2.5 Roman history
Click on the pictures to view them in full screen format
- MS 2052 Roma, 178
- MS 2035 Flanders, ca. 1150-1175
- MS 1561 France, late 12th c.
- MS 4517 Italy, 3rd quarter 15th c.
- MS 118 Austria, ca. 1470
AUXILIARY DIPLOMA GIVEN BY EMPEROR MARCUS AURELIUS TO THIA TIMARCHUS F. DACO, AFTER 26 YEARS OF SERVICE WITH THE COHORT II GALLORUM VETERANA IN BRITAIN, STATIONED AT THE ROMAN FORT IN OLD PENRITH IN CUMBRIA, UNDER THE PREFECT T. DOMITIUS HERON OF NICOMEDIA AND THE GOVERNOR OF BRITAIN, ULPIUS MARCELLUS, UNDER THE CONSULS SERVIUS SCIPIONE ORFITUS, AND D. VELIUS RUFUS. COPIED AND CHECKED FROM THE BRONZE TABLET SET UP IN ROMA ON THE WALL BEHIND THE TEMPLE OF AUGUSTUS, NEAR THE STATUE OF MINERVA. WITNESSES: C. BELLUS URBANUS, L. SENTUS CHRYSOGONUS, TI. JULIUS CRESCENTIS, L. PULLUS MARCIONIS, S. VIBUS ROMANUS, C. PUBLICUS LUPERCUS, M. JUNUS PIUS
MS in Latin on bronze, Roma, 23 March 178, 2 tabellas (complete), 14,2x11,2 cm, single column, 31+7+22+9 lines in Latin capitals, 2 holes through each tablet for the original wire that still binds the two tablets together, originally secured with the seals of the 7 witnesses.
Binding: Barking, Essex, 1995, blue cloth gilt folding case, by Aquarius.
Context: There are 3 praetorian diplomas (MSS 1801, 1870, 2051/7) in The Schøyen Collection, further 11 auxiliary diplomas (MSS 1836, 1899, 2051/1-6, 2051/8, 2052, 2086), and 3 fleet diplomas (MSS 698, 1921, 2032).
Provenance: 1. Thia Timarchus f. Daco (of Thrace) (178 until his death); 2. Found at Rhodope Mountains, Bulgaria (ca. 1990)
Commentary: The present diploma gives Thia Timarchus an honourable discharge from the army of Emperor Marcus Aurelius, Roman citizenship for himself and his descendants, and the right of legal marriage. The diploma is exceptional in that the 2 tabellas still are bound together with the original wire. It is also of special British interest since it records for the first time that the Cohort II Hispanorum was stationed in Britain, and of historical significance for recording Ulpius Marcellus as governor of Britain in 178. It also states that the recipient Thia Timarchus from Thrace served in Cohort II Gallorum Veterana, stationed at the Roman Fort in Old Penrith, Cumbria. The present MS contains the unusual information, of both year, place and the exemplar copied. The exemplar, the bronze tablet set in the wall on Forum Romanum, in fact, still survives in fragments.
Published: M. Roxan & Paul Holder: Roman Military Diplomas, IV. Institute of Classical studies. London, 2003. no 293, pp. 547-551.
Exhibited: Kistefos-museet, Jevnaker: Romerske portretter i gull og marmor, 22 mai - 25 september 2005.
FLAVIUS MAGNUS AURELIUS CASSIODORUS: HISTORIA TRIPARTITA
MS in Latin on vellum, Flanders, Belgium, ca. 1150-1175, 70 ff. (-2), 36x25 cm, 2 columns (28x19 cm), 38-45 lines in an angular late Romanesque book script, headings in red, 1-line initials for tables in alternating red, blue and green, 2-line decorated initials with marginal extensions throughout in red blue or green with decoration in blue or red, 2 very large decorated initials in elaborate plantstem and leafy designs in red infilled with wash in red, green, blue and yellow-brown, 6 very large decorated initials in arabesque designs in divided blue, red or green, or red and blue, with elaborate infill in the other colours including yellow-green.
Binding: Belgium, 18th c., brown calf, gilt spine compartments, sewn on 5 cords, red mottled edges.
Context: For a single leaf of the text from the Carolingian period, see MS 236.
Provenance: 1. Monastery in Flanders, No. 3003 (12th c.-ca. 1800); 2. Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Barrois, Deputy for Lille 1827, Lille and Belgium (ca. 1800-1849); 3. Bertram, 4th Earl of Ashburnham, B.126 (1849-1901); 4. Sotheby's Lord Ashburnham's sale 10.06.1901:281; 5. J. and J. Leighton, A Selection of Choice Manuscripts, 1901:34; 6. George Dunn (1903-ca. 1910); 7. Laurence W. Hodson (ca. 1910-1933); 8. Laurence W. Hodson's descendants (1933-1995); 9. Sotheby's 20.6.1995:72.
Commentary: The Historia Tripartia is Cassiodorus' (ca. 485-570) most influential work next to his famous account of the seven liberal arts. It is the history of the Roman empire from Constantine the Great (306) to Theodosius II (439). It is based on 3 Greek sources, the chronicles of Socrates Scholasticus (ca. 380-450), Zozomenus (early 5th c., cf. MS 38), and Theodoret (393-466), hence the work's title.
Exhibited: Oslo Katedralskole 850 år, Jubileumsutstilling 10. - 14. March 2003.
FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS: DE BELLO JUDAICO, BOOK III 1:1 -7:22, III 7:29 - 8:35, IV 11:5 - V 1:5, V 13:1 - V
MS in Latin on vellum, France, late 12th c., 12 ff., 39x22 cm, 2 columns, (23x14 cm), 52 lines in Romanesque book script of medium quality, 28 red 2- to 7-line initials, 4 red 4- to 11-line initials with penwork.
Context: There are 2 more leaves in private collections in France. Provenance: 1. Mirgodin Collection, Paris (-1988); 2. 2 ff.: Sotheby's 17.12.1991:10; 10 ff.: Sandra Hindman, Paris.
Commentary: The present part of Josephus' (37-63) famous work starts with the coming of Vespasian and Titus, continues with the factions and atrocities in Jerusalem, and ends with the beginning of the siege of Jerusalem.
Exhibited: 1. Oslo Katedralskole 850 år, Jubileumsutstilling 10. - 14. March 2003; 2. NorFa - Nordic network in Qumran studies. Symposium in Oslo 3-5. June 2004.
- CAIUS JULIUS CAESAR: COMMENTARII DE BELLO GALLICO
- CAIUS JULIUS CAESAR: DE BELLO CIVILI
- CAIUS JULIUS CAESAR: DE BELLO ALEXANDRINO. PROBABLY BY AULIUS HIRTIUS
- CAIUS JULIUS CAESAR: DE BELLO AFRICANO
- CAIUS JULIUS CAESAR: DE BELLO HISPANIENSI
MS in Latin on vellum, Milano, Italy, 3rd quarter 15th c., 280 ff. (complete), 35x24 cm, single column, (23x15 cm), 27 lines in an elegant sloping humanist book script, first title and incipit in burnished gold capitals, marginal titles in pink, 16 large white-vine initials in gold and colours by the Ippolita Master, later vellum page-edge tabs at the opening of each text.
Binding: Milano, 3rd quarter 15th c., panelled goatskin with triple fillets bounding the zigzag border, blindstamped with rope-work and repeated Agnus Dei, sewn on 4 thongs, 4 brass clasps and repoussé catches, 2 with Agnus Dei, 2 with Virgin and Child.
Context: The present MS is attributed to the scribe who wrote the copy of Petrarch's De vita solitaria, made for Count Filippo Borromeo, Chicago: Newberry Lib. Ms f.95, and Servius' commentary on the Vergil written in 1465 for Ippolita, daughter of Francesco Sforza, Duke of Milano, Valencia: Bib. Univ., Ms 780.
Provenance: 1. Giovanfrancesco Marliani, Milano (ca. 1475); 2. Charles Harry St John Hornby, London, M. 93 (1935-1946); 3. Major J.R. Abbey, London, J.A. 3232 (1946-1947); 4. Sotheby's 18.2.1947:246; 5. Library of William Foyle, Beeleigh Abbey, Maldon, Essex (1947-1963), and heirs (-2000); Christie's 11.7.2000:82.
Commentary: The account of the campaigns in Gaul from 58-52 BC, and
of the civil war against Pompeius 49-48 BC are the only works of Julius Caesar
to survive intact. Although presented here as though they form part of
Caesar's account of the civil war, the final 3 works were most likely written
by soldiers who took part in the campaigns in Africa, Egypt and Spain between
48 and 45 BC. Aulius Hirtius wrote Book 8 of De bello Gallico, a continuation
of Caesar's work.
The white-vine initials of this MS are closely
comparable with work in a copy of Servius' commentary on Vergil made for Gian
Galeazzo Sforza, Duke of Milano, between 1476 and 1481, which was the work of
2 artists, Ambrogio da Marliano and the Ippolita Master. It is the white-vine
decoration of the opening folio, and the initials of identical forms and
technique, painted by the Ippolita Master in Gian Galeazzo's Servius that
match the initials of the present MS and enable its attribution to the same
illuminator.
SUETONIUS: VITAE 12 CAESARUM
MS in Latin on paper, Austria, ca. 1470, 169 ff. (complete), 24x16 cm, single column, (16x10 cm), 30 lines in a square, slightly sloping humanistic book script, headings and sidenotes in pale red, 12 5- to 6-lines illuminated initials in highly burnished and punched gold, entwined with coloured leafy plantstems on blue, red or green grounds, heightened with tracery and clusters of dots, the first one with 3/4 scrolling border of coloured and gold plantstems including a bird.
Binding: France, before 1878, blue morocco gilt, sewn on 5 cords, gilt inner borders, marbled endleaves, green silk markers, by Lortic.
Provenance: 1. Ambroise Firmin-Didot (1790-1876); 2. Adolphe Labitte (Librairie Firmin-Didot & Cie), Paris, 6.6.1878:59; 3. Maggs Bros., London (1959); 4. Major J.R. Abbey (1959-1969), J.A.6963; 5. Sotheby's 1.12.1970:2885; 6. Sotheby's 21.6.1988:89.
Commentary: This classical text covers the period from Caesar
(100-44 BC) to Domitian (81-96 AD).
Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (ca. 70 –
ca. 135) wrote the biographies of Caesar (100-44 BC) and Augustus (27 BC-14
AD) while he was secretary at the imperial palace, where he had access to the
imperial archives. After he was dismissed by Hadrian in 122, he wrote the
biographies of the 10 following emperors up to Domitian (81-96). Suetonius is
the source of the well-known stories of Caesar crossing Rubicon, his
assassination in the Senate, Tiberius’ atrocities at his villa in Capri, Nero
singing while Roma was burning, Vespasian’s statement that money do not smell,
etc. He also wrote the biographies of Terence, Vergil, Horace and Lucan. There
are many mss surviving of this classical text, but this is the only ms written
in Austria, and it has some text variants.