Tartarus and Elysium

Tartarus in ancient Greek mythology is the deep abyss that is used as a dungeon of torment and suffering for the wicked and as the prison for the Titans. As far below Hades as the earth is below the heavens, Tartarus is the place where, according to Plato, souls were judged after death and where the wicked received divine punishment. Tartarus was also considered to be a primordial force or deity.

According to Greek mythology, the realm of Hades is the place of the dead, but Tartarus also has a number of inhabitants. When Cronus came to power as the King of the Titans, he imprisoned the one-eyed Cyclopes and the hundred-armed Hecatonchires in Tartarus and set the monster Campe as its guard. Zeus killed Campe and released these imprisoned giants to aid in his conflict with the Titans. The gods of Olympus eventually triumphed. Cronus and many of the other Titans were banished to Tartarus.

Aegaeon the Hekantonkheires

Another Titan, Atlas, was sentenced to hold the sky on his shoulders to prevent it from resuming its primordial embrace with the Earth.

Heracles ends up building a large pillar that holds up the sky eventually freeing Atlas from his torment. Originally, Tartarus was used only to confine dangers to the gods of Olympus. In later mythologies, Tartarus became the place where the punishment fits the crime. Mythical figures such as Sisyphus, Tantalus, Ixion, Tityos and the Titan Prometheus met their fates in Tartarus. Tantalus was given eternal punishment where he was condemned to stand in a lake with fruits, but without being able to satisfy his thirst or his hunger.

In Greek and Roman mythology Elysium, also called Elysian Fields or Elysian Plain, was the paradise to which heroes on whom the gods conferred immortality were sent.

In Homer’s writings the Elysian Plain was a land of perfect happiness at the end of the Earth, on the banks of the Oceanus. Earlier, only those favored by the gods entered Elysium and were made immortal. Later Elysium was a place for the blessed dead and entrance was gained by a righteous life.

Umutkor collar - Attila the Hun

Authorities of Kyrgyzstan suspected the 5th-century Eastern Hunnic gold collar sold by Sotheby’s was taken from the country illegally. The Umutkor collar was sold for £242,500 ($380,215) in 2014. The royal collar and beads set with garnets and glass belonged to Sansyzbay Umutkor, who bought it circa 1890-1895. The collar was handed down by family descent until it was exported to Slovakia in 2013.

Eastern Hunnic jewellery is exceedingly rare. A complete collar is spectacular. The unrecorded fifth century gold royal collar set with garnets and glass is from the time of Attila the Hun. Attila the Hun is considered by most Hungarians as the founder of their country.

The magnificent collar would have been worn only by those of the highest status.

Attila and his Huns are seen in the West as barbarians. Attila led military raids on both the Eastern and Western Roman Empires. In the late fourth and fifth centuries they subjected all of the European tribes and forced Rome and Constantinople to pay vast sums to keep the Hunnic horde out of their cities. The Barbarians accelerated the fall of Rome. Attila died in his palace across the Danube after a feast celebrating his marriage to a beautiful young gothic princess named Ildico. Legend says that his men diverted a section of a river, buried the coffin under the riverbed, and were then killed to keep the location a secret.

Marcus Antonius and Marcus Antonius Antyllus, 34 BC.

Marcus Antonius's son Antyllus, from wife Fulvia, acted as heir apparent to Antony’s ambitions. This exalted position was also his death sentence after the downfall of his father. Antyllus, 17, was the only child of Marcus Antonius to be executed immediately. The Triumvirs. Marcus Antonius and Marcus Antonius Antyllus, 34 BC. Struck by a mint moving with Marcus Antonius. About extremely fine, the rare coin sold on May 31, 2026 for 55000 CHF.

Marcus Antonius Antyllus’ tutor Theodorus betrayed him to Octavian. Pleading in vain for mercy from Octavian, Antyllus was dragged from the image of the now deified Julius Caesar by Roman soldiers. Octavian ordered his execution on the same day as that of Caesarion. After Marcus Antonius Antyllus was beheaded, Theodorus took a precious stone that the young man had worn on a chain around his neck and sewed the stone into his belt. Octavian tried him, found him guilty, and ordered his crucifixion.

Molten iron used in Pompei road repairs

Pompeians devised another option for street repair.

Ancient road workers used molten iron to repair Pompeii's streets. The discovery reveals a previously unknown method of ancient Roman street repair and represents "the first large-scale attestation of the Roman use of molten iron." Many of Pompeii's streets were paved with stone, but over time the passage of carts eroded those stones to form deep ruts. High volumes of traffic concentrated in narrow streets could wear down even a stone-paved surface quickly. Repaving streets was an expensive and time-consuming process.

This method of repair was much cheaper and faster than repaving.

After heating iron or iron-rich slag to a molten state, they poured out repairs onto, into and below the paving stones. After the molten iron was poured, it filled the holes and hardened as it cooled. In addition to iron, other materials such as stone, ground-up pieces of terracotta and ceramics were also inserted into the holes to help fill them.

Ancient City of Termessos

Termessos was a fortified city, founded by Pamphylian tribes called the Solymi in the Taurus mountain range in present-day Turkey. Alexander the Great surrounded Termessos in 333 BC but failed to take the city. He likened it to an “eagle’s nest".

Termessos is located 17 km north-west of Antalya, in the Mount Güllük-Termessos National Park. It was built 1,050 meters above sea level and spreads over a wide area. It's one of the best-preserved historic settlements in Turkey.

After a gradual decline, the city was abandoned in the 5th century AD when an earthquake destroyed the city's aqueduct, cutting off the supply of water.

In 71 BC, Termessos allied with Rome and was granted independent status. Rome’s influence was shown with the construction of a triumphal arch in dedication to Emperor Hadrian. At its peak, Termessos had an estimated population of 150,000.

Charon's obol

Charon's obol is a term for the coin placed in the mouth of the dead before burial.

Literary sources specify the coin as an obol, and explain it as a payment for Charon, the ferryman who conveyed souls across the river that divided the world of the living from the world of the dead. Examples of these coins have been called "the most famous grave goods from antiquity."

Charon and Psyche (1883) An obol was originally a small silver coin, valued at one-sixth of a drachma. After the Greeks were absorbed into the Roman empire, obol was used to describe any low-value bronze coin.

The custom is primarily associated with the ancient Greeks and Romans, though it is also found in the ancient Near East. In Western Europe, a similar use of coins in burials occurs in regions inhabited by Celts of the Gallo-Roman, Hispano-Roman and Romano-British cultures, and among the Germanic peoples. In Latin, Charon’s obol is sometimes called a viaticum, which in everyday use means "provision for a journey" Greek and Roman literary sources from the 5th century BC through the 2nd century AD are consistent in attributing four characteristics to Charon’s obol: it is a single, low-denomination coin; it is placed in the mouth; the placement occurs at the time of death; and it represents a boat fare.

Charon is the ferryman of Hades in Greek mythology, tasked with transporting the souls of the deceased across the rivers Styx and Acheron to the Underworld. He is the offspring of primordial deities Erebus (Darkness) and Nyx (Night).

Charon's role is the passage from the world of the living to the realm of the dead, the inevitable journey that every soul must undertake. Those who could not pay the fee, or those whose bodies were unburied, wandered the shores for one hundred years.

Charon is often depicted in the art of ancient Greece. He holds his ferryman's pole in his right hand and uses his left hand to receive the dead. A skull found in the cemetery of the ancient city of Lato is one of the most spectacular exhibits at the Agios Nikolaos museum in Crete. The skull of a crowned athlete with a gold wreath in the shape of a laurel branch still attached to it is perhaps one of the most impressive exhibits in Greece. The flesh disintegrated after 2,500 years, but the wreath stuck and remained on the skull. Inside the mouth, a silver coin was found. It is payment to the ferryman of Hades for carrying the soul to the underworld.

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.