Sword of Tiberius

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Replica of the "Sword of Tiberius" in the Carnuntum Museum

The "Sword of Tiberius" is a well-preserved Roman gladius from the early 1st century from the Roman Mogontiacum . It was found in 1848 near the winter harbor in the old town of Mainz and is now in the British Museum in London . The find was named shortly after its discovery because of the Roman emperor Tiberius depicted on the sheath fittings .

The special meaning and naming of the individual find result from the rich symbolism of the preserved brass fittings of the sword scabbard. They show a variety of individual symbolic scenes that can be assigned to the official political-propagandistic image program under the Roman Emperor Tiberius.

Find history

The sword of Tiberius, i.e. the iron gladius including the preserved scabbard fittings, was found on August 10, 1848 during the construction of the Hessian Ludwig Railway in Mainz . The site was in the old town at the height of the Neutor, which no longer exists today. There the find was made according to a contemporary report "in the ditch of the Filzbach ..." . The find was initially suppressed by the construction workers and later sold to the gold art dealer. The Mainz Antiquities Association , founded shortly before in 1844, tried to acquire the find for the Mainz Antiquities Museum, but was not able to raise the required 12,000 guilders . The sword then ended up in the Felix Slade collection . In 1866, Slade gave it as a gift to the British Museum in London, where it has been on display ever since. Exact reconstructions of the sword of Tiberius are now also in the Roman-Germanic Central Museum in Mainz.

Historical context

The sword most likely belonged to a Roman officer, possibly of the rank of centurion . Thanks to the graffito Aureli on the back of the scabbard mouthplate, at least the owner's gentility is known. Based on the interpretation of the depicted scenes, the gladius could be a personal award from an Aurelius for his deeds in the Alpine campaign of Tiberius in 15 BC. Have been.

Chronological order

The emergence of the Gladius can be dated relatively precisely due to the depicted members of the Julio-Claudian imperial family and the political message of the pictorial program depicted. Tiberius is represented as an emperor, which rules out dating before the year 14. Germanicus , whose identification can be assumed to be certain based on the profile, was recalled as a general in Germania in the year 17. Thus the time of origin of the gladius must lie between the year 14 and the year 17. The year 14, with the mutiny of the Pannonian and Rhenish legions and the Germanicus campaigns just beginning, did not give rise to such a representation of victory. The recovery of two of the three legionary eagles lost in the Varus Battle in the years 15 and 16/17, however, Tiberius was able to record as a domestic political success, which should justify a gesture of victory of the kind shown for the emperor and his "successful" general. This means that the dating can be set to the years 16/17.

description

The iron blade of the gladius was still in very good condition when it was discovered and measures 53 cm in length and 7 cm in width. The sword measures 1 cm at the thickest point. Of the bronze sword scabbard, only the brass fittings, some of which are tin-plated and gold-plated, are also in good condition. Only a small fragment of the handle of the gladius has survived. Due to its shape and dimensions, the gladius can be assigned to the so-called "Mainz type". This is an older gladius shape that is characteristic of the first half of the first century and was named after numerous similar finds from this time in Mainz.

The figural decoration of the sword scabbard is divided into three areas: the scabbard mouthpiece (upper area), the scabbard shoe (lower area) and the middle area of ​​the sword scabbard.

The first figurative scene with inscriptions can be found on the scabbard mouthpiece. The general Germanicus, commander-in-chief of the army in Germania, stands in front of the seated emperor Tiberius, who is framed by the standing deities Mars Ultor and Victoria . Mars stands in the background of the scene, Victoria diagonally behind the seated emperor. She is referred to as Vic (toria) / Aug (usta) on a shield she is holding . Tiberius sits half-naked in Jupiter pose on a folding chair. With his left hand Tiberius holds an oval shield with the inscription Felicitas Tiberi . Germanicus, whose profile has been worked out in a typical way and allows the person to be identified, stands before the emperor. With both hands he holds out the small statue of a Victoria to the emperor as a sign of his triumph, which the emperor seems to be accepting with one hand.

In the upper third of the sword scabbard, double relief bands with finely worked oak wreath motifs follow as a decorative element, which can be interpreted as Coronae civicae . They each cover the vaginal clamps. The four eyelets for fastening the sword belt, which have been preserved in the original, are still in their original position. In the middle of the scabbard and thus in a central position there is a medallion with the portrait of Divus Augustus . The left-facing portrait of Augustus is surrounded by a laurel wreath .

The lower third of the sword scabbard again begins with two relief bands with oak wreath motifs. Two figurative scenes follow in the area of ​​the scabbard. The upper scene shows the facade of a camp sanctuary (sacellum) , which is supported by four columns. The sloping roof has lyre-shaped sima ornaments on both sides . In the middle of the sanctuary there is a legionary eagle, flanked by two standard symbols on both sides. The last scene shows an Amazon-like female figure who can be viewed as a personification . The barefoot woman clad in a robe is shouldering a double ax in her right hand and a spear in her left hand. The vaginal shoe ends just below in a double-spherical point.

Interpretation of the images

The depicted scenes and themes belong to the area of ​​triumphal symbolism of the early imperial era and can be understood as the "official political propagandistic image program under Emperor Tiberius" . Even under Augustus, dynastic-military themes were known as decorative motifs for gladius fittings. Up until the 1980s there was a tendency to see Emperor Augustus and his general Tiberius in the persons depicted, but today the interpretation of the persons as Tiberius and Germanicus is considered certain.

The person scene depicted in the upper part of the vagina makes clear reference to current events in the Roman politics of Germania. Germanicus presents Tiberius with a statue of Victoria as a sign of triumph. As already described above, this is primarily to be understood as the recovery of two of the three legionary eagles lost under Varus, which is to be understood as a symbolic redemption of the shame of the defeat of Varus. The two shield inscriptions Felicitas Tiberi and Vic (toria) Aug (usti) make it clear to the viewer that this triumph of ridicule and - at least from the Roman propaganda point of view - the successful outcome of the Germanic campaigns 14-16 are ultimately due to the emperor Tiberius.

In the camp shrine shown in the lower scabbard area, the lyre-shaped sima ornaments of the temple roof provide an important indication of the origin of the sword. This special ornamentation is considered a hallmark of the Mainz provincial art in Augustan times and allows the conclusion that the sword was made near Mogontiacum or at least in the nearer Rhineland.

The Amazon-like representation of a woman as the final image in front of the tip of the sheath shoe can be identified on the basis of the attributes represented with it. It is interpreted as Vindelica , a personification of the Celtic tribe of the Vindeliker . In his Ode IV 4, the Roman poet Horace combines the victories of Drusus over the Raetians and Vindelikers with an Amazon ax . This was also connected with Gaul until late antiquity . The connection of this personification with the victories of Drusus and Tiberius over the Vindeliker and Raeter and thus also with their extremely successful Alpine campaign is obvious.

An interpretation of the images must also be seen in connection with the imperial cult of Augustus and his direct successors, which was predominant in the military Mogontiacum. The entire scene suggests, on the one hand, to officers and soldiers carrying such weapons a connection or equation of the successful Alpine campaigns of Tiberius (and Drusus, who was revered in Mainz) with the less successful of Germanicus, son and nephew of the two generals. The campaigns of Germanicus 15 and 16 with little success, but with many losses, as well as his recall and the cessation of the campaigns in Germania are thus reinterpreted as a military and particularly prestigious success. This is also conveyed to the soldiers in the camps of the Upper Germanic Army through the representation on jewelry weapons such as the "Sword of Tiberius". This representation, which in this form certainly cannot be regarded as unique, fits seamlessly into the program of the imperial cult program of the Upper Germanic Army with its center in Mogontiacum.

literature

  • Heinz Cüppers : The Romans in Rhineland-Palatinate . Nikol Verlag, Hamburg 2005, ISBN 3-933203-60-0 .
  • Karl-Viktor Decker , Wolfgang Selzer : Mainz from the time of Augustus to the end of Roman rule. In: Hildegard Temporini , Wolfgang Haase (Hrsg.): Rise and decline of the Roman world . History and culture of Rome as reflected in recent research. Volume II 5.1. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 1976, ISBN 3-11-006690-4 , pp. 457-559.
  • Thomas Fischer: The army of the Caesars. Archeology and history. Friedrich Pustet, Regensburg 2012, ISBN 978-3-7917-2413-3
  • Michael J. Klein: Roman swords from Mainz. In: Michael J. Klein (ed.): The Romans and their heritage. Progress through innovation and integration. Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 2003, ISBN 3-8053-2948-2 , pp. 43-54.
  • Hans Klumbach : Old and new on the "Sword of Tiberius" . In: Yearbook of the Roman-Germanic Central Museum Mainz . Jg. 17, 1970, ISSN  0076-2741 , pp. 123-132.
  • Ernst Künzl : Among the golden eagles. The armor jewelry of the Roman Empire. Schnell + Steiner and the publishing house of the Roman-Germanic Central Museum, Regensburg and Mainz 2008, ISBN 978-3-7954-2011-6 .
  • Wolfgang Spickermann : Mogontiacum (Mainz) as the political and religious center of the Germania Superior. In: Hubert Cancik , Alfred Schäfer , Wolfgang Spickermann (Ed.): Centrality and Religion. For the formation of urban centers in the Imperium Romanum. Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen 2006, ISBN 3-16-149155-6 ( Studies and Texts on Antiquity and Christianity . No. 39), pp. 167–194.

Older literature:

  • Lorenz Lersch: The so-called sword of Tiberius. A Roman sword of honor from the time of this emperor. Association of antiquity friends in the Rhineland, Bonn 1849. ( Article at books.google.de )
  • Theodor Bergk: Sword of Tiberius. In: Bonner Jahrbücher. Yearbooks of the Association of Friends of Antiquity in the Rhineland . Vol. 14, 1849, pp. 185-186.
  • Karl Klein , Jacob Becker: Sword of Tiberius. Association for the Research of Rhenish History and Antiquities, Mainz 1850 ( About the Roman temples in Mogontiacum. Illustrations of Mainz antiquities . Issue 2).
  • Georg Lippold : On the "Sword of Tiberius". In: Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum (Hrsg.): Festschrift of the Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum in Mainz to celebrate its centenary . Vol. 1. Verlag des Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseums, Mainz 1952, pp. 4–11.

Web links

  • Sword of Tiberius - Website of the British Museum with a detailed description and picture gallery

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Karl-Viktor Decker and Wolfgang Selzer: Mainz from the time of Augustus to the end of Roman rule. P. 476.
  2. ↑ Inv.-No. GR 1866.8-6.1 (bronze 867).
  3. ↑ a b c Ernst Künzl: Among the golden eagles. P. 73.
  4. ^ Graham Sumner: The Roman Army. Armament and equipment. Pp. 96-97.
  5. ↑ a b CIL 13, 6796 .
  6. ^ Heinz Cüppers: The Romans in Rhineland-Palatinate. P. 468.
  7. ↑ For example in Cüppers (1990), Klein (2003) or Künzl (2008), but not in Decker and Selzer (1976).
  8. ↑ a b Michael J. Klein: Roman swords from Mainz. P. 43.
  9. ↑ Ernst Künzl, p. 74.
  10. ↑ For example in Klein 2003, Spickermann 2006 or Künzl 2008.
  11. ↑ Horace Carmina 4, 4, 16-22.
  12. ↑ Ernst Künzl, p. 75.
  13. ^ Wolfgang Spickermann: Mogontiacum (Mainz) as the political and religious central place of the Germania Superior. Pp. 173-174.
This version was added to the list of articles worth reading on May 14, 2009 .