Silver and Society in Late Antiquity

Functions and Meanings of Silver Plate in the Fourth to Seventh Centuries

Ruth E. Leader-Newby

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2017
• Topic: History
• eBook ISBN:
  9781351900072
• Subtopic: Ancient History
• Index: History

The spectacular hoards of late antique silver - Mildenhall, Thetford, Sevso - discovered since the middle of the last century have aroused much interest in this luxury art form. But what did these pieces mean to their owners, and why was silverware so important in late antiquity? Silver and Society in Late Antiquity examines such questions through an integrated, synthetic analysis of the history of silver in the Roman empire between 300 and 650 AD, focusing upon the cultural significance of this luxury art form in all its different manifestations--sacred, imperial and domestic. Ruth Leader-Newby looks at a wide range of objects from both the eastern and western halves of the Roman empire - including Britain - in order to determine silver's role in the wider sphere of late antique visual culture, asking questions about the relative significance of individual forms of artistic production, and their relationship with each other. In doing so, key issues for the artistic and cultural history of late antiquity are raised - the use of the imperial image, the visual construction of the sacred in Christianity, the cohesive social role of elite intellectual culture, and the Christianization of the domestic sphere. As this book demonstrates, when studied in its historical context, silver can substantially enrich our understanding of late Roman art and culture.

1

The emperor’s gifts: the Missorium of Theodosius and imperial largitio

The Missorium of Theodosius (Fig. 1.1), a silver plate measuring 74 cm in diameter and weighing 15.35 kg, preserved in the Real Academia de la Historia, Madrid, is a spectacular surviving example of silver plate issued as largitio, that is as a ceremonial gift given by the emperor to a civic or military official. It is perhaps the most iconographically elaborate (and certainly the largest and heaviest) of the 19 largitio vessels which have survived from the Roman world. The Missorium is exceptional, both within the history of officially issued silver plate and within the history of late Roman and early Byzantine art, standing at the centre of a complex network of art-historical narratives relating to the way in which the emperors of this period shaped and distributed their official images. It is included in most general handbooks and surveys of this period, both in stylistic narratives as a securely dated example of late fourth century classicism (often called the ‘Theodosian renaissance’), and in iconographic narratives as a stage in a crucial transitional period for the development of the Byzantine imperial image.¹ This lends it a prominence in the literature which is exceptional for silver plate. For these reasons, the Missorium of Theodosius is the focus of this first chapter’s case study of imperial largitio silver of the fourth century. Through it, three central aspects of largitio silver will be analysed, namely its role in economic history, its place in the development of iconic modes of imperial representation in late antiquity, and its relationship with largitio outside the imperial sphere, and in other media. My aim is to shed light on the role that silver played in the discourses surrounding the image of the emperor in the late antique and early Byzantine period, discourses that in turn shape our understanding of the structure of late antique society.

The Missorium was discovered by a labourer in 1847 near Almandralejo, about 11 km from Mérida (ancient Augusta Emerita) in southern Spain. Shortly after its discovery it was acquired by the Real Academia in Madrid, and an account of it was published in 1849 by A. Delgado y Hernandez.² In this he makes a brief reference to two small silver cups ‘of simple form’ allegedly found with Missorium.³ These are not illustrated and do not seem to have been acquired by the Real Academia. It is unfortunate that these were not preserved, since they might have helped in establishing the date of the plate’s burial. The generally good condition of the dish is marred by a diagonal break running from upper left to lower right. The dish was found folded in half along this line, and was divided in two pieces in an attempt to unfold it immediately after its discovery.⁴ At some point in antiquity before the dish’s burial an unsuccessful attempt may have been made to hack the plate diagonally in half along the line of the fold. The jagged line left by the tool used in the attempt to divide the dish closely resembles the broken edges of the fragments of another late antique largitio plate, stylistically very close to the Missorium, which formed part of the Groß Bodungen hoard of scrap silver (Fig. 1.2).⁵ This suggests that by the time of burial (which is uncertain) the Missorium may have been destined for the melting pot, a possibility whose significance I will discuss in a later section of this chapter.

1.1 Missorium of Theodosius, Madrid, Real Academia de la Historia (P. Witte / Deutsches Archäogisches Institut, Madrid, neg. R 50-76-11)

1.2 Groß Bodungen largitio plate fragments, Halle, Landesmuseum für Vorgeschichte (Landesamt für Archäologie, Sachsen-Anhalt)

1.3 Munich Treasure, Munich, Archäologische Staatsammlung, Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte

Fortunately the break in the plate has done little to obscure the legibility of its design, while the fact that it was folded inwards during burial has done much to preserve the surface detail.⁶ The plate shows Theodosius I enthroned between his two co-emperors, Valentinian II and Arcadius, beneath an arcaded pediment.⁷ The imperial group is flanked by a pair of guards on each side, recognizable as members of the German imperial body guard by their hair, shields and torques. Theodosius presents a codicil of appointment to an official on his right, who holds out his hands veiled in the folds of his chlamys to receive it. He is shown on a much smaller scale than the three emperors; their ranks too are indicated by size, with Theodosius considerably the largest, followed by Valentinian, and finally Arcadius, Theodosius’ son who was only 11 years old in 388 AD. All three are nimbed. In the exergue beneath the ground line of the main scene is a reclining female figure with a cornucopia, usually identified as Tellus, and three putti who hold up offerings of fruit to the imperial trio above. They are matched by two similar fruit-bearing putti in either corner of the pediment. An inscription around the edge of the plate reveals that it was presented on the occasion of the decennalia, or tenth anniversary of rule, of Theodosius I (379–95 AD), which was celebrated on the 19th of January 388.⁸ On the underside, the foot-ring bears an inscription recording an original weight of 50 Roman pounds (16.13 kg). The relief surface is worked with chasing and punching to show the details of the elaborately embroidered ‘segmenta’ which adorn the emperors’ tunics and chlamydes, their jewelled fibulae and diadems, their footstools, the designs of the guards’ shields, and the hem of the robe of Tellus. Altogether it represents a high standard of late fourth-century craftsmanship, which deliberately draws on the classical tradition of preceding centuries for the style of the figural representations, and for the inclusion of the personification of Tellus in the composition.⁹

The Missorium of Theodosius is one of 19 known examples of silver plate issued as imperial largitio. All date to the fourth century AD, the Missorium with its date of around 388 being possibly the latest of the series. This poses the difficult question of whether this group is an accident of survival, or whether the practice of giving largitio in the form of plate was solely a fourth-century phenomenon.¹⁰ The issue is further complicated by the distribution of the surviving items among the emperors of the fourth century, and the varying sizes, weights, and levels of craftsmanship represented among them. Of the 19 emperors (excluding usurpers) who ruled during the fourth century, dishes issued by Licinius, Constans, Constantius II, Valentinian I or II and Theodosius I survive. And of these, ten dishes were issued by Licinius (three on behalf of his infant son, Licinius II, nominated caesar in 317). These are relatively small, light bowls with minimal decoration. Only three – the dish showing the mounted Constantine II from Kerch, now in the Hermitage, the Groß Bodungen fragment, and the dish of Valentinian I or II in Geneva – come close to the Missorium of Theodosius in their complexity of figural design, if not in size or weight.

History, archaeology, economics

It has been traditional in discussions of the Missorium of Theodosius and other largitio silver plate to incorporate an excursus on the institution of largitio, its operation, administration and function. Although this helps to frame a context in which to understand the artefacts in question, it should be borne in mind that the sources of the information cited are limited and our understanding of the practice of imperial largitio is by no means complete, as debates in recent work of numismatic and economic historians make clear.¹¹ Key sources of information are the Theodosian and Justianic law codes, the Notitia Dignitatum, an early fifth-century list of civil and military officials, and a range of literary sources, from the highly problematic Historia Augusta to the letters of Symmachus and the panegyric of Corippus.¹² I will present the historical facts as concisely as possible, focusing on those aspects of the institution of largitio which relate directly to our understanding of the place of silver plate in imperial donatives.

The production of silver plate to be distributed by the emperor on ceremonial occasions came under the control of an official called the Comes Sacrarum Largitionum, whose office was created as part of Constantine’s administrative reforms, replacing the earlier Rationales Summarum. His primary responsibility, however, was the issue and striking of coinage generally.¹³ Plate was probably not the predominant form of imperial largitio, which was far more likely to have been coins, especially gold solidi which could be minted in multiples for such occasions. Ingots and luxury clothing were also presented.¹⁴ Largitio in some form was given on a range of imperial occasions, such as regnal anniversaries (held every five or ten years), but also on the emperor’s ascension, at a victory or before a battle, or at New Year in those years when the emperor assumed the consulship. While this list of potential occasions for the giving of largitio is large, the plates bearing inscriptions (which excludes only the Kerch dish with a mounted emperor and the Groß Bodungen fragment) all indicate that they were made for regnal anniversaries. The recipients of largitio were both military and civilian, though this distinction is perhaps less clear-cut than it seems, since imperial officials (such as the Comes Sacrarum Largitionum) received military pay and rations. For soldiers, largitio was an institutionalized bonus from the time of Diocletian (and perhaps earlier), and from at least 360 AD consisted of a minimum of five gold solidi and a pound of silver on an imperial accession, and five solidi alone on quinquennial anniversaries.¹⁵ This would suggest that largitio is closely connected with the increased importance of the army to the emperor in the fourth century.

While the known examples of largitio silver are all from the fourth century, the institution of largitio was current from at least that century until the reign of Justinian in the sixth, seeming to die out in the seventh.¹⁶ The most common explanation proposed by economic historians for the disappearance of largitio silver plate after the fourth century links it to the disappearance of silver coins produced for general circulation.¹⁷ Yet the fact that the rare silver coinages of the fifth and sixth centuries were probably minted for ceremonial occasions complicates the issue slightly, since this would not seem to rule out similar occasional productions of plate. There are dangers in placing too much weight on an argument ex silentio, yet by analogy with the silver coinage if largitio plate was produced in the fifth and sixth centuries perhaps it was in similarly reduced quantities, which would make its total loss less surprising.¹⁸

While the above discussion makes it clear that imperial largitio in general, including silver plate, plays a significant role in late Roman economic history, I do not want to lose sight of the individual items of surviving largitio silver as well as the recipie...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Dedication
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• List of figures
• Acknowledgments
• Abbreviations
• Introduction: the significance of silver
• 1 The emperor’s gifts: the Missorium of Theodosius and imperial largitio
• 2 Sacred silver: from patera to paten
• 3 Representing myth in late antique silver: the role of paideia
• 4 The persistence of paideia: the David Plates and the transformation of the secular in early Byzantium
• Conclusion
• Bibliography
• Index