Western Roman Emperor Petronius Maximus

On this day in 455 AD Western Roman Emperor Petronius Maximus was killed.

Petronius Maximus was a wealthy Roman senator who served as Western Roman Emperor for 75 days. He is best remembered for engineering the assassinations of general Flavius Aëtius and Emperor Valentinian III before being stoned to death by an angry mob in Rome. Maximus, along with the eunuch Heraclius, convinced Emperor Valentinian III to assassinate Rome's top military commander, Aëtius, out of political jealousy. Having eliminated Aëtius, Maximus was denied the position of magister militum. In retaliation, he orchestrated the murder of Valentinian III.

On March 17, 455, Maximus declared himself emperor, securing the support of the Senate and bribing palace officials. Maximus tried to secure his position by marrying Licinia Eudoxia, the widow of Valentinian III, and arranging a marriage between his son and the daughter of Eudoxia. This backfired because the latter was already betrothed to Huneric, the son of the Vanadal king Geiseric. When Rome learned that Geiseric was planning an invasion to avenge his honor, the city panicked, including Maximus. On May 31, 455, as Maximus attempted to flee the city from an approaching vandal fleet, he was confronted by an angry mob. Without his bodyguard or retinue to protect him, he was attacked and killed, either stoned by the crowd or slain by a Roman soldier named Ursus. His mutilated body was thrown into the Tiber. His son Palladius, who had briefly held the title of caesar, was likely executed as well. Three days later, Geiseric seized Rome and sacked it over the course of two weeks.

The sack of Rome in 455 demonstrated the weakness of the Western Roman Empire. The term “vandalism” was born. Petronius Maximus gold is an exceptional rarity. The coins command premium prices. Authentic solidi have realized auction prices ranging from 27,000 Euro to well over 100,000 Euro depending on grade.

The Holzthum Hoard

Archaeologists in northern Luxembourg unearthed a stash of Roman gold coins in 2019 near the ruins of a burgus. (small Roman fortress or tower) The coins were minted during a collapsing Western Roman Empire, just before Roman troops abandoned the region around 406 C.E.

The coins span Roman emperors who reigned during the fourth and fifth centuries—including Eugenius, an illegitimate usurper who ruled the Western Roman Empire for two years. Coins were excavated at an archaeological site in the northern village of Holzthum. The Holzthum Hoard consists of a total of 141 solidii, encompassing nine Roman emperors, who reigned between 364 and 408 AD.

The burial site was a Late Roman military fort, based on the foundations of the building that the cache was deposited in. The Roman emperors were Valentinian I, Valens, Gratian, Valentinian II, Theodosius I, Magnus Maximus and the ursurper Eugenius, of which three solidii were attributed to him, minted in Lugdunum, modern day Lyon. Eugenius, whose brief reign resulted in clashes with Theodosius I, and subsequent demise at the Battle of the Frigidus in September 394, meant few of his coins were minted. The gold solidi are in excellent condition and because they include very rare examples, experts evaluated the coins at 308,600 euros. The Ministry of Culture paid the valuation as a finder’s fee to the landowner and acquired the coins for the nation. They will go on public display after they are conserved and studied.

Flavius Eugenius (ruled 392–394 AD) was a rhetoric teacher turned Western Roman usurper. Because his reign was brief his gold solidi are among the rarest and most sought-after coins of the late Roman Empire. Eugenius solidus, Treveri 392–394. Very rare. A superb portrait of fine style and a lovely light reddish tone. Almost invisible marks, otherwise extremely fine. 40,000 CHF in May 2026.

141 solidii around the time of Theodosius I was a huge sum. Roman Cavalryman earned about 180 base copper coins (nummi) per day. At an exchange rate of roughly 7,200 nummi to 1 solidus, one solidus represented about 1.5 months of military service. A standard foot soldier earned less, meaning 1 solidus could represent up to 2 full months of pay. The stele of Titus Flavius Bassus (eques of the ala Noricum) a Roman cavalryman from 1st century AD.

Defaced Roman coins

During the Roman Empire, coins were often defaced, mostly between the 1st and the 3rd centuries AD. It was especially prevailent in the imperial provinces, where many cities issued bronze coins for local circulation.

Julius Caesar, as Dictator (49-44 BCE). AR denarius. NGC Choice XF 5/5 – 2/5, graffiti.

Ancient coins were often deliberately defaced or mutilated as an expression of contempt for the subject depicted or name inscribed. Coins mistreated in this way have an appeal for some collectors. Gaius Julius Caesar was beloved by his troops and Rome’s common people, but he was hated by many of the elite. Lifetime portrait coins of Julius Caesar are always in high demand from collectors, even a deep scratch is an acceptable defect.

When the reclusive and paranoid Tiberius died at the age of 78, most Romans greeted the accession of his great-nephew Gaius joyfully. That didn't last long. Two years after Caligula's death, the Senate voted that all bronze coins bearing his image be melted down, but the chronic shortage of small change in the Roman economy meant this wasn't enforced, and some coins of Caligula survived, but rarely with his name or image intact. Gaius (Caligula). 37-41 CE. Æ Sestertius. Rome mint. Struck 37-38 CE.

Nero. 54-68 CE. Æ Sestertius. Rome mint. Struck circa 66 CE. Nero is infamous for his debauchery and was deeply unpopular with the nobility and political class, which eventually led to his downfall.

Domitian and Domitia were a Roman imperial couple. Married in 70 AD, they served as Emperor and Empress of the Flavian dynasty from 81 AD until Domitian’s assassination in 96 AD. Domitian, a cruel and ruthless autocrat, is recorded as one of Rome's worst emperors.

Ancients

ROMAN IMPERATORIAL, SEXTUS POMPEY AS IMPERATOR (44-36 B.C.) Sextus Pompey used dynastic imagery on his coins. In 42 B.C. Marc Antony, Octavian, Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, Marcus Junius Brutus, Gaius Cassius Longinus and Sextus Pompey all fought for supremacy. He and his brother portrayed their deceased father on denarii as early as 45-44 B.C. This example sold for $336k in 2018.

Macedonian Kingdom. PHILIP II (359-336 B.C.) The obverse of this posthumous issue of the ancient city of Colophon bears a portrait. Comparison with the posthumous Alexander coins under King Lysimachus and surviving portraits leave no doubt the portrait is Alexander the Great himself. The coin sold for $36k in 2020.

Posthumous Alexander coins struck under King Lysimachus are among the most famous of the ancient world. Rather than the traditional Heracles/Zeus designs, Lysimachus revolutionized this coinage by depicting the deified Alexander the Great on the obverse to legitimize his own rule.

Zeugitana, Carthage. (circa 350-320 B.C.) Carthage became a naval powerhouse in the 5th century B.C. and challenged the cities of Sicily and Southern Italy for control of the Mediterranean. By the early 3rd century B.C., most of Central North Africa, Spain and Sicily had fallen to the Carthaginians. Mints produced coins to pay the largely mercenary army. This early stater indicates the dies were created by a Greek engraver with superior skill. This coin sold for $15k in 2019.

A powerful army was put to use by the third king of the Ptolemaic dynasty, Ptolemy III Euergetes (246-222 B.C.). Shortly after inheriting the throne, he launched an invasion of the neighboring Seleucid Kingdom of Syria. He crushed all resistance reaching Babylon, where he proclaimed himself King of Kings. The coin sold for $49,350 in 2016.

Battle of Ctesiphon

On this date in 363 AD Roman Emperor Julian defeated the Sassanid army in the Battle of Ctesiphon.

In April 363 after massing a force of 65,000 men, Julian advanced down the Euphrates River and reached the vicinity of the Sassanid capital, Ctesiphon (just south of modern-day Baghdad, Iraq). Despite the battlefield triumph, the Romans lacked heavy siege equipment and supply lines necessary to breach the heavily fortified capital. Before the Romans could reach its walls, they had to defeat the defending army. Thousands of spearmen and the vaunted mail-clad cavalry, the clibanarii, barred the way.

Ammianus, the primary source and eyewitness, said the defenders were an impressive sight. Cut off from supplies and facing disease in intense summer heat, Julian ordered a retreat on June 16. During the arduous withdrawal near Samarra, Julian was mortally wounded in a cavalry skirmish. The blow pierced his liver, and he died in his tent three days later at age 31.

Julian II. AD 360-363. Antioch mint, 3rd officina. Struck AD 361-363. Very fine. €149.

Sassanid king Shapur II, 309-379 CE.

Leaderless and starving, the Roman army under Julian’s successor, Jovian, was ultimately forced to sue for peace, ceding crucial territories and fortresses to the Sassanids to secure a safe retreat. In a humiliating peace, Rome surrendered five provinces. A decisive Roman tactical victory turned into a strategic catastrophe.

Canis Pugnax

The Canis Pugnax, Latin for “fighting dog,” was the living weapon of the Roman legions.

A massive and ferocious breed descended from the ancient Molossian hounds of Epirus, these were the same war dogs that accompanied Alexander the Great. The fierce mastiff-like dogs were used for guarding, hunting, and as combat weapons. They weren't mascots, the dogs were trained as specialized shock troops. They often were outfitted with spiked collars, leather armor, or even chainmail. Released in packs before infantry advances, they charged directly into enemy lines, targeting cavalry horses to unseat their riders. Their role was to sow panic and chaos in the moments before the Roman assault. Roman historians describe them as “braver than lions and more faithful than men”. They offer high praise for their courage, loyalty, and effectiveness. At night the dogs guarded camps. They also tracked deserters.

When the Western Roman Empire fell, the breed didn't vanish; its bloodline survived and eventually resurfaced centuries later in modern Italian mastiff breeds like the Cane Corso and Neapolitan Mastiff. Canis Pugnax retain a legacy as Rome’s most loyal and terrifying soldiers. They embodied Roman ideals of virtus (courage) and fides. (loyalty)

Roman dice - tesserae

Roman dice (tesserae) were commonly six-sided, roughly cubic, and crafted from bone, antler, or bronze. While often visually asymmetrical or lopsided, they typically followed the same numbering convention as modern dice (opposite sides add to seven).

Romans also used tali, or knucklebones with four usable sides, often for gambling. Romans played a gambling game called Tali using the natural ankle bones (astragali) of sheep or goats. Tali was a common game in Ancient Rome. It originated in Greece and Egypt and was played with four tali.

Largely lost to time, what is known was that all combinations were split into three categories and one sub group. The highest value cast was 'Venus: 6,4,3,1'. Then 'Senio: 6,#,#,#' (Six and any combination of numbers.) then 'Vultures: 6,6,6,6 / 4,4,4,4 / 3,3,3,3'. Lowest roll was 'Canis: 1,1,1,1 (Lowest value Vulture.) Anyone who cast Canis (Dogs) or Vultures put 4 coins in the pot, the first player to roll a Venus would take the pot. Despite strict laws, gambling was a popular pastime in ancient Rome, enjoyed by everyone from slaves to emperors. Romans were hard core gamblers on dice, board games, and sporting events like chariot races and gladiator contests.

Gorgons

In Greek mythology, a Gorgon is a female creature. The name derives from the ancient Greek word gorgós, which means "dreadful". The term commonly refers to any of three sisters who had hair made of living, venomous snakes. They turned those who beheld them to stone. While two of the Gorgons were immortal, Stheno and Euryale, their sister Medusa was not, and she was slain by Perseus. The concept of the Gorgon is at least as old in classical Greek mythology as Perseus and Zeus. Gorgons were a popular image in Greek mythology, images of the Gorgons were put on objects and buildings for protection.

Representations of full-bodied Gorgons and the Gorgon face, called a gorgoneion, were popular subjects in Ancient Greek, Etruscan and Roman iconography. While ancient Gorgons were depicted as hideously ugly, over time they came to be portrayed as beautiful young women.

One of the earliest representations on coins is on an electrum stater from Parium.

Going further back, there is a similar image from the Knossos palace, dating to the fifteenth century BC.

One of two Gorgon Heads from the cuirass (breastplate) of Macedonian King Philip II

Greek Apollonia Pontica Silver Drachm struck 4th century B.C.

Perseus and the gorgon.

Typhon

Typhon was a monstrous giant and the most deadly creature in Greek mythology. Typhon was the last son of Gaia, and was fathered by Tartarus.

According to Hesiod, Typhon was "terrible, outrageous and lawless", and on his shoulders were one hundred snake heads, that emitted fire and every kind of noise.

Typhon and his mate Echidna were the progenitors of many famous monsters. Hera, angry at Zeus for having given birth to Athena by himself, prayed to Gaia to give her a son as strong as Zeus, then slapped the ground and became pregnant. Hera gave the infant Typhon to the serpent Python to raise. Typhon become a bane to all mortals.

"Strength was with his hands in all that he did and the feet of the strong god were untiring. From his shoulders grew a hundred heads of a snake, a fearful dragon, with dark, flickering tongues, and from under the brows of his eyes in his marvellous heads flashed fire, and fire burned from his heads as he glared." Typhon "was joined in love" to Echidna, a monstrous half-woman and half-snake, who bore Typhon "fierce offspring"

Typhon challenged Zeus for rule of the cosmos. Angered, Zeus used his thunderbolt to overcome Typhon, who was cast down into Tartarus. Most accounts have the defeated Typhon being the cause of volcanic eruptions and earthquakes.

Typhon mythology is part of the Greek succession myth, explaining how Zeus came to rule the gods.

Gaius (Caligula), with Divus Augustus

Caligula (AD 37–41) struck a famous series of coins pairing his own portrait with that of his deified great-grandfather, Divus Augustus. These issues, minted at Lugdunum (modern Lyon), were deliberately struck to legitimize his rule by visually linking himself to the founder of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. NGC MS★ 5/5 - 5/5, this coin is the finest Caligula aureus known in private hands. It made $500k on 13 January 2025.

Born Gaius Julius Caesar Germanicus in AD 12, he was dressed as a soldier by his parents, including miniature army boots. (caligae) When the hated Tiberius died in AD 37, Caligula, 25, was welcomed with relief. That didn't last long.

Gaius (Caligula), with Divus Augustus. AD 37-41. AR Denarius (18mm, 3.63 g, 2h). Lugdunum (Lyon) mint. 1st emission, AD 37. $4,200. After 3 years of misrule Caligula was assassinated in a plot by some senators and the Praetorian guard led by Cassius Chaerea on 24 January AD 41.

Roman wine

The Roman belief that wine was a daily necessity made it ubiquitous. It was readily available to slaves, peasants and aristocrats, men and women alike. Ancient Roman wine was a daily staple, not a luxury.

It was cloudy, highly acidic, and stored in large clay jars called dolia. With no modern preservation methods, Romans heavily diluted it with water, spices, or honey. Romans fermented and aged wine in large, partially buried earthenware clay vessels. The porous clay and egg-like shapes allowed for micro-oxygenation, which gave the wine grassy, nutty, and dried fruit flavors.

Conditum Paradoxum was a popular sweet, spiced wine made by boiling wine with honey, black pepper, laurel, saffron, and mastic. Posca was a drink for soldiers and the lower classes made by mixing water with soured wine or vinegar. Premium wines were highly prized and expensive. Falernian was a sweet, strong white wine that was the most expensive drink in the empire. Produced on the slopes of Mount Falernus (modern-day Monte Massico) in the Campania/Lazio region of Italy, it was a symbol of luxury for the Roman elite.

Falernian wine was a luxury product. A standard half-litre amphora cost about 1 sestertius. (25% of a Roman labourer’s daily wage) Premium, well-aged vintages were very expensive. The wine trade drew merchants to do business with tribes native to Gaul and Germania, bringing Roman influences to these regions before the arrival of the Roman military. Evidence of the trade and the significant ancient wine economy is found through amphorae – the ceramic jars used to store and transport wine and other goods. One of the most important wine centres in the Roman world was Pompeii, located on the Campanian coast. An expanse of farms and vineyards covered the slopes of Vesuvius, exploiting fertile soil to produce fine wines.

Grand Manan - Captain Kidd's Money Cove

Grand Manan Island is the largest of the Fundy Islands in the Bay of Fundy. It is the primary island in the Grand Manan Archipelago, sitting at the boundary between the Bay of Fundy and the Gulf of Maine on the Atlantic coast.

As early as 1875 searches were made on the west side of the island for treasure buried by Captain William Kidd.

For nearly 200 years, the remote area of the island has been called the Money Cove.

The tale goes a widow had a dream. A headless Negro said, "In a certain spot on Grand Manan there lies, in a hogshead, the buried treasure of Captain Kidd. I was killed by Captain Kidd's pirates that I might guard the buried treasure. I am weary of my task. I wish to tell you where this treasure is, and then rest in peace. I will show you the place."

Captain William Kidd (c. 22 January 1645 – 23 May 1701) was a Scottish sailor who was tried and executed for piracy after returning from a voyage to the Indian Ocean. He was hanged on 23 May 1701, at 'Execution Dock', Wapping, in London. During the execution, the hangman's rope broke and Kidd was hanged on the second attempt. His body was gibbeted over the River Thames at Tilbury Point as a warning to would-be pirates for 3 years. The belief that Kidd had left buried treasure contributed to the growth of his legend.

Just before his death on the gallows, Captain Kidd said, "After my death, you may find treasure I have buried in a place where two tides meet."

Some point to the Bay of Fundy, where two tides meet as the place where Captain Kidd hid his treasure. Indian Beach

In 2007 a wreck of a treasure ship captured by William Kidd was found in the Caribbean. Lying in just 10ft of water, the Quedah Merchant is on the seabed off the island of Hispaniola, which is split between Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Marine archaeologists were amazed that the wreck, which was scuttled in 1699, had lain undiscovered for so long. The Quedah Merchant was perhaps Kidd's greatest prize. A 400-ton Moorish trader from Armenia, it was loaded with gold, silver and fine silks.

Herring "elevator" to lift fish up from the weirs