Spartacus and Crixus vs Theokoles

Spartacus: Blood and Sand was the first season of television series Spartacus, which premiered on Starz on January 22, 2010. The series was inspired by Spartacus (played by Andy Whitfield), a Thracian gladiator who from 73 to 71 BC led a slave revolt against the Roman Republic. Torn from his homeland and the woman he loves, Spartacus is condemned to the brutal world of the arena where blood and death are prime-time entertainment. The series is among the best ever produced for television. In March 2010, Whitfield was diagnosed with stage IV non-Hodgkin lymphoma. While waiting for Whitfield's treatment and expected recovery, Starz produced a six-part prequel, Spartacus: Gods of the Arena, with only a brief voiceover from the actor. Declared free of cancer in June 2010, a relapse was revealed 3 months later. On 11 September 2011 Whitfield died of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

The Torlonia Collection

The Torlonia Collection is the largest private collection of Roman marble sculptures in Italy, and one of the most important private collections of its type in the world. The Art Institute of Chicago announced 'Myth and Marble: Ancient Roman Sculpture from the Torlonia Collection', which will be on view March 15–June 29, 2025. This exhibition features 58 rarely-seen sculptures from the Torlonia Collection that span nine centuries, including 24 newly-restored works that have not been on display in nearly a century. This will be the first time these works have been seen in North America. Built by Franco-Italian banker Prince Giovanni Torlonia and his son Alessandro, the Torlonia Collection became the largest private assembly of ancient Roman sculptures.

Portrait of Hadrian, about 130 CE.

Prince Alessandro opened a museum in Rome in 1876 to showcase the family’s holdings, offering access to small, select groups of visitors.

The museum closed during World War II, leaving the collection largely hidden for decades. 96 Greek and Roman sculptural pieces from the fifth century BCE to the fourth century CE went on display in 2022.

The finest classical statues, busts, sculptures and reliefs from the fifth century BC to the fourth century AD went on display in a palazzo on Rome’s Capitoline Hill.

They constitute a priceless collection of ancient Roman statuary that was amassed by Italy’s aristocratic Torlonia family. Accessible only to a chosen few, the collection became the stuff of legend. Even scholars knew it only from its catalogue, which was compiled in 1884. It is thought to be the largest collection in the world. Part of the Torlonia Collection is revealed to North America for the first time in its history.

One of the highlights of the collection is a stone relief, about 4ft wide and 3ft high, which depicts a busy scene at Portus, ancient Rome’s port on the Tyrrhenian coast.

The Torlonia Marbles embarked on a world tour of museums.

The tribute penny – Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s

The tribute penny was the coin that was shown to Jesus when he made his famous speech "Render unto Caesar..." Jesus is asked, "Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not?" (Mark 12:14) and he replies, "bring me a penny, that I may see it" (Mark 12:15). The Greek text uses the word dēnarion, and it is thought by scholars that the coin was a Roman denarius with the head of Tiberius. Tiberius didn’t particularly want to be emperor. He was stepson of Augustus and became emperor in 14 CE upon Augustus’ death.

Tiberius, 41-54 CE

Tiberius was one of the greatest Roman generals but is remembered as a dark and reclusive ruler. Pliny the Elder called him "the gloomiest of men." After the death of his son Drusus Julius Caesar in 23 AD, Tiberius became even more reclusive. Tiberius left Rome to retire on the island of Capri in 27 CE. Historians describe him as depraved. Villa Jovis

Tribute Penny – Tiberius, ca. 18-35 CE.

When Tiberius eventually died, the succession was left to his nephew Caligula and grandson Tiberius Gemellus. Caligula quickly established his reputation by executing Gemellus.

Tiberius took no interest in coinage, leaving a single type in place for virtually all of his 23-year reign. It became one of the most widely used coinages in Roman history and ranks among the most familiar coins of antiquity. Tiberius coins became known as the 'Tribute Penny' due to its famous reference in the Bible as the coin Jesus said to “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

Talos

Talos was a giant automaton made of bronze that protected Europa in Crete from pirates and invaders.

Phaestus Stater circa 300-270 BC. EF $29,500

He circled the island's shores three times daily. Talos threw rocks at any approaching ship. Stories of his origin vary. One tale is that Hephaistos crafted the bronze android Talos for Minos, the son of Zeus.

Some accounts describe him as the last survivor of an ancient race of bronze men, but the more popular versions attribute his creation to Hephaestus, god of the forge. Talos had one vein, which went from his neck to his ankle, bound shut by one bronze nail. The Argo, transporting Jason and the Argonauts, approached Crete after obtaining the Golden Fleece. Talos kept the Greeks at bay by hurling boulders.

Talos was slain when Medea the sorceress either drove him mad with drugs, or deceived him into believing that she would make him immortal by removing the nail. He dislodged the nail, and "the ichor ran out of him like molten lead", killing him.

5th-century BCE Greek vase depicts the death of Talos

Talos makes an appearance in the 1963 motion picture "Jason and the Argonauts" thanks to stop-motion wizardry. The film, however, cast Jason as the automaton's slayer instead of Medea.

Sargon of Akkad

Sargon of Akkad, also known as Sargon the Great "the Great King" was a Semitic Akkadian emperor famous for his conquest of the Sumerian city-states in the 24th and 23rd centuries BC. The founder of the Dynasty of Akkad, he was originally referred to as Sargon I until records of an Assyrian king also named Sargon (now usually referred to as Sargon I) were unearthed. Sargon's empire included large parts of Mesopotamia, and included parts of modern-day Iran, Asia Minor and Syria.

Sargon is often regarded as the first in recorded history to create a centrally ruled empire and a professional army. After coming to power, he killed the king of Kish, and attacked Uruk. He captured Uruk and dismantled its famous walls. Uruk was renowned for its walls which were first built 4,700 years ago by the Sumerian King Gilgamesh, hero of the epic named after him. Sumerian forces fought two pitched battles against the Akkadians and were routed. The defenders fled the city.

Sargon pursued his enemies to Ur before moving eastwards to Lagash, the Persian Gulf, and then Umma.

Sargon of Akkad died around 2215 BC. He was regarded as a model by kings for two millennia after his death. Assyrian and Babylonian kings who based their empires in Mesopotamia saw themselves as the heirs of Sargon's empire. Akkadian influence was seen through trade throughout much of the known world from Eastern Europe to Northern Africa to India. Akkadian customs – language, religion, art, architecture – were the standard for almost two millennia until the Greeks and Persians established their own mighty empires.

The Didcot Hoard

The Didcot hoard was found by metal detectorist Bill Darley in 1995, near the Oxfordshire town of Didcot. It consists of 126 aurei. The aureus was the standard gold denomination of the Roman Empire and was valued at 25 silver denarii. Though the aureus was the same size as the denarius, the increased density of gold gave it twice the weight, usually between 7-8 grams in the first century. The aureus is known for its purity, nearly 24-carat gold. The incrediblely rare hoard represented a massive sum. A Roman legionary of the time earned about 300 denarii per year (from the time of Domitian). The hoard was equivalent to 10.5 years salary. The coins date from AD 54 to 161. The first coins were issued under Claudius while the latest coin in the hoard dates to the final year of the reign of Antoninus Pius. The Didcot Hoard dates from a relatively stable period in Roman history. Represented are the Flavian dynasty Vespasian and his two sons Titus and Domitian, as well as a span of the 'Good Emperors', Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian and Antoninus Pius. It has been proposed that the hoard could have been a donative on the accession of the new emperor, Marcus Aurelius. It was tradition for new emperors to inaugurate their reign with generous gifts to high ranking officials and miltary officers. It will never be known who buried the gold in rural Oxfordshire or why.

Claudius ruled from AD 41 to 54. He had a limp and slight deafness. This likely saved him from the purges of Tiberius and Caligula. Antoninus Pius ruled from AD 138 to 161. He was the fourth of the 'Five Good Emperors'.

People have been living in Didcot for about 9,000 years - since the end of the last ice age. A significant find was a rare Neolithic bowl from about 3,600 BC - when people began to farm. It was found upside down in a hole where a tree had stood and may have been an offering to the gods. Roman burials revealed pots.

Coffin of Nedjemankh

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has returned a stolen antiquity from its collection: The Gold Coffin of Nedjemankh. The ancient gilded coffin was acquired by the Metropolitan in 2017 for $3.95m. The Gold Coffin of Nedjemankh dates to between 150 and 50 B.C. The coffin is a gilded ancient Egyptian coffin from the late Ptolemaic Period. It once encased the mummy of Nedjemankh, a high priest of the ram-god Heryshaf. It is made of a combination of cartonnage (linen, glue, and gesso), paint, gold, silver, resin, glass, wood, and leaded bronze. The lid is covered with vignettes illustrating funerary spells and texts aimed at guiding the priest on his journey to eternal life. The elaborately decorated coffin was returned in 2019 to Egypt, where it was displayed at the Grand Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

In 2018, Kim Kardashian helped solve the criminal case featuring the golden coffin, forged documents and a trafficking ring. Thieves had stolen the coffin and sold it to the Metropolitan Museum of Art using fake documentation. An informing looter had seen the image of Kardashian and the coffin because it had gone viral and recognized the artifact. He had not been paid.

4th century BC warrior wearing Montefortino helmet found

A warrior equipped with a Montefortino helmet was found in Crecchio, Italy. The helmet dates from the 4th century BC and probably belongs to a Samnite warrior. Montefortino type was popular among the Italic peoples: Romans, Samnites, and Etruscans were equipped with the Montefortino. Due to its simple design and ease of manufacture, the Montefortino replaced Greek types in the Roman army after the 4th century BC, when a simple helmet was required to equip a growing number of Roman legions.

The Montefortino helmet was used from around 400 BC through the 1st century AD with modifications. The helmet is named after the region of Montefortino (frazione of Arcevia) in Italy, where it was first uncovered in a Celtic burial. The helmet was brought to Italy by the Senones. It was the most popular helmet in the Roman army during the Republican period.

Spectacular mosaic in Turkey

A massive floor mosaic of 84 square meters, which is thought to belong to the Late Roman or Early Byzantine period, was discovered by chance while a farmer was excavating for planting saplings in the Salkaya village of Elazığ, located in the Eastern Anatolia region of Türkiye. The lavishly decorated floor, which is 904 square feet in size, is believed to be the largest of its type ever found in Turkey. This stunning Roman-era mosaic has not been precisely dated, but is thought to have been installed sometime in the later part of the Roman period, perhaps from the third or fourth century AD. The imagery on the mosaic features hunting scenes (of animals stalking or chasing other animals). Especially notable is an image of a rare Anatolian leopard. The floor would have been in a home in an ancient settlement located near Salkaya, which is located 315 miles (500 kilometers) east of Ankara.