Making an Ornate Roman Cup

602 – Emperor Maurice is executed

27 November

Maurice Flavius Mauricius Tiberius Augustus 539 – 27 Nov 602 was Byzantine Emperor from 582 to 602. Maurice was murdered on this day in 602. It is said that the deposed emperor was forced to watch his six sons executed before he was beheaded himself. Empress Constantina and her three daughters were spared and sent to a monastery.

A prominent general in his youth, Maurice fought with success against the Sassanid Persians. Once he became Emperor, he brought the war with Persia to a victorious conclusion and the Empire's eastern border in the Caucasus was vastly expanded and for the first time in nearly two centuries the Byzantines were no longer obliged to pay the Persians thousands of pounds of gold annually for peace.

Maurice campaigned extensively in the Balkans against the Avars – pushing them back across the Danube by 599. He also conducted campaigns across the Danube, the first Emperor to do so in over two hundred years. In the West, he established two large semi-autonomous provinces called exarchates, ruled by exarchs, or viceroys, of the emperor. In Italy, Maurice established the Exarchate of Ravenna in 584, the first real effort by the Empire to halt the advance of the Lombards. With the creation of the Exarchate of Africa in 590, he further solidified the empire's hold on the western Mediterranean.

His reign was troubled by financial difficulties and almost constant warfare. In 602, a dissatisfied general named Phocas usurped the throne, having Maurice and his six sons executed. This event would prove cataclysmic for the Empire, sparking a devastating war with Persia that would leave both empires weakened prior to the Muslim invasions.

His reign is a relatively accurately documented era of Late Antiquity, in particular by the historian Theophylact Simocatta.

Making Roman Bread

The British Museum asked Giorgio Locatelli to recreate a Roman bread recipe watch the video below.

284 – Diocletian is chosen as Roman emperor

Diocletian (245–311) was a Roman emperor from 284 to 305. Born to a family of low status in the Roman province of Dalmatia, Diocletian rose through the ranks of the military to become cavalry commander to the Emperor Carus.

After the deaths of Carus and his son Numerian on campaign in Persia, Diocletian was proclaimed emperor. The title was also claimed by Carus' other surviving son, Carinus, but Diocletian defeated him in the Battle of the Margus. Diocletian's reign stabilized the empire and marks the end of the Crisis of the Third Century. He appointed fellow officer Maximian as Augustus, co-emperor, in 286.

Swiss farmer discovers Roman coin hoard

A Swiss farmer has made an amazing discovery in his Cherry Orchard, hidden inside a molehill the farmer discovered the Roman hoard of 4166 coins. The coins consist of both bronze and silver denominations and is one of the largest treasures ever discovered in Switzerland.

The regional archaeological service was brought in to excavate the coins, taking several months to remove all 15 kg of coins stretching from the reign of the Emperor Aurelian (270-275 A.D.) to the reign of Maximian (286 – 305 A.D.).

Many of the coins have been preserved in excellent condition with legible print, suggesting that they were not long in circulation before being hidden. the coins are destined for display at the Vindonissa de Brugg Museum in Aargau when the father will receive a finder’s fee according to Swiss law.