Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-mp689 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-24T01:28:00.070Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A Hoard of Military Awards, Jewellery and Coins from Colchester

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 February 2016

Nina Crummy ,
Martin Henig  and
Courtney Ward
Nina Crummy
Affiliation:
Copfordn.c.crummy@reading.ac.uk
Martin Henig
Affiliation:
Oxfordmartin.henig@wolfson.ox.ac.uk
Courtney Ward
Affiliation:
Brielle, NJward.courtneya@gmail.com
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

A hoard of objects found at the early Roman colony at Colchester in a small hole scraped into the floor of a house destroyed during the Boudican revolt includes a group of high-quality gold jewellery, three silver military awards, a bag of coins, an unusual silver-clad wooden box and other items. Buried in haste as the British approached, they provide a remarkably clear image of one couple's background, achievements, taste and social standing. A bulla shows that the man was a Roman citizen, the awards that he was a veteran soldier of some distinction, while parallels for the woman's jewellery suggest that it was acquired in Italy.

Keywords

ColchesterBoudicahoardprecious metalsRoman armyjewellerycoinsCampanian towns
Type
Articles
Information
Britannia , Volume 47 , November 2016 , pp. 1 - 28
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2016. Published by The Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Allason-Jones, L. 1989: Earrings in Roman Britain, BAR British Series 201, Oxford Google Scholar
Allison, P. 2006: The Insula of the Menander at Pompeii. 3: The Finds, a Contextual Study, Oxford Google Scholar
Andreau, J. 1999: Banking and Business in the Roman World, Cambridge Google Scholar
Barringer, J.M. 2001: The Hunt in Ancient Greece, Baltimore, Md Google Scholar
Beard, M. 2008: Pompeii: The Life of a Roman Town, London Google Scholar
Bellinger, A.R., and Berlincourt, M.A. 1962: Victory as a Coin Type, Numismatic Notes and Monographs 149, New York Google Scholar
Bergmann, B. 2010: Der Kranz des Kaisers: Genese und Bedeutung einer römischen Insignie, Berlin Google Scholar
Bland, R. (ed.) 1992: Coin Hoards from Roman Britain IX, London Google Scholar
Bland, R. 2013: ‘Hoarding in Britain: an overview’, British Numismatic Journal 83, 214–38Google Scholar
Burnett, A.M. 1992: ‘Norton Subcourse, Norfolk (Addenda)’, in Bland 1992, 32–3Google Scholar
Burnett, A.M., and Gregory, T. 1988: ‘Norton Subcourse, Norfolk’, in Bland, R. and Burnett, A.M. (eds), The Normanby Hoard and Other Roman Coin Hoards. Coin Hoards from Roman Britain VIII, London, 19–21 Google Scholar
Burnett, A.M., Plouviez, J., and Tuckett, T. 1992: ‘Sutton, Suffolk’, in Bland 1992, 24–31 Google Scholar
Cantilena, R., La Rocca, E., Pannuti, L., and Scatozza, L. 1989: Le collezioni del Museo Nazionale di Napoli, I. 2: La scultura greco-romana, le sculture antiche della collezione Farnese, le collezioni monetali, le oreficerie, la collezione glittica, Rome Google Scholar
Capasso, L. 2001: I Fuggiaschi di Ercolano: paleobiologia delle vittime dell'eruzione Vesuviana del 79 d.c., Rome Google Scholar
Castiglione Morelli, V. 2000: ‘Un gruzzolo monetario dalla stanza degli Ori di Oplontis’, Rivista di Studi Pompeiani 11, 187–234 Google Scholar
Chadour, A.B. 1994: Rings. The Alice and Louis Koch Collection, I, Leeds Google Scholar
Champeaux, J. 1987: Fortuna: recherches sur le culte de la Fortune à Rome et dans le monde romain des origines à la mort de César, Rome Google Scholar
Cheeseman, C.E.A. 1998: ‘Tincomarus Commi filius’, Britannia 29, 309–15Google Scholar
Crummy, N. 2005: ‘From bracelets to battle honours: military armillae from the Roman conquest of Britain’, in Crummy, N. (ed.), Image, Craft and the Classical World. Essays in Honour of Donald Bailey and Catherine Johns, Instrumentum Monograph 29, Montagnac, 93–105 Google Scholar
Crummy, P. 1988: ‘Colchester (Camulodunum/Colonia Victricensis)’, in Webster, G. (ed.), Fortress into City, London, 24–47 Google Scholar
D'Ambrosio, A. 2001: Women and Beauty in Pompeii, Rome Google Scholar
D'Ambrosio, A., and De Carolis, E. 1997: I Monili dall'area Vesuviana, Rome Google Scholar
D'Ambrosio, A., Guzzo, P.G., and Mastroroberto, M. 2003: Storie da un'eruzione, Milan Google Scholar
Davies, J. 2002: ‘The coins’, in S. Benfield, Excavations of Late Iron Age and Roman Features and a Roman Road North of Gosbecks Archaeological Park, Colchester, Essex, 1995–1996, Colchester Archaeological Trust Report 127, 13 (online publication, http://cat.essex.ac.uk/reports/CAT-report-0127.pdf)Google Scholar
Dean, L.R. 1916: A Study of the Cognomina of Soldiers in the Roman Legions, Princeton, NJ Google Scholar
De Carolis, E. 1995: ‘Lo scavo dei Fornici 7 e 8 sulla Marina di Ercolano’, Rivista di Studi Pompeiani 6, 167–86Google Scholar
Della Corte, M. 1965: Case ed abitanti di Pompei, Naples Google Scholar
De Romanis, F. 2012: ‘Julio-Claudian denarii and aurei in Campania and India’, Annali dell'Istituto Italiano di Numismatica 58, 161–92Google Scholar
Dunnett, B.R.K. 1971: ‘Excavations in Colchester’, Transactions Essex Archaeological Society (3rd series) 3, 1–106 Google Scholar
Erdkamp, P. (ed.), 2007: A Companion to the Roman Army, Oxford Google Scholar
Feugère, M. 2002: Weapons of the Romans, Stroud Google Scholar
Fossing, P. 1929: The Thorvaldsen Museum. Catalogue of the Antique Engraved Gems and Cameos, Copenhagen Google Scholar
Frere, S.S. 1987: Britannia, London Google Scholar
Fröhlich, T. 1991: Lararien- und Fassadenbilder in den Vesuvstädten: Untersuchungen zur ‘volkstümlichen’ pompejanischen Malerei, Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Römische Abteilung, Ergänzungsheft 32, Mainz Google Scholar
Furtwängler, A. 1896: Königliche Museen zu Berlin. Beschreibung der Geschnittenen Steine im Antiquarium, Berlin Google Scholar
Gradel, I. 2002: Emperor Worship and Roman Religion, Oxford Google Scholar
Greene, E. 2014: ‘Impressions of identity: choosing a signet ring in the Roman army’, in Brody, L.R. and Hoffman, G.L. (eds), Roman in the Provinces: Art on the Periphery of Empire, Chestnut Hill, MA, 109–4Google Scholar
Grierson, P. 1975: Numismatics, Oxford Google Scholar
Grubessi, O., Aurisicchio, C., and Castiglioni, A. 1990: ‘The pharaoh's forgotten emerald mines’, Journal of Gemmology 22(3), 164–77Google Scholar
Guest, P. 2008: ‘The early monetary history of Roman Wales: identity, conquest and acculturation on the Imperial fringe’, Britannia 39, 33–58 Google Scholar
Guiraud, H. 2008: Intailles et camées de l’époque romaine en Gaule II, Gallia Supplément 48, Paris Google Scholar
Harlow, M., and Laurence, R. 2002: Growing Up and Growing Old in Ancient Rome: A Life Course Approach, London Google Scholar
Henig, M. 1975: The Lewis Collection of Engraved Gemstones in Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, BAR International Series 1, Oxford Google Scholar
Henig, M. 2007: A Corpus of Roman Engraved Gemstones from British Sites, BAR British Series 8 (3rd edn), Oxford Google Scholar
Henig, M., and MacGregor, A. 2004: Catalogue of the Engraved Gems and Finger-Rings in the Ashmolean Museum. II Roman, Oxford Google Scholar
Higgins, R.A. 1980: Greek and Roman Jewellery (2nd edn), London Google Scholar
Hill, J.D., Spence, A.J., La Niece, S., and Worrell, S. 2004: ‘The Winchester hoard: a find of unique Iron Age gold jewellery from southern England’, Antiquaries Journal 94, 1–22 Google Scholar
Hobbs, R. 1992: ‘Woodham Mortimer, Essex’, in Bland 1992, 20–3Google Scholar
Hobbs, R. 2006: Late Roman Precious Metal Deposits, c. AD 200–700: Changes over Time and Space, BAR International Series 1504, Oxford Google Scholar
Hobbs, R. 2013: Currency and Exchange in Ancient Pompeii, London Google Scholar
Hull, M.R. 1958: Roman Colchester, Society of Antiquaries Research Report 20, London Google Scholar
Johns, C. 1986: ‘The Roman silver cups from Hockwold, Norfolk’, Archaeologia (2nd series) 108, 1–13 Google Scholar
Johns, C. 1991: ‘Some unpublished jewellery from Roman Britain’, Jewellery Studies 5, 55–64 Google Scholar
Johns, C. 1996: The Jewellery of Roman Britain, London Google Scholar
Kleiner, D.E.E. 1994: Roman Sculpture, New Haven, Conn./London Google Scholar
Lazer, E. 2009: Resurrecting Pompeii, Oxford Google Scholar
Lindgren, C. 1980: Classical Art Forms and Celtic Mutations, Park Ridge, NJ Google Scholar
Lonsdale, S.H. 1990: Creatures of Speech: Lion, Herding and Hunting Similes in The Iliad, Stuttgart Google Scholar
Maaskant-Kleibrink, M. 1978: Catalogue of the Engraved Gems in the Royal Coin Cabinet, The Hague. The Greek, Etruscan and Roman Collections, The Hague Google Scholar
Martial: Marcus Valerius Martialis, Epigrams, Loeb Classical Library edition vol. 1, trans. Shackleton Bailey, D.R. (1993), Cambridge, Mass./London Google Scholar
Maxfield, V. 1981: The Military Decorations of the Roman Army, London Google Scholar
Moorhead, S. 2013: A History of Roman Coinage in Britain, Witham Google Scholar
Orna-Ornstein, J. 1997: ‘Early hoards of denarii from Britain’, in Bland, R. and Orna-Ornstein, J. (eds), Coin Hoards from Roman Britain X, London, 23–9Google Scholar
Pagano, M. 1991: ‘Scavo sull'antica marina: ambienti secondo e quinto’, Rivista di Studi Pompeiani 3, 273–7Google Scholar
Painter, K.S. 2001: The Insula of the Menander at Pompeii. IV: The Silver Treasure, Oxford Google Scholar
Pirzio Biroli Stefanelli, L. 1992: L'Oro dei Romani: gioielli di età imperiale, Rome Google Scholar
Pliny: Gaius Plinius Secundus, Historia Naturalis, Loeb Classical Library edition, vols 2, 3 and 9 trans. Rackham, H. (1942, 1947, 1952), vol. 10 trans. Eichholz, D.E. (1971), Cambridge, Mass./London Google Scholar
Rapp, G. 2009: Archaeomineralogy, Berlin/Heidelberg Google Scholar
Rawson, B. 2003: Children and Childhood in Roman Italy, Oxford Google Scholar
Reece, R. 1985: ‘The Roman coins’, in Niblett, R., Sheepen: An Early Roman Industrial Site at Camulodunum, CBA Research Report 57, London, microfiche 3:B4–B5 Google Scholar
Reece, R. 1987: The Coinage of Roman Britain, Stroud Google Scholar
Reece, R. 1995: ‘Site-finds in Roman Britain’, Britannia 26, 179–206 Google Scholar
Roberts, P. 2013: Life and Death in Pompeii and Herculaneum, London Google Scholar
Robertson, A.S. 2000: An Inventory of Romano-British Coin Hoards, ed. Hobbs, R. and Buttrey, T.V., London Google Scholar
Ruseva-Slokoska, L. 1991: Roman Jewellery: A Collection of the National Archaeological Museum, Sofia, Sofia Google Scholar
Scullard, H.H. 1974: The Elephant in the Greek and Roman World, London Google Scholar
Sebesta, J.L., and Bonfante, L. 1994: The World of Roman Costume, Madison, Wis. Google Scholar
Seneca: Lucius Annaeus Seneca, De Vita Beata, Loeb Classical Library edition (Seneca, Moral Essays II), trans. Basore, J.W. (1932), Cambridge, Mass./London Google Scholar
Shaw, I., and Bunbury, J. 2003: ‘A petrological study of the emerald mines in the Egyptian Eastern Desert’, in Moloney, N. and Shott, M.J. (eds), Lithic Analysis at the Millennium, London, 203–13Google Scholar
Shaw, I., Bunbury, J., and Jameson, R. 1999: ‘Emerald mining in Roman and Byzantine Egypt’, Journal of Roman Archaeology 12, 203–15Google Scholar
Siviero, R. 1954: Gli ori e le ambre del Museo Nazionale di Napoli, Florence Google Scholar
Suetonius: Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, Divus Iulius, Divus Augustus, Loeb Classical Library edition (Suetonius, Lives of the Caesars I), trans. Rolfe, J.C. (1914), Cambridge,Mass./London Google Scholar
Sutherland, C.H.V. 1947: ‘Roman coins’, in Hawkes, C.F.C. and Hull, M.R., Camulodunum, Society of Antiquaries Research Report 14, London, 142–60Google Scholar
Tacitus: Gaius Cornelius Tacitus, Agricola, Germania, Dialogus, Loeb Classical Library edition, trans. Hutton, M. and Peterson, W., rev. Ogilvie, R.M., Warmington, E.H. and Winterbottom, M. (1914), Cambridge, Mass./London Google Scholar
Tacitus: Gaius Cornelius Tacitus, Annales, Loeb Classical Library edition (Histories Books 4–5, Annals Books 1–3), trans. Moore, C.H. and Jackson, J.E. (1931), Cambridge, Mass./London Google Scholar
Taylor, M.V., and Collingwood, R.G. 1926: ‘Roman Britain in 1926’, Journal of Roman Studies 16, 216–44Google Scholar
Torino, M., and Fornaciari, G. 1995: ‘Analisi dei resti umani dei Fornaci 7 e 8 sulla Marina di Ercolano’, Rivista di Studi Pompeiani 6, 187–95Google Scholar
Ulrich, R.B. 2007: Roman Woodworking, London Google Scholar
Vollenweider, M.-L. 1984: Deliciae Leonis. Antike geschnittene Steine und Ringe aus einer Privatsammlung, Mainz Google Scholar
Ward, C. 2014: Identifying Multiple Gender Identities in the First Century AD: A Study of Personal Adornment and Skeletal Remains from the Bay of Naples , unpub. DPhil thesis, University of OxfordGoogle Scholar
Ward-Perkins, J.B., and Claridge, A. 1979: Pompeii AD 79, Bristol Google Scholar
Wheeler, R.E.M. 1930: London in Roman Times, London Google Scholar
Zazoff, P. (ed.) 1975: Antike Gemmen in Deutschen Sammlungen. IV. Hannover, Kestner-Museum, Wiesbaden Google Scholar