The son of Vespasian and the younger brother of Titus was the last member of the Flavian dynasty. Emperor Domitian and Empress Domitia Longina formed one of the most tumultuous power couples in ancient Rome. Their marriage, political alliance, and Domitian's reign culminated in palace intrigue, betrayal, and death. Aureus features Emperor Domitian on the obverse and his wife, Domitia Longina, on the reverse. It was minted in Rome around 82–83 AD.
Domitia, the daughter of general Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo, was forced to divorce her first husband, Lucius Aelius Lamia, to marry Domitian in AD 70. In AD 83, Domitian banished Domitia over an alleged affair with the actor Paris. Domitian soon brought Domitia back to Rome and restored her status as Empress.
Domitian grew increasingly paranoid and began executing members of his inner circle. Domitia was tipped off that her own name was on his execution list. To save herself, she is widely believed to have played an active role in the palace conspiracy that resulted in his murder.
Domitian was assassinated on September 18, 96 AD, at the age of 44. He was stabbed to death in his palace by a group of court officials, servants, and the Praetorian prefects. The relieved senate rejoiced at his death and immediately subjected him to a damnatio memoriae. He was succeeded the same day by his advisor Nerva. Domitia retired and died around 130 AD at age 77.
Domitia. Augusta, AD 82-96. Denarius (Silver, 3.57 g 6), Rome, 82-83. Estimate CHF 10,000. Sold For CHF 19,500 in 2010
Due to her controversial life and later role in the plot against Domitian, Domitia coins became exceptionally rare. Today, surviving examples in good condition are extremely highly valued with most in museums.
During the Roman Empire, coins were often defaced, mostly between the 1st and the 3rd centuries AD. It was prevalent 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 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 have been in high demand for almost 2 centuries. 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. 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 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 was a cruel and ruthless autocrat, recorded as one of Rome's worst emperors.
In 2019 archaeologists discovered the remains of a chariot from ancient Rome along with two horses. Dating to the 3rd century AD, the find, the first of its kind in Croatia, is an extremely high status burial for a wealthy Roman family.
In 2021 near Pompeii, archaeologists uncovered a nearly intact Roman ceremonial chariot dating to the 1st century CE. Preserved in the volcanic ash, the chariot is believed to have been used in parades, processions, or elite marriages.
The find is from an ancient burial mound known as a tumuli. Only those of the highest status were buried in this expensive manner.
Conquered under Augustus, Pannonia and Moesia Superior were strategic frontier provinces of the Roman Empire.
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Archaeologists discovered golden curse tablets in Roman tombs. These contain inscriptions with magical symbols calling upon both gods and demons to unleash ill-health, punishment, and death upon enemies.
The curse tablets were found in Roman tombs at Viminacium, the ancient capital of the former Roman province of Moesia Superior in Serbia. The territory was under Roman (and later Byzantine) rule for about 600 years, from the 1st century BC until the 6th century. Viminacium occupies a total of about 450 hectares (1,100 acres)
“..so long as someone, whether slave or free, whether man or woman, keeps silent or knows anything about it, they may be accursed in blood, and eyes and every limb and even have all intestines quite eaten away if they have stolen the ring or been privy (to the theft).”
Other curses are even more personal ... “May your penis burn away when you make love.”
In Viminacium archaeologists found Christians and pagans buried together, suggesting they lived together in relative harmony and tolerance.
Priam's Treasure is a spectacular collection of gold and other artifacts discovered by archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann at Hissarlik in modern Turkey. Schliemann illegally smuggled Priam's Treasure out of Anatolia. The majority of the stolen artifacts are in the Pushkin Museum in Moscow.
Schliemann claimed the site to be that of ancient Troy, and assigned the artifacts to the Homeric king Priam. He was wrong, the treasure is a thousand years older than Homer's King Priam of Troy, who died about 1200 B.C. The collection, consisting of 259 items, has been at the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts since 1945.
Russia claims their looted art is compensation for the destruction of Russian cities and looting of Russian museums by Nazi Germany in World War II.
Sophia Schliemann wearing the "Jewels of Helen" stolen by her husband in Hisarlik.
The “Mask of Agamemnon” is one of the most famous gold artifacts from the Bronze Age. The Mask was discovered in 1876 by Schliemann during excavations at Mycenae.
The gold leaf funeral mask was found over the face of a body in a burial shaft in the Mycenaean Citadel.
Zodiac drachm with Kronos (Saturn) in Capricorn struck in Alexandria in the 8th year of Antoninus Pius, 144–145 AD. This period is remembered as a time of uninterrupted peace and stability within the Pax Romana. Coins may celebrate the publication of Ptolemy's Tetrabiblos (astrology manual) in the city in that year. Currently 1600 CHF.
The finest known Zodiac wheel type $43,200 in 2011.
The Zodiac Drachm is highly sought after. Struck to celebrate the Great Sothic Cycle, the coins feature 16 variations pairing the 12 zodiac signs with Greco-Roman deities and planetary symbols. The Great Sothic Cycle refers to the flooding of the Nile River and the beginning of a new eon, marked by the appearance of the phoenix, a mythological bird which was reborn every 500 to 1000 years out of its own ashes. The ultimate project for collectors, coins often feature zodiac constellations alongside portraits of deities, like a centaur drawing a bow (Jupiter in Sagittarius) or the Dioscuri twins (Gemini).
Caracalla, (Marcus Aurelius Antoninus) was Roman emperor from 198 to 217 AD. He was a member of the Severan dynasty, the eldest son of Septimius Severus and Julia Domna. Co-ruler with his father from 198, he continued to rule with his brother Geta after their father's death in 211. He had his brother killed later that year.
Ancient sources portray Caracalla as a tyrant and cruel leader.
Caracalla became known for the construction of the Baths of Caracalla, and for the massacres he ordered against the people of Rome and elsewhere in the empire. In 216, Caracalla began a war against the Parthian Empire. He didn't see the campaign through due to his assassination by a soldier in 217. Caracalla was fatally stabbed from behind during a sanitary stop by a centurion named Julius Martialis on April 8, 217 AD. The assassin was chased down and killed by bodyguards. The assassination was orchestrated by Caracalla's Praetorian Prefect, Macrinus. Macrinus succeeded him as emperor three days later.
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The bad sequel of 'Gladiator' in 2024 featured Caracalla, Geta, and Macrinus. Little of the film reflects history.
Caracalla and Geta were Roman brothers who became joint emperors upon the death of their father Septimius Severus in 211 AD.
A caracallus was a hooded cloak worn by the Celts of Gaul where Septimius Bassianus was born on April 4, 186 CE. Young Caracalla grew up among them and adapted some of their customs. (such as wearing a caracallus) His father, the future emperor Septimius Severus, served as the Imperial governor. Younger brother Geta was born May 27, 189, at Mediolanum (now Milan). The two boys hated one another. In 193, Septimius Severus was the victor in a complex civil war. On the reverse of a rare gold aureus issued about the year 200, the two boys face one another, with the inscription “Eternity of the Empire.”
In December 195, after his father defeated the usurper Pescennius Niger, Caracalla, aged nine, was given the rank of Caesar, designating him an imperial successor. Publius Septimius Geta was given the rank of Caesar at the age of nine. At the age of 10, Caracalla was raised to the rank of Augustus. (effectively co-emperor) Geta was not promoted to Augustus until 209. Severus died February 4, 211. The palace was soon divided into two hostile armed camps. In December 211, Caracalla invited Geta to a meeting on neutral ground – their mother’s palace apartment. Caracalla’s guards stabbed Geta to death.
Caracalla issued a damnatio memoriae and erased Geta’s name and image from Imperial inscriptions and works. His followers were slaughtered.
Geta appears on a superb aureus struck in 201.
Romans were great fans of chariot races held in the Circus Maximus. A hugely desirable brass sestertius of Caracalla dated to 213 depicts the Circus Maximus in rich detail.
Strapped for cash, Caracalla turned to the easiest route to replentishing the treasury, debasing currency. His antoninianus was officially valued at two denarii but initially contained silver worth only about one-and-a-half. By collecting taxes in denarii and making payments in antoniniani, the Imperial treasury realized a profit. Ruinous inflation raged for the rest of the century. The antonianus was eventually reduced to trace amounts of silver.
Coins of Caracalla’s last years show an increasingly thick neck and heavy beard. Inscriptions hail his victories over Britons and Germans.
Born about 164 of Berber ancestry in North Africa, Macrinus rose to the high rank of Praetorian Prefect under Caracalla. Macrinus seized the throne after arranging the murder of Caracalla. He died April 8, 217 AD aged 29. Macrinus was captured and executed after a reign of about 14 months.
Despite this brief reign, his coin output was prolific. Born about 208, Marcus Opellius Diadumenianus was the son of Macrinus from an uncertain mother.
Caracalla’s aunt, Julia Maesa, bribed the eastern legions to proclaim her 14-year-old grandson Elagabalus as emperor, using the rumor that the boy was actually Caracalla’s son. After Macrinus was killed, Diadumenian fled but was intercepted and beheaded. He was 10 years old. Diadumenian’s head was sent as a trophy to Elagabalus.
During the Cold War era, US spy satellites snapped images of the Soviet Union, China and their allies. When these images were declassified in the 1990s, photos of a rocky terrace in Iraqi Kurdistan caught the attention of archaeologists, who believed they saw the remnants of a large, square fort. Qalatga Darband is located at a strategic point on the Darband-i-Rania pass, which once linked Mesopotamia to Iran. Archaeologists think the city was built on a route that Alexander of Macedon took in 331 BC while pursuing Persian King Darius III; who was fleeing from his defeat at the Battle of Gaugamela.
Drone images of Qalatga Darband were processed to enhance color differences in 2022. The city, nearby Lake Dukan, was encircled by a wall and had a fort, a temple, and wine presses.
The Parthians were a major power, conquering vast swaths of territory.
Qalatga Darband appears to have been occupied during the early Parthian period, which spanned from the first century B.C. to the first century A.D. A coin discovered at the site depicts the Parthian king Orodes II, who ruled between 57 B.C. and 37 B.C.
