The Ilminster ring

UK metal detectorist Kevin Minto expected another corroded bronze coin of little worth when his metal detector beeped in a field in Somerset in 2018. Instead, he unearthed a 48-gram (1.7 oz) ring made of solid Roman gold. Now known as the Ilminster Ring, it features an engraved gemstone showing Victoria the Roman goddess of victory driving a biga, a two-horse chariot. The image on the stone was carved using intaglio, where the design is engraved into the surface rather than raised above it. The ring was buried around 297 C.E. with a Roman coin hoard, along with lead and pottery objects. The ring's owner could only be a person of the highest status, a governor, merchant, or wealthy landowner.

The ring dates to one of the most unstable periods in Roman Britain. Between 286 and 296 C.E., Britain broke away from the wider Roman Empire. Called the Carausian Revolt, Britania was politically isolated until imperial forces brought it back under Roman control. Carausius’s tenuous rule lasted until 293, when his finance minister, Allectus, killed him and took power. Allectus’s own reign lasted three years, ending when Roman emperor Constantius I invaded the island.

The South West Heritage Trust acquired the ring, along with the hoard of Roman coins, for £78,000. Proceeds were split with the land owner.

Rome's news readers - praeco

In the Roman Republic and Empire, the newsreader (praeco) would read aloud the Acta Diurna. These were daily, official notices and public records. They were carved on stone or metal and presented in message boards in public places. The Acta Diurna (Latin for "Daily Acts") was essentially the world's first newspaper. Initiated by Julius Caesar in 59 BC, criers would read these updates on military victories, legal proceedings, and public events to the illiterate or gathered public.

The publication covered a wide range of official and social information. Decrees, legal proceedings, and outcomes of trials were advertised. Social updates included prominent births, marriages, and deaths. General news might include gladiator event results, military victories, weather, and even human-interest stories. After a few days, the postings were taken down and archived.

Constantine I solidus

A Roman solidus of Emperor Constantine I was dug up from a field in Somerset in 2019. Constantine the Great ruled between 306 and 337 AD. The coin was found a foot below the surface of a field near Wanstrow, Somerset. The high grade example made £12k.

On the reverse is a rare portrayal of Constantine riding his horse in battle holding a spear and shield with two fallen enemy soldiers. It commemorates his victory over Maxentius at Milvian bridge outside Rome on October 28, 312. Constantine I become the sole ruler of the Roman Empire. The routed Maxentius drowned in the Tiber trying to escape.

Constantine enacted reforms. To combat inflation he reintroduced the solidus. The solidus was introduced by Diocletian in small issues and later reintroduced for mass circulation by Constantine the Great in AD 312. Constantine's solidus was struck at a rate of 72 to a Roman pound (326.6 gm) of gold or about 4.5 grams. The new gold coin became the standard for Byzantine and European currencies for more than a thousand years.

Constantine was the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity, which he did on his deathbed. Constantine was a ruler of major importance, and a controversial figure.

Constantine had his eldest son Crispus seized and put to death by "cold poison" at Pola (Pula, Croatia) in May or June 326. In July, he had his wife Empress Fausta killed in an overheated bath. Constantine was succeeded by his three sons born of Fausta, Constantine II, Constantius II and Constans. More bloodshed soon followed.

This Maxentius (AD 307-312) AV quaternio or medallion of 4-aurei, weighing 21.12 grams. NGC MS 5/5 - 2/5, is exceptionally rare – it is one of two known. It fetched $212k in 2022. The medallion was issued as a commemorative during the restoration of the temple of Urbis Veneris, erected by Hadrian in AD 135 and damaged by fire in 307 AD. Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maxentius (c. 283 – 28 October 312) was the son of former Emperor Maximian and the son-in-law of Emperor Galerius. The latter part of his reign was preoccupied with civil war. Defeated at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in 312, Maxentius was the last emperor to permanently reside in Rome.

The Empusa

The Empusa is a shape-shifting monster in Greek myth who was often depicted as a beautiful woman, who transforms into a creature with sharp teeth, flaming hair, and (in some tales) bat wings.

Empusa was said to be a demigoddess under the control of the goddess Hecate who hungers for male human flesh. The Empusa seduced young men traveling alone. Having taken the form of a woman, they would sleep with the man, sapping his strength. Once the unsuspecting youth was asleep, the creature would shift into her hideous form and devour his flesh and drink the blood for sustenance. The Empusa is probably best known for terrifying the god Dionysus as he travels to the underworld.

The Praetorians Relief

The Praetorians Relief is a Roman marble sculpture from around 51–52 AD. It originally came from the Arch of Claudius in Rome and now resides at the Louvre. It depicts 3 soldiers in high relief in the foreground, with two others in the background, accompanied by a standard bearer. They are made in bas-relief, an art style where shapes are raised above a flat background. The standard-bearer holds an aquila legionary standard. The soldiers have been identified as Praetorians due to the richness of their uniforms and helmets, and their oval shields. The Arch of Claudius, erected in AD 51, commemoratated the conquest of Britain.

The Praetorians Relief is carved from grey-veined white marble. It was originally painted in bright, vibrant colours. Any traces have faded completely due to the passage of time.

Bronze age women in Spain were textile workers

Textile related work tasks were only carried out by women during the Bronze Age (1900-1600 BC) in southern Spain, a study of dental records concludes. Researchers examined the teeth of 106 individuals buried in Granada, southern Spain, who were part of the Argaric culture 4,000 years ago. Dental wear included notches, flakes and grooves on the enamel. This came from working plant and animal fibres used in the production of textiles and baskets.

The handshake

Assyrian King Shalmaneser III shaking hands with a Babylonian ruler.

The handshake goes back to the dawn of history but the reason and origin of it are unknown. One of the oldest depictions of the handshake is from a ninth-century B.C. relief. A handshake was a symbol of loyalty and friendship in ancient Rome and clasped hands are often found on coins.

Marcus Cassianius Latinius Postumus

Marcus Cassianius Latinius Postumus was a Roman general who founded the breakaway Gallic Empire. Taking advantage of Emperor Gallienus's absence, Postumus's troops in Germania declared him emperor after he executed the emperor's 18 year-old son, Saloninus. He governed Gaul, Britain, and Spain for the better part of a decade between 258–268.

Postumus ruled for nearly a decade until he was killed in 269 AD during a mutiny at Mogontiacum (modern-day Mainz, Germany). Unlike Rome, who were drastically debasing silver and gold coinages, Postumus maintained a high purity and weight for his coins. He produced spectactular issues at Western mints, primarily in Trier (Treveri) and Cologne (Colonia Agrippinensis).

Famous Mythological Creatures

The Kraken. In Scandinavian mythology, the Kraken is a giant sea creature that attacks ships and is so huge that its body could be mistaken for an island. Accounts of the Kraken are believed to have originated from sightings of the giant squid, which can reach 18 meters in length.

The Griffin is a legendary creature with the head and wings of an eagle, and the body, tail, and hind legs of a lion.

While griffins are common in the art and mythology of Ancient Greece, representations of griffins in ancient Persia and ancient Egypt date to as early as the 4th millennium BC. On Crete, archaeologists have uncovered depictions of griffins in the Bronze Age Palace of Knossos dating to the 15th century BC.

Medusa was a Greek monster. She had the face of an ugly woman with snakes instead of hair; anyone who looked into her eyes was immediately turned to stone. She was a priestess of Athena, devoted to a life of celibacy; however as punishment for marrying Poseidon she was cursed. Medusa was beheaded by the hero Perseus, who used her head as a weapon until he gave it to the goddess Athena to place on her shield. In classical antiquity the image of the head of Medusa appeared in the evil-averting device known as the Gorgoneion.

The Banshee is a spirit creature originating in Irish folklore. She is said to scream when someone is about to die. The foretelling of death was seen as both a blessing and a curse. The Bean Sidhe or Banshee haunts only the families of authentic noble stock and it is with great dread when her piercing "caoine" or keening is heard. The Banshee scream is always a death omen.

Mermaids. In ancient Syrian folklore there was a goddess named Atargatis. She was a fertility goddess whose cult eventually spread to Greece and Rome and was associated with water.

Often depicted in mermaid form, Atargatis is perhaps the “original” mermaid. A Melusine, or siren, has two tails. This creature is from medieval legend. A Melusine was a beautiful woman that transformed into a serpent from the waist down while bathing. This always resulted in calamity.

Empress Livia Drusilla

Empress Livia Drusilla was Roman empress from 27 BC to 14 AD as the wife of Emperor Augustus. She was known as Julia Augusta after her formal adoption into the Julian family in AD 14. "Livia: a blight upon the nation as a mother, a blight upon the house of Caesar as a stepmother". That was Tacitus's assessment of Livia Drusilla.

The historian elaborated that Livia put her husband, Emperor Augustus, under her control, and banished or had killed every potential heir to the throne in order to promote her own son, the bizzare Tiberius, as his successor. Augustus had no sons, only a daughter, Julia, the child of his first wife. His nephew Marcellus and his beloved grandsons Gaius and Lucius pre-deceased him, all under mysterious circumstances.

In 42 AD Livia was deified by Claudius.

After Augustus died in 14 AD, Tiberius became emperor. Livia continued to exert outsized political influence as the mother of the emperor. She was the great-grandmother of the emperor Caligula, grandmother of the emperor Claudius, and the great-great-grandmother of the emperor Nero. Livia is depicted as having great influence, to the extent where she "had the aged Augustus firmly under control." She died in 29 AD.

Draconian

Draconian is an adjective that means laws, rules, or punishments that are extremely severe, harsh, or cruel. The word comes from Draco, an ancient Athenian lawmaker from the 7th century BC who created a strict legal code. Even minor offenses carried the death penalty. Active from about 625 to 600 BC, Draco replaced the system of oral law and blood feud by the Draconian constitution, a written code to be enforced only by a court. Tradition held that all of his laws were repealed by Solon, except for those on homicide. An inscription from 409/8 BC contains part of the current law and refers to it as "the law of Draco about homicide". Nothing is known about the specifics of any other laws established by Draco. According to some scholars, Draco may have been a fictional figure, entirely or in part. Biographical information about him is almost entirely lacking.

Folklore about Draco's death are improbable: he went to Aegina to establish laws and was suffocated in the theater when his supporters honored him by throwing hats, shirts and cloaks on him. Some scholars suppose that Draco wasn't a person; drakon means 'serpent' in Greek, and a sacred serpent on the acropolis was worshipped in the Athenian religion. Therefore, the "laws of Draco" may have been laws issued in the name of the sacred serpent by its priests.

Although the full Draconian constitution no longer exists, severe punishments were reportedly meted out to those convicted of offenses as minor as stealing an apple. There may have been only one penalty, execution, for all convicted violators of the Draconian constitution, and the laws were said to be written in blood instead of ink. Since the 18th century, the term draconian was used to refer to unforgiving rules or laws.

Hermes

To the Greeks he was Hermes. To the Etruscans, he was Turms. To the Romans he was Mercurius. He played many roles in the myths of ancient people, but as a god of profit and commerce, he was often represented on money. Possibly the earliest coin to depict Hermes is a silver stater of Kaunos dated to c. 490 BCE.

Populonia, an important center of iron production, issued silver coinage in the fourth century BCE. A didrachm – one of 3 known – depicts Turms.

The facing head of Hermes, dated to c. 402-399 BCE. Perhaps the finest image of Hermes on any ancient coin appears on the reverse of a silver stater of Pheneos, c. 360-350 BCE

C. Mamilius Limetanus denarius serratus c. 82 BC. Bust of Mercury

One of the last appearances of Mercury on Roman coinage came during the reign of Trajan Decius. (249-251)

Pheneos produced silver obols c. 370-340 BCE

Hermes was often depicted as a young man, wearing traveling clothes, a flat hat known as 'petasus' and winged sandals on his feet. Often, he was depicted having wings attached to his shoulders and hat. He usually held a caduceus, a winged staff with snakes wrapped around it so he could gain access everywhere. This staff helped Hermes to charm the gods. The staff is often mistakenly used as a symbol of medicine.