Posted on 03/31/2005 2:18:13 PM PST by nickcarraway
Zoe Adjonyoh pulled her fedora down and made for Oxford in search of buried treasure.
A very rare and exciting Roman discovery is now on show at Oxford's Ashmolean Museum. One year ago, 5000 Roman coins were found in a field in Oxfordshire. When British Museum experts examined the hoard, they were surprised to find a coin that confirms the existence of the ‘lost’ Emperor Domitianus.
The coin was unearthed by local treasure hunter Brian Malin in April 2004, in a field ten miles south-east of Oxford with the aid of his trusty metal detector. Mr Malin swiftly took the pot of ancient Roman coins to his local museum, the Ashmolean.
"The hoard in itself was an exciting find as it was still encased in its original pot, making it ideal for exhibiting" says an enthusiastic Dr Christopher Howgego, curator of Roman coins at the Ashmolean.
The painstaking process of separating, cleaning and conserving the 5000 coins that were stuck together was carried out by the British Museum in London. It was during this process that someone spotted the ‘new’ emperor’s head on one of the coins.
Each coin bears the head of one of five different emperors, spanning a period from 250AD to 275AD. Incredibly, amongst these recognised figureheads who all look fairly similar; the head of Domitianus was spotted by an eagle-eyed expert.
"It is rare to find such an old coin in Britain, let alone one bearing the head of a ‘new’ emperor" proudly states Dr Howgego.
It was practice during this period of Roman rule for new emperors to have coins struck in their image as soon as they seized power, serving almost as a press release to announce their sovereignty.
Two ancient texts refer to Domitianus as an officer who was punished for treason under Emperor Aurelian (AD 270-5) - but do not mention that his crime was to seize power himself.
Historians believe Domitianus was an upstart from the legion, a high-ranking army officer who ruled Britain for just a few days after a coup in 271AD, in which he declared himself emperor of the Gallic Empire - a western stretch of the Roman Empire that included Britain, the Rhineland and modern day France.
The fact that he had coins struck in his image shows his bid for power gave him control over a mint, thought to have been at Trier in Germany.
Only one other coin bearing his face exists. 100 years ago an identical coin portraying Domitianus, now in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, was found in a hoard in central France, but had been dismissed as a hoax until Mr Malin's discovery.
Dr Howgego adds: "The coin is a real local treasure of national and international relevance and we are delighted to be able to put it on display for the public, especially so close to where it was found".
The value of this rare and historically significant coin is a quarter of the value of the total hoard of 5000 coins, which is estimated to be in the region of £40,000.
The Ashmolean was able to purchase the coins with grants from bodies including the National Art Collections Fund and the Friends of the Ashmolean.
Visitors can see the collection there until July 24 2005, when it will be loaned to the Oxfordshire County Museum at Woodstock, during a multi-million pound renovation of the Ashmolean. When the work is completed, the collection will go on show permanently in the museum's new Money Gallery.
Zoe Adjonyoh is the 24 Hour Museum Renaissance Student Writer in the South East region. Renaissance is the groundbreaking initiative to transform England's regional museums, led by MLA, the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council.
Heh, heh...he said Ashmolean!
Yeah, what an Ashmole...heh,heh!
Nice dude.
Trim down that nose a bit and he's got that Russell Crowe look down pat.
Archaeology museum wins top awardSome 80, 000 objects depicting life in the Nile Valley since prehistory are housed in the central London museum. The collection has recently been made accessible in an online catalogue and runs outreach activities for the public and school children.
BBC
Thursday, 12 May, 2005
Please FREEPMAIL me if you want on, off, or alter the "Gods, Graves, Glyphs" PING list --
Archaeology/Anthropology/Ancient Cultures/Artifacts/Antiquities, etc.
The GGG Digest -- Gods, Graves, Glyphs (alpha order)
"Two ancient texts refer to Domitianus as an officer who was punished for treason under Emperor Aurelian (AD 270-5) - but do not mention that his crime was to seize power himself." [Aurelian is one of the most impressive emperors IMHO]
Emperor Aurelian (Lucius Domitius Aurelianus)
Illustrated History of the Roman Empire | circa 2000 | various
Posted on 10/08/2004 6:55:02 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1239592/posts
Rare Coin Find Stuns Historians
Ananova | 2-25-2004
Posted on 02/24/2004 5:12:49 PM PST by blam
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1084790/posts
UK: Unearthed Coin Proof of 4 day Roman emperor
("Domitianus", 271AD, penultimate emperor)
BBC On-Line | Wednesday, 25 February, 2004 | staff writer
Posted on 02/25/2004 6:25:29 AM PST by yankeedame
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1085124/posts
$8 per coin, on average? Seems kind of cheap. I guess Roman coins are pretty common.
They're probably bronze, rather than silver or gold, and not in very good condition. The Roman empire peaked (financially and politically) in the reign of Trajan, and his successor Hadrian did his best to undo some of Trajan's accomplishments, while spending money on his favorite pasttime, pederasty. It took a long time for Rome to fade away, but one of the reasons for the fade was the constant attempts by provincial authorities to seize part or all of the empire. Aurelian only ruled for five years, and was murdered (in his sleep I think) by a corrupt official who was about to be exposed as such.
No, closer to $15 per coin. Not a big difference though...
oops, a duplicate of Blam's thread linked above:
Rare coin find stuns historians
Ananova | 2004 | editors
Posted on 07/19/2004 11:51:39 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1174622/posts
more related threads:
UK: While digging in backyard man unearths hoard of 20,000 Roman coins.
BBC On-Line | Thursday, 11 March, 2004 | staff writer
Posted on 03/11/2004 9:12:07 AM PST by yankeedame
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1095503/posts
Roman treasure found in pond dig:
A man unearthed a priceless hoard of 20,000 Roman coins...
BBC News | 3.11.04
Posted on 03/11/2004 6:24:10 PM PST by ambrose
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1095874/posts
Ancient gold hoard found in Midlands
The Independent | April 8, 2003 | David Keys Archaeology Correspondent
Posted on 04/08/2003 8:38:59 PM PDT by Cicero
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/888585/posts
Keeping Up With The Empire (Romans In Netherlands)
Radio Nederland | 5-24-2004 | Thijs Westerbeek
Posted on 05/25/2004 2:32:54 PM PDT by blam
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1142095/posts
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