Ephesus

Ephesus was an ancient Greek city on the coast of Ionia, three kilometres southwest of present-day Selçuk in İzmir Province, Turkey. It was constructed in the 10th century BC by Attic and Ionian Greek colonists. During the Classical Greek era it was one of the twelve cities of the Ionian League. The city flourished after it came under the control of the Roman Republic in 129 BC. Ephesus was famed for the nearby Temple of Artemis (completed circa 550 BC), one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

Among many monumental buildings are the Library of Celsus, and a theatre capable of holding 25,000 spectators. Ephesus was one of the seven churches of Asia cited in the Book of Revelation. The Gospel of John may have been written there.

The Romans made Ephesus the capital of the Asian State, and the city became one of the biggest settlements in Anatolia. Today Ephesus is one of Turkey’s leading tourist attractions.

A extremely rare ancient Ephesus coin (625-600 B.C.) crossed the block in New York in 2018. The electrum coin could be related to the god of light, Phanes. There are only two other known examples. It made $300k.

The Ribchester Helmet

The Ribchester Helmet is a cavalry helmet dating to the Roman period in Britain. It was found in Ribchester, Lancashire, in the northwest of England. The Ribchester Helmet was not used for combat but served either a sporting or ceremonial purpose. The helmet is incredibly rare. Only two other examples, the Crosby Garrett Helmet and the Newstead Helmet, have been unearthed in Great Britain. The Ribchester Helmet was discovered in 1796. The hoard was buried about 2.7 m (9 feet) in the ground and contained a mass of corroded metalwork.

The Ribchester Helmet has been dated to between the late 1st and early 2nd centuries AD. A Roman cavalry officer used the helmet, but it is clear that it was not meant to be worn in combat. The helmet may have been used in the hippika gymnasia (‘cavalry sports’). These exercises were meant to hone a cavalryman’s skills and to provide a display to entertain the troops. The Crosby Garrett Helmet was discovered by a metal detectorist in 2010. An anonymous bidder bought the artifact for £2.3m.

See ----->The Crosby Garrett Helmet

Vetranio - Temporary Emperor

Vetranio entered the army and served with distinction under the mighty Constantine I (AD 306-337), the first Christian ruler of Rome, who even during his lifetime came to be called "Magnus" -- The Great. Upon Constantine's death, the Roman Empire was split between his three surviving sons: Constantine II, Constantius II, and Constans. In 340 CE, sibling bloodletting eliminated Constantine II and the survivors divvied up the spoils, with the West going to Constans.

For 10 months, Vetranio played the man in the middle, alternately professing loyalty to Constantius and telling Magnentius he might be open to an alliance.

A coup toppled Constans early in 350, replacing him with Magnentius, who had no blood connection to the Constantinian dynasty. Magnentius quickly consolidated his power base. Commanding a large army at a critical crossroads between two rivals, Vetranio was in a delicate position.

Constantius

In December of 350, Constantius marched west and met Vetranio at Naissus in modern Serbia. On Christmas day Vetranio formally abdicated the throne. Constantius pensioned him off to an opulent estate in Bithynia. Vetranio had played his difficult hand well, and enjoyed a better fate than most other men who claimed the top chair. Having two mints under his control, Siscia and Thessalonica, Vetranio struck coins both in his own name and that of Constantius II. His bronze coinage is scarce, the silver rare, the gold extremely rare.

Trajan - optimus princeps

Trajan (18 September 53 – 8 August 117 AD) was Roman emperor from 98 to 117 AD. Officially declared by the Senate optimus princeps ("the best ruler"), Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presided over the greatest military expansion in Roman history, leading the empire to attain its maximum territorial extent by the time of his death. Trajan was the first emperor born outside Italy. Trajan is best known for his public building program, which reshaped Rome and left many landmarks such as Trajan's Forum, Trajan's Market and Trajan's Column.

In late 117, while sailing back to Rome, Trajan fell ill and died of a stroke in the city of Selinus. He was deified by the Senate and his ashes were laid to rest under Trajan's Column. He was succeeded by his adopted son Hadrian.

Early in his reign, he annexed the Nabataean Kingdom, creating the province of Arabia Petraea. His conquest of Dacia enriched the empire greatly, and paid for many of Rome's monuments. In 107 Trajan devalued the Roman currency. He decreased the silver purity of the denarius from 93.5% to 89% – the actual silver weight dropping from 3.04 grams to 2.88 grams. This devaluation, coupled with the massive amount of gold and silver carried off after Trajan's Dacian Wars, allowed the emperor to mint a larger quantity of denarii than his predecessors.

See ----->http://psjfactoids.blogspot.ca/2016/11/ancient-gold-of-romania.html

Antoninus Pius

138-161 AD. Aureus, 7.30g. Rome, 140-4 CE

Antoninus Pius, also known as Antoninus, was Roman emperor from 138 to 161. He was one of the Five Good Emperors. He is remembered by history as a kind, just, and wise emperor. Antoninus Pius was an “Adopted Emperor”, where succession was a conscious decision, not a birthright. After the death of Hadrian’s first adopted son, Lucius Aelius, on February 25, 138 CE, Antoninus was formally adopted by Hadrian. It was agreed that he would be made emperor with the provision that he would, in turn, adopt Marcus Aurelius.

His humanitarian efforts were significant, and he was loved by the Roman people. Antoninus Pius died in his sleep at the age of 74. His successor Marcus Aurelius spoke very highly of Antoninus: “Remember his qualities, so that when your last hour comes your conscience may be as clear as his.” His last spoken word was “aequanimitas”, meaning equanimity – mental calmness and composure.

Harpy

In Greek and Roman mythology, a harpy was a half-human and half-bird personification of storm winds. Their name means "snatchers" or "swift robbers". They were generally depicted as birds with the heads of maidens, faces pale with hunger and long claws on their hands. Roman and Byzantine writers detailed their ugliness. Pottery art depicting the harpies featured beautiful women with wings. They are described as human-vultures.

The most celebrated story in which the Harpies play a part is that of King Phineus of Thrace, who was given the gift of prophecy by Zeus. Angry that Phineus gave away his secret plan, Zeus punished him by blinding him and putting him on an island with a buffet of food which he could never eat because the harpies always stole the food out of his hands. Harpies remained vivid into the Middle Ages. In Dante's Inferno, the tortured woodland was infested with harpies, where the suicides have their punishment in the seventh ring of Hell.

The Kushan

Roman denarii were the first gold coins to appear in India, which had only previously seen copper and silver coins. Soon the Indian rulers of the day, the Kushan, copied the idea. Kushans, an Indo-European tribe who roamed the Asian steppes, expanded their empire into India in the 1st century AD. By the time they reached India, the Kushan culture was a rich blend of Chinese, Iranian, Afghan, Greek and Indian customs, beliefs and modes of dress.

Much of what we know about the mysterious Kushans comes from studying their coinage, which is rich with symbolism. Vima Kadphises was the first to mint gold coins. His gold distater, or double-dinar, weighs in at 15.95 grams, twice the weight of the only other widely circulating gold coin of the time, the Roman aureus. His coin features the Hindu pantheon, but it also depicts the Buddhist triaratna (“three jewels”) symbol. Kushan: Vasudeva I Gold dinar with 3-headed Siva

Octavian and the Battle of Actium

Octavian was the son of Julius Caesar’s niece. Octavian was 20 years old when Caesar was assassinated. Caesar had adopted him as his son posthumously. In 43 BCE, he 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.

Octavian’s admiral Marcus Agrippa held Antony’s fleet back in the bay of Actium in Greece, slowly causing Antony’s men to lose faith. On September 2, Antony and Cleopatra managed to escape with a small force, leaving the rest of his army to surrender to Octavian. Antony and Cleopatra eventually took their own lives in August, 30 BCE. The aureus as a denomination dates back only to about 80 BCE. Worth one hundred sestertii, the aureus represented a very large sum of money. It would not be until Augustus’ coinage reform in 23 BCE that the aureus would come into consistent use. The aureus shown was minted while Octavian retained his name. His reign gave Rome a golden era known as the “Pax Romana” (Roman Peace) during which he served for 41 years.

Viking coin hoard found by cops in UK

A haul of Viking coins worth £500,000 uncovered during a police raid could “change British history”, according to a leading historian. Police seized the hoard of coins and a solid silver bar from properties in County Durham and Lancashire during an investigation. The items include coins from the reign of Alfred the Great, King of Wessex, and Ceolwulf II of Mercia. King Alfred inflicted a major defeat on the Vikings in AD 878. Experts believe the coins belong to an undeclared hoard from the Viking army at that time. Alfred the Great created a unified kingdom of England.

Alfred the Great

Ice Age wolf found perfectly preserved in Russian permafrost

Scientists said it was an adult, about 25 per cent bigger than today's wolves.

Russian scientists have found the head of an Ice Age wolf perfectly preserved in the Siberian permafrost. The wolf, which died 40,000 years ago, was discovered in the Russian Arctic region of Yakutia. It is so well preserved that its fur, teeth, brain and facial tissue are largely intact. The animal belonged to an ancient subspecies of wolf that lived at the same time as the mammoths and became extinct alongside them.

Famous Mythological Creatures

The Kraken. In Scandinavian mythology, the Kraken is a giant sea creature that attacks ships and is so huge that its body could be mistaken for an island. Accounts of the Kraken are believed to have originated from sightings of the giant squid, which can reach 18 meters in length.

The Griffin is a legendary creature with the head and wings of an eagle, and the body, tail, and hind legs of a lion. While griffins are common in the art and mythology of Ancient Greece, representations of griffins in ancient Persia and ancient Egypt date to as early as the 4th millennium BC. On Crete, archaeologists have uncovered depictions of griffins in the Bronze Age Palace of Knossos dating to the 15th century BC.

Medusa was a Greek monster. She had the face of an ugly woman with snakes instead of hair; anyone who looked into her eyes was immediately turned to stone. She was a priestess of Athena, devoted to a life of celibacy; however as punishment for marrying Poseidon she was cursed. Medusa was beheaded by the hero Perseus, who used her head as a weapon until he gave it to the goddess Athena to place on her shield. In classical antiquity the image of the head of Medusa appeared in the evil-averting device known as the Gorgoneion.

The Banshee is a spirit creature originating in Irish folklore. She is said to scream when someone is about to die. The foretelling of death was seen as both a blessing and a curse. The Bean Sidhe or Banshee haunts only the families of authentic noble stock and it is with great dread when her piercing "caoine" or keening is heard. The Banshee scream is always a death omen.

Mermaids. In ancient Syrian folklore there was a goddess named Atargatis. She was a fertility goddess whose cult eventually spread to Greece and Rome and was associated with water. Often depicted in mermaid form, Atargatis is perhaps the “original” mermaid. A Melusine, or siren, has two tails. This creature is from medieval legend. A Melusine was a beautiful woman that transformed into a serpent from the waist down while bathing. This always resulted in calamity.

Ancient Gold

The ancient Egyptians believed their gods had skin made from gold. The Aztec word for gold, teocuitlatl, literally translates as “excrement of the gods.” Gold has always had a very special relationship with humans. We may find ancient views quaint, but scientists have also struggled to fully understand the origins of gold. It was a puzzle how gold came into existence in the first place. The answer only arrived in 2017 with the first ever detection of gravitational waves. Those waves were produced by the merger of two neutron stars in an event known as a kilonova.

The source of the gravitational waves contained the signatures of gold and platinum in significant quantities. At long last, humans had discovered the cosmic deity capable of excreting gold.