A few interesting Roman objects in the Römer Museum in Xanten

[Dirk Van der Herten]

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[Michael Geschlecht]

Hello Dirk,

 

Nice photos all.

 

Do you know who those people are?

Best Regards,

 

Michael

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[Guest Eclat Blanc]

Some informations would be very useful.

[Dirk Van der Herten]

Thanks much for your input, Michael & Eclat Blanc.

For those interested in Roman history the Römer Museum in Xanten is a small gem certainly worth a visit.

As from the beginning of the christian era Xanten was an important base camp for the defense of part of the Rhine fronteer of the Roman empire.

Up till today only a small part of this ancient Roman city has been excavated, surely many interesting things remain to be discovered.

The first photo shows a statue of Trajan (full name: Marcus Ulpius Trajanus), Roman emperor from 98 to 117 AD and founder of Colonia Ulpia Trajana, the Latin name of the actual Xanten.

Trajan was also the founder of the famous 30th Roman army legion, one of whose tasks it was to defend and police the Rhine border of the empire.

The emperor is easily recognizable from his big ears and his hair style.

Second photo shows a bronze statue of the godess Venus.

Third photo, a fascinating votive statue of the god Silvanus. The text underneath reads:

“DEO SILVANO

CESSORINIUS

AMMAUSIUS

URSARIUS LEG

XXX V V S A V S L M”

The consonants in the last line are the abbreviations of V(lpiae) V(ictricis) S(everianae) A(lexandrianae) V(otum) S(olvit) L(ibens) M(erito).

Translation:

“To the god Silvanus

Cessorinius Ammausius

bear catcher

of Trajan’s victorious thirtieth  legion

(under the command of) Severianus Alexandrianus

made good on his oath, freely and deservedly.”

This inscription reveals one of the less known tasks of the Roman army, namely catching animals for the so-called “venationes”, a type of public spectacle in ancient Rome that featured animal hunts.

Since Silvanus was the god of forests, the habitat of bears, he was a good choice as protective deity for a bear hunter. I imagine Cessorinius Ammausius at one point made a promise to the god to offer a statue to the god for a safe return after a good catch. Ammausius doesn’t sound like a Latin name, our bear hunter probably was of Celtic origin.

Last two images show statues representing the gods Venus and Jupiter.