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Commodus-Hercules in Britain

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 September 2012

Michael Rostovtseff  and
Harold Mattingly
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Extract

In 1918 the Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology in Cambridge acquired with Professor Babington's collection a hoard of some-what unusual objects. They were found in 1857 in Willingham Fen, Cambridgeshire, south of the River Ouse or Old West River, on a spot, which is now no longer fen but a field known as ‘The Hempsalls,’ two and a half miles north-west of Cottenham and eight miles north of Cambridge. They had been placed in a wooden box, no doubt for concealment in a convenient place. Their curious character makes them worthy of more detailed notice than they have hitherto received.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Roman Studies , Volume 13 , Issue 1-2 , November 1923 , pp. 91 - 109
Copyright
Copyright © Michael Rostovtseff 1923. Exclusive Licence to Publish: The Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies

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References

page 91 note 2 Museum number of the whole collection = 160, the number of each individual object being that given above. The hoard was published without any attempt at interpretation by Prof. Babington, in his Ancient Cambridgeshire (Cambridge Antiq. Soc. Special Publications, no. 20, 1883), p. 84Google Scholar with indifferent illustrations. It is mentioned by Fox, C. in Archaeology of the Cambridge Region (Cambridge, 1923) p. 214Google Scholar, who also notes (p. 213) that three other hoards of the same date have been found in the Cambridge region—at Chesterford in Essex, Ashwell in Herts., and Horse-Heath in Cambridgeshire. Similar hoards from shrines are not uncommon. Two were found some 50 miles apart, one from a shrine to Mars and Vulcan at Barkway in Herts, (published in Lysons, Reliquiae Brit. Rom. ii, pl. xl–lii, hence Vict. Co. Hist. Herts, iv, 149) and the other from a shrine to Mars and Jupiter at Stony Stratford in Bucks (Lysons, ibid. pl. xxxiv–xxxix), both not far from Roman roads (Ermine Street and Watling Street). That they had originally belonged to shrines is clear from their character.

page 91 note 3 A similar fragment, 8 cm. long, found at Trumpington, Cambridgeshire, is in the same Museum at Cambridge and no doubt served a similar purpose.

page 92 note 1 The following representations of the God of the Wheel have been found in Britain: as Jupiter (with thunderbolt) at Castlesteads (Bruce, Lapid. Sept. no. 424: C.I.L. vii, 879), Cambeckfort (Bruce, ibid. no. 423, C.I.L. vii, 882); with six-spoked wheel, at Maryport (Cumb. & Westmor. Arch. Soc. N.S. xv, 146, no. 43); as Mars, at Corbridge (Arch. Ael. 3rd ser. vi, 224, vii, 202). See also an example from Netherby (Tullie House Museum, Carlisle Cat. p. 42, no. 128, fig. 7; p. 43, no. 130, fig. 8). For its use in pre-Roman and Roman Gaul see Revue Arch. iv (1885), 17Google Scholar, 176; Déchelette, , Manuel d'Archéologie, ii, pp. 289Google Scholar, 413, 88;. de Villefosse, H., ‘Note sur un bronze decouvert à Landouzy-la-ville,’ Revue Arch., 1881, p. 2 ff.Google Scholar; Courcelle-Seneuil, , Les dieux gaulois (Paris, 1910), 66Google Scholar; Jullian, , Hist, de Gaule ii, 138Google Scholar, n. 2, vi, 35, n. 2; Reinach, , Catal. ill. du Musée St. Germain (1917), 100, 113, 115, 117Google Scholar; Drexel, in Röm.-german. Kommission, 14erBericht (1922), p. 23Google Scholar.

page 94 note 1 The owl and the eagle, nos. 6 and 7, were said to be of iron, but Dr. Cyril Fox tells me that analysis proves them to be also of bronze.

page 94 note 2 Cf. Daremberg and Saglio Dict, des antiq. s.v. ‘Libra,’ fig. 4475; Arch. Anzeiger. iv, 117; Arch. Jahrbuch, xiii (1898), 74Google Scholar.

page 94 note 3 Reinach, A., ‘Les Galates dans Part Alexandrin’ (Mon. et Mém. Piot. xviii, 1910) p. 105, fig. 32Google Scholar. I cannot help thinking that the bearded barbarian said by the author to be a Dacian is in reality a Celt.

page 95 note 1 Weynand, R., 108–9, in Bonner Jahrbücher 1902, pp. 184, 222, ffGoogle Scholar; cf. also Hofmann, Römische Militargrabsteine der Donaubänder (Sonderschriften des Oest. Arch. Inst., V), p. 52, A. Schober, Die römischen Grabsteine von Noricum und Pannonien (ibid, x, 1923), pp. 89, 202, fig. 99.

page 95 note 2 No good monograph on the sceptre as used in the ancient world exists. The articles by Saglio (Daremberg and Saglio Dict. des Antiq., s.v. ‘sceptrum’) and Hug (Pauly-Wissowa, Real-Encyc., s.v. ‘sceptrum’) are superficial and incomplete. For instance, the Bosporan coins, which give the best examples of Roman monarchical sceptres, are nowhere mentioned. The Aquileia relief was published by Maionica, Führer durch Aquileia (1910), p. 73, no. 67Google Scholar.

page 95 note 3 Bosporan coins displaying sceptres with busts of emperors are reproduced by Minns, Scythians and Greeks, pl. vii, nos. 20, 25 and Rostovtseff, Iranians and Greeks, pl. xxx, fig. 3. For crowns adorned with busts of emperors, see Hill, G. F. in Jahreshefte d. Oest. Arch. Inst. ii (1899), 245Google Scholar ff. Cf. also Brusin, , N. d. Scavi, 1923, 230Google Scholar, pl. fig. b (mosaic of Aquileia showing the head of a magistrate presiding at athletic games) and Rostovtseff, Economic and Social Development of the Ancient World: The Early Roman Empire.

page 96 note 1 Somewhat similar to the Willingham sceptre is the singular bronze object in the Museum of Strasbourg (R. Henning, Denkmäler der Elsässischen Altertums-Sammlung, pl. xlii, fig. 3), according to Henning, the top of a ‘signum’-like pole. The sculptures which adorned this pole-top are similar to those of the altars wirh the four gods (Viergöttersteine)—Bacchus, Diana, Mercury and Hercules. Cf. also Ohlenschlager, Römische Ueberreste in Bayern, 1903, p. 103Google Scholar. who show a pole-top adorned with a beardless head, probably of a Celtic god (see the torque on the neck). See below, p. 99, note 1.

page 96 note 2 On the war in Britain under Commodus see Heer, J. M. ‘Der historische Wert der Vita Commodi’ Philologus, Suppl. ix (1904), 71Google Scholar ff. Macdonald, G., The Roman Wall in Scotland (1911) 12 ffGoogle Scholar. and in Proc. Soc. Ant. Scot. lii, 203 ff. Cf. Platnauer, M., The Life and Reign of the Emperor Septimius Severus (1918), 101 ff.Google Scholar; Collingwood, R. G., Roman Britain (1923), 34Google Scholar; and Haverfield, F., The Roman Occupation of Britain (1924), p. 121Google Scholar, The conjecture that L. Iulius Vehilius Gratus Iulianus took part in the war is based on a probable restoration of an inscription by F Barnabei (see Dessau, , Pros. Imp. Rom. ii, 218Google Scholar, no. 402). We know very little of the mutiny, which ended about 185–187, but the restoration of peace and mutual confidence between the Emperor and the Exercitus Britannicus is attested by numerous coins of Commodus with the legends Conc(ordiae) mil(itum), Fid(ei) mil(itum), Fides exercit(uum); see Cohen, nos. 49–52, 139–142, 145 (185 A.D.); 53–60, 131–138, 143 (186 A.D.); 144A (187 A.D.). Cf. Appendix below, nos. 1, 2, pl. vi, vii.

page 97 note 1 C.I.L. vii, 924. The inscription has been lately republished and restored on lines suggested by me in the second edition (1922) of the late Prof. Haverfield's Catalogue of the Roman inscribed and sculptured stones in the Museum, Tullie House, Carlisle, p. 23, f., no. 64. For the drawing shown above (fig. 7) we are indebted to Mr. R. G. Collingwood, M.A., F.S.A.

page 97 note 2 A good collection of the epigraphic evidence is in Ruggiero, , Diz. Ep. ii, p. 607Google Scholar ff. For the coins see S. M. Stevenson, Dict. of Roman coins, s.v. Comes and Conservator.

page 97 note 3 Seeck, O., in Pauly-Wissowa, , Real-Encyc. iv, p. 629Google Scholar.

page 98 note 1 Heer, l.c. p. 95, ff.

page 98 note 2 R. Cagnat, A. Merlin et L. Chatelain, Inscr. lat. d'Afrique no. 612; cf. Chatelain, L. in the Comptes Rendus de l'Acad., 1919, p. 443Google Scholar, and in Hesperis, I, 1919, p. 69Google Scholar; the same vexillatio appears in Cagnat, etc., Inscr. lat. d'Afrique, no. 611.

page 99 note 1 Mettler-Barthel, in O.R.L., Lief. 30, no. 60, p. 41; Haug-Sixt, 2nd ed., p. 313 ff, no. 191Google Scholar; Schumacher, K., Siedelungs und Kulturg. der Rheinlande (1923), ii, p. 80Google Scholar. Compare also the curious object from the museum of Strasbourg mentioned above, the top of which is a reproduction of a ‘Viergötterstein’ and had probably served as pole-top of a Roman vexillum. It is a striking testimony to the syncretism of local cults with official military religion. As a matter of fact the Willingham sceptre is a miniature ‘Viergotterstein.’ These latter, as is well known, are related to, and combined with, the ‘giant’ columns.

page 99 note 2 Domaszewski, A. v., Die Religion des römischen Heeres, 1895, p. 54Google Scholar.

page 99 note 3 Heer, op. cit. p. 70.

page 99 note 4 In the Treasury of Notre-Dame-d'Alençon (actually in the Louvre) there is the same combination of the cult of the emperor and of local gods. An ‘emblema’ of a lost patera shows the god Apollo with his attributes and the solar wheel. Another ‘emblema’ shows a Roman emperor (supposed to be Caracalla) holding a victory in his right hand and a cornucopia in his left; he stands on a platform and is surrounded by small figures, which probably represent decorations of his shrine, The treasure of Alençon was described for the first and last time by de Longpérier, A., Notices des bronzes antiques du Louvre, 1868, no. 539–590Google Scholar; cf. Thedénat, M. et de Villefosse, A. Héron in Gazette Archéol. 1884, p. 345Google Scholar; Reinach, S.Rép. des reliefs i, p. 197Google Scholar; de Ridder, A., Catalogue sommaire des bijoux antiques, etc. (1924), p. 202, nos. 2062, 2063, pl. xxviiGoogle Scholar.

page 99 note 5 Published with admirable illustrations in Archaeologia xv, 393, whence Reinach, Rép. des reliefs (1912), ii, 478, ff.Google Scholar, and again in the British Museum Guide to the Antiquities of Roman Britain (1922), pp. 90–93, figs, 111, 112Google Scholar, and the Catal. Silver plate, (1921) p. 48, ff.Google Scholar, figs. 49–53. For other silver hoards in Britain see ibid. pp. 62, 93 and above, p. 91, note 2; or similar vessels see Roman Era in Britain, p. 186, ff.

page 100 note 1 Another bronze statuette of Hercules, thought to be Gaulish work of the first century, was found pn the Roman Wall apparently near Birdoswald. It represents him with the lion-skin covering the head and tied in a similar fashion but also wound round the left arm in an unusual way. Archaeologia, lv, 199 Walters, H. B., Select Bronzes (1915), pl. liGoogle Scholar.

page 101 note 1 The latest replica of the group Commodus-Mars and Crispina-Venus is that recently found at Ostia. See Moretti, G. in N. degli Scavi, 1920, p. 59 ffGoogle Scholar.

page 101 note 2 Roscher, Lexikon, s.v. ‘Hercules.’

page 102 note 1 Rostovtseff, M., Augustus (University of Wise. Studies in Language and Literature)Google Scholar.

page 102 note 2 On Nero's devotion to Hercules see Pascal, C., Nerone (Milano, 1923), pp. 29Google Scholar, 14; ff.; cf. Quiling, , Die Jupitersäule des Samus und Severus (Leipzig, 1918)Google Scholar

page 103 note 2 First published by Maionica, A., in Arch.-Ep. Mitth. aus Oest., xix, 1896, p. 209Google Scholar pp. Cf. my article in the Journal of the Ministry of Publ. Educ., 1899 (in Russian), and Hilberg, J. in Jahresb. d. Oest. Arch. Inst. ii, 1899Google Scholar, Beibl. p. 50; Buecheler, , Carm. ep. lat. ii (1897Google Scholar), no. 1841; Dessau I.L.S. 3228. The photograph has been supplied by the kindness of Mr. Brusin, Director of the Aquileia Museum. The monument of course cannot be dated. But the letters seem to be earlier than the time of Commodus with whom I connected the inscription of Aquileia in the article cited above.

page 104 note 1 An interesting parallel to the ideas expressed in the Aquileia epigram may be seen in a circular altar adorned with reliefs in the Museum of the Villa Borghese (Reifferscheid, in Ann. d. 1st. xxxv, 1863, p. 360 ppGoogle Scholar. Monum. ined. vi–vii, pl. 76, 4 and 5; Reinach, Rép. des rel., iii, p. 171, 1). The relief represents a solemn sacrifice to a group of gods by a Roman magistrate or an emperor; next to the altar stands Apollo Citharoedes, behind him Hercules with the scyphus and club, i.e. resting after his exploits; behind him again, and connected with him, Victory and, occupying the place remotest from the altar, Venus Genetrix. Apollo and Hercules represent bearers of the peace and prosperity which is assured by the exploits of Hercules; Venus symbolises the divine origin of Rome and of the emperors through whom peace and prosperity descended on the ‘orbis terrarum.’ It is a pity that the mutilated state of the sculptures makes impossible the assignment of an exact date, In any case the altar is earlier than the time of Commodus.

page 104 note 2 I deal with this subject in my forthcoming book: Economic and Social development of the Ancient World: The early Roman Empire, ch. iv; cf. Bayet, J., ‘Hercule Funéraire’ in Mel. de l'École fr. de Rome, xxxix, 1921–1922, p. 236Google Scholar.

page 105 note 1 At Prof. Rostovtseff's request I have much pleasure in presenting the evidence of imperial coins on this subject, with a short introductory note. The following abbreviations are used: B.M. = Britith Museum, C = Cohen, Gn. = Gnecchi Collection, Gn. (followed by numbers) = Gnecchi I medaglioni romani, vol. ii.

page 105 note 2 Cp. B.M.C. Empire i, pp. lxiv, ff. lxxi.

page 105 note 3 In his lifetime, that is to say: it had already been used for ‘Divus Augustus.’

page 106 note 1 The Greek coins of the Empire must obviously contain evidence of the first importance on this subject: cp. especially the coinage of Alexandria, recently annotated and described by Vogt, Joseph, Die Alexandrinischen Münzen, Bde. 2 (1924: Stuttgart) : cp. especially pp. 28Google Scholar f., Nero as ‘Νἐος Ἀγαθὸς Δαἰμων’ pp. 53 ff., Vespasian as Sarapis. The association of the words ‘Augustus’ and ‘Augusta’ with names of divinities in inscriptions is probably to be interpreted along similar lines.

page 107 note 1 There are some difficulties in the interpretation of details in the rev. types of nos. 9–11. The temple is probably that of Hercules at Gades. The female figures are probably two of the Hesperides. There seems to be a confusion of the story of Geryones and the story of the Golden Apples.