Three rare gold solidi minted by three different 4th century Roman emperors have been discovered in Aquileia, northeastern Italy. The issues are so rare they were likely not circulation coinage, but rather medallions gifted to favored courtiers by the emperor during celebrations.
A team of archaeologists and students from the University of Verona excavated the site of the Fondo ex Pasqualis, a complex of markets on the southeastern edge of the city. They were able to uncover an area of more than 8,600 square feet in three months, all of it never before excavated.
The coins were found under the portico floor of one of the buildings in the market. They were minted by the emperors Valens (364-378 A.D.), Magnus Maximus (383-388 A.D.) and Arcadius (383-408. A.D.) in the imperial mint at Constantinople.
The 2025 excavation also revealed a row of 19 amphorae embedded into the soil. A similar set of 23 was discovered in the 2024 excavation, and the amphorae do not seem to have been used for storage or movement of goods, but rather to enhance drainage and to stabilize and strengthen the soil under long, narrow structures believed to have been warehouses.
These are most likely storage structures related to the first river dock discovered in the area, which belonged to a river much wider than the current one. These finds demonstrate that this southern area of the city, whose function was unknown before our excavations, also hosted a series of landing places and docks for goods arriving from the sea via the river. It can therefore be deduced that the city’s river port was larger than the already widely known western sector, following the course of the Natissa southward and also including structures for the storage of goods.
The 2025 excavation also unearthed a whole cobbled street that branched off the main thoroughfare to navigate between two of six large buildings where foods were stored and sold. The street still has wheel tracks visible on the surface, left behind by transport carts 1,700 years ago.
Valens and Arcadius seem to be Byzantine 4th century Roman emperors (Capital: Byzantion/ Constantinople), while Magnus Maximus is a Westerner, who died in Aquileia/ Venetia et Histria.
Solidi were minted in: Alexandria, Antiochia, Aquileia, Arelate, Carthage, Constantinople, Cyzicus, Heraclea, Londinium, Lugdunum, Mediolanum, Nicomedia, Ravenna, Rome, Sirmium, Siscia, Thessalonica, Ticinum and Augusta Treverorum.
The ‘O’ and the ‘B’ (on the reverse of the Solidus of Valens) indicate ‘Omikron Beta’ or LXXII/72, for 1/72 of a Roman pound of gold, and –in theory– 1 romanpound/72 = 4.5467235 gram. However, it also stands for ὄβρυζον/ Obryzon (‘pure’).
I might be wrong here, and indeed I do not fully understand all the codes on there, but apparently some solidi had ‘conob’ imprinted on them, apparently for ‘OB-by the Constantinople standard’, which does not say that they necessarily were minted in Constantinople.
Contrastingly, it seems to read ‘comtr’ for ‘comitatus’, i.e. the imperial court, in this case apparently the one at Augusta Treverorum/ Trier. – …What is (possibly) wrong here?!? 🤔️
I AM VERY IMPRESSED BY THE DEPTH AND SCALE OF FRANK’S KNOWLEDGE (MINE IS NON-EXISTENT) AND I ASK THAT FRANK SHOULD TELL WHAT IS THE BASIS OF THAT.
I am mainly trying to keep my English alive, and I also have been taught some Latin and Greek. The rest is rather of interest, stuff that I read elsewhere, and in particular, these days almost anything is available over the Internet, i.e. texts, dictionaries, wiktionaries and all that.
OK, if there indeed is a secret, it’s possibly to differ all the charlatans from basically those in the know, but which one I am, is -frankly- not as clear, as you may have been insinuating 🤣️
Volume X of Roman Imperial Coinage would cover this period.
…For further instance, check the post -right on here- from August 17, 2019:
“Pristine Constantine gold solidus found in Somerset (…) The reverse is inscribed VIRTVS AUGSTI N(OSTRI) (The valor of our Emperor) and [at the bottom] is the mint mark ‘PTR’ which stands for ‘Percussum Treveris’, meaning struck in Trier.”