Bread and Circuses

Coin of the Emperor Marius - AD269

Never seen one of these before. ITV news has a story about a radiate of the former blacksmith turned Emperor Marius, the successor to Emperor Postumus and found near Ilminster. He ruled for three months or so in AD269 from Trier.

A rare Roman coin from a turbulent era in history has been discovered in a collection donated to the Community Heritage Access Centre (CHAC) in Yeovil.

The collection was donated to the centre by the late Mr J Stevens-Cox. The coin is a radiate of Gaius Marcus Aurelius Marius, more simply known to us as Marius.

This coin is remarkable because the emperor himself is believed to have only reigned for a matter of days in AD 269 before being killed and becoming just another name in a long list of 50 emperors who reigned in 50 years of the 3rd century AD.

Full story here with a good picture. There is also a story at the BBC and in the Westen Morning News. 

Kalkriese: The Museum with the Iron Mask

I had expected more of these over the past couple of weeks - I mentioned a month ago that Kalkriese was celebrating the 25th anniversary of the discovery of the site of the Battle of Teutoburg Forest. Celebrations seem slightly muted, as least in terms of press coverage. 

A good piece, however, in the Osnabrücker Zeitung that uses the disovery of the famous cavalry mask as its hook:

Kaum eine Veröffentlichung zur Varusschlacht kommt ohne die Helmmaske aus, die ein römischer Reiter 9 nach Christus im mythenumrankten Gefecht verloren hatte. Das eiserne Gesicht ziert Bücher, Briefköpfe und eine Briefmarke. Sie ist das Markenzeichen von Museum und Park Kalkriese – ein Glücksfund in vielerlei Hinsicht. Eines ist das Visier nicht: Es ist nicht die Maske des Varus. Des Mannes, der als Oberbefehlshaber in Germanien die drei Legionen anführte, die von germanischen Stämmen unter der Führung des Cheruskers Arminius aufgerieben wurden, dessen Name, Niederlage und Tod für immer mit dem Gemetzel verbunden sind.

Full story here.

Scottish Museum Acquisitions Collapse Thanks to Lack of Funding

I didn't comment on this story earlier in the week because I had presumed that it would be covered to death in the broadsheets. It is a sign in itself that it hasn't had a mention.

The annual report for the National Fund for Acquisitions, the fund managed by the National Museum of Scotland for the Scottish government, was released this week. The report makes for spectacularly depressing reading.

Thanks to funding cuts and pressure on museum budgets, acquisitions by Scottish museums have dropped more than 50% since 2009/10.

The story isn't just that funding has been cut by 25%, for which the government should hang its head in shame, but how little it is in the first place. Funds of £150,000 are pitiful. The highlight of last year's acquisitions was an etching and aquatint from Sueño y Mentira de Franco by Pablo Picasso, by the
Hunterian. As the report says:

"A lowering of ambition in collecting as budget cuts affect the ability of organisations to raise funding for higher value items. The full effect of this on individual collections may only be felt in the longer term as missed opportunities accumulate."

It has been a long story of neglect and decline. Last year the fund was cut by £100,000. At the time Mark Taylor, director of the Museum's Association said:

“To arbitrarily slash [the NFA] by 50% with no consultation shows an arrogance and lack of understanding of its value that takes the breath away.”

Tim Cornwell in the Scotsman wrote a spirited defence, but with wearisome predictability Westminster was blamed. A spokeswoman for the Scottish Government said:

“In the face of unprecedented cuts in our Budget imposed by the Westminster Government we are prioritising spending in order to minimise the impact on key cultural organisations.”

To put the sums we are talking about into perspective, the National Gallery in London alone has an annual acquisition fund of around £5 million.

At this rate of decline, all that Scottish museums will be able to buy by 2014 will be a poster of a chimpanzee drinking a cup of tea or one of a tennis player scratching her bottom.

Highlights from the Gallo-Roman Museum in Lyon, part 4

The final post from Lyon: Sol Invictus.

More on Rome's Forgotten Campaign - AD235

I must get round to setting up a separate category for the battle at Kalefeld/Harzhorn about the battle that took place around AD235 between the Romans under Maximinus Thrax and the Germans. I mentioned a little while ago the exhibition which is planned next year.

Anyway, more on the exhibition at HNA.de along with sight of the poster. I hadn't realised that they are dropping EUR1.8m on the exhibition.

On the same subject, and also in HNA.de, there is debate about how best to display the battlefield. With any luck it will be more attractive and absorbing than Kalkriese and the battle of Teutoburg Forest. Full story here with an image of a proposed tower. On the plus side, they are really throwing money at it.

Highlights from the Gallo-Roman Museum in Lyon, part 3

A little bit of Taurobolium action.

Highlights from the Gallo-Roman Museum in Lyon, part 2

Highlights from the Gallo-Roman Museum in Lyon, part 1

I was fortunate enough to spend last week in Lyon with its wonderful Gallo-Roman Museum. I will be posting some highlights this week. First, a legionary stone.

Up Yours Rome and CIL XIII 2363

CIL XIII 2363 has become my favourite inscription of late, predominantly because it is so sulky. From Lyon and dating to AD458, it is a gravestone and the text is straightforward:

Hic requiescit bon(a)e memo/riae Vassio cum pace qui / vixit annis XL / et obiit VII K(a)l(endas) Iulias dom(ino) / nos(tro) Leone v(iro) {v} c(larissimo) cons(ule)

The reason is that it is such an entertaining inscription is that the emperor Avitus, who was from the Auvergne and had a strong support base throughout Gaul, had been murdered the previous year - in November AD457. Majorian had taken over the throne. Having arranged the murder of a local lad, it is unsurprisingly that Majorian was not especially popular in Gaul.

How could you show your displeasure with the new emperor? By ignoring him and not recognising him as consul. On the gravestone only the Eastern emperor, and consul for AD458, Leo is mentioned. Nothing at all for Majorian who shared the consulship with him. 

Constantine 313

What looks like a fantastic exhibition in Milan from 25 October - Constantine 313, to celebrate the 1700th anniversary of the Edict of Milan. It is at the Palazzo Reale, Piazza Duomo 12 - 20122 Milan.

There is a good trailer for the exhibition below. The site has a great gallery of photos here. Thanks to ArcheoMolise for the hat tip.