The Battle of Marathon

The battle of Marathon is one of history's most famous military engagements and one of the earliest recorded battles. The Athenians defeated the Persians at the Battle of Marathon today in 490 BC.

In 490 BC a Persian armada of 600 ships disgorged a force of 20,000 on Greek soil just north of Athens. Their mission was to crush the Greek states. Athens mobilized 10,000 hoplite warriors. The two armies met on the Plain of Marathon 26 miles north of Athens.

Greek general Miltiades made a passionate plea for boldness and convinced his fellow generals to attack the Persians. Miltiades ordered the Greek hoplites to form a line equal in length to that of the Persians. Then - in an act that his enemy believed to be madness - he ordered his Greek warriors to attack the Persian line at a dead run. In the ensuing melee, the middle of the Greek line gave way, but the flanks were able to engulf and slaughter the trapped Persians. An estimated 6,400 Persians were slaughtered while only 192 Greeks were killed. The remaining Persians escaped on their ships and made an attempt to attack what they thought was an undefended Athens. However, the Greek warriors made a forced march back to Athens and arrived in time to thwart the Persians.

Corinthian Helmet and Skull from the Battle of Marathon 490 BCE – Royal Ontario Museum, Canada. A pivotal moment in Ancient Greek history, the battle of Marathon saw a smaller Greek force, mainly made up of Athenian troops, defeat an invading Persian army. This helmet (with skull inside) belonged to a Greek hoplite who died during the fighting. The story of the man who ran back to Athens with the news of the victory became synonymous with the long distance running event in the Olympics.

The story of Pheidippides, who is remembered for running from Marathon to Athens to announce the great victory, is actually different. Instead, when the Persian army arrived, Pheidippides ran from Athens to Sparta to ask for help, and then he ran all the way back, a total distance of 435 kilometers (280 miles). Sparta was in the middle of celebrating a religious festival, the Carneia, and their laws dictated that they could only send military help after the full moon had passed. Research shows that it was the whole Athenian army which actually made the run from Marathon to the undefended Athens.

Notable ancients

Roman Imperatorial, Sextus Pompey as Imperator. (44-36 B.C.) Sextus Pompey used dynastic imagery on his coins. 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 traditional Heracles/Zeus designs like his peers, Lysimachus revolutionized 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.

High status mummies discovered in Taposiris Magna

The mummies of two high-status ancient Egyptians discovered in a temple on the Nile delta in 2021 may bring researchers a step closer to finding the remains of Cleopatra. The mummies are in a poor state of preservation because water had seeped into the tomb. They were originally covered with gold leaf – a luxury reserved for only the elite – meaning they may have interacted with Cleopatra in her time. Experts believe Cleopatra made plans for herself and Anthony to be buried at a temple called Taposiris Magna in order to imitate the ancient myth of Isis and Osiris.

One male and one female, the pair were likely high-ranking priests. Later finds at the site also uncovered mummies with golden tongue amulets meant to help the dead speak to the god Osiris. The high-status burials support the theory that Queen Cleopatra VII might be buried at Taposiris Magna.

According to the myth, Osiris was killed and hacked into pieces that were scattered across Egypt. After finding all of the pieces and making her husband whole again, Isis was able to resurrect him for a time. 200 coins bearing Cleopatra's likeness links the pharaoh ruler directly to Taposiris Magna, which was founded in the third century BC.

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 September 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 of Germania 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. Marcus Caelius (c. March 45 BC – c. September AD 9) was the senior centurion (Primus pilus) in XVIII Roman Legion who was killed in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. He is known from his cenotaph, which was discovered in 1620 in Birten, Germany. Caelius is depicted wearing his military uniform, with phalerae (a type of military decoration), armillae (a type of bracelet), and a corona civica (an award for saving a fellow citizen's life), while in his right hand, he holds a vitis.

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. Arminius was assassinated in 21 CE by rival Germanic chieftains and members of his own family who feared he was trying to make himself king.

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.

Birthday invitation of Sulpicia Lepidina

Claudia Severa sent a birthday invitation to Sulpicia Lepidina (wife of Flavius Cerialis, prefect of the ninth Cohort of Batavians) on September 11 around 100 AD. She lived at the Vindolanda fort in Roman Britain. "On 11th September, sister, for the day of celebration of my birthday...I shall expect you, sister, my dearest soul, as I hope to prosper, and hail." The ancient invitation includes Severa's own handwriting, making it one of the earliest known examples of Latin writing by a woman.

See ---- Vindolanda

Aureus of Roman Emperor Nerva

Nerva was Roman emperor from 96 to 98. Nerva became emperor at age 66 after a lifetime of imperial service under Nero. On 18 September 96, Domitian was assassinated in a palace conspiracy involving the Praetorian Guard. On the same day, Nerva was declared emperor by the Roman Senate. A gold aureus of Nerva reflects the delicate balance of power in ancient Rome at the time. The circa A.D. 97 gold coin features a portrait of Nerva on the obverse, with clasped hands holding a legionary eagle set upon a prow on the reverse. $15k

Nerva’s reign was assisted by Domitian’s decision to increase wages for soldiers from 225 denarii to 300 denarii per year. Nerva's reign was marred by growing financial difficulties and his inability to control the Roman army. A revolt by the Praetorian Guard in October 97 forced him to adopt an heir. Nerva adopted Trajan, a young and popular general, as his successor. Nerva died of natural causes shortly after and was succeeded by Trajan.

Top Macedonian artifacts

The Golden Larnax

A larnax is a small closed coffin, or "ash-chest" used for human remains. A 4th century BC example found at Vergina in Macedonia is made of solid gold. The tomb where it was found belonged to King Philip II of Macedonia, father of Alexander the Great.

The cremated bones of Alexander IV, the posthumous son of Alexander the Great who was murdered, along with his mother, Roxane, by Alexander's former general Cassander in 311/310 B.C. The ashes had been placed in a silver hydria, crowned by a golden wreath. They were found in 1978 at Vergina.

The Derveni Krater is a volute krater, found in 1962 in a tomb at Derveni, not far from Thessaloniki. Weighing 40 kg, it is made of an alloy of bronze and tin. It is dated to the late 4th century BC. Large metalwork vessels are rare survivors and the Derveni Krater is the finest known.

Alexander the Great bust. Due to its original inscription, the figure can be definitely identified as Alexander the Great. The work is a copy of a work from 330 BC attributed to Lysippos.Philippeioi, later called Alexanders were the gold coins used in Macedonia. First issued at some point between 355 and 347 BCE, the coins featured a portrait of Apollo, and on the reverse, an illustration of a biga, a Greek chariot. They had the value of one gold stater each.

The Alexander Mosaic, 100 BC, is a Roman floor mosaic from the House of the Faun in Pompeii. It depicts a battle between Alexander the Great and Darius III of Persia.

The mosaic is believed to be a copy of an early 3rd-century BC Hellenistic painting.

Ancient looted Chinese bronze makes $580k

An ancient bronze vessel looted by a British soldier from an imperial palace in Beijing fetched £410,000 (US$581k) in 2018. Known as the 'Tiger Ying,' it features tiger-shaped decorations on its lid and spout. It is one of seven such archaic vessels known to exist. The water vessel dates to the Western Zhou dynasty. (1047-772 B.C.) China’s State Administration of Cultural Heritage denounced the auction of "looted cultural relics."

The artifact was looted from the Summer Palace in Beijing by Harry Lewis Evans, a Royal Marines captain in the Second Opium War (1856-60).

U.K. metal detectorist lands Vitellius gold

Ron Walters struck gold after 6 years of searching a field near Dudley, West Midlands when the crops weren’t sown.

It's believed to be the first gold aureus of Vitellius to ever be recorded in the British Isles.

The very rare aureus was auctioned and fetched $6,000, which was split with the field’s owner. Aulus Vitellius was Roman emperor for eight months from 19 April to 20 December AD 69. Vitellius defeated Otho at the Battle of Bedriacum, and was recognized emperor by the Roman Senate. Vitellius followed Galba and Otho, in the Year of the Four Emperors. Vitellius was executed in Rome by Vespasian's soldiers on 20 December 69. Suetonius in particular painted Vitellius as an obese glutton. "Yet I was once your emperor," were his last words. His body was thrown into the Tiber according to Suetonius; Cassius Dio's account is that Vitellius was beheaded and his head paraded around Rome, and his wife attended to his burial. His brother and son were also killed.

Gold of the Royal Cemetery of Ur

Ur was an important Sumerian city-state in ancient Mesopotamia, located at the site of modern Tell el-Muqayyar in southern Iraq.

Although Ur was once a coastal city near the mouth of the Euphrates on the Gulf, the coastline has shifted and the city is now inland, south of the Euphrates, 16 km (9.9 mi) from Nasiriyah. The city dates from 3800 BC. According to one estimate, Ur was the largest city in the world from c.2030 to 1980 BC. Research indicates that the area was struck by severe drought from 2200 to 2000 BC. Close to temple buildings at the center of the city, a garbage dump built up over centuries. Unable to use the area for building, the people of Ur started to bury their dead there.

Gold Helmet of Sumerian King Meskalamdug

Electrum drinking tumbler.

Queen Pu-abi's gold ring

The cemetery was used between about 2600-2000 BC. Many graves were very rich. The tomb of Pu-abi was excavated along with some 1800 other graves at the "Royal Cemetery of Ur" between 1922 and 1934.

Pu-abi's tomb was unique because of the large amount of high quality and well-preserved grave goods and because her tomb had been untouched by looters through millennia. Along a wall, three lyres and a harp deteriorated by time stood still in silence.

Fluted Gold Bowl from Pu-abi's tomb Gold spouted cup from the Royal Tomb of Queen Pu-abi

Gold and lapis lazuli bull's head was attached to a lyre.

Gold bead with filigree

Gold bull amulet, originally part of a necklace. The bearded bull was considered divine