Marble torso of a Roman emperor at Sothebys

Sothebys will auction a marble torso of a Roman emperor from the first half of the 1st century A.D.

The torso represents one of the Julio-Claudian emperors, possibly Augustus. The piece sold for $7,362,500 in 2010, more than six times it's high estimate. Sothebys will put the statue up for auction again in October with an estimate of $8m to $12m.

The bronze breastplate is decorated in relief on the chest with the Sun god Sol emerging from the waters in a frontal quadriga and on the abdomen with two Victories flanking a trophy and hanging shields onto it.

Driving price is rock solid providence. The statue is from the Twin Temples on the northeast corner of the forum of Salona in Dalmatia. It was handed down by family descent.

The Amphitheatre of Salona stood at the northwestern edge of ancient Salona, once the capital of Roman Dalmatia. Built in the second half of the 2nd century AD, the elliptical arena could seat 15,000.

German farmer awarded $904k for Roman horse head

In 2022 authorities paid a farmer 773k euros ($904k) for a bronze horse head dating to Roman times found on his land in 2009. The head, part of a statue of the emperor Augustus, was found in Lahnau in western Germany.

The life-sized bronze Roman horse's head was found at the bottom of a well. The cast-bronze head, which weighs 25kg, is among the best-preserved Roman bronzes in the world. It was once covered in gold leaf. A depiction of Mars, the god of war, on the horse's halter make it the mount of an important figure. The state initially paid 48k euros for the priceless relic.

The masterfully crafted, gold-plated head was once part of a statue that stood in the marketplace of Waldgirmes, a Roman settlement. The town was destroyed following the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest.

Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius in the Capitoline Museum, Rome 176-180 CE

Lugdunum (Lyon) mint. Struck 2 BC-AD 12. 13-14 AD. Laureate head of Augustus.

Augustus ruled from 16 January 27 BC until his death 19 August AD 14.

Holy grail ‘Ides of March’ aureus - $3.5m

A spectacular ‘Ides of March’ aureus is one of three known examples. It is very genuine. To legally sell the coin, the dealer manufactured fake export documents and false previous ownership histories. In reality, the artifact had been looted from Greece.

The coin was previously unrecorded, and was submitted for grading. The coin remains in mint condition and has been described as “the undisputed masterpiece of ancient coinage.” The newly discovered example hit the auction block on October 29, 2020 at Roma Numismatics in London. The estimate was £500,000. The price when the hammer fell was $3.5m.

There were two ‘Ides of March’ in gold. One was loaned to the British Museum. It sold for $2m in 2022. The second is in the Deutsche Bundesbank collection. About 100 silver examples are known to exist.

Battle of Teutoburg Forest

In 2018 eight aurei were discovered in Germany that helps confirm the site of the Battle of Teutoburg Forest. Such a find is extremely rare. The discovery at Kalkriese doubles the number of gold coins from the site. The coins feature Emperor Augustus, with the imperial princes Gaius and Lucius Caesar, and date between 2BCE and 4CE. The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest took place between 8 and 11 September 9 AD, near modern Kalkriese, when an alliance of Germanic tribes ambushed and destroyed three legions of the Roman commander Publius Quintilius Varus.

A single aureus from the reign of Augustus would have been enough to feed and house an entire family in Rome for a month. Archaeologists speculate the gold belonged to a high-ranking Roman officer.

In the autumn of AD 9, the 25-year-old Arminius brought Roman commander Varus a false report of rebellion in northern Germany. He persuaded Varus to divert three legions under his command. (17th, 18th, and 19th legions, plus three cavalry detachments and six cohorts of auxiliaries) Ignoring warnings from Segestes not to trust Arminius, Varus marched deep into the Teutoburg Forest. All three legions were wiped out to the last man. Varus committed suicide.

As part of obligations to appease Rome, Segimer, the powerful Cherusci chief, surrendered his sons Arminius and Flavus to the Roman emperor Augustus. The young boys left the village and tribal lands of their birth in central Germania Magna to be taken to Rome and treated as nobility. Varus received his appointment as governor in 7 AD, about a year before Arminius’ arrival. Varus held overall command of five legions and auxiliaries. Arminius had come to hate everything Roman. Arminius was not alone. He met with tribal chiefs to forge plans on how to rid themselves of the Romans. Arminius led an army of between 10,000 and 17,000 warriors back to Varus, with several times as many on the way. Word of the impending attack on the Romans spread. Not just among the Cherusci did warriors gather but also from their allies the Marsi and the Bructeri and from the Angrivarii, Chauci, Chatti, and Sugambri. Roman patrols and work parties along the route to Anreppen and in the countryside were caught off guard and slaughtered.

As a result of the battle Germania remained independent from Roman rule. Roughly 25,000 men were killed during the slaughter in Teutoburg Forest. Teutoburg Forest is considered one of the most important defeats in Roman history, bringing the expansion under Augustus to an abrupt end.

It dissuaded the Romans from pursuing the conquest of Germania.

In 1990 a misshapen and corroded cavalry mask was found. Thought to have been worn during exhibitions by cavalry it is one of the most exceptional finds at the site of the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. It is one the oldest facial helmets known from the Roman army, dating from the first part of the 1st century CE.

The Crosby Garrett Helmet

The Crosby Garrett Helmet is a copper alloy Roman cavalry helmet dating from the late 2nd or early 3rd century AD. It was found by a metal detectorist near Crosby Garrett in Cumbria in May 2010. A farming settlement had occupied the site where the helmet was discovered, which was a few miles away from a Roman road and Roman army fort. It's thought to have been used for ceremonial occasions, not combat. It's design alludes to the Trojans, whose exploits Romans re-enacted in cavalry displays. Only two other Roman cavalry parade helmets with masks have turned up in the UK. The Ribchester Helmet was found in 1796 and is in the British Museum. The Newstead Helmet was found in 1905 and is kept at the Museum of Antiquities in Edinburgh.

The Crosby Garrett Helmet is shaped like a Phrygian cap with a winged griffin standing with one raised foot resting on an amphora. The griffin was the companion of Nemesis, the goddess of vengeance and fate. They were agents of death and were often linked with gladiatorial combat.

Statuette of Nemesis in the form of Female Griffin with Wheel of Fortune, 2nd century C.E

The helmet and visor were cast from an alloy of 82% copper, 10% zinc and 8% tin. On October 7 2010, the helmet was sold at Christie's for £2.3 million (US$3.6 million) Architectural panel with a griffin Roman, about A.D. 175–200.

The Trident

Corinthian plaque, 550–525 BC.

The trident was associated with Poseidon. Poseidon was gifted his trident by the elder cyclopes, the one-eyed giants of ancient Greece, to help him in the war against the titans. Poseidon, as well as being god of the sea, was also known as the 'Earth Shaker' because when he struck the earth in anger he caused earthquakes. He also used his trident to stir up tidal waves, tsunamis and sea storms. Neptune is the Roman equivalent to the Greek god Poseidon. Brother to Jupiter and Pluto, he was the unpredictable and tempestuous ruler of the deep.

The quadrens was a specialized close-quarter weapon used by the retiarius.

The Roman trident (tridens or fuscina) was a three-pronged polearm used by the retiarius gladiator.

Roman iron gladiator trident.

Symbolically, it was linked to the sea god Neptune. The retiarius (literally 'net-man') was an agile, lightly armored gladiator. He fought without a helmet or shield, relying on evasion, speed, and 3 weapons. A weighted net, a three-pronged trident, and a dagger. In the arena, the retiarius was paired against heavy, slow gladiators, most often the secutor. ('pursuer')

Nero's Domus Aurea

The Domus Aurea (Latin, 'Golden House') was a vast complex built by Nero in the heart of ancient Rome after the great fire in 64 AD.

Spanning the Palatine, Esquiline, and Caelian hills, it featured gold-leaf ceilings, artificial lakes, and an octagonal dining room with a rotating dome. Nero micro-managed details. Nero's Domus Aurea is estimated to cost 50 million sesterces to build in 68 AD. 50 million sesterces in 68 AD was a mind-boggling sum. It would be equivalent to billions in modern purchasing power.

Nero placed mosaics, previously restricted to floors, in the vaulted ceilings. The Golden House was a severe embarrassment to Nero’s successors. It was stripped of its marble, its jewels and its ivory within a decade. Soon after Nero’s death, the palace and grounds were filled with earth and built over: the Baths of Titus were already being built over part of the site in 79 AD.

At the entrance, Nero placed his Colossus. Roughly 35m tall and made of bronze, The Colossus of Nero depicted the emperor as the sun god Sol, crowned with rays of light. Moved and modified by subsequent emperors, only the brick and concrete foundations of the Colossus survive. The bronze was melted down.

The palace’s grounds included a large artificial lake (the stagnum). After Nero's death, Flavian emperors drained the lake and built the Colosseum over it.

The monument left an enduring legacy: the Flavian Amphitheatre situated next to it was nicknamed the Colosseum due to its proximity to the statue.

The Domus Aurea complex covered parts of the slopes of the Palatine, Esquiline, Oppian and Caelian hills. Its size can only be approximated, as much of it has never been excavated. Some scholars place it at over 300 acres. In 2019 they found a secret, underground room inside Nero’s palace.