Claudius aureus brings £4,000

A rare Roman gold coin unearthed by a beekeeper in the UK in 2023 made £4,000 at auction. Rob Turrell was metal detecting on a field near Diss in Norfolk when he hit the find of a lifetime. The aureus weighs 7.70 grams of pure gold, and was struck by the emperor Claudius in AD 41-2 with the portrait and name of his father Nero Claudius Drusus, a highly respected general and consul.

The inscription records Claudius Drusus's celebrated campaigns subjugating the Germanic tribes in 12-9 BC. Claudius Drusus was renowned in the Roman army for defeating many Celtic chiefs in combat before his untimely death in 9 BC after a riding accident. Needing to establish military legitimacy, Claudius launched the invasion of Britain in AD 43. He sent a force of 4 legions plus auxillaries, some 40,000 to 50,000 men. Claudius died on October 13, AD 54, at the age of 63. Historians widely agree he was assassinated. The consensus implicates his wife, Agrippina the Younger, who allegedly had him fed a dish of poisoned mushrooms. The aureus, a month’s pay for a Roman soldier, was likely lost shortly after Claudius invaded in AD 43.

Nepotian

In AD 350, Magnentius revolted, murdered Constans and claimed the Western Empire. Nepotian (Flavius Julius Popilius Nepotianus Constantinus, nephew of Constantine I) did the same in Rome. On June 3, 350 CE Nepotian attempted to take control over Rome and proclaimed himself emperor. He challenged the usurper Magnentius and seized Rome with a small band of gladiators. After ruling for 28 days, he was defeated by Magnentius' general Marcellinus and killed on June 30, 350. Coin shown is extremely rare. VF, even hard brown surfaces. $6,400.

Nepotian managed to strike both gold solidi and bronze centenionalis coins at the Rome mint during his brief reign. Many of his coins, and certainly his gold, are museum pieces.

Pompeii reveals garum

Garum is a fermented fish sauce that was used as a condiment in Phoenicia, ancient Greece, Carthage, Rome, and later Byzantium.

Garum was used extensively throughout the ancient world as a condiment and was a frequent trade item. What went into garum and how it was prepared was lost to time. In 2014 a team from the University of Cadiz began excavating at Pompeii in search of garum. They found a garum store and, inside, were 2,000-year-old traces of the sauce itself. For the first time ever an actual sample of garum could be analyzed to find out exactly what it was made of. Microscopic analysis revealed pollen grains revealing which selection of herbs were used. The sample also told them exactly what species of fish was used.

The spices are characteristic of the Mediterranean – rosemary and coriander. Anchovies were used.

Like modern soy sauce, fermented garum is a rich source of umami flavoring, including monosodium glutamate. When mixed with wine, vinegar, black pepper, or oil, garum enhances the flavor of a wide variety of dishes, including boiled veal and steamed mussels. It was so common that even slaves used it to improve the taste of their bread.

Garum was produced in various grades and consumed by all social classes. After the liquid was ladled off the top of the mixture, the remains of the fish, called allec, were used by the poorest classes to flavor their staple porridge or farinata. The finished product was labour intensive. The best garum fetched very high prices. The highest-quality was made from prime fish like mackerel and red mullet, along with the blood and innards. The most expensive of these was dubbed haimation or garum sociorum. It was an extremely expensive, clear, amber liquid reserved for the Roman elite. The manufacture and export of garum was an element of global trade in the ancient world and a driver for Roman conquest of coastal areas.

Didius Julianus

Didius Julianus was executed on this day in 193, ending a 66-day reign that had begun when he purchased the throne at auction from the Praetorian Guard. Marcus Didius Julianus was Roman emperor from March to June 193, during the Year of the Five Emperors.

The Praetorian Guard arranged for army officer Pertinax to succeed the executed Commodus. He attempted reforms during his reign of 86 days. One was the restoration of discipline among the Praetorian Guards, and that led to his death. The Praetorian Guard expected a donativum, and agitated until he produced money, selling off Commodus' property. Pertinax was assassinated by the Guard on 28 March 193. The guard auctioned off the imperial title, which was won by wealthy senator Didius Julianus.

DIDIUS JULIANUS. 193 AD. AV Aureus, VF. $16k.

The mint of Rome was quick to produce new issues, as was the case with Didius Julianus. On the 28th March 193 he outbid Flavius Sulpicianus, the father-in-law of Pertinax, for the empire at the praetorian camp auction, by promising to pay each man 25,000 sestertii. The cohors praetorium was composed of 16 cohorts of 1000 men, meaning Didius had bid 40 million sestertii, 10 million denarii or 400,000 aurei. Threatened by the military, the Senate also declared him emperor. His wife and daughter both received the title Augusta.

Upon his accession, Julianus immediately reversed Pertinax's monetary reforms by devaluing the Roman currency. Pertinax had increased the silver content of the denarius to 87%, Didius Julianus ordered it reduced to 75%.

Julianus was killed in the palace by a soldier on 2 June 193 AD. According to the Roman historian Cassius Dio, Julianus' last words were: "But what evil have I done? Whom have I killed?"

Siege of Jerusalem

On this date in 70 CE Roman forces led by future emperor Titus breached the second of three fortified walls surrounding Jerusalem.

The first coin attributed to Pompey is a rare gold aureus, probably issued at Rome on his triumph in 71 BCE. Five are known.

In 63 BC Roman general Pompey captured Jerusalem. The Romans intially ruled through a local client king but later Jerusalem became a directly ruled province, marked by oppressive governors. Discord culminated in 66 CE in the First Jewish Revolt. The revolt was successful at first: Jewish forces quickly expelled the Romans from Jerusalem, and a revolutionary government was formed. Nero sent general Vespasian to meet the Jewish forces, an endeavour that pushed the majority of the rebels into Jerusalem by the time Vespasian was proclaimed emperor in 69 CE.

In April 70 CE Roman general Titus besieged Jerusalem. Coinciding with Passover, the Romans allowed pilgrims to enter the city but refused to let them leave—thus depleting supplies in Jerusalem. Within the walls, the militant Zealots struggled with other Jewish factions, which weakened the resistance further. The Romans encircled the city with a wall to cut off supplies to the city completely. The Flavians seized power amidst the Year of the Four Emperors in 69 CE, and used the conquest of Jerusalem as imperial propaganda. Judaea Capta coinage was issued in all denominations.

The immense wealth plundered from the Temple helped finance monuments in Rome, including the Colosseum and the Arch of Titus.

By August 70 CE the Romans had breached the final defenses and massacred much of the remaining population. They also destroyed the Second Temple. The loss of the Temple is still mourned by Jews today during the fast of Tisha be-Av.

Relief on the Arch of Titus depicting temple spoils of 71 CE.

In 2017 excavations at Mount Zion in Jerusalem discovered a gold coin bearing the likeness of Roman Emperor Nero. The coin had been struck in either 56 and 57 AD. The aureus bears the portrait of a young Nero as Caesar. Researchers said that the coin was likely part of a Jewish store of wealth, hidden before their mansions were razed – along with the rest of the city – by Titus and the Roman legions. The coin was likely overlooked by looting Roman soldiers.

Mosaics of Pompeii

Pompeii has provided valuable insight to the Roman world and most agree it is the richest archaeological site in the world. Cave Canem - Latin for "Beware of dog".

Fine mosaics were a common feature in the villas of the town and depicted scenes from mythology, the owner’s business interests or animal scenes. They are of the highest artistic merit.

Plato's Academy Circle

Detail of Musician with tympanon, Villa del Cicerone

House of Neptune

Detail Alexander the Great at the Battle of Issus

Head of Medusa

Detail Satyr and nymph

The House of the Tragic Poet.

Casa dell Orso Ferito - Bear Mosaic

Pompeii House of the Great Fountain

Villa del Cicerone

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.