OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF

THE ORDERS AND MEDALS SOCIETY OF AMERICA

PRESIDENT James R. Wilkinson, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

VOL.19 OCTOBER 1968 NO. 10

THE ROMAN MILITARY STANDARD OF THE GODDESS VICTORIA - C. 145-161 A.D.

The Ancient Roman Military Decoration of the Goddess "Victoria" Submitted by Major Zenon Jaworsky$ ~187

The historic military standard was discovered in 1862 near the village of Myszkiw, which lies between the Seret and the Zbrucz Rivers, near the left bank of the River Dniester~ in Zalesz Czyki county in Eastern Galicia. In that time this territory was called the Kingdom of Galicia and Wolynien, and was a part of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire. The village lles today in what the Russians call USSR - Soviet Ukraine, A farmer found the object by chance near some old Roman fortifications dating from the time of the Emperor Trajan, these having been built on the banks of the River Zbrucz. The piece is of bronze, a hand holding between the forefinger and the thumb, a small ball upon which is a statuette of the Goddess Victoria. The figure on the cover shows the figure in its restored state, the legs having been repaired.

On the forearm of the devise is the abbreviation I’0’M, meaning lovi Optimo Maximo followed by DOLICENO GAJUS OPTIO C(o)h(ortis) I HISP(anorum)(miliariae) V(otum) S(olvit) L(iheni) M(erito). The inscription was deciphered by a Professor Dr. Borman, Its English translation is~ "To Jove the Best and Greatest and Dearest~" referring to the Syrian cult of luppiter Dolichenus, "Gaius an Adjutant of the First Spanish Cohort offers his Military Service Freely." The stars on the sphere are symbolic of the Solarium Cult. Although it does not show clearly in the reproduction, the figure of the Goddess of Victory holds in the left hand the palm, and in the right a victory wreath.

The forearm of the hand holding the figure is so shaped to be fitted as a standard head to a long wooden pole, as holes for mounting it so were present. It is possible the one Gaius an Adjutant made this offering out of gratitude for having been healed of some wound or is some way spared. The overall height of the figure is about 27 cm. The stars on the ~ere are said to compare as the same as the DOLICHENUS to the Lord of the Sun when in his junction with the moon LUNA.

It is known from Roman history that this Spanish cohort was commanded at that time (about 130 years after Christ) by Flavius Ulpius. Its f~ll designation in Latin was,PCohort I FLAVIA ULPIA Hispanorum militaris C.R. equitata." At the time of the Emperor Antonius Plus, 145-161 A.D., this cohort followed the Dacian campaign of Trajan who later became Emperor. It belonged to the Legions which occupied the new province on both sides of the River Dniester in the region called Sarmatia. This occured in about 174 A.D.; Sarmatia being the ancient name of East Galicia. By this time Roman Legions had advanced, in the days of Markus Aurelius to the northern borders of ancient Dacia, being today Romania and part of Western Ukraine, reaching the river Dniester. The object has been confidently dated as being from the second half of the second century after Christ. The valuable relic was last reported to be in the museum in Lwow, called in German Lemberg. It is the provincial capitol of West-Ukraine, U.S.S.R. Apparently there has been up to now, no mention of this decoration in numlsmatie literature.

It is interesting to conjecture whether or not this decoration of the Goddess of Victory was also worn as a personal amulet or decoration either on the breast or helmet, as other such symbols of accomp- lishment were worn in this way in Roman times. It is also interesting that in the year 180 A.D., many bronze coins were struck bearing the legend SAP~dATIA, and one of these commemorated a victory over German and allied tribes.

Bibliography: I. W. Demetrykewicz and J. Zingerly. Fund aus Ost-Galizien. 2. Prof. Dr. Becker Die Hedderheimer Votivhand. 3. Pick. Die antiken Munzen von Dakien und Mosien. 4. Kan De lovis Dolicheni coltu. 5o Vo Domaszewski. Die Fahnen im Romlschen Herre. 6. "The Numismatist." Vol. 81:no.4, April 1968. p.466. 7. Fred W. Burgers. Antique jewelry and trinkets. 8. From previous issues of The Medal Collector:

E.M. O’Toole. A decoration conferred by Caesar Augustus. Dr. K.G. Klietmann. Roman awards "Dona Militaria". George E. Pinyle. The awards of antiquity.

The author wishes to thank his wife Rosalinde for helping him translate these sources into English and to apologise for his poor typing. Hopefully no errors have crepe ino

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A DIPLOMA FOR "LA TOISON D’OR" By Dan Wo Ragsdale, Otto Fotsch and Michelle Lavalleyeo

Generally the paperwork for various orders and medals receives little attention. Possibly this scarcity is that it is easily lost and destroyed. But such documents form the human links in a medal collection, and the advanced collector should con- sider such papers to be a great and important part of his collection°

Mr. Otto Fotsch, who lives in Switzerland, collects such documents and the corres- ponding decorations. He has a goodly number of very interesting specimens and seeks, of course, many more. Among his rarest is the docament to a bestowal of the Order of the Golden Fleece, from the reign of Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor, 1685-1740. This certificate is pictured, signed by the Emperor and sealed with the Great Seal.

From the Collection of Otto Fotsch