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拍品专文
PUBLISHED:
P. D. Spencer, "A whopping great Roman find!" in The Searcher, July 2012, pp. 29-30.
As well as being the tenth sign of the zodiac, Capricorn was the birth-sign of the Emperor Augustus. Capricorn appears on a number of Augustan coins, and became the emblem of the Legio II Augusta when that legion assumed the name of the new emperor. The II Augusta were involved in the invasion of Britain in 43 A.D., and were based at Caerleon in Wales until the 3rd Century A.D., with an area of operation including North Somerset. While it is possible that this Capricorn was simply a representation of a zodiac sign, it has been suggested that it may have adorned a legionary standard. Though it has no evidence of attachment, the figure does have a flat facet at the base with the remains of what could be iron connection points. A bronze from Wiesbaden showing Capricorn on a globe may have been a standard, cf. G. Webster, The Roman Imperial Army of the First and Second Centuries A.D., London, 1985, p. 136, fig. 22, while a cameo from Augst, Switzerland, shows Capricorn on top of a sceptre, cf. A. Kaufmann-Heinimann, Die Römischen Bronzen der Schweiz, Mainz, 1970, p. 137, no. 214, Taf. 136. Some gems found in areas where the II Augusta operated also depict Capricorn, encouraging an association between this present example and the legion, if not as a standard, then perhaps as a dedication.
P. D. Spencer, "A whopping great Roman find!" in The Searcher, July 2012, pp. 29-30.
As well as being the tenth sign of the zodiac, Capricorn was the birth-sign of the Emperor Augustus. Capricorn appears on a number of Augustan coins, and became the emblem of the Legio II Augusta when that legion assumed the name of the new emperor. The II Augusta were involved in the invasion of Britain in 43 A.D., and were based at Caerleon in Wales until the 3rd Century A.D., with an area of operation including North Somerset. While it is possible that this Capricorn was simply a representation of a zodiac sign, it has been suggested that it may have adorned a legionary standard. Though it has no evidence of attachment, the figure does have a flat facet at the base with the remains of what could be iron connection points. A bronze from Wiesbaden showing Capricorn on a globe may have been a standard, cf. G. Webster, The Roman Imperial Army of the First and Second Centuries A.D., London, 1985, p. 136, fig. 22, while a cameo from Augst, Switzerland, shows Capricorn on top of a sceptre, cf. A. Kaufmann-Heinimann, Die Römischen Bronzen der Schweiz, Mainz, 1970, p. 137, no. 214, Taf. 136. Some gems found in areas where the II Augusta operated also depict Capricorn, encouraging an association between this present example and the legion, if not as a standard, then perhaps as a dedication.