Category: Crime and Trials

Looted Hippodrome Relief

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

I watched the Seven Wonders of Ancient Rome (see next post) in the hopes that it might go into some detail about chariot racing … it does, but doesn’t mention what I hoped it would as a sort of introduction to this piece. Ages ago (indeed, I’m sure she’s given up on me) Dorothy King passed along a link to a page on her Lootbusters site which includes this  relief stolen from the Castel Sant’ Elia:

via Lootbusters

As Dr King notes, this item has been published:

Lise Vogel, “Circus Race Scenes in the Early Roman Empire,” The Art Bulletin Vol. 51, No. 2 (Jun., 1969), pp. 155-160

As Vogel relates, the relief was found in 1948 at Castel Sant’ Elia and originally was associated with an inscription, some of the letters of which are apparently still visible but not in the available photos (Dr King has another photo on her site mentioned above). The relief shows two quadrigae running left to right in front of a spina, with a third quadriga pursuing. Expanding on this description, we note that it appears that the first two have just crossed the finish line and it is what in modern times would be called a photo finish. There is an important detail in the back which isn’t mentioned and is a bit of a rarity in artistic depictions of chariot races: the ‘eggs’. As readers might be aware, these ‘eggs’ were used to mark the number of laps completed in the race. As a lap was completed, the ‘egg’ was ‘dropped’, so to speak. With one ‘egg’ remaining, this is obviously the final lap. As such, this is one of a few depictions that I’ve seen which actually use the eggs to highlight what section of the race is at and clearly this is the finish of what must have been a very famous race — most other depictions of races which include the eggs tend to have them at the same level, probably indicating the start of a race or not really being concerned with that sort of thing. Here’s one piece of comparanda from a sarcophagus in the Pergamon Museum (via the Database of Ancient Art):

via the Database of Ancient Art

Whatever the case, the inscription which accompanied the Sant’Elia relief likely referred to the race either in the context of the person sponsoring them or (more likely) the charioteer who won. It is an important piece, obviously, and hopefully it will be recovered …

Stolen Sarcophagus Recovered

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This one’s interesting, given that we were pondering the origins of that sarcophagus in the sea near Antalya t’other day … from the Local:

A Roman sarcophagus, believed to have been excavated illegally from an archaeological site close to Turkey’s Antalya, has been seized by authorities from a Swiss warehouse, a customs official said on Monday.

The marble tomb, bearing carvings depicting the 12 labours of Hercules, dates to 2 AD.

It was found by customs officials who were carrying out inventory checks at Geneva’s tax-free warehouses, said Jean-Marc Renaud, who heads Switzerland’s central customs services, confirming a Swiss television report.

According to Swiss television, Ankara is seeking restitution of the sarcophagus believed to have originated from the Greek-Roman archaeological site of Perge, about 22 kilometres from Antalya.

Swiss customs are currently holding the object, and have brought the case to Geneva prosecutors which opened a probe last year.

From the Italian Press: Major Bust in Italy

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Not sure if this will get coverage in English or not … from Il Tempo:

Sono 70 gli indagati nell’inchiesta condotta dai Carabinieri del Nucleo tutela patrimonio culturale di Cosenza che ha consentito di recuperare 17mila reperti archeologici. Le investigazioni hanno preso spunto dall’individuazione di un personaggio della provincia di Crotone, abitualmente dedito alla illecita ricerca sul territorio calabrese e alla commercializzazione di beni di natura archeologica mediante l’aggiudicazione di aste ed inserzioni online. I successivi approfondimenti investigativi hanno consentito di ricostruire la consistenza dell’intero traffico illecito degli ultimi anni e di identificare gli operatori del mercato clandestino di riferimento. A questo punto, sono stati avviati mirati accertamenti finalizzati a stabilire la provenienza dei beni archeologici commercializzati e la loro lecita detenzione. Accertata la presunta illiceita’ dell’attivita’ posta in essere e’ stata eseguita una perquisizione, e successivo sequestro, ordinata dalla Procura della Repubblica di Crotone. L’indagine che e’ stata condotta in varie fasi e localita’ del territorio nazionale ha portato alla denuncia di 70 persone per reati che vanno dalla ricettazione alle violazioni al Testo Unico sui beni culturali. Sono stati sequestrati 16.344 reperti archeologici tra cui oltre 15mila monete in argento e bronzo di epoca magno greca, romana e bizantina; 10 metal detector; 1.200 reperti archeologici, consistenti in vasi ceramici, fibule, anelli, bottoni, pesi da telaio e monili in ceramica; 42 reperti di natura paleontologica. Completati gli esami di rito i reperti archeologici saranno, al piu’ presto, messi a disposizione delle competenti Soprintendenze Archeologiche per consentirne la fruibilita’ pubblica e gli opportuni approfondimenti scientifici.

The gist: of the 17 000 items recovered, 15 000 or so were silver or bronze coins; the remainder were ceramics, pins, loom weights, etc. from Magna Grecia, Roman, and Byzantine times. They appear to have been selling things online in various places …

Bulgarian Bust Followup: It Ain’t Aphrodite

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One of the things we posted t’other day detailed the bust of a smuggling ring in Bulgaria who/which had in its possession a two-metre sculpture of Aphrodite. Today Novinite suggests there are questions about that identification:

The 2-meter antique statue, which was found buried in the back yard of a Bulgarian village house belonging to illegal treasure hunters, is not of Aphrodite, as the police, who seized it, initially believed.

Petar Banov, archeology expert from the Regional History Museum in the northern city of Pleven told the Bulgarian National Radio, BNR, that the statue is a Roman tomb sculpture of an ordinary woman.

Banov pointed out the find has no signs and symbols around her legs and/or arms, designating the female figure as a goddess, adding it was made during the flourishing of the ancient Roman city of Ulpia Oescus on the Danube, close to the village of Gigen in the Pleven District.

Banov, however, explained the archeological value of the discovery is still very high because it is of great quality and craftsmanship and it would give historians precious information.

According to the expert, it would be very hard to make a monetary appraisal of the statute because Bulgaria does not have an official antiques market and auctions.

… here’s a photo … I really don’t see how anyone could have called that an Aphrodite other than to further sensationalize the story:

Novinite photo

via: Bulgarian Expert: Seized Statue Is Not Aphrodite

Bits of the ‘Lava Treasure’ Recovered by French Police

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From Reuters:

French police said on Wednesday they had seized a significant portion of an ancient Roman treasure that was discovered more than two decades ago by Corsican divers who became rich by secretly selling it off.

The seizure is the latest chapter in the exploits of a then young Corsican and two friends who spotted gold in shallow waters 25 years ago while diving for sea urchins off the coast of the Mediterranean island.

The three friends enriched themselves by selling the coins and medallions on the black market and later claimed that they had inherited them when the source of their newfound wealth was discovered by the local authorities.

Police did not say on Wednesday from whom they had recovered the latest portion of the treasure, which likely came from an ancient shipwreck. Specialists consider the find to be one of the most important related to ancient coins, dating from the 3rd century AD.

“This submerged treasure, identified as a maritime cultural asset, belongs to the state,” France’s national police said in a statement, after a long investigation into national and international black markets for antiquities.

One of the original three Corsican friends, Felix Biancamaria, told French daily Liberation in 2005 how the discovery of what he quickly suspected were Roman coins brought him and his fellow divers untold wealth and thrills until the party soured when local police caught wind of their exploits.

Rather than turn the treasure over to authorities as state property, the divers claimed they had inherited it and began selling it to dealers. However the flood of rare Roman coins on the market eventually raised questions among collectors.

“People thought we were part of a gang of armed robbers,” Biancamaria said, describing how the three friends would dive all day for treasure and spend their evenings quaffing champagne in nightclubs.

The three men were among eight people tried in 1994 in connection with the case. They were handed prison sentences of between six and 18 months and made to pay fines.

One of the divers, Marc Cotoni, was killed in a shooting in 2004, according to French media.

Five other people were arrested last week in Paris in connection with the case, a judicial source said.

The recently seized coins, together with a prized golden plate, are estimated to have a value of between 1 million and 2 million euros ($1.38 million to $2.76 million), police said.

An investigation is still underway to track down other items from the treasure that remain missing.

Other coverage: