Antiquities Exhibits

Philip II (Latin: Marcus Julius Severus Philippus; 237 – 249CE), also known as Philip the Younger, was the son and heir of the Roman Emperor Philip the Arab by his wife Marcia Otacilia Severa. When his father became emperor in 244, young Philip was appointed caesar at the age of only seven-years-old. In 247, he became consul, and was later elevated by his father to the rank of augustus and co-ruler.  Although ancient historians claim both Philip the Arab and his son were killed in battle by Decius.   Decius was a distinguished senator who had served as suffect consul in 232, had been governor of Moesia and Germania Inferior soon afterwards, served as governor of Hispania Tarraconensis between 235 and 238, and was urban prefect of Rome during the early reign of Emperor Philip the Arab. In 248 or 249 Decius was sent to quell the revolt of Pacatianus and his troops in Moesia and Pannonia, a rebellion seen by some modern historians as emerging Balkan separatism.  After t...

A servant waiting to escort his master home was a well-known sculptural subject during the Hellenistic and Roman periods. A Hellenistic terracotta statuette from the Fayum, Egypt provides the earliest known evidence for this type. The subject was particularly popular in Roman times, when marble examples served as fountain sculptures in villa gardens in Pompeii and Syria, and bronze and silver variations were made into luxurious household objects such as inkwells, pepper-castors, and oil flasks. The example of a bronze oil flask included here is from the Roman town of Isurium Brigantum, now known as the Aldborough Roman Site in modern Yorkshire. It was founded in the late first century or early second century by Julius Agricola. This Roman civitas was the administrative center of the Brigantes tribe, the largest and most northerly tribe in Roman Britain. Tacitus recorded that Isuer was the seat of Venutius, king of the Brigantes who was usurped by his wife, Cartismandua (also spelled Ca...