Marco Valentini Le prime monete romane d’argento furono verosimilmente coniate in Campania tra la fine del IV e gli inizi del III secolo a.C., ossia dopo l’assoggettamento della regione a Roma, anche nell’ottica di favorire gli scambi con la Magna Graecia dove era forte l’influenza … Continue reading CENNI STORICI SUL DENARIUS
The present-day city of Varna, in Bulgaria, originated as a settlement named Odessos (Ὀδησσός) which was founded by Ionian colonists from Miletus around 600–550 BC. The Greeks established their colony on the site of an earlier Thracian settlement. It is also been supposed that the name Odessos could have a Pelasgian origin and that it was adopted by Thracians before the Ionian colonization.
In 335 BC, Alexander the Great conquered almost the entirety of ancient Thrace, and Odessos became part of the Macedonian Kingdom. During the reign of Lysimachus, the successor of Alexander the Great who proclaimed himself king of Thrace, the town became an important naval base. In the middle of the 1st century BC, Odessos was under the political control of the neighbouring Thracian king Sadalas.
In 28 BC, Odessos was conquered by the Roman army and in 15 AD it was included in the Roman Province of Moesia, becoming the main port on the Black Sea (Pontus Euxinos). During Roman times, the city was also known as Odessus.
The Emperor Tiberius (14–37 AD) repaired the fortification walls of the town that had been destroyed in 55 and 48 BC during the military raids of the Getic king Burebistas.
The city of Odessos started to decline in the late 4th century, when the Goths, a Germanic population, entered the Roman Empire crossing the Danube. The wars between Romans and Goths culminated in a devastating defeat upon the Romans in 378 AD at the Battle of Hadrianopolis (present-day Edirne in the Turkish Thrace).
Between the end of the 6th and the beginning of the 7th century AD, Huns, Avars and Slavs invaded the territory of the Eastern Roman Empire and Odessos was also destroyed several times. Probably, around 614 AD, Odessos was abandoned by its inhabitants and went completely ruined.
At the end of the 7th century, a new wave of tribes, called Proto-Bulgarians (1), from the Volga-Ural region went eastward and started to make raids against the Eastern Roman Empire territories and the other populations already settled in the former Roman provinces of Moesia and Thracia. In 681 AD, the Proto-Bulgarians, after having crossed the Danube, took over most of the lands of the present-day Bulgaria and founded the first Bulgarian state, a mixed confederation of populations: Proto-Bulgarians (the hegemonic group), Slavs, Latinised Thracians and other minority ethnic groups such as Goths, Greeks and Romans.
Likely, under the first Bulgarian rule, a settlement near the ancient ruined Odessos began to be called Varna.
Between the end of 10th and the beginning of 11th century, after the restoration of the Eastern Roman (“Byzantine”) power, a new city named Varna was rebuilt on the ruins of the ancient Odessos. Later, Varna was under either the Byzantine or Bulgarian rule until the Ottoman occupation in 1393.
Coming back to the Roman period, the large public baths (Thermae) were among the most impressive buildings of the Roman Odessos. They were built in the 2nd century AD over an area of 7000 sq.m., among the largest thermae of the Roman world. The building of the Thermae likely started after 157 AD and were functional until the end of the 3rd century AD.
Here below some pictures of the Large Roman Thermae:
The Small (South) Roman Thermae, dating back to the 3rd–6th century AD, are still well preserved too. They were built on top of an ancient Greek-Thracian sanctuary likely honouring the Greek deities of Apollo and Aphrodite (also before the Hellenic colonization, Thracians living on the seaside of the Pontus Euxinos worshipped some of the Greek gods). Following other theories, the pre-Roman sanctuary was dedicated to the Thracian goddess Bendis, equivalent to the Greek goddess Artemis.
Other ancient Roman finds may be seen throughout the all the city area.
Specifically, at the Tzar Simeon I Square, the remains of the south-east gate and of the walls’ tower of the ancient Odessos were unearthed few years ago. The finds date back to the Late Roman Empire / Early Byzantine period , 5th-6th century CE.
Notes:
(1) The Proto-Bulgarians were probably a mixed group of tribes with a bulk of Turkic origin and language.
References:
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An armour and two amazing Montefortino-type helmets (4th century BC), so called after the necropolis of Montefortino. They probably belonged to the Celtic tribe of Galli Senoni, living in Norh-East Italy before the Roman conquest. This kind of helmet, modified through the times, was adopted by the Romans too.
The Galli Senoni occupied part of the former Etruscan territory (the Po River Valley and the Adriatic region) around the 400 BC. The name of the Italian city of Senigallia on the Adriatic coast remind us their ancient presence.
(Tota Italia Exposition, Roma) #helmet #elmo #gallisenoni
Segnaliamo, nel numero di maggio della rivista Panorama Numismatico (n° 372) , un articolo di Marco Valentini sulla nascita e lo sviluppo del sistema monetario e finanziaro romano: “Cenni sulla nascita della moneta e dei primi intermediari finanziari nell’Antica Roma“.
Il sistema monetario romano, introdotto relativamente tardi rispetto alla nascita e lo sviluppo della società romana, fu inizialmente basato sul rame o bronzo. L’introduzione di una vera e propria moneta nell’economia romana è solitamente ricondotta all’emissione dei cosiddetti Aes Signatum e Aes Grave.
Download (.pdf):
AE coin, 5.07 grams, 21 mm., 250 AD, Mint of Alexandria Troas
Obv./ CO-L TROA, bust of Tyche with turreted crown
Rev./ COL AVG, in exergue TRO, She-Wolf with Twins
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The coin pictured above, minted under the emperor Gallienus (253-267 AD), is an example of the so-called anonymous, pseudo-autonomous or civic coins struck in the mint of Alexandria Troas under the Roman rule. The imperial bronze coins struck in the mint of Alexandria were mostly issued between the reign of Antoninus Pius and that of Gallienus.
The goddess Tyche, depicted on the obverse of the coin, was the Greek tutelar deity governing the fortune and prosperity of a city (similar the the Roman Dea Fortuna). On the reverse, the Lupa (She-wolf) nursing the twins Romolus and Remus recalls the legendary foundation of Roma.
The city of Alexandria Troas was located on the Aegean Sea in the ancient Troad region, part the Roman province of Asia (present-day Turkey).
Around 301 BC, the city changed its name from Antigonous to Alexandria after Alexander the Great of Macedonia. Under the emperor Augustus, the city became a Roman colony with the name of Colonia Alexandria Augusta Troas.
References:
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Fig. 1 :
Bronze As dedicated to Germanicus struck under Claudius (50-54 AD; 13 grams, 28 mm.; pvt. collection)
Obv./ GERMANICVS CAES TI AVG F DIVI AVG N; Germanicus’ Head
Rev./ TI CLAVDIVS CAES AVG GERM P M TR P IMP P P; S C
Fig. 2:
Bronze Sesterce dedicated to Drusus Maior struck under Claudius (41-50 AD; 21.28 grams, 33 mm.; pvt. collection)
Obv./ NERO CLAVDIVS DRVSVS GERMANICVS IMP; Drusus’ Head
Rev./ TI CLAVDIVS CAES AVG P M TR P IMP; S C; Emperor Claudius sitting on arms
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Claudius (Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus) was born in Lugdunum (Lyon) in 10 BC and died in Rome in 54 AD. He was the brother of Germanicus and the son of Drusus Maior.
Nero Claudius Drusus (38 BC-9 BC), also called Drusus Maior, was the son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla. After having divorced from Tiberius Claudius, Livia married Augustus while she was pregnant with Drusus. Tiberius, the future emperor, was Drusus’ elder brother.
Drusus was a valiant commander under the Augustus’ principatus. He was Legatus Augusti pro praetore in Gallia (15 BC) and carried out several military campaigns against the German tribes, like Catti, Usipeti, Sicambri, Marsi, Cherusci etc.. He brought his legions until the Weser and Elbe rivers. Drusus is also remembered to have built a channel in Germany so as to connect the river Rhine with the North Sea, an impressive grandiose work that was named Fossa Drusi after his name.
With Antonia Minor (daughter of Marcus Antonius and Octavia, sister of Augustus), Drusus had three children: Germanicus, Livilla and Claudius. Both Tiberius and Claudius will become emperors.
Drusus Maior died in Germania in summer 9 BC falling from his horse. The Senate posthumously granted him the hereditary honorific title “Germanicus”, which would be used by many members of the Iulio-Claudia dynasty.
After Drusus’ death, the Romans did not succeed to consolidate their power in Germania Magna. The Roman expansion in Germany was halted by the tragic defeat and massacre, in the Teutoburg Forest, of three Roman legions led by the general Publius Quinctilius Varus (the so-called Clades Variana, September 9 BC) ). The defeat was suffered by a coalition of Germanic tribes led by Arminius. Arminius was a member of the tribal aristocracy of the Cherusci people who had received Roman citizenship and had been enrolled as an officer in the Roman army. He betrayed Varus and his Legion comrades in order to organize the ambush in the Forest, while his brother Flavus, a legionnaire too, remained faithful to Rome.
Germanicus Iulius Caesar (15 BC-19 AD), known as Germanicus, was adopted by his uncle Tiberius after the death of his father Drusus Maior.
Amongst others, Germanicus is remembered for having revenged the defeat of Teutoburg by defeating Arminius and the Germans tribes in the battle of Idistaviso (16 AD) and recovered two out of three Legion Eagles lost in the Teutoburg battle. Notwithstanding this Roman success, the emperor Tiberius decided to set the northern boundaries of the Roman Empire along the Rhine and Danube rivers. Tiberius likely assessed that it was too much expensive in terms of men and financial resources to take over such a vast, wild and hostile territory.
Later, Germanicus was sent in Syria by Tiberius, where he fell ill and died in 19 AD. The Governor of Syria, Cnaeus Calpurnius Piso, was suspected to have poisoned Germanicus.
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On the Kalendae Apriles (April, 1st), in ancient Rome, a feast called Veneralia was celebrated. This festival was celebrated in honour of the deities Venus Verticordia and Fortuna Virilis.
Here below, an excerpt from the Ovidius’ Fasti (8 AD). Scroll down for an English translation.
P. Ovidius Naso, Fasti, Liber IV
Kalendae Apriles
Rite deam colitis, Latiae matresque nurusque et vos, quis vittae longaque vestis abest.
aurea marmoreo redimicula demite collo, demite divitias: tota lavanda dea est.
aurea siccato redimicula reddite collo: nunc alii flores, nunc nova danda rosa est.
vos quoque sub viridi myrto iubet ipsa lavari: causaque cur iubeat, discite, certa subest.
litore siccabat rorantes nuda capillos: viderunt satyri, turba proterva, deam.
sensit et opposita texit sua corpora myrto: tuta fuit facto, vosque referre iubet.
discite nunc, quare Fortunae tura Virili detis eo, gelida qui locus umet aqua.
accipit ille locus posito velamine cunctas et vitium nudi corporis omne videt;
ut tegat hoc celetque viros, Fortuna Virilis praestat et hoc parvo ture rogata facit.
nec pigeat tritum niveo cum lacte papaver sumere et expressis mella liquata favis:
cum primum cupido Venus est deducta marito, hoc bibit; ex illo tempore nupta fuit.
supplicibus verbis illam placate: sub illa et forma et mores et bona fama manet.
Roma pudicitia proavorum tempore lapsa est: Cumaeam, veteres, consuluistis anum.
templa iubet fieri Veneri: quibus ordine factis inde Venus verso nomina corde tenet.
semper ad Aeneadas placido, pulcherrima, voltu respice, totque tuas, diva, tuere nurus.
Dum loquor, elatae metuendus acumine caudae Scorpios in virides praecipitatur aquas
English translation:
P. Ovidius Naso, Fasti, Book IV
April, 1st (Kalends)
Perform the rites of the goddess, Roman brides and mothers, And you who must not wear the headbands and long robes. Remove the golden necklaces from her marble neck, remove her riches: The goddess must be cleansed, complete. Return the gold necklaces to her neck, once it’s dry: Now she’s given fresh flowers, and new-sprung roses. She commands you too to bathe, under the green myrtle, And there’s a particular reason for her command (learn, now!). Naked, on the shore, she was drying her dripping hair: The Satyrs, that wanton crowd, spied the goddess. She sensed it, and hid her body with a screen of myrtle: Doing so, she was safe: she commands that you do so too. Learn now why you offer incense to Fortuna Virilis, In that place that steams with heated water. All women remove their clothes on entering, and every blemish on their bodies is seen: Virile Fortune undertakes to hide those from the men, And she does this at the behest of a little incense. Don’t begrudge her poppies, crushed in creamy milk and in flowing honey, squeezed from the comb: When Venus was first led to her eager spouse, She drank so: and from that moment was a bride. Please her with words of supplication: beauty, Virtue, and good repute are in her keeping. In our forefather’s time Rome lapsed from chastity: And the ancients consulted the old woman of Cumae. She ordered a temple built to Venus: when it was done Venus took the name of Heart-Changer (Verticordia). Loveliest One, always look with a benign gaze On the sons of Aeneas, and guard their many wives. As I speak, Scorpio, the tip of whose raised tail Strikes fear, plunges down into the green waves. (Source: Poetry in Translation, Translated by A. S. Kline © Copyright 2004)
(M. Valentini) – Maybe not everyone knows that, under the baroque square of Piazza Navona in Rome, the remains of the Stadium of Domitian can still be admired.
Actually, the Stadium was built by the Emperor Domitian (Titus Flavius Domitianus), who reigned from 81 to 96 AD. He was the son of the Emperor Vespasianus and younguer brother of Titus.
The Stadium was built at the Campus Martius, near the Theater of Pompey. Based on the Greek models, it was mostly used for athletic competions, that’s why it was also known as Circus Agonalis, from where the name Piazza Navona comes from. The Stadium had approximately 15,000 – 20,000 seats.
Here below, some pictures of the ancient Stadium taken by me.
(m.v.) – Poco tempo fa, a Roma, abbiamo fatto una piccola escursione archeologica urbana con il trenino “Termini-Giardinetti”. Il Trenino, fino ai primi anni ’80, arrivava sino a Fiuggi seguendo inizialmente il tracciato della Casilina per poi proseguire lungo la via Prenestina. In seguito, la sua corsa fu limitata al solo suo tratto urbano fino alla frazione di “Giardinetti” e pochi anni fa, per evitare che facesse concorrenza alla nuova (e inutile!) Metro C che correva parallela al suo tracciato, si è deciso di fermare la sua corsa a Centocelle.
La tratta superstite del Trenino percorre, come detto, la via Casilina – l’antica via Labicana – costeggiando l’Acquedotto Felice, costruito nel XVI° secolo sotto il Papa Sisto V. L’acquedotto fu chiamato Felice dal nome del Papa, Felice Peretti, e fu costruito lungo il tracciato, e riutilizzando i resti, degli antichi acquedotti dell’Aqua Marcia, dell’Anio Novus e dell’Aqua Claudia. Gli ultimi due acquedotti romani, nella parte finale, prima di arrivare allo snodo di Porta Maggiore, viaggiavano sovrapposti utilizzando i medesimi fornici e parallelamente all’acquedotto Claudio.
Il capolinea del Trenino si trova presso le “Ferrovie Laziali” della Stazione Termini, al confine del multietnico quartiere Esquilino, presso il cosiddetto Tempio di Minerva Medica. In realtà, i resti della maestosa aula decagonale, forse un ninfeo, appartengono ad un grande edificio del IV° secolo d.C. sorto nell’area un tempo facente parte degli Horti Liciniani.
Lo sferragliante Trenino attraversa l’imponente Porta Maggiore – costruita sfruttando le arcate dei più antichi acquedotti nell’ambito di quella grande opera di fortificazione dell’Urbe voluta
dall’Imperatore Aureliano, cioè le cosiddette Mura Aureliane – passando accanto al famoso sepolcro del fornaio Eurisace.
Giunti nel quartiere di Tor Pignattara scendiamo dal Trenino per andare ad ammirare un’altra monumentale costruzione tardo-imperiale, il mausoleo dedicato ad Elena, madre dell’imperatore Costantino.
Il Mausoleo fu costruito dall’imperatore Costantino tra il 326 e il 330 e forse era destinato a lui stesso, come sembra indicare anche il grande sarcofago di porfido rosso di Elena
recante bassorilievi di scene di battaglia tra Romani e “barbari”, che sembrano più adatte alla figura di un Imperatore che a sua madre (il sarcofago, asportato dal mausoleo, si trova adesso in Vaticano).
La cupola del Mausoleo, purtroppo crollata, era costruita usando delle anfore, chiamate volgarmente “pignatte”, da cui sarebbe derivato il toponimo Tor Pignattara.
La località corrisponde alla zona che anticamente era chiamata “ad duas lauros”, dove sorgeva un’area cimiteriale, come accadeva spesso lungo le strade extraurbane. Quest’area era anche il luogo di sepoltura degli Equites singulares Augusti, reparto scelto di cavalleria che aveva compiti di scorta agli imperatori (di seguito, foto di una lapide di un Eques Singularis).
Il corpo speciale di cavalleria, probabilmente, fu creato sotto l’imperatore Tiberio (98-117 d.C.) e forse fu sciolto da Costantino in quanto gli Equites si sarebbero schierati, così come il corpo dei Praetoriani, dalla parte del suo antagonista, Massenzio, nella battaglia di Ponte Milvio (312 d.C.). Sia Massenzio che Costantino si erano autoproclamati Augusti senza essere stati essere preventivamente nominati “Cesari” (ossia “vice imperatori”), così come prevedeva il sistema tetrarchico ideato da Diocleziano ma, a differenza di Costantino, Massenzio era stato ufficialmente riconosciuto dal Senato.
L’antica area cimiteriale fu utilizzata anche per la sepoltura di aderenti al culto cristiano, come indicano le adiacenti catacombe dedicate ai cristiani Marcellino e Pietro morti nel 304 d.C. sotto l’azione repressiva di Diocleziano tesa a contrastare la la diffusione, soprattutto nell’esercito, di quella che era considerata ancora una “illicita superstitio“.
Le catacombe, lungi dall’essere dei cimiteri segreti come spesso si crede, erano dei luoghi si sepoltura che accoglievano spesso sia defunti cristiani che “pagani”, organizzati e gestiti dalla corporazione dei “fossores“ (“scavatori”),
Di seguito un affresco (IV sec. d.C.) di un “fossore” di proveniente dalle catacombe Marcellino e Pietro e una lapide di un pretoriano del II° secolo d.c..
(M. Valentini) – Il Trofeo delle Alpi (Tropaeum Alpium) fu dedicato dal Senato e dal Popolo romano al princeps Caio Ottaviano Augusto, intorno al 6-7 a.C., per celebrare la sua vittoria sulle popolazioni delle Alpi che furono definitivamente assoggettate tra il 25 e il 14 a.C..
Il monumento si trova nel villaggio de La Turbie nell’attuale Francia, sopra il Principato di Monaco, ossia l’antica città di Monoikos, fondata dai coloni greci di Massalia (odierna Marseille/Marsiglia). Il territorio dove si erge il monumento passò alla Francia nel 1860 con l’annessione dell’allora Contea di Nizza.
Il Trofeo fu costruito lungo il tracciato della Via Iulia Augusta, fatta costruire da Augusto nel 13-12 a.C., dopo la conquista definitiva delle Alpi Marittime, come collegamento diretto verso la Gallia meridionale.
La Via Iulia Augusta iniziava nei pressi della città di Piacenza (antica Placentia) e attraversava le città di Tortona (Dertona), Acqui Terme (Aquae Statiellae), Vado Ligure (Vada Sabatia), Albenga (Albingaunum), Ventimiglia (Albintimilium) fino a Cimiez (Cemenelum, nell’attuale comune di Nizza), per poi probabilmente proseguire fino ad Arles (Arelate).
Il monumento fu parzialmente ricostruito nella prima parte del XX° secolo dall’architetto Jean Camille Formigé e da suo figlio Jules, mantenendo parte della trasformazione in fortezza d’epoca medievale. I lavori di ricostruzione furono finanziati dallo Stato Francese ma anche dal finanziere statunitense Edward Tuck. Il restauro fu fatto recuperando numerose parti del monumento originale che erano rovinate a terra o state utilizzate durante il XVIII° secolo come materiale da costruzione per l’edificazione di edifici dell’adiacente villaggio.
La lunga iscrizione sul mausoleo è stata ricostruita grazie alla citazione riportata nella Naturalis Historia (Lib. 3, 133) di Plinio:
Imp(eratori) Caesari Divi Filio Aug(usto) / Pont(ifici) Max(imo) Imp(eratori) XIIII Tr(ibunicia) Pot(estate) XVII. / Senatus Populusque Romanus, / quod eius ductu auspiciisque, gentes alpinae omnes quae a Mari Supero ad Inferum pertinebant, sub imperium P(opuli) R(omani) sunt redactae / gentes alpinae devictae Trumpilini, Camunni, Venostes, Vennonetes, Isarci, Breuni, Genaunes, Focunates / Vindelicorum gentes quattuor, Cosuanetes, Rucinates, Licates, Catenates, Ambisontes, Rugusci, Suanetes, Calucones / Brixenetes, Leponti, Uberi, Nantuates, Seduni, Varagri, Salassi, Acitavones, Medulli, Ucenni, Caturiges, Brigiani / Sogionti, Brodionti, Nemaloni, Edenates, Esubiani, Veamini, Gallitae, Triullatti, Ecdini / Vergunni, Egui, Turi, Nematuri, Oratelli, Nerusi, Velauni, Suetri.
I trofei originariamente erano costituiti semplicemente da pali di legno sui quali venivano appese le armi e le spoglie del nemico sconfitto. In seguito furono trasformati dai Romani in veri e propri monumenti in pietra che celebravano la potenza di Roma. Oltre il Trofeo di Augusto sulle Alpi, un altro esempio di questi trofei, che è pervenuto fino ai nostri giorni, è quello di Traiano costruito per celebrare la vittoria contro i Daci (Tropaeum Traiani), che si trova vicino al villaggio di Adamclisi nell’odierna Romania. Anche questo monumento è stato in gran parte ricostrutito nella seconda metà del XX° secolo.
Di seguito, alcune foto del Tropaeum Alpium:
SESTERTIVS 