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.

First Spear Centurion - Primus Pilus

Every Roman legion, which typically consisted of 5,000 to 6,000 soldiers, had a 'primuspilus' (first spear) centurion, and a 'secunduspilus' (second spear) centurion. These were the highest-ranking centurions and the most efficient and reliable officers in the army. In early episodes of 'Rome' Lucius Vorenus is a first spear centurion.

The Primus Pilus was the senior centurion of the first cohort in a Roman legion. The Primus Pilus was a career soldier and advisor to the legate. While normal cohorts were composed of five to eight centuries, the one led by the primus pilus had ten centuries, 800 men. It also had 200 staff, including cooks and clerks. The Primus Pilus was charged with protecting the legionary standard and pay-chest. The legion was largely self-supporting and among its men were specialists, such as engineers, surveyors, and architects, as well as craftsmen.

Only experienced, veteran soldiers who had moved up within the ranks would serve in the role. In modern terms the primus pilus would be a lieutenant colonel. The primus pilus was a well paid position. Only 8 officers in a full legion outranked the primus pilus.

Altar by Marcus Aurelius Cocceius Florianus, Primus Pilus of Legio X Gemina.

Evocati were veteran soldiers who voluntarily re-enlisted after an offer from their commander. Evocati were better paid and didn't perform tasks like road building.

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.

Saffron

Saffron, the world’s most expensive spice, is extracted from the flowers of the saffron crocus, Crocus sativus. It has been used for over 50,000 years. Saffron was a precious commodity treasured across ancient civilizations for medicine, dye, perfume, and rituals. It was cultivated and traded extensively.

Saffron was a prized luxury item in ancient Rome, symbolizing high status and extreme wealth. Romans sprinkled saffron essences and scattered saffron threads in public spaces, royal halls, theaters, and banquet rooms to deodorize and perfume the air. When Emperor Nero entered Rome for a triump in 67 AD, citizens famously spread saffron along the streets for him. It wasn't a bloody military victory, Nero was celebrating his 1,808 first-place prizes in music, poetry, and chariot racing.

According to the Roman historian Suetonius, Nero rode in the historical triumphal chariot used by Augustus. He wore a purple robe covered in gold stars and held his musical crowns proudly in his hands. The procession traveled through the Circus Maximus, the Velabrum, and the Forum up to the Temple of Apollo on the Palatine. As he passed, citizens and attendants showered him with birds, ribbons, sweets, and the very expensive saffron. The spectacle alienated the Roman aristocracy and military commanders and accelerated unrest that forced Nero's death months later in June 68 AD.

The first known use by humans of wild crocuses was as pigment for cave paintings, about 50,000 years ago in today’s Iraq. Ancient texts from Sumer, Assyria, and Babylonia also describe the use of wild crocuses in medicine and dye. Ancient artworks and genetics point to Bronze Age Greece, in 1700 BCE or earlier, as the origin of saffron’s domestication. Domesticated saffron can only be propagated asexually with human help. The process was first described by the Greek philosopher Theophrastus in the fourth century BCE. Today, domesticated saffron is grown for use in cooking and perfumes and as a yellow dye. 16000 flowers, requiring up to 470 person-hours to collect, yield a single kilo, worth between $1,300 and $10,000.

Dense patches of crocus flowers on the fresco ‘The Saffron Gatherers’ from the island of Santorini (1600 BCE) suggest cultivation.

Around the globe today, all saffron crocuses are effectively clones dating back to saffron’s emergence in ancient times.

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