Browse Items (20 total)

This fresco of Adam and Eve in the garden is instantly recognizable to anyone who is familiar with the scene from later centuries of Christian art. Within the catacomb, there is a mixture of pagan (including a representation of Orpheus playing a…

The so-called Byzantine Church in Petra is one of three Byzantine Churches in the city, the other two are the Ridge Church (also called the Red Church) and the Blue Chapel. It is generally The Byzantine Church is thought to have been built in the…

This ceiling mosaic in Mausoleum M, the Tomb of the Julii, in the Vatican Necropolis underneath St. Peter’s Basilica, has been interpreted as depicting Christ as Sol Invictus (Unconquered Sun), the sun god of the later Roman Empire. Sol Invictus came…

Museum Descprition: “Apolausis, the personification of enjoyment, welcomes visitors to Dumbarton Oaks as she has done since its doors opened to the public in 1941. The floor had been discovered just a few years before in a bath building located…

Obverse: Bust of Anastasios I facing right with diadem, cuirass, and paludamentum.

DNANASTA-SIVSPPAVC

D[OMINUS NOSTER] ANASTASIVS P[ER]P[ETEUUS] AVC[VSTVS]

Our Lord, Anastasios, Perpetual Emperor

Reverse: Victory, nude to the waist,…

Issued by Diocletian in 301, the Edict on Maximum prices gives the maximum prices for more than 1,200 products, raw materials, labor, services, modes of transport, animals, and for enslaved peoples. Fresh green animal fodder could be purchased for 1…

The Arch of Galerius was built between 298 and 299 and dedicated in 303 to celebrate his victory at the Battle of Satala and the capture of Ctesiphon. In this detail, Galerius (at left) is shown attacking Narseh (or Narses, at right). Narseh was the…

This ornamental cup bears a Greek inscription reading: “and for years to come!” It was found in Brsljin, Slovenia.

This gold bar is one of fifteen (all dating to the 4th century) that were found in Romania in the late 19th century. The form makes it more easily transportable, and it most likely would have been brought to a mint where it would have been melted…

This gold necklace was found in Szilágysomlyó (modern-day Simleu-Silvaniei, Romania) in 1797 by two shepherd boys. The central pendant is smoky quartz. The other 51 pendants depict various tools and weapons in miniature as well as a man in a canoe.…