The Arcisate Treasure is a Roman silver hoard found in the town of Arcisate, northern

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. Soon after its discovery in 1900, the treasure was acquired by the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

According to scholars, the treasure's significance is due to the completeness of the set, the high quality of the craftsmanship and materials used to make it, as well as the

hoard A hoard or "wealth deposit" is an archaeological term for a collection of valuable objects or artifacts, sometimes purposely buried in the ground, in which case it is sometimes also known as a cache. This would usually be with the intention of ...

's excellent state of preservation.P. Piana Agostinetti and S. Priuli, "Il tesoro di Arcisate", ''Archeologia Classica'', 37 (1985)

Discovery

The treasure was found in Arcisate in the

province of Varese The province of Varese () is a Provinces of Italy, province in the Lombardy region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Varese (population of 80,857 inhabitants), but its largest city is Busto Arsizio. The headquarters of AgustaWestland, the compa ...

in 1900 and was almost immediately bought by Adolf Roger, who in turn sold it to the British Museum.

Description

The Arcisate Treasure is composed of five objects, all made of

silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

. They include a jug, a cup (both handles of which are now missing), a strainer, a ladle and a

spatula A spatula is a broad, flat, flexible blade used to mix, spread and lift material including foods, drugs, plaster and paints. In medical applications, "spatula" may also be used synonymously with tongue depressor. The word ''spatula'' derives ...

. The whole set would have been used for the mixing and serving of wine, either for dining or for religious ceremonies. Various inscriptions indicate the treasure's previous owners - on the jug's base is inscribed "Utia T(iti) f(ilia) p(ondo)", which can be translated as 'Utia daughter of Titus'. The ladle is engraved with the following letters in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

: "T. Uti V(ibi) f(ili) p(ondo) III sc(ripula) IV", which can be interpreted as 'This ladle is the property of Titus Utius, son of Vibius, weighs three Roman pounds and four ounces'. Titus Utius was probably a

Roman citizen Citizenship in ancient Rome () was a privileged political and legal status afforded to free individuals with respect to laws, property, and governance. Citizenship in ancient Rome was complex and based upon many different laws, traditions, and cu ...

, and father of Utia, who is referred to on the jug.

Sources

*D. Strong, Greek and Roman Silver Plate (British Museum Press, 1966) *L. Burn, The British Museum Book of Greek and Roman Art (British Museum Press, 1991) *S. Walker, Roman Art (British Museum Press, 1991)

References

{{British Museum Ancient Greek and Roman objects in the British Museum Silver objects Treasure troves of classical antiquity Archaeological discoveries in Italy 1900 archaeological discoveries Ancient Roman metalwork

Discovery

Description

See also

Sources

References