As always a tour guide of Rome, like me, must recommend a visit at the Museum of Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, one of the real gems of the Eternal City. I have already had the opportunity to describe some wonders of the collection housed in this historic building, but today it's time to know more about some truly exceptional artifacts, hardly visible in other parts of the world. I am talking about some military insignia which, perhaps, belonged toan important historical figure of Rome.
Preserved in various display cases in the basement of Palazzo Massimo, built for the first time in the sixteenth century, there are the imperial insignia you see in the photo. These are fragments, even well preserved, in colored glass or iron, of the decorations of three scepters, three spears parade and four banner holders. Only the most durable parts made of metal or other materials (such as chalcedony for the scepters or orichalcum, a kind of ancient brass, for the spears) have survived to this day. Considering that all this can be dated to around the 4th century a.D., it is clear that after 1600 years the wooden parts, such as the spear shafts, have been lost. All of this was found in the area of the Roman Forum, on the north-eastern slopes of the Palatine Hill and near the Arch of Titus. A find of this kind is truly exceptional, as it testifies which, among others, were the banners or symbols of power proudly displayed by Rome during the wars. In the battlefield, just before the frontal confrontation in the open field (which the Romans usually preferred) it was customary to visually show the enemy what he was going to encounter. The banners were used to recognize the different legions and, within a single legion, the cohorts or centuries that made them up. A bit like today with battalions or regiments of armies! It should also be known that these symbols were fundamental above all for the soldiers, who lived and fought to serve Rome and their century of belonging. A century corresponded, in imperial age, to 80 effective men, who were divided into 10 conturberniae of 8 men each, corresponding today to our dormitories.
Under the imperial banner of the legion or cohort they belonged to (which corresponded to 10 centuries), the soldiers identified themselves, identifying the reasons why they fought, risking death. For this reason the loss of these banners was a hard blow to send down, as it almost meant losing face, pride and a sense of community. Today, in fact, there is still debate as to why these signs were, as it seems, hidden. According to some historians they belong to the army of Maxentius, enemy of Constantine who at that time was defeated in the Battle of Ponte Milvio. That the survivors of the defeat, to avoid letting them fall into enemy hands, have voluntarily hidden them? We do not know, although archaeological excavations have broadened the knowledge of that patch of land located between the slopes of the Palatine and the Via Sacra, a few steps from the Roman Forum. Remains of buildings from the 4th century a.D. have been found, precisely from the time of Maxentius, archaeological remains that attest to the existence of an apparently private building. Maybe it was the home of a soldier of Maxentius's army, who wanted to hide, forever, those military insignia which, after the defeat, it was not appropriate to drop into the hands of Constantine. Who knows ...