephant images on coins appears on a massive issue of Roman denarii in the name of Julius Caesar. Based on the multitude of different dies, the size of this issue is estimated at 22.5 million.

This coin sold in 2013 for $980.

In 248 CE, Rome observed it's 1000th anniversary. Emperor Philip I ('the Arab') celebrated with elaborate gladiatorial games. Exotic animals, including elephants, were brought from every corner of the empire. The games were commemorated on his coins, which survive in large numbers.

Stunning ancients

Mint State Tarentum Stater. ITALY. Calabria. Tarentum. AV Stater (8.56 gms), ca. 276-272 B.C. NGC MS, Strike: 5/5 Surface: 4/5. Fine Style. Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin; Reverse: Nude male youth (Taras or Phalanthos?), driving biga.  Rare type. $60k.

SICILY. Syracuse. Dionysios I, 406-367 B.C. AR Dekadrachm (42.60 gms), Reverse die signed by Euainetos, ca. 405-390 B.C. NGC Ch EF, Strike: 4/5 Surface: 4/5. Fine Style. Obverse: Charioteer, holding kentron and reins, driving quadriga. Reverse: Head of Arethousa. $50k.

Roman ‘hand of god’ found near Hadrian’s Wall

The hand is made of 2.3kg of solid bronze. It was an offering to a military deity for giving the Romans victory in the largest military combat operation carried out in Britain. The Roman invasion of Caledonia was launched in 208 by Roman emperor Septimius Severus. The invasion lasted until late 210 when the emperor became ill and died. Some 50,000 Romans were in the invasion force.

Found in 2018, it's likely the bronze hand was ritually buried. The hand is associated with a Roman god called Jupiter Dolichenus.

Gold mask, bronze helmets of Macedonian warriors found

In 2019 archaeologists in Greece uncovered rich graves from a cemetery at Ahlada, near the town of Florina in Northern Greece. The finds came from the graves of elite warriors who died in the 6th century B.C. Despite being plundered in antiquity the graves still contained treasures.Artifacts included a gold face mask — made for funerals; four bronze helmets; iron spearheads and fragmented iron swords; a large bronze urn with ornate handles; an iron model of a farm cart; and grieves.

More than 1300 graves have been found.

Ancient Nubia

Between 2400 BCE and 300 CE, a series of kingdoms flourished in what is today the Sudanese Nile Valley. Nubian kings and queens controlled vast empires and trade networks yet are forgotten to history.

“Ancient Nubia Now” featured more than 400 items, many never before exhibited.

Highlights were the jewels of Nubia’s queens, the statue of Senkamanisken from the sacred mountain of Gebel Barkal, the army of funerary figurines from the tomb of King Taharqa, the gold and silver treasure of King Aspelta, and the stele of King Tanyidamani.

Egyptian Book of the Dead

A heart being weighed on the scale of Maat against the feather of truth, by Anubis. The ibis-headed Thoth, scribe of the gods, records the result. If his heart equals exactly the weight of the feather, one is allowed to pass into the afterlife. If not, he is eaten by the waiting Ammit.

The Book of the Dead is an ancient Egyptian funerary text, used from the beginning of the New Kingdom (around 1550 BCE) to around 50 BC. The original Egyptian name for the text is translated as Book of Coming Forth by Day. The loose collection of texts consist of a number of magic spells intended to assist a dead person's journey through the Duat, or underworld, and into the afterlife. It was written by many priests over a period of about 1000 years. The Book of the Dead first developed in Thebes towards the beginning of the Second Intermediate Period, around 1700 BCE and were exclusively for the use of the Pharaoh.

The Book of the Dead is made up of individual texts and their illustrations. Some 192 spells are known, though no single manuscript contains them all. They served a range of purposes. Some are intended to give the dead mystical knowledge in the afterlife, or to identify them with the gods. Others are incantations to ensure the different elements of the dead's being were preserved and reunited, and to give the deceased control over the world around him.

Still others protect the deceased from hostile forces, or guide him through the underworld past obstacles. Two spells deal with the judgement of the deceased in the Weighing of the Heart ritual. 

Mummification served to preserve and transform the physical body into sah, an idealized form with divine aspects. The heart was regarded as the aspect of being which included intelligence and memory.

The ka, or life-force, remained in the tomb with the dead body, and required sustenance from offerings of food, water and incense.

The path to the afterlife as laid out in the Book of the Dead was difficult. The deceased was required to pass a series of gates, caverns and mounds guarded by supernatural creatures. These creatures had to be pacified by reciting the appropriate spells. Only after all the obstacles were overcome could the Duat be negotiated, with the deceased judged in the 'Weighing of the Heart' ritual.

3,400-year-old gold diadems from Cyprus

Archaeologists found nine diadems, meant to be tied across the forehead and two mouthpieces placed on the lips of the dead in tombs near the ancient harbor city of Hala Sultan Tekke. Local Cypriot goldsmiths made the ornaments some 3,400 years ago. Diadems were not just for the dead; the heavier ones showed signs of wear, suggesting people wore them in life on special occasions. The find reflects the central role of Hala Sultan Tekke as a trading metropolis in the Mediterranean. The city’s wealth is reflected in rich burials of the elite.

One diadem was found still resting on the forehead of a child who died at the age of four or five. The child had also been buried with a necklace made from 68 gold beads and four gold earrings positioned near the skull. Other objects included a silver pendant depicting an Anatolian deity, a silver ring decorated with a triple spiral and a carved cylinder seal.

Despite the riches they contained, tombs were simply cut into clay soil and discreetly marked. This is how they escaped robbers.

Hala Sultan Tekke flourished from about 1630–1150 B.C. The city smelted copper, produced pottery and traded luxury goods including lapis lazuli from Afghanistan, amber from the Baltic and Indian carnelian.

The sarcophagus of Hercules

The sarcophagus of Hercules was brought from Zurich to Istanbul in 2017 and was put on display in the museum of Antalya, a southern city where the second century artifact originated. Many Roman marble funerary coffins were decorated with scenes from the labours of the hero Hercules. His triumphs over death were a popular theme.

The srcophagus is believed to have been stolen from the ancient city of Perge, 18 kilometers (11 miles) east of Antalya on the Mediterranean coast, sometime in the 1960s. After undergoing restoration in the U.K. several years ago, it was seized by Swiss customs authorities in 2010. The fabled Twelve Labors of Hercules, from the killing of a mythological lion to cleaning the stables, are depicted on the exterior of the sarcophagus. Since 2003, Turkey has been pursuing a legal process for the retrieval of several artifacts. Over 4,000 smuggled historical artifacts were repatriated to Turkey from 2004 to 2016.

The piece was placed next to the "Weary Heracles" statue, which itself was retrieved from the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. The top half of the statue was missing for decades before being located in the Boston museum, which purchased it in 1982. The bottom part was discovered in Perge in 1980 and was showcased in the Antalya Museum.

Vitis - Roman Centurion

The Vitis was a vine staff that served as a symbol of a Roman centurion’s authority. A short rod of grapevine wood about one meter long, it was both a badge of rank and a practical tool used to maintain discipline, guide formations, and even strike soldiers in battle.

The vitis was a mark of earned leadership. Centurions were promoted from the ranks, and the vitis represented their transition from soldier to officer. Under the Porcian Laws, it was the only legal means of corporal punishment for Roman citizens, reinforcing its legitimacy.

It was also carried by evocati, veteran soldiers recalled to service. It was as a mark of honor, not just authority.