The mysterious fate of “The Apollo of Gaza”

An extremely rare bronze statue of the Greek god Apollo resurfaced in the Gaza Strip in 2014, only to be seized and vanish. A fisherman says he scooped the 500-kg statue from the sea bed, and carried it home on a donkey cart.

The Islamist group Hamas, which rules the Palestinian territory, swiftly seized it. Archaeologists haven't been able to examine the Apollo since. From what they can tell, it was cast sometime between the 5th and the 1st century BC. The discolored green-brown figure shows the youthful, athletic god standing upright on muscular legs; he has one arm outstretched, with the palm of his hand held up. He has compact, curly hair, and gazes out seriously at the world, one of his eyes apparently inlaid with a blue stone iris, the other just a vacant black slit.

The statue is unique and most experts say priceless. It's current whereabouts remains unknown.

The finder said he cut off one of the fingers to take to a metals expert, thinking it might have been made of gold. Unbeknownst to him, one of his brothers severed another finger for his own checks. This was then melted down by a jeweller. It is very rare to find a statue which is not in marble or in stone, but in metal. Virtually all were melted down to recover the valuable metal they contain. 5,000 years of history lie beneath the sands of the Gaza Strip, which was ruled at various times by ancient Egyptians, Philistines, Romans, Byzantines and crusaders.

Alexander the Great besieged the city and the Roman emperor Hadrian visited.

Damnatio ad bestias: Roman counterfeiters

A type of Roman execution called damnatio ad bestias was reserved for the most serious offences to society: deserters, poisoners, sorcerers, kidnappers of children, leaders of rebellions and – last but not least – counterfeiters. Roman law viewed the creation of fake currency not just as theft, but as an act of treason and an attack on the emperor’s authority.

Convicted counterfeiters were designated as noxii (condemned criminals).

They were brought into the arena unarmed and defenseless to be mauled by imported predators like lions, bears, or leopards. A sentence of damnatio ad bestias stripped a Roman citizen of all rights. They were legally barred from writing a will, and the state confiscated their remaining property.

Even the earliest Lydian coins were counterfeited. Silver coinage was an idea that the Romans adopted from the Greeks, beginning about 290 BCE. Counterfeiting inevitably came along with the innovation. A handful of ancient counterfeiters’ dies used to strike denarii have survived to command high prices on the antiquities market and even some fakes from the era are collectible.

Bronze Age sword found in Germany

A spectactular Bronze Age sword with an octagonal hilt was discovered during excavations in Nördlingen, Bavaria, Germany in June 2023. The sword was found in a grave alongside the skeletal remains of three people—a man, a woman, and a boy—who were buried in quick succession. The entire sword, including the octagonal handle, is forged from bronze. The hilt was created using a complex overlay casting technique where the handle was cast directly over the blade.The very rare weapon dates back to the late 14th century B.C.

Gaius (Caligula) with Agrippina Senior - $216k

Leading the sale in late 2024 was a fine Gaius (Caligula, AD 37-41), with Agrippina Senior. AV aureus. NGC AU 4/5 - 4/5. Lugdunum, 2nd issue, AD 37-38. Issued early in his reign, the coin honors his mother Agrippina Senior, who died in 33 AD of starvation after being exiled by Tiberius. Caligula initially honored his family in his first year, including his sisters, but the inclusion of his mother was a bad omen.

37-41 AD. Æ Sestertius (35mm, 28.85 g, 6h). Rome mint. Struck 37-38 AD. Gaius' three sisters standing facing: Agrippina (as Securitas) leaning on column, holding cornucopiae; Drusilla (as Concordia), holding patera and cornucopiae; Julia (as Fortuna) holding rudder and cornucopiae.

Drusilla, Caligula's favourite, died in 38 AD at the age of 22, probably of fever. In his demented madness, Caligula's incestuous lust for his remaining sisters turned to violent hatred. They plotted against him. Agrippina and Livilla conspired with Marcus Aemilius Lepidus to overthrow Caligula. When the plot failed in 39 AD, Caligula exiled them to the Pontine Islands.

The Staffordshire Hoard

With more than 3,500 items, amounting to some 5kg of gold and 1.4kg of silver – plus thousands of garnets – the Staffordshire hoard is the largest cache of Anglo-Saxon metalwork ever found. Archaeologists think the treasures were trophies, captured over multiple mid-seventh century battles.

It's likely that they were seized by the English midlands kingdom of Mercia from the kingdoms of Northumbria, East Anglia and Wessex.

The items are almost all military. The hoard was made up of fittings from up to 150 swords, gold and garnet elements of high status seax (fighting knifes), a gilded silver helmet, crosses, and a bishop’s headdress.

The ornate bishop’s headdress is the world’s earliest surviving example of high status ecclesiastical headgear. One element bears an inscription – a quotation from the Book of Numbers. It reads “Rise up, LORD, and let thine enemies be scattered; and let them that hate thee flee before thee”. It's possible that the hoard was war booty captured by the pagan Mercian king, Penda, from armies led by Christians.

The hoard was found in the village of Hammerwich in Staffordshire.

A silver gilt strip bears the Biblical inscription in Latin – the only inscribed item in the haul.

The hoard was purchased jointly by the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery and the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery for £3.285m under the Treasure Act.

The Berthouville Treasure

The Berthouville treasure is a hoard of Roman silver uncovered by a farmer ploughing in March 1830 at the hamlet of Villeret in Berthouville, Normandy, northern France. The treasure belonged to a sanctuary of Mercury Canetonensis. In the mid-1st century BCE, Julius Caesar had identified Mercury as one of the main deities of Gaul.

A cache of pearl and emerald-encrusted rings, bracelets, gold necklaces and other opulent objects from the Roman Empire were displayed at the Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades in 2015. The assortment of precious jewelry accompanies the 90-piece gilt-silver Berthouville Treasure of statuettes and ornamental vessels. The treasure consists of silver and other metalwork and dates to the 1st to late 2nd centuries

The restored treasure was exhibited at the Getty Villa from November 2014 to August 2015, then went on tour in the US and Europe before being returned to Paris.

Cameo of Emperor Trajan, Roman, about A.D. 100; sardonyx set in a seventeeth-century gold, enamel, and ruby mount

Pitcher with Scenes from the Trojan War, Roman, A.D. 1-100; silver and gold. Achilles dragging the body of Hector around the walls of Troy

Pitcher with Scenes from the Trojan War (detail), Roman, A.D. 1-100; silver and gold. The death of Achilles

Offering Bowl with a Medallion of Mercury in a Rural Shrine (detail), Roman, A.D. 175-225; silver and gold

Caligae

Roman caligae were the heavy-soled, hobnailed military sandal-boots famously worn by legionary soldiers and auxiliaries throughout the Roman Republic and Empire. Their durable design allowed soldiers to march long distances in diverse climates without blistering or overheating. Dozens of iron nails were hammered through the sole. The iron hobnails drastically reduced wear and provided excellent traction on soft, slippery, or uneven ground.

The nails acted like cleats on rough, muddy, or sandy terrain and provided an offensive advantage in close-quarters combat. Roman soldiers were called caligati. ("booted ones") Emperor Caligula got his famous nickname "Little Boot" because his parents dressed him in miniature soldier's armor including caligae as a toddler. The distinctive clattering and crunching sound of thousands of hobnailed sandals marching in unison struck fear into Rome's enemies.

By the late 1st century, the Roman military began transitioning toward enclosed leather boots, known as calcei, which offered better protection in harsh and cold environments.

Alexander the Great's gold distater

The Kingdom of Macedon gold distater is a trophy coin for collectors. Rare, rich in detail, and resonant with the mythos of Alexander the Great, they are always in demand. This circa 325 to 323 B.C. gold distater of Alexander III (the Great) was issued in either Aegae or Amphipolis and was likely used to pay soldiers. A distater was equivalent to about 20 day’s wages for a Macedonian soldier in wartime, a huge sum. The coin weighed about 17.22 grams.

Alexander the Great, born in 356 BC, was one of the most successful military leaders in history. He conquered a large part of Asia and ruled a kingdom that spanned from the Ionian sea to the Himalayas before he was 30 years old. One of his many achievements was a single currency across his empire. Flush with Persian gold he struck the largest Greek gold coin issued up to that time: the gold distater. Alexander the Great was determined to outdo the hero Hercules. Athena was the protector of Hercules, and Alexander adopted her image on his gold coinage, showing her wearing a Corinthian helmet with a coiled snake.

Sarcophagus of King Abdalonymos of Sidon

The reverse is represents Nike, the goddess of victory. Gold distaters were very valuable. This was inconvenient for daily use, so most were melted down. Staters weighed roughly 8.6g of .997 fine purity. Exceptional examples are always in high demand. Coins that were struck during his reign (lifetime issues) are the most desirable by collectors and the rarest.

A top quality Alexander the Great gold distater will bring $50,000.