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We are more likely to question events that will happen in the future than past ones. However, it turns out that the course of history can change and “new” personalities enter it – with their small or large roles, connecting and predetermining entire processes.
An ancient gold coin proves that a 3rd-century Roman emperor, whom historians had dismissed as a nonexistent, imaginary figure, actually lived.
The coin with the face of Sponsianus was discovered more than 300 years ago in Transylvania, once part of the Roman Empire.
Over the years it was believed to be a fake and the coin was locked away in a museum cabinet.
Now, scratches visible under a microscope show it was around 2,000 years ago, the BBC reported. Experts are amazed by the discovery.
“We have come to an emperor that historians had erased from the course of history. However, we believe that this man existed and had his role over time,” commented prof. Paul Pearson of University College London.
The gold coin was discovered in 1713 and was perceived as original until the middle of the 19th century. However, its provenance was later questioned and numismatists of the time suspected that it may have been produced by counterfeiters because their designs were too crude.
The final blow came in 1863, when Henry Cohen, leading coin expert at the National Library of France, had to decide on a large catalog of Roman coins.
He claimed that the coins with the Ssponsian face were not only “modern” forgeries, but also poorly made and “ridiculously contrived”. Cohen’s colleagues agree with my statement, and the emperor loses his place in scientific catalogues.
In the present, however, Prof. Pearson came across the Sposponsian coins while doing his research for a book presenting the history of the Roman Empire.
Pearson contacted the Glasgow University Museum, where 4 gold coins are kept in a locker, and asked if he could review them with his colleagues.
Special ultraviolet light, a scanning electron microscope, and infrared spectroscopy were used to examine the coins. The analysis reveals patterns of deep micro-abrasion, characteristic of coins that have been in circulation for a long time.
Scientists have found that the scratches and patterns on them match the scratches that occur when carried in bags. Chemical analysis also showed that the coins had been buried in the ground for hundreds of years. The new evidence strongly suggests the coins are genuine.
Who is Sposnian?
Historians are now faced with the question of who exactly Sponsian was.
Researchers believe he was a military commander who was forced to crown himself emperor of the Roman Empire’s most remote and hard-to-defend province, called Dacia, a large area of the Balkan Peninsula, mainly in present-day Romania.
Archaeological studies have established that Dacia was cut off from the rest of the Roman Empire around 260 AD when there was a pandemic and civil war.
Surrounded by enemies and cut off from Rome, Sponsianus probably assumed supreme command in a time of chaos, protecting the military and civilian population of Dacia. “He focused on gold mining at a time when the frontier areas of the Roman Empire were threatened and overrun by invaders,” said Paul Pearson, quoted by the Guardian.
“To create a functioning economy in the countryside, they decided to mint their own coins,” says scientist Jesper Eriksson. This theory would explain why the coins do not resemble those of Rome.
“The arguments for the existence of the Sponsian are compelling. The end of the third century was a time of turmoil and unrest and becoming emperor was not particularly difficult,” said a historian from the University of Glasgow.
After determining that the coins were genuine, scientists believed they had discovered a lost Roman emperor and contacted experts at the Bruckenthal Museum in Sibiu, Transylvania, which also held such a coin.
It is part of the will of Baron Samuel von Bruckenthal, the only Saxon who ruled Transylvania – between 1777 and 1787.
He also studied the coin before he died, and the story goes that the last thing he did was write a note that said “genuine”.
Historians at the Bruckenthal Museum considered the Sposponsian coins to be forgeries, but changed their minds after research in the UK.
The find is of particular interest for the history of Transylvania and Romania, also for the history of Europe.
If the conclusions of the research are accepted by the scientific community, it means that another important figure will re-enter history and the passage of time.
