The Glory and Oppression that was Rome

'Eagle in the Snow' by Wallace Breem is a book about the fall of Rome that has become a classic of its kind. It describes the gradual decay of the Empire in the West through the eyes of Maximus. It is a book that should be required reading in World History classes in every school.

The Roman Empire commonly is compared to the United States and its global sphere of influence. It was when I was in Tunisia, standing on the stones of old Carthage, that I truly became aware of the global nature of Roman influence. Rome in North Africa has endured in archaeological terms far better than Rome in the lands of the Northern people. There was less strife between the Roman overseers and the native populations than the terrible, grim wars of survival between the Germanic tribes and the hated Empire.

The Romans created marvels of modern engineering in the form of the aquaducts, roads and public baths throughout the Empire. There was tremendous corruption, however, as well as the fundamental philosophical question of whether or not one nation has the right to impose its will upon another. One cannot argue even that the Romans were superior morally, philosophically or ethically to the people they subjugated, nor was the 'Pax Romana' achieved without constant bloodshed. Sometimes the people of the Empire fought for nothing more than the hunger of warring leaders for power. The latter days of the Empire in particular are characterised by multiple self-styled Emperors who fought one another throughout the known world.

There was a time in the Empire when all religions were tolerated but once Constantine proclaimed Christianity to be the 'official religion', older religions suffered persecutions.

The Romans were hated most in Northern Europe, not in Africa. Despite the brutal total destruction of Carthage, for the most part, North Africa adopted the Roman ways that it admired and ignored the rest. Roman architecture and achievements either were incorporated into native civilisations ultimately or were abandoned to the desert.

In Northern Europe, however, proximity to the capital as well as the threat of the Huns from the East contributed to the savage endless wars between so-called 'Barbarians' and the Empire. Furthermore, there was a very profound religious cause for emnity. The Forests, considered sacred by native tribes, were destroyed by an Empire that perceived them only as a source of lumber for building projects. This point often is lost in history lessons. Even before Christian kings like Charlemagne waged deliberate religious war against the old gods, the Empire had committed sacrilege in the eyes of the native populations of Northern Europe by cutting down sacred groves.

Apart from the need for lumber, the Forests represented another danger to the armed forces of the Empire. They were a natural sanctuary for enemies who fought more as individuals than in organised units, who were adept at what now is termed 'guerilla warfare'. Romans built straight roads, not so much for trade as for the progress of marching soldiers and the cover provided by forests to native resistance forces was a threat to the Empire.

The Roman Empire linked the world through trade as well similar to the way the U.S. created multi-national corporations that now hold significant political as well as economic power to determine the destiny of other nations and people. The effects of Roman imperialism have lasted 2000 years, for better or worse, as long as some of its architectural wonders. Are monuments worth the price paid in the destruction of native cultures and native aspirations? Certainly the petty power struggles of rival leaders were not worth the blood of a single individual, whether Roman volunteer or foreign conscript. Trade is lauded as unreservedly positive in contemporary Western propaganda. The ability to determine whether or not a product even should EXIST as well as the locations where it is created and the prices by which it can be or cannot be acquired are considered to belong to the leaders of trade by right. Propaganda rules our perception of products. One need only look at the Opium Trade for proof of that. There is nothing intrinsically evil about the Poppy. The motivations for controlling or prohibiting the growth of the Poppy throughout the world are not noble. They are greed, a desire for total control and the need to manipulate both nations and people. Pharmaceutical companies are powerful multi-national corporations whose own interests are paramount in their considerations. More clandestine perhaps but equally influential politically is the way that political organisations such as the CIA rely upon the continuing illegality or tight control of various pharmaceutical substances to line their pockets and pay for their illicit operations throughout the globe. U.S. support of many a dictator and many unsavoury governments has been subsidised by cocaine.

Is it any wonder that the U.S. is despised by the so-called 'Third World'? Like the Roman Empire in its latter days, the U.S. meddles in every one else's affairs and actually believes it has the right to do so. It promotes a belief system wherein U.S. values and 'civilisation' are judged superior, infecting its people with missionary zeal to force submission upon the entire world in the name of 'democracy' and 'social progress'.

There is one final point to be made about the Roman Empire and its parallel to the United States at the start of the 21st century. The Roman Empire thrived on war, in a sense, because the War Machine had to be fed regularly. Soldiers were the foundation of the Empire and they required training as well as provisions. In a state of peace, the Military Machine faced the usual threats of being considered superfluous and diminished. In the same way, the United States owes much of its admittedly false 'Prosperity' to the Military Machine and those who run it. The unjustifiable invasions of Iraq were necessary for the maintenance of this Monster.
When the Soviet Union no longer could be held up as a threat to encourage national support of the Military, the 'War on Terror' was created.

I stray from the point of this post, however, which simply was intended to recommend 'Eagle in the Snow' to any one who has not read it. If you like historical fiction, it is a book that inspired many of the best contemporary writers in the genre. Moreover, it is one of those books with universal relevance. You need not be obsessed with ancient Rome in order to enjoy it.

The Bronze Age, Magic of Metals

The Bronze Age produced some of the most sophisticated and intricate works in metal known to humanity. Bronze is a metal that was created by metal artists and it served every possible purpose. Weapons and armour were not the only items made of bronze. Household implements and tools as well as incredibly exquisite pieces of jewelry were made from Bronze during this period.

I am no scientists, but it is my own understanding that bronze originally was discovered by metalworkers after they began to extract copper from sulfide ores.
Copper was highly prized by the ancients but in the process of extracting it, they began to realise that other substances in sulfide ores had even greater potential for use.

Ancient smiths produced copper initially probably from nuggets, malachite and azurite carbonate ores. As demand increased, however, miners were forced to delve deeper for ores that contained far more impurities. Almost every copper ore contains some arsenic, tin, zinc, antimony or nickel which, during the smelting process can produce a number of different alloys. When copper is impure, it can have a lower melting point than pure copper, allowing easier melting and casting. This gave smiths the power to produce better castings and to create stronger metals.
Ultimately, a particular mixture came to be known as Bronze.

Bronze is the name given to any alloy that is 85-95% Copper. The remaining percentage ordinarily consists primarily of tin. If the amount of tin or arsenic is too low, the resulting alloy is not improved substantially. If the amount is too high, the resulting alloy is too brittle to be useful.

In finding the perfect combination, metallurgists became magicians in the eyes of the uninitiated. They were able to create a new metal that outvied any other in strength and usefulness. Smiths came to be elevated to the position of gods or godlings. In many mythological cycles, metalsmiths occupy vital positions. Often it is a metalsmith who is married to the Goddess of Love.

Burials of metalworkers from the Bronze Age have been discovered containing all the tools of his trade: hammers, anvils, moulds and knives.

Bronze retains an edge that is sharper and stronger than stone, once it has been hammered. The ability to recognise Bronze, however, came slowly to the ancients. In the Chalcolithic period, when copper and stone artifacts were used together, tools and weapons were produced without any real comprehension of the percentages required to produce the best metal. As metalworking became more sophisticated, however, smiths began to recognise the best alloys.

Arsenic ores were more common than tin ores and could be used to create bronzes of very high quality. No tin bronzes have been found in Western Asia before 3000 B.C.
After 3000 B.C., bronzes in the Western Mediterranean and Crete as well as Egypt were made primarily with arsenic, but in Anatolia, bronze was made both with tin and arsenic. The mineral stannite would have been used in Anatolia to extract the ore needed.

Arsenic, however, is poisonous albeit slow to act. Over the years, smiths who breathed the fumes of arsenic as bronze was heated and worked would have succumbed to the poison or been affected by it. Nerve damage in the limbs is one of the most obvious symptoms of arsenic poisoning. Tin bronze gradually became the preferred alloy. By 2000 B.C., tin bronze had become the dominant metal and continued to be for Western civilisations for 2000 years.

It is possible that the depiction of so many smiths in legends and myths as lame was a distant memory of the effects of arsenic poisoning on early metalworkers. Hephaestus and Vulcan were lame as was Wolund or Weyland, although the Northern smith was said to have been hamstrung as a captive by a king who wished thereby to prevent him from winning his way to freedom.

Where sources both of copper and tin were available, the 'Bronze Age' flourished.

Bronze was not particularly costly even in ancient times, although the skill required to work it must have increased the cost of weapons, tools and jewelry made from it. The proliferation of Roman artifacts consisting of bronze rings and fibulae throughout Europe is primarily the legacy of the Roman legions. It is not simple farmers but soldiers who purchased jewelry that identified them, promoted a favourite god or goddess or otherwise was worn for good luck in battle. Countless rings have been found with the name or mascot of various legions engraved upon them. Pins, of course, were a necessary item to fasten garments, especially cloaks.

In the early 21st century, metals used to create jewelry tend to be mass-produced and have a consistency they would have lacked in earlier centuries. Even gold has become fairly homogenised. One need not go too far into the past, however, to find gold that, like bronze, could differ in colour and hardness depending on which alloys predominated. Rose gold and green gold are two examples of this. 'Black Hills Gold' is one contemporary label for gold that still is made in different colours but for the most part, hallmarked gold in this century is yellow and bears a stamp to confirm its level of purity.

So-called 'Roman' artifacts, as well as 'Victorian' antiques require fairly expensive tests for true proof of their antiquity. One learns to recognise obvious counterfeits but the difference between a ring that is two hundred years old and one that is two thousand years old may not be evident to a layman.

Furthermore, very often Roman rings that once held stones have been refitted either with modern or ancient stones. Reconstruction is common to improve the appearance and ostensible value of a piece of 'ancient' jewelry.

How much does any of this signify to most people? It would be a mistake, I think, to 'invest' sizeable income in ancient artifacts without being an expert with the equipment to date items. COAs have only as much value as the signature on them. Any one can create and sign a document declaring the age and quality of a piece of jewelry. Until they are challenged, the 'authenticity' of the piece stands.

A peripheral effect of the traffic in antiquities on the internet is the way that a statement made by one individual (whether or not he/she is an expert), then is copied by another, and again by some one else, until suddenly one has a definitive corpus of declarations attesting to the nature of an artifact.

For example, there are many 'Roman' rings that are described as dating 'from the 1st to 4th century'. The basis of this declaration may have been genuine expertise in one case but a dealer who is NOT an expert may attach that description to his/her objects on the basis of nothing more than style or general appearance. As more amateur 'dealers' in antiquities use the determining age description, ALL Roman artifacts offered by inexpert sellers are dated '1st to 4th century' without any real evidence to support the statement.

The 1st to 4th centuries were the periods of greatest expansion for the Roman Empire as well as a time of constant war. It makes sense that a large quantity of artifacts from battlefields and from military camps would exist, but there are many other possibilities in terms of the antiquity of any 'Roman' artifact. In the same manner as coins from the Islamic Empire were copied, sometimes poorly, in Asia as well as Northern Europe, Roman jewelry was copied through the centuries both by the descendants of soldiers and by native smiths who admired the work. Finally, there are many periods in history where Roman revivals in art occurred. Through the peculiar power of the internet, however, a vast number of Roman artifacts sold online are described as dating from '1st to 4th century.'

It is not only ancient artifacts that demonstrate the power of the internet to redefine reality or to create urban myths and legends. As a writer of game guides, I have been forced to disprove far too many urban myths about games. One individual, whether in jest or for mischief's sake, may make a claim about a game. It usually depends on a complicated chain of actions and represents something that players would LIKE to believe could occur. Sometimes it actually does represent a real result in a DIFFERENT game.

A player reads the statement and passes it on to his/her friends or posts it on a message board. Suddenly, the urban myth has spread like wildfire and I receive dozens of emails asking me if such an event can occur. Once an idea takes hold, it is difficult to erase. Years later, even after many guides have been written that specifically mention the false claims and disprove them, the rumours of these events continue...

As usual, I have wandered from the point I wished to make, which was the amazing beauty of Bronze. Studying Roman bronze jewelry, one marvels at the incredible diversity of the metal. Some pieces are darker than others. Some are clearly more akin to copper than others. There are pieces that resemble gold but others that exhibit the red flame of copper. The depth of Bronze is quite different from that of gold or silver. It is difficult to explain in words. There is a heaviness and density to bronze that effects its appearance. Copper is a very light metal. Gold somehow is not as heavy as bronze, even when its weight in grams is significant.

Like Silver, Bronze is affected dramatically by the act of polishing it. Gold always gleams unless it has been stored in earth or otherwise affected by the elements. The appearance of bronze, on the other hand, can change quickly. If one uses a simple wire brush on a bronze ring to buff the metal, it is transformed.

Haunting Image from the Past

The first time I saw a photograph of this ring, it resonated somehow in my soul. It was a mystery I had not solved, as I could not recognise the images but it was powerful nonetheless.

Even now, I have not solved this mystery. The ring probably was a seal ring, which means that, like an intaglio, it is the gaps between the metalwork that create the shapes. Most intaglio seals are deciphered easily but this one eludes me. Celtic
designs are among the most convoluted and sophisticated, including animal forms that twist and turn and double back upon themselves. This design appears to be Celtic in its inspiration, but what does it represent?

There are gods with fishtails. It is difficult for me to see the image in the spaces rather than the lines, but it appears to me that either a fishtail or a series of waves is included in this design.

Was it a personal or tribal icon, a fanciful artist's vision or simply a random combination of shapes like the counterfeit coins that were produced throughout the Roman Empire and later, throughout the Islamic Empire, shapes that no longer held significance to their copiers but somehow had achieved the status of official icons over the years?

In the lands conquered by the Arabs, native governments often issued coins that imitated Arabic but in fact were gibberish as the shapes were distorted or ordered without knowledge of the significance of each letter. Earlier, before the Roman Empire ceased to be, native tribes in Western Europe created their own coins in imitation of imperial Roman coins with the same result on occasion.

To me, however, this seal is very Celtic rather than being derivative at all. It may have been created at the time when Rome still held dominance over Europe but it possesses the fluidity and sophistication of Celtic art. Roman seals tend to be very simple in their lines. They are based on certain fundamental designs that could create a human form in a couple of small dots and lines. They are amazing in their own way but very different from this ring. In the previous post, I included some photographs of Roman seal rings as well as the seals themselves.

Actually, I have an old Celtic coin from the 1st Century that is similar in style and has been described as depicting a standing bear with, on the other side of the coin, a mounted warrior. To the uneducated eye, it looks like nothing so much as an artwork by a Cubist like Picasso, but once I studied it, I began to be able to discern the forms both of bear and warrior. It never 'leapt' to the eye, though.

One viewer of this ring design declared it to represent a man holding a tree. I could see that as well. If the 'tree' could be translated to 'club', it could be a depiction of Hercules or some Celtic version of the hero. Looking at the design when the ring is turned a different way, one can see an animal, perhaps a stag with antlers. It is all very perplexing and fascinating. What is it in me that wishes to solve the mystery definitively? Why can't I perceive it almost as I would an ink blot design to change and transform with every viewing?

There is another part of me that wonders if objects can serve as repositories of spiritual power, carrying blessings or curses rather like the Hope Diamond. What does it mean to wear a ring engraved with the form of a deity that one does not serve personally? Some would declare instantly that this is why many religions prohibit 'graven images' of 'false gods'... Does that signify a belief of some kind in those 'false gods' and their power??? To transform a 'false god' into a demon or devil actually confirms belief in the existence of that deity.

One day I hope to be able to look at this ring and see the original intention as clear as crystal etched upon the slate of my soul. Does it represent a deity or mythical creature, an animal or animals, or something quite different? I see many forms but none of them definitive. It may be a trivial mystery but it is one that nags at me to solve it.

Later: How subjective vision is! Imagination takes a leap and the mind follows to fill in the gaps. There are many Byzantine rings that have similar forms as this. Knowing that, I chose not to credit that possibility. It could be lettering rather than any animal or plant design. I had thought this particular ring to be different from the pseudo-Arabic seal rings found throughout the Empire, but perhaps I am wrong and it is nothing more than another calligraphic name ring or a poorly copied prayer.