Ancient Greek plague

Homer’s Iliad has the earliest account of plague in Greek literature and dates back to the eighth century BCE. Agamemnon captured the daughter of the Trojan priest of Apollon, Chryses. When Chryses attempted to ransom her, Agamemnon refused to return her. Chryses prayed to Apollon, “god of the silver bow.” Apollo was addressed with his epithet Apollon Smintheus, or “Apollo the mouse god.” The Greeks had noticed the correlation between rodent infestation and plague, and so prayed to this aspect of Apollon. Apollon heard the cry of his priest and sent a plague through the Greek armies, shooting his arrows at the Greek soldiers for nine days, leading to bodies burning on pyres. In mythology, the arrows of Apollon (as well as those of his twin sister Artemis) were associated with the rapid onset of disease.

The Greeks appeased Apollon with sacrifices of bulls and goats, hymns, and the return of the priest’s daughter. They purified themselves and 'cast their filth into the sea'. Modern research indicates that rats were not the main reason for spread of plague. The best models suggest it was human borne ticks and fleas.

Roman bread - Panis quadratus

The Herculaneum loaf is a carbonized, stamped sourdough loaf of bread that was baked when Vesuvius erupted on 24 August 79 AD. It came from a villa owned by Quintus Granius Verus. The small stamp on the bread reads “Celer, Slave of Quintus Granius Verrus”. Celer survived the eruption as he was listed in a later document of freed slaves. Researchers found a list of purchases and prices made over eight days, near the brick oven. On the list, bread was bought every day. Three varieties are listed: 'bread', 'coarse bread' and 'bread for the slave'. Panis Quadratus was standard white wheat bread. Coarse bread was cheaper flour for the poor; and slave bread was low-quality, bran-heavy, or animal-grade.

Panis quadratus was a staple sourdough loaf often made from whole wheat or spelt, commonly prepared in commercial bakeries and stamped with a baker’s mark. It was distinctive for being round, tied with string to carry, and scored into eight shareable sections.

Bakeries, or Corpus Pistorum, served a heavily taxed and controlled commodity.

The bread has been analyzed and is a sourdough type whose recipe has been recreated.

A painting from Pompeii showing the sale of bread.

Pliny the Elder was a prolific writer and military commander who died attempting to rescue people in the aftermath of the volcanic eruption. His work Naturalis Historia (Natural History) presents a detailed picture of daily life, culinary habits, and baking technology in the 1st century AD. The carbonized loaves found in Pompeii and Herculaneum directly correlate with frescos and his texts. His statements on bread and fermentation still resonate 2000 years later: “The excellence of the finest kinds of bread depends principally on the goodness of the wheat,” and “Those persons who are dieted upon fermented bread are stronger in body.” The Natural History

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Palmyra

The ancient archaeological site of Palmyra is located at an oasis in the Syrian Desert. Palmyra became one of antiquity’s richest trading centers. Roads passing through the city connected the Mediterranean with Persia, India and China, carrying silk, spices, ivory, pearls and luxury goods.

Palmyra collected taxes and fees from this trade, helping finance its temples, public buildings and monumental architecture. Its Great Colonnade stretched roughly 1.1 kilometers through the city, connecting temples, baths, markets and other public buildings. Palmyra’s architecture combined Roman and Greek forms with Syrian and Persian influences. Palmyra became so important that Emperor Hadrian personally visited the city in 130 CE, and about a century later it was elevated to the status of a Roman colony.

In the third century, Queen Zenobia transformed Palmyra into the center of a breakaway empire. Odenathus, ruler and husband of Septimia Zenobia, took advantage of Rome’s internal and external conflicts to expand his territories. Odenathus was assassinated around 267. Zenobia soon took the title of Augusta and bestowed on her infant son Vaballathus the title of Augustus. Her forces seized Egypt and territory across Asia Minor before Roman emperor Aurelian defeated them in 272 CE.

Choice Zenobia Antoninianus. $13,000

Aureus bearing Aurelian and Vaballathus portraits, struck during an uneasy alliance between Nov AD 270 and March AD 272. Only known example. $250k.

Palmyra was sacked, and both Zenobia and Vabalathus were captured as they tried to make their way to Persia. Aurelian sent them to Emesa for trial, followed by Palmyra's court elite. He killed most but spared Zenobia and her son for his triump in Rome. Zenobia was paraded in Aurelian’s triumph in 274. According to tradition, Aurelian freed her and granted her a villa in Tibur, where she spent the rest of her life. The fate of Vabalathus is unknown.

Masada

Rome built a wall around a mountain so that fewer than a thousand people could not escape. The wall is still there. Masada, above the Dead Sea. AD 73 or 74: the sources do not settle which. Flavius Silva brought the Tenth Legion. Four kilometres of circumvallation wall, ringing… pic.twitter.com/TXspDKFdEa — SPQR Stories (@SPQR_Stories) September 3, 2026

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.

High grade EID MAR silver denarius brings $533k

A Brutus EID MAR silver denarius from 43 or 42 B.C. — “the obverse struck slightly off center and with minor weakness and light marks, otherwise, Extremely Fine” — brought a closing price May 30 of 420,000 Swiss francs ($533,039 USD) in Leu Numismatik’s auction of ancient coins. The most famous Roman coin in existence, Brutus’ EID MAR issue relates to one of the crucial turning points in world history: the assassination of Emperor Julius Caesar on the Ides of March. On March 14, 44 B.C., a group of more than 60 senators led by Marcus Iunius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus attacked Caesar during a Senate meeting and stabbed him to death. About 100 silver examples are known to exist. High-grade or certified pieces command high prices, with exceptional examples fetching sums up to $720k at major auctions. Low grade examples will bring $50k.

The Suffolk aurei hoard

In 2025 a hoard of 39 gold coins spanning the reigns of Augustus to Nero, covering 19 BC to 55 AD was found. Experts suggest the cache was likely hidden by a Roman soldier during the turbulent period of the Boudican revolt against Roman rule in East Anglia around 60 AD. The 39 gold coins equaled more than four years pay for a first-century Roman legionary, a huge sum.In the 1st century AD, a single gold aureus was officially worth 25 silver denarii or 100 brass sesterces.

A ploughed field in Suffolk returned the coins, all in excellent condition, found as a surface scatter likely from a decayed leather pouch.

Octavian and the Battle of Actium

In 43 BCE, Octavian formed the Second Triumvirate with Marc Antony and Lepidus. They defeated Brutus and Cassius and divided the empire with Octavian holding most of the West and Antony the East. In 33 BC, the Second Triumvirate ended, leaving Antony without legal authority. Octavian then began a campaign against him, declaring war against Cleopatra.

The Battle of Actium was a naval battle fought between Octavian's fleet, led by Marcus Agrippa, and the combined fleets of Mark Antony and Cleopatra on 2 September 31 BC in the Ionian Sea. In early 31 BC, Antony and Cleopatra were temporarily stationed in Greece. Mark Antony possessed 500 ships and 70,000 infantry and made his camp at Actium. He was soon trapped on both land and sea. Antony's fleet sailed out through the straits of Actium in a desperate attempt to break free of Marcus Agrippa's naval blockade. On this morning, 2 September, 31 BC, the battle that ended the Roman Republic was about to begin. Before dawn, Octavian was walking his lines at Actium when he met a man driving a donkey. He asked the man his name. Eutychus, the man said. It means Fortunate. And the donkey? Nikon. It means Victor. By nightfall Antony and Cleopatra's fleet was broken.

While fleets were about equal, Antony was eventually routed by Octavian's smaller, more maneuverable ships. On September 2, Antony and Cleopatra managed to escape with a small force, leaving the rest of his army to surrender to Octavian. The end came in Alexandria on 1 August 30 BC. Antony and Cleopatra committed suicide. On the hill where he had camped, Octavian built the 'Campsite Memorial of Augustus'. Into its wall he set the bronze rams stripped from Antony's captured ships. Thirty six of them, in sockets cut to fit each one. On the wall, he thanked Mars and Neptune. Pace parta terra marique: peace won on land and sea.

Beside it, in bronze, he put a donkey.

The lifetime aureus shown was minted while Octavian retained his name, around 32-31 BC and the time of the Battle of Actium. It features the inscription "CAESAR DIVI F" on the reverse, which translates to "Caesar, son of a god".

Octavian's victory enabled him to consolidate power. He adopted the title of Princeps (first citizen), and in 27 BC was awarded the title of Augustus (revered) by the senate. The reign of Augustus gave Rome a golden era known as the 'Pax Romana' during which he served for 41 years. It was Augustus’ coinage reform in 23 BCE that saw the aureus come into consistent use.

Legio XIII Gemina

Legio XIII Gemina was one of the most celebrated military units of the Roman Army.

It was famous for its pivotal role in Julius Caesar’s rise to power. Formed in 57 BC to fight in the Gallic Wars, this is the legion that marched across the Rubicon River with Caesar in 49 BC, an act of defiance that sparked the Roman Civil War. The 13th remained loyal to Caesar.

Legio XIII was active throughout the entire war, fighting at Dyrrhachium (48 BC) and Pharsalus (48 BC). After the decisive victory over Pompey at Pharsalus, the legion was to be disbanded, and the legionaries "pensioned off" with land grants. The legion was recalled for the Battle of Thapsus (46 BC) and the final Battle of Munda (45 BC). After Munda, Caesar disbanded the legion, retired his veterans, and gave them farmland in their native Italy.

Augustus reconstituted the legion once again in 41 BC to deal with the rebellion of Sextus Pompeius (son of Pompey) in Sicily. Legio XIII acquired the cognomen Gemina ("twin") after being reinforced with veteran legionaries from other legions following the war against Mark Antony and the Battle of Actium. After the disaster of the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in AD 9, the legion was sent as reinforcements. In the year of the four emperors 69 AD, XIII Gemina supported first Otho and then Vespasian against Vitellius, fighting in the two Battles of Bedriacum. Under Trajan the legion took part in both Dacian wars (101–102, 105–106), and it was transferred by Trajan in 106 to the newly conquered province of Dacia.

Last reports come from the 5th century, where a legio tertiadecima gemina was stationed in Babylon. An archaeological excavation of an elementary school in Vienna in 2024 uncovered bricks bearing the stamp of the 13th Legion Gemina. From the 2nd century, They were likely the broken remnants of pilae stacks, the pillars of brick used to raise the floor for a hypocaust heating system.

Roman dagger found in Switzerland

A volunteer archaeologist using a metal detector in Switzerland uncovered a 2000-year-old dagger (pugio) in 2019. Due to its cross-shaped handle, the dagger can be dated to 50 BC. Daggers of this type are extremely rare with only four known. The dagger was found in the mountainous Graubünden region of Switzerland, an area believed to be the site of battle where Imperial Roman soldiers fought Rhaetian warriors in 15 BC. His discovery sparked an excavation of the area that revealed a trove of ancient military artifacts including lead slingshot and hobnails from soldiers' boots. A Roman coin minted between 29 BC and 26 BC during the reign of Emperor Augustus was found.

Slingshot feature inscriptions by the Roman legions that made them.

The Rhaetians, or Raeti, were a confederation of tribes that lived in the Alpine regions of what are now Switzerland, Italy, Austria and Germany. They opposed Roman occupation, fighting a series of battles against the invaders in the first century B.C.E. The clash near the gorge probably took place around 15 B.C.E., when Roman Emperor Augustus ordered a military campaign. The historic encounter occurred near the Crap Ses Gorge in southeastern Switzerland around 15 B.C.E. Soldiers from the 3rd, 10th, and 12th legions were led by Augustus's stepsons, Tiberius and Drusus. The Roman victory integrated the region into the empire as part of the new province of Raetia, a territory Rome held for the next 400 years.

World's oldest gold coins

One of the world’s oldest coins was sold in Germany for over over $380k. Issued between 600 and 625 B.C., the coin is unique because of the stamp of Phanes. The exact identity of Phanes remains unknown. “I am the badge of Phanes” is one of the translations. The words can also be translated as “I am the tomb of light.” Since Phanes was the god of light, and also the word for light, the ancient words can be interpreted in different ways.

There are four examples of these types of coins. Known as Staters of Phanes, the denomination is one stater. Denominations began at 1/96, and went up to one stater. There were seven total denominations. Only the two highest had the Phanes stamp. The coins are made of electrum, an naturally occuring alloy of gold and silver.

One of the oldest coins known was discovered in Efesos, an ancient Hellenic city and prosperous trading center on the coast of Asia Minor. The 1/6 stater was made from electrum and originated in Lydia. The ancient stater was hand struck. A die with a design for the obverse (front) of the coin was placed on an anvil. A blank of metal was placed on top of the die, and a punch hammered onto the reverse. The result was a coin with an image on one side and a punch mark on the other.

Electrum Stater Of Miletos. Several Greek cities as well as the Lydian kings began minting the first coins by stamping the badge of their city into one side of a standard weight lump of electrum and various punches into the other. These were used to facilitate trade by certifying that the intrinsic value and weight of the metal was guaranteed by the issuing authority. Of these early coins, those of Miletos (600-550 BC), are probably the finest.

In 2014 a diver found what is believed to be the oldest gold coin ever discovered in Bulgaria. The ancient coin was found in shallow waters near the resort town of Sozopol on the Black Sea coast. The coin was minted in Lydia in the second half of the seventh century BC. It weighs 0.63 grams and has a denomination of 1/24 of a stater. Sozopol was founded as a colony of the Greek city state of Miletos about 611 BCE – first named Antheia, it was later known as Apollonia.

Croesus is credited with issuing the first true gold coins with a standardized purity for general circulation, along with the world's first bimetallic monetary system.