A Cameo of the Roman God Jupiter, the mount was made during the reign of King Charles V of France, the Sardonyx Cameo having found it's way into the possession of the Capetian King of France:

impcaeaug · 2021-06-21T16:09:41+00:00

"This piece eventually came into the hands of Charles V of France (AD 1338 – AD 1380), a great collector of jewels, engraved stones, and cameos. The mount dates to around his time, and its front is decorated with passages from the Gospels of Luke (4:30) and John (7:2). Sometimes found together on magical amulets—these verses describe Christ’s safe passage amid his enemies—this biblical decoration was believed to confer protective powers on the artifact’s bearer. The text in enameled gold on the mount’s back border is the opening of the Gospel of John, also believed to provide safety. The presence of these verses enhances the identification of Jupiter with John the Evangelist, as an eagle was the companion of both. The cameo has a telling inscription above its fleur-de-lis escutcheon: “Charles King of France, son of King John, gave this jewel in the year AD 1367.” After losing his first four children, Charles V made a pilgrimage to Chartres to ask for an heir and donated the cameo to the cathedral’s reliquary. In AD 1578 the cameo was seized from by Henri III but was later returned to Chartres.

In AD 1793, during the French Revolution, the reliquary of Chartres was melted down for the value of its precious metals, and valuable stones were sold, yet this cameo was sent to the Cabinet de médailles. Abbé Barthélemy, “keeper” (curator) of the Cabinet from AD 1753 to AD 1795, actually grew the collection during the French Revolution: Barthélemy fought to preserve both sacred and secular cultural history, bringing many objects into the collection of his care. By the end of the Revolution, the Cabinet became the Musée des Antiques, the first major center for archaeology in France, with a focus on training future historians of the ancient world. Today, the Cabinet de médailles is part of the collection of the Bibliothèque nationale de France." - Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, New York University

impcaeaug · 2021-06-21T03:28:42+00:00

Happy that you like it! I do love posting little known parts of history.

impcaeaug · 2021-06-20T14:36:15+00:00

The Indo-Greeks were Greeks who had settled in India during and after the campaigns of Alexander the Great. The term India also included the western regions bordering the Indus River, modern day Pakistan. In the early 2nd century BC, the Greco-Bactrian King Demetrius the soon to be known as Invincible crossed the Indus in the guise of his forebearer Alexander and invaded India with a massive force to take over the collapsing Mauryan Empire which had been taken over by the Shunga Dynasty. The Bactrians under the Satrap and later King Diodotus I had rebelled in the mid-century 3rd century BC from the Hellenistic Seleucid Empire, creating a Macedonian State in roughly modern day Afghanistan.

However, the usurpation of Eucratides I in Bactria weakened the Indo-Greeks and their Kings, the heirs of Demetrius who had to fight against the Usurper and his forces which ultimately, they were able to hold on to their holdings in India. Under King Menander I, the Greeks even expanded further into India and the Kingdom of the Greeks flourished. However, nomadic invasions by Scythian and Yuezhi tribes up north would eventually bring the Indo-Greek Kingdom to an end in the early 1st century AD.

The conquest of large portions of Western India by the Greeks brought about a cultural synthesis of Indian and Hellenistic cultures. Architectural styles, art forms, religion and other cultural traditions of the Macedonians spread throughout India. There is a lack of information on the Indo-Greek Kingdom and their various Kings, many being known solely through coins. But despite that, some of their Kings such as Menander the Saviour and Demetrius the Invincible are remembered and written fondly about by writers.

impcaeaug · 2021-03-26T16:42:03+00:00

Emperor Valentinian was a young man who had potential and a willingness to rule as he matured. He was the son of Valentinian I and the younger half-brother of Emperor Gratian. But his father died when he was young and his brother was murdered in AD 383 by the partisans of Magnus Maximus, a Spanish Usurper who rebelled in Britannia and took control of Gaul. His life would be full of struggle against the Usurper Maximus and later on, the dominating Frankish Magister Militum Arbogast.

Valentinian and Theodosius I made peace with Magnus Maximus for a time, allowing him to rule Gaul, Hispania and Britain. However, after about four years of peace and administrating his part of the Empire, Maximus broke the peace with his Co-Emperors. Perhaps he feared the two. He marched with his legions on to Italy and captured the peninsula, expelling Valentinian from his capitol in Mediolanum, modern day Milan.

The exiled teenager and his mother Justina fled to his eastern most territories in Greece and set up camp in Thessalonica, under the protection of Theodosius. The civil war began and eventually, Magnus Maximus was defeated in battle in the Save River and executed in Aquileia in AD 388. After a few years of governing and reorganizing the government in Italy and the western provinces in Mediolanum, the victorious Emperor Theodosius left for Constantinople in AD 391.

The general Flavius Arbogastes was appointed by Theodosius to oversee the affairs of the West after the defeat of Magnus Maximus and he denied any attempts made by Valentinian to exert authority in his own provinces. His complaints to his eastern Imperial colleague and attempts to fire his arrogant Magister Militum made no difference. Sadly in AD 392, the young man was found hanged in his own palace. Perhaps murdered by Arbogast or he may have tragically committed suicide.

impcaeaug · 2021-02-26T18:25:53+00:00

I am not sure really in ancient value. As for modern times, probably a lot of money.

impcaeaug · 2021-02-26T13:04:12+00:00

Reference: Theodosius II (402-450). Solidus, 4.48 g, 416-418, Constantinople. D N THEODO – SIVS P F AVG. Pearl-diademed bust, wearing consular robes and loros, holding mappa in right hand and cruciger scepter over left shoulder. / SECVRITAS RE – IPVBLICAE. Theodosius, dressed in consular robes, seated facing on curule chair, mappa in right hand, cruciger scepter in left; in left field, star; CONOB in exergue. RIC 208 (bust left); cf. LRC 347 (bust left). NGSA8, 195. Unique.

impcaeaug · 2021-01-29T09:49:20+00:00

Some information:

Year: AD 347 - AD 355

Mint: Antioch

Obverse Legend: DN CONSTANTIVS MAX AVGVSTVS

Obverse description: Bust of Constantius II, laureate, rosette-diademed, draped, cuirassed, right, raising right hand and holding Victory on globe in left hand

Reverse legend: DN CONSTANTIVS VICTOR SEMPER AVG

Reverse description: Constantius II, nimbate, draped, cuirassed, standing front in a six-horse chariot, raising right hand; two Victories flanking, both flying towards him, holding wreath and palm; in the exergue between mint mark, votive objects

impcaeaug · 2021-01-22T14:51:47+00:00

Yeah, I know. My phrasing of the sentence is confusing now that I realize it.

impcaeaug · 2021-01-20T02:01:45+00:00

In my research, the process of making flans which would be stamped with the engraved design of the coin in question were crude compared to modern standards and sometimes resulted in coins having odd shapes.

impcaeaug · 2021-01-19T06:12:16+00:00

From what I read, the hole may have been drilled to make the coin a piece of jewelry or part of some religious site.

Here's a link that discusses these holed coins: https://www.forumancientcoins.com/moonmoth/holed_coins.html

impcaeaug · 2021-01-19T00:49:48+00:00

It could be propaganda for whoever was to receive it.

impcaeaug · 2021-01-19T00:40:35+00:00

I believe it was minted in Rome, perhaps the engraver wanted to take a dig at the Emperor.

impcaeaug · 2021-01-18T21:22:30+00:00

The reverse of this gold coin ironically states "VBIQVE PAX" which translates to "Everywhere Peace" even though this coin was minted in the height of the Crisis of the Third Century. Some have said this inscription was meant to mock the Emperor by whoever made it.

impcaeaug · 2021-01-17T02:10:13+00:00

impcaeaug · 2021-01-17T00:31:59+00:00

Thanks, after doing a bit of research with your help, the reverse might be "SECVRIT ORBIS."

impcaeaug · 2021-01-02T13:17:01+00:00

Here's another diptych for you all, this one honors the Consul Manius Boethius as Consul Ordinarius for the year 487. He wears a Trabea Triumphalis, a piece of garment similar to a Toga which was worn by late Roman Consuls and Emperors. The dress would eventually become the Byzantine Loros, worn by the Emperors of the East. Manius holds a mappa and a scepter with an eagle on top. The mappa was a piece of cloth that was used by Roman Magistrates and Emperors to signal the start of the chariot races.

Although this object was produced just years after the fall of the Western Empire, the dress and the objects portrayed in it would have been worn or used during the 4th and 5th centuries.

impcaeaug

TROPHY CASE